dura ace cassette have tighter tolerance then ultegra?

I have a mutt bike that has Campy ergo 9 shifters and Campy rear der
combined with Shimano 9 cassette and hub. Further, I use either Shimano
9 or Sram 9 chain.

I can't figure it out, but for some reason, my bike shifts *better*
when I use a Dura Ace 9 12-27 cassette instead of an ultegra 9 12-27
cassette. No skipping, no hesitation, no fuss. Just quick shifts up and
down the cogs when I use the Dura Ace casseette. In contrast, I'm
constantly have to adjust my derailleur to get the ultegra cassette to
work. Even then, there is the occasional hesitation with the ultegra
cassette, but NEVER with the DA cassette.

In fact, the Dura Ace 9 12-27 cassette seems to shift "as good," if not
better than when I use a Campy 9 13-28 cassette on my Campy rear wheel.
What's going on? Does this make any sense?

Btw, I found the Dura Ace 9 12-27 cassette on sale for $68 versus the
ultegra 9 12-27 cassette for about $40. I thinking about buying another
DA cassette, but it seems like a waste of money. Thoughts?

"bfd" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a mutt bike that has Campy ergo 9 shifters and Campy rear der
combined with Shimano 9 cassette and hub. Further, I use either Shimano
9 or Sram 9 chain.

I can't figure it out, but for some reason, my bike shifts *better*
when I use a Dura Ace 9 12-27 cassette instead of an ultegra 9 12-27
cassette. No skipping, no hesitation, no fuss. Just quick shifts up and
down the cogs when I use the Dura Ace casseette. In contrast, I'm
constantly have to adjust my derailleur to get the ultegra cassette to
work. Even then, there is the occasional hesitation with the ultegra
cassette, but NEVER with the DA cassette.

In fact, the Dura Ace 9 12-27 cassette seems to shift "as good," if not
better than when I use a Campy 9 13-28 cassette on my Campy rear wheel.
What's going on? Does this make any sense?

Btw, I found the Dura Ace 9 12-27 cassette on sale for $68 versus the
ultegra 9 12-27 cassette for about $40. I thinking about buying another
DA cassette, but it seems like a waste of money. Thoughts?


I am of the opinion that is you find something that works good, to stick
with it as long as possible. At least until they discontinue it and you
finally cannot get it any longer.
So if it works go for it.
Shimano seems to have spent a lot of effort and money getting those almost
unnoticeable angles and ramps cut just right on their cogs, which help to
make them shift so well.
But the chain itself can be a big help too. I like using the Wipperman
chains myself as they work so well on shifting. Some Shimano chains seem to
be more stiff than SRAM or Wipperman chains, which tend to make the more
stiff chain harder to get to shift. But after a 1,000 miles even the stiffer
chain usually loosens up well, so it is a tricky thing.\ to figure out. So
sometimes if it isn't quite shifting nicely, maybe a different chain would
help.