Which Groupset?

Have you seen this/had a chance to play with it in the shop yet?

Actually felt good, similar to Sora which make it even better, as 8 speed is defintely cheaper and more robust than 9 speed, and there's little point to 9 speed when you can go 10 speed for similar money.

Is cable pull the same as old 8 speed shimano stuff?

Ultegra r8070

So I will need shifters (which come with brakes) front and rear mechs

Will use rotor power2max cranks

How much is all the other crap - battery, cables, charger ports...? Is there any other hidden cost I have missed? I already have di2 on another bike so hope to not require another charger cable.

And will Shimano's UK distribution be resolved in time for me to buy a groupset in time for September?

Yup!

You won't necessarily need a new charger but usually battery+cabling is around £200 pending sales etc

I wouldn't be optimistic enough to think the groupset will be fully available for September... Some R9170 parts won't be available until November....

Was this dura ace 140mm rotor just vaporware/promotion graphics?

I cant find a photo of the real thing. ei made in one piece without bolts

Is it a real thing?

This is intriguing:
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;product=223878
http://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-bike/en/home/road/drivetrain/cranksets0/fc-rs510.html

Shimano have produced a rather heavy and ugly cheap road chainset which is compatible with their other road chainsets? Not entirely sure that's fascinating.

Hadn't noticed any news about this but it seems to have sneaked onto a few online shops, a new 105 front derailleur, FD-5801:

No new RX00 naming so could that mean no new 105 group following Ultegra any time soon?

https://www.probikekit.co.uk/bicycle-brakes-and-pads/shimano-dura-ace-ice-tech-freeza-disc-rotor/11335864.html

The main reason is that the long arm Shimano front derailleur isn't compatible with a lots of frames (e.g. Norco).

So it make sense to change that design.

But that is not the same as the 140mm rotor picture above.

...ei made in one piece without bolts

so not this:

but this:

Shimano have both images on their product page oddly.

http://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-bike/en/home/road/shifting---braking/disc-rotors/sm-rt900-s.html

the rotor hydraulic group is trickling out to the shops now, will be interesting if DiData team end up using it.

Sounds like a great idea in theory, reliability will be the ultimate test though.

FSA group still MIA.

£2,400? Bloody Nora.

Any thoughts on what the best all-round 9 speed Shimano STI shifters are?

Ideally 3x9 and inexpensive.

Being paired with an XT M751 (SGS Long Cage).

Not sure where to ask this but will an Ultegra 6600 rear mech work with SRAM 10speed road shifters? @edscoble @mdcc_tester
Cheers in advance!!

I doubt it given exact actuation. It will with some sort of adapter like shiftmate.

will an Ultegra 6600 rear mech work with SRAM 10speed road shifters?

No. If you already have the shifters, any 10-speed SRAM road or MTB rear dérailleur will do. I'd take a short cage MTB one over the WiFli road ones for big sprockets because they have a tidier cable route, but the pantograph angle will be off if you're using classical road gearing so it's better to use the road dérailleur or, if you want to go full #tartmode, the X0-DH one which is designed for a cassette that only goes up to 28T.

why does no1 talk about how shit sram red brakes are?!

User error. They're excellent.

More shit than Paul brakes?

110% more shit

They're fucking awful. The only thing I miss about Ultegra

I concur, excellent brakes. For callipers.