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Is 8050 a noticeable upgrade from 6850

7K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  tlg 
#1 ·
I'm riding Ultegra 6850 Di2, and I love the electronic shifting. The speed, accuracy, responsiveness, reliability. It's great.

So, thinking about the next generation or even a new bike, has anyone ridden both side-by-side, or upgraded from one to the other? What are the noteworthy differences?

Thank you!
 
#2 ·
I have 6870 (disc) and 9150 (rim).

Both have great speed, accuracy, responsiveness. I wouldn't say there's a "huge" noticeable difference in that regard, but it's there.

Noteworthy differences:
The new RD is great. It's tucked in closer making it less susceptible to damage. And the new design allows the use of larger cassettes. IMO worth the upgrade alone.


The FD servo motor is much smaller. Looks very sleek.

The shifters have been ergonomically updated. They're thinner (personally I liked the old ones better as I like thicker shifters. I liked 6700 even more cause they were really wide). But I don't find them uncomfortable.
The shift buttons are larger which is nice, especially in winter with gloves.
The buttons have a more tactile/audible click. Some people really like that. I didn't mind the old version.
There are auxiliary buttons on top of the hoods. VERY nice. You can program them as shift buttons or to control your Garmin. I use them all the time.

The new bar end junction box is slick. It makes a very clean looking cockpit with just one wire exposed. I shrunk wrapped mine to the brake cable, so there's only two exposed cables on my bars.
 
#4 ·
Technically.. no. Realistically... yes.

You have to be willing to drill your handlebars. :eek: Sounds scary... it's not.

This video shows how to do it. (although the hole he drills is WAY too big). I've done it on carbon bars. There's zero concern here, unless perhaps you could ride with your your hands on the 2" ends of your bar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cON3w1IL_7k


The wire routing in the above video is hokey. He re-did it better in these videos. This is the method I used.
https://youtu.be/WCnsKwLf9F8?t=564

https://youtu.be/In_uHMDBN4k?t=66
 
#6 ·
The RD has extra nannyism (gear position control), and supports up to 34T cassettes officially... it is shadow tech, and has Shimano Direct Mount available (which is a great standard, that literally no roadie frame maker supports)...The R8000 brifters are more road sized as opposed to ZR685/R785 that are bigger.
 
#18 ·
Yea, it's not a 'normal' setup so you wouldn't get it with a stock kit. You need one pretty long wire through the bar.
I spec'd out all the wire lengths when I ordered my groupset. My two long wires were 1000mm and a 1200mm. But I can't remember which I used through the bar.
I took a piece of string and ran it along the path around the bar then measured the length and added a little extra to be safe.

If you're curious, the wires weigh 0.01gram/mm
 
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