Shimano Dura-Ace STI levers £319.99

Lightweight, comfortable levers with an easy action and generous reach adjustment

Dave Atkinson, October 6, 2008

Shimano Dura Ace levers

The new integrated brake and gear levers have been totally redesigned. For a start, the brake levers are carbon to drop a few grams (the complete units are 40g lighter) and add more sex appeal. Then there’s the shape of the bracket body: you get a flatter top section with less of a scoop downwards when you’re on the hoods. We wouldn’t say they’re necessarily more comfortable, just different from before, and definitely more Campag-esque. The shift cable now runs internally underneath your bar tape – again like Campagnolo – which neatens up the front end. It’ll also please the aero-obsessed. You move down the cassette (changing up a gear) one sprocket at a time, the same as before, but whereas previously you could shift up the cassette a maximum of three sprockets at once, now there’s less of a sweep and the maximum is two. That means that instead of three pushes to get from the smallest sprocket to the largest, it now takes five. It’s rarely an issue but, still, a slight disadvantage. Those with smaller hands will appreciate the easy reach adjustment – you just take off the front cap and turn a screw to dial the levers right in – while hidden away underneath a titanium fixing band and bolt save a little weight.

Read the component reviews here:

Chainset STI Levers Rear mech Front mech Brakes

What the road.cc scores mean

Here's how we roll at road.cc: every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a real insight into whether it works or not. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The score reflects a product's function and value. Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad. Here's what they mean:

5 stars	Perfect
4.5 stars	Exceptional
4 stars	Very good
3.5 stars	Good
3 stars	Quite good
2.5 stars	Okay
2 stars	Not so good
1.5 stars	Poor
1 stars	Bad
0.5 stars	Appalling