On Friday, November 30, 2018 at 9:33:15 AM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
There is a reason that most pro teams use Shimano. https://bikerumor.com/2017/07/25/shi...our-de-france/

I rode the same 9sp 105 levers on my commuter for 15 years -- in rain, snow, mud, etc., etc. My son had an Ultegra left/rear shifter seize up. That's the only STI fatality since 1992, IIRC.

-- Jay Beattie.

Shimano wasn't the most common group used. Campy is. But Shimano's electric group is the most common used by the top teams and because Shimano is paying them to do so.

I have had excellent longevity with the Shimano 7, 8 and 9 speed stuff. But the 10 speed and I expect the 11 speed are not the same. My brother has DuraAce on his Giant that worked perfectly, I kept his bike at my place and I hung it from the ceiling about 20' away from the dryer exhaust. It won't shift at all now. I put a used Ultegra group on my Time and it worked perfectly. It's on the entirely opposite side of the garage from the dryer outlet that has a filter on the exhaust and it is showing signs of failure. The first couple of shifts the right lever won't return all the way. After awhile it's back to operating normally but I don't expect that to continue. The 10 speed 105 still works fine but it appears to be constructed for dirty conditions without openings.