The perils of cascading upgrades aren’t new in bikery. You change one thing, and it requires another thing, and another thing. Then a third thing doesn’t fit, and you upgrade that, and so on. Often, this happens piecemeal and it can be frustrating, when you were simply trying to solve a small issue, and created a big one as a result. Sometimes, you have the big picture in front of you, and can plan accordingly. SOMETIMES.

So, as per my last post, one of my Dura Ace ST-7700 brifters exploded. This put me in a pickle. Dura Ace retired the 9-speed 7700 in 97, as they brought in the new design thereafter. NOS are virtually impossible to find. I tracked four ebay sellers for the 7700 shifters used, and each auction creeped above $250. So, while I was trying to sort this out, it occurred to me, maybe one can buck Shimano’s groupo-complete upgrade path and work out a partial upgrade. And so my supernet research began.

My first objective was to replace the broken brifter, of course, and the next year’s model, the 7800, offered some improvements in design. They shift smoother, require less effort, and are more ergonomic in design. However, these are 10-spd shifters, incompatible with the Dura Ace 9-spd (if you sniff out my nostalgia for Campy, you’re correct) due to a much shorter index, and as a result, would require other upgrades. However, as I read up on it, it appears that by upgrading cassette and chain, you can get away with keeping your derailleurs as is (with some further adjustments.)

So, what the hell, I says, let’s take a look. And lo, I was able to score some aesthetically challenged but mechanically sound 7800 brifters for the same price as the 7700s. So, then I found a 7800 cassette slashed to $99 from $299, and decided to go for it. I don’t really need 10-speeds in back, but I liked the idea of more ergonomic shifters, and certainly NEWER ones. Replacing older technology with more old technology was a bit iffy. With the 7800 on, Shimano designed for more uniform compatibility. That seemed to suggest that by coming up to 7800, I’d be in better straits for future needs as may occur. And I have to admit, the 7700 brifters weren’t the most comfortable (especially given their top-of-the-line Dura Ace status)…

So, I scored these:

Then got this, and another SRAM chain:

So, more money than I wanted to spend right now, but hopefully I’ll be better off for it, and perhaps can recoup a bit when selling off the remaining functional 7700 lever and the old cassette.

He says with great confidence.

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