# Advantages of Ultra-Shift?



## PixelPaul (Oct 8, 2004)

I'm looking to buy an Athena group. In reading some reviews many have suggested upgrading the levers to Chorus, which are Ultrashift vs. the Powershift on the Athena levers. As I understand it, the Chorus levers will allow for 3 cogs upshift and 5 cogs downshift while the Athena levers will allow the same 3 cog upshift but only 1 downshift. Just curious how useful, and in what situations would the extra shifting capacity be beneficial?


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## davelikestoplay (May 27, 2010)

I did that upgrade to chorus levers based on advice from members here and I love it. I have a compact crankset so it is often usefull to move multiple gears in the back after shifting upfront. I also find it useful for sudden incline/decline changes. A final (minor) advantage is that the chorus levers are carbon, which have a nice feel.


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## mrcreosote (Sep 9, 2010)

Just to reinforce what davelikestoplay said, the two main areas where I use the ultra-shift is

1) when you change from big ring to little ring, you can change 3-4 cogs on the back at the same time to maintain cadence instead of spinning out or losing momentum while you change the rear one at a time

2) in a sprint, when someone (or you) jumps, you can slam down 3-4 gears and go for it


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## Golfguy (Nov 20, 2010)

I'll be a (minority) dissenting view. I may be the only person on this board to prefer the Powershift type mechanism. It's easier for me to knock off two (or 3 or 4) single upshifts than it is to stop short on the thumb lever. I would always go past to three or more, and for me a two shift seems like the most commonly needed combo. YMMV.


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## Sablotny (Aug 15, 2002)

I'm a 25 year Shimano guy, and as I've been blathering on about in other posts, I'm really liking my jump to Chorus 11. Ultrashift was something I'd heard about, but figured I'd never use. I was totally OK with the Tap-Tap-Tap on Shimano. But from the first ride, I've used and really dug making miltiple gear changes at once. Its worked perfectly for me as well - I'm amazed how the chain can jump several cogs at once, then hook up so reliably. (It could help that I stuck with the steel Chorus cogs and resisted the temptation to go Record or Super Record).

Just like Mr. Creosote says above, the multiple shift can come in great for sprinting. Friday night, club ride, friend jumps me on a Town Limit sign. I saw him go, and *braaappp!!!* hit a big Ultrashift and I'm on his tail, and took the sprint. Made me feel like Lance on stage 17, 2004!


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## Golfguy (Nov 20, 2010)

Sablotny said:


> Made me feel like Lance on stage 17, 2004!


Except Lance always rode Shimano.


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## CheapSkate (Feb 26, 2012)

If you are not a racer, just a "fast leisure" rider like me, Ultra-Shift is the business. Again the ability to dump the chain to smaller cogs while doing a front shift is so useful. If you are climbing and running out of cogs on the back, you can do the "double dump" and you end up with broadly the same cadence, but with options since you are now on the small ring and in the middle of the cassette. The "double dump" will scare the hell out of you the first time you do it, it sounds like your drivetrain has exploded, but it's no problem at all (ride with a chain catcher!)

Also if you're pulling away from a traffic intersection you can dump 2 or 3 cogs after a couple of pedal strokes.

I ride on rolling terrain so it's forever short up, short down, flat. Ultra-Shift really helps here.

Be aware it can be a double edged sword, very occasionally you can upshift 2 cogs when you only meant to do 1, which might upset the racer types. Practice helps a lot with this, it probably happens to me once every few hundred miles.

I love it, it's such an obvious idea. I believe Shimano has it in their MTB shifters now, there was some talk of them bringing it to Dura-Ace but it never happened.

Does it make you go any faster? I doubt it. But it's really convenient.


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## cs1 (Sep 16, 2003)

Golfguy said:


> Except Lance always rode Shimano.


And the lack of shifting the entire cassette didn't seem to effect him either.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

I rode Shimano for years, and always had to listen to how great Campy is because you can dump the whole cassette in two shifts. Big deal. A couple years ago, I bought a Campy Athena group which had ultrashift (the group was downgraded to powershift in 2011). It's actually kind of nice. If you're getting a an Athena or lower group, Chorus shifters are a good option to upgrade. It's not much extra money.


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## redvespablur (Aug 23, 2011)

I love the double dump mentioned above.

2010 Athena shifters are still widely available on ebay and Velomine etc and have pretty much the same feel and ultrashift as Chorus - I have Chorus on one bike and Athena 2010 on the other - both with Chorus out back and they feel identical


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## Drew Eckhardt (Nov 11, 2009)

PixelPaul said:


> I'm looking to buy an Athena group. In reading some reviews many have suggested upgrading the levers to Chorus, which are Ultrashift vs. the Powershift on the Athena levers. As I understand it, the Chorus levers will allow for 3 cogs upshift and 5 cogs downshift while the Athena levers will allow the same 3 cog upshift but only 1 downshift. Just curious how useful, and in what situations would the extra shifting capacity be beneficial?


By "upshift" you mean cogs larger and "downshift" cogs smaller which is the opposite of some people's wording.

It's _enormously_ useful, especially with a compact crank and tight cogset where the next gear can be five cogs away and ring changes can happen with ADHD frequency.

Ex: 50x21 (with a 23 big cog you eschew as the fully cross-chained combination) -> 34 x 15. 19-18-17-16-15 : five cogs.

With the classic (since 1992) Campagnolo behavior of at least five cogs smaller you just push both your thumbs until they stop moving (a chain catcher is a good idea here - if you hit the wrong bump whilst doing that you'll pick the chain back up instead of leaving it on the bottom bracket shell).

With other shifters you go click-release-click-release-click-release-click-release-click-release and finally arrive at the next gear.


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## Drew Eckhardt (Nov 11, 2009)

cs1 said:


> And the lack of shifting the entire cassette didn't seem to effect him either.


My German car doesn't get me where I'm going any faster than my wife's Honda, but things like steering feel and a reasonable stick shift make the driving experience more pleasant.

I won't worry about speed increases until I loose 30 pounds to reach racing weight (some chance, although my wife doesn't want me that skinny), start racing again (slim chance), and start doping so I have enough power for flat terrain (not likely to happen)

I will make riding more pleasant especially where doing so costs less than a nice dinner for two and the parts last a decade.


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## onrhodes (Feb 19, 2004)

I've not used powershift, but I own Centaur 2010 Ultrashift on road bike and veloce ultrashift on my cross bike. Ridden Sram Rival, 105, Ultegra, for a lot of miles too. 
I used the previous iteration of powershift called escape in veloce level on the cross bike before and it was a nice setup. I ran a 1x10 with that deal. They're all good, I've never had a "I couldn't have done that without ultrashift" moment.
The multi-dump feature is nice, but it's not a quantum leap forward. It's nice, it's good, but you can and will survive with just powershift.
Get what you want, what your wallet can support and most importantly, what will make you happy.


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## Ultrasaurus (Jan 28, 2011)

Golfguy said:


> Except Lance always rode Shimano.


Nobody's perfect.


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