1973 saw the inception of Shimano's elite road racing gruppo, the Dura-Ace. The name was derived from the duralumin alloy used in the casting process and the objective of providing the very best components available, hence, "Dura-Ace". In this same year, the Dura-Ace gruppo sees stage victories at the Tour de France, and second place at the World Championships under Freddy Martens. In the history of componentry, no other Japanese product had seen a podium finish. Shimano had broken Campagnolo’s glass ceiling.
In the 1980's, Shimano went on to design components that were not only extremely light and reliable, but were aerodynamic as well. In the first wind-tunnel tests ever used in cycling, Shimano designed the AX Dura-Ace series which reduced drag by 20%. Innovation continued into the 1980s when Shimano introduced what today is ubiquitous on gruppos, SIS Index shifting. Shimano’s notoriety continued, especially when, in 1987, they became the component sponsor for the USA’s 7-Eleven Team and France’s Toshiba-Look Team.
By 1995, Shimano was team sponsor for Motorola, ONCE, Mapei, TVM, and Polti. In 1997 and 1998, Shimano was adorned with the World Champions’ jerseys, and by 1999, Shimano saw the podium at the Tour de France. In the 2002 Tour de France, the four most prestigious jersey winners (polka-dot, green, white, and yellow) were riding Dura-Ace.
Today, Shimano continues its race-bred innovations with the 7800 Dura Ace 10-speed series. The new Dura-Ace is regarded by many as the finest, smoothest, most reliable gruppo in the world. The 10-speed configuration is now also available on Ultegra (2005) and 105 (2006).
At Cadence, we carry a full assortment of complete Shimano road and mountain gruppos ranging from the world class Dura-Ace and XTR, to the race proven Ultegra, XT, LX and performance inspired 105.