Hot on the heels of some released Dura Ace 9000 information, photos have been appearing on the web of a one Alex Dowsett's Pinarello Dogma 2 kitted out in prototype Dura Ace 9000 mechanical parts. Apparently Nieuwsblad was the perfect testing ground for such new parts, as they were also spied on Carlos Barredo's spare Giant on the team car. Interestingly, they were the only two bikes to be seen with the new 11 speed variant, which is surprising given the supposed Fall 2012 release date and the number of pros riding Shimano transmissions for the early classics. The spy shots show levers, brakes and rear cluster/derailleur, all relatively unmarked/branded/finished, which is typical for prototype parts, so speculation remains as to the finish and aesthetics. Anyway, enough posturing, let's get a look at the photos.
Looking at the shifters, they certainly look to be mimicking the current Campy line and (new) SRAM Red shifters:
Two more photos after the break.
This isn't a great look at the rear derailleur, but it does looks slightly revised, mostly in the parallelogram design. 11 speeds are present and the chain looks very similar to the current 7900, so I'll wager a guess that it's just a narrower version of the 7900:
Finally, looking at the brakes we can see these are decidedly not the standard 7900 brakes. I'm not quite sure what's going on here, but it looks a fair bit different than the standard dual pivot brakes we're used to.
Update 3/2/12:
Reviewing footage of Nieuwsblad from when Dowsett was involved in a crash, when he picked up his bike and the camera moto drove by shooting footage of him awaiting a new bike, it appears that the new crankset is on display (with it's 4 arm design.) Sure, the capture isn't great quality, but something about the crank just screams “mountain bike” as opposed to road machine.
Update 4/20: Clearer photos of the crankset, front and rear derailleur can be found in this post.
[…] that includes product testing. Even something as easily disguised as a new drivetrain (see the Shimano 9000 post) will be spotted by those with keen eyes. Nobody has seen (nor even heard rumors of) […]
[…] I talked about in my previous post about the new 11 speed Dura Ace group, there has been some wholesale redesign of the group. Some new photos (actually scans, it […]