is the new shimano compact chainset compatible with my ultegra nine speed

According to articles I have read ... yes (but I'm not speaking from personal experience).

Errm.... why would it not be?

Answer to m@ ..

Because Shimano list it as only being compatable with 10 speed!

(However, I acknowledge that this doesn't necessarily mean that it won't work)

The *only* things that you need for 10spd is the cassette and shifters. All the rest you can chop and change. Granted, it wont be as smooth as a full groupset, but it'll work.

ok
would it be better to use say an fsa compact or something similar?

If you have enough money and want something different.

Compact is a rip-off, just fit bigger rear sprockets if you want lower gears, ffs.

Depends how fit you are and where you ride Malcolm (ffs).Its been great for me riding around Macc Forest area and will hopefully up the D'Huez on 10th July and makes my riding more enjoyable than my 53/39.Cant go lower than my 27.Each to their own and you shouldn't be-little questions on here,but of course you are entitled to your opinion.

I use a Campagnolo Centaur Alloy 48-34 compact and a Truvativ Rouleur GXP 50-36 compact. They both have surprisingly less flex and chain rub than my old Chorus triple. The increase in efficiency makes a triple crank pointless for me. However the small inner rings on compact cranks spin out very easily and so you find yourself doing 90% of your riding in the big ring. The problem with this is that you can't access the whole cassette with the big ring and so often find yourself with a big "hole" in the gearing ratios when you have to change down to the small ring. I am going to experiment with a 46-36 set of rings and a 11-29 cassette. I suspect that this will at least partially solve the problem.

hy not use a TA Vega?

Works with 10 speed, looks good, light - anything else?

The new Centaur and Veloce alloy compacts are better value than TA Vega and will work well with any 9 or 10 speed drivetrain. This year Campag have made them with more "pick up pins" for quicker shifting

Brick (and any others), Ive been following the threads on this and wondered how you fared with the Shimano 700 compact in combo with an ultegra 9sp double set up, as Im considering doing the same for ADHuez.

Dom - have a look here:
<a href="http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/4/UTN/109098/V/6/SP/
" target=new>Previous R700 Forum</a>

Balls - why didn't that link work?

You've got to use url and /url in square brackets these days.

Thanks Tom, I somehow managed to miss the most relevant thread!

M@. I'm still stuggling with links. I just got to grips with the old method and did not know it had changed. Is the change just on this forum or on for creating links anywhere. Could you demonstrate the new format for us old computer illiterates as you did with the old one

"Brick (and any others), Ive been following the threads on this and wondered how you fared with the Shimano 700 compact in combo with an ultegra 9sp double set up, as Im considering doing the same for ADHuez."

For ADHuez, my advice is to use 56/42/34 Dura-Ace with 13-27 Cassette. If you use just 8 cogs (ie. 13,15,17,19,21,23,25,27) you will have a straighter chainline on the 27 cog and save valuable frictional losses!

Who makes this 56/42/34 chainset and 13/27 cassette.
You would need a long cage mech for this.
Dura-Ace chainset is 53/39/30.
Nearest cassette is 12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,27 in 9 speed or 12,13,14,16,18,21,24,28 in 8 speed.
If you remove one of the 9 speed cogs and fit a spacer behind the cassette you save about 5mm on chain line. Give me the extra gear any day. The friction is negligable.
A compact chainset effectivley moves the gear ratios one cog down. That is 39/27 is almost the same as 34/24. The rest of the gears are altered in the same way. On the big ring you would need a 49 to achieve this, a 50 gives slightly higher gears.
What it boils down too is if you want a gear lower than 33" you need a triple if you want to stick to road mechs or you will need to use a Touring or MTB cassette. Using these cassettes brings in a new set of problems and costs.

If you want the system to work properly stick to what the manufacturer supplies and use the system that gives the ratios that suit your needs. Not what is fashionable.