Shifters.... Ultegra 6700 vs 105 5700?

junglist_matty
junglist_matty Posts: 1,731
edited July 2013 in Road buying advice
What is difference between Ultegra 6700 and 105 5700 shifters?

Comments

  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    junglist_matty wrote:
    What is difference between Ultegra 6700 and 105 5700 shifters?

    About £100, a few grams and some blingy carbon on the levers
  • banditvic
    banditvic Posts: 549
    Probably not how Shimano advertise is, but spot on.
  • Bordersroadie
    Bordersroadie Posts: 1,052
    PeteMadoc wrote:
    junglist_matty wrote:
    What is difference between Ultegra 6700 and 105 5700 shifters?

    About £100, a few grams and some blingy carbon on the levers

    Spot on indeed.

    I have 6700 on dry bike and 5700 on wet bike with the exact same transmission (chainset, derailleurs, chain and cassette) and there is no detectable difference whatsoever. If you ever need to replace one lever you will get a shock with the 6700. I managed to get a warranty replacement (hurrah for CRC) otherwise the cost would have been eye-watering. Having said that, the 5700s are not exactly cheap.

    I got the 6700 as part of a complete Cube, but the 5700 was a self build. I wouldn't pay the premium for the Ultegra if I was buying as part of a build.
  • junglist_matty
    junglist_matty Posts: 1,731
    Thanks.... This is what I thought... I checked the shimano tech docs and both seem to share most of the same parts!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    If the technical documents say there is no difference, then the difference is only a placebo.
    I have investigated Campagnolo ones and you have to go all the way up to Chorus to find a mechanical improvement over the lower series. Interestingly, Record and Chorus share exactly the same technology
    left the forum March 2023
  • jordan_217
    jordan_217 Posts: 2,580
    Are the hoods on 5700's less 'chunkier' than the 5600's? My old bike had 105 5600 and the only noticeable difference for me, was the ergonomics, when comparing to 6700. My commuter has Tiagra 4600 and the hoods on that have defo found the key to the pie cupboard.

    Even when comparing (the older) 5600 to 6700 there was no noticeable/quantifiable difference in shifting. IMO 105 is the best pound:performance groupset Shimano sell.

    If only I could stick Shimano shifters on some Athena 11 spd..........
    “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
  • startern
    startern Posts: 175
    Actually 105/5700 is alot closer to Tiagra than it is to Ultegra.
    The user experience may be similar to Ultegra and the weight too but that's where the similarities end as most of the 105 components are fundamentally Tiagra. The significant differences are in the indices of the shifters, and the chainwheel arms and the cassette. The mechs and brakes are all essentially Tiagra.

    Ultegra 6700 is alot closer to 7900 than 5700 except for the wholesome weight of it.
  • rrsodl
    rrsodl Posts: 486
    startern wrote:
    Actually 105/5700 is alot closer to Tiagra than it is to Ultegra.
    The user experience may be similar to Ultegra and the weight too but that's where the similarities end as most of the 105 components are fundamentally Tiagra. The significant differences are in the indices of the shifters, and the chainwheel arms and the cassette. The mechs and brakes are all essentially Tiagra.

    Ultegra 6700 is alot closer to 7900 than 5700 except for the wholesome weight of it.


    And you know this because....
  • flasher
    flasher Posts: 1,734
    startern wrote:
    Actually 105/5700 is alot closer to Tiagra than it is to Ultegra.
    The user experience may be similar to Ultegra and the weight too but that's where the similarities end as most of the 105 components are fundamentally Tiagra.

    Tiagra doesn't have hidden cables so there must be some fairly signifiant build differences between the two, I'd have thought?
  • startern
    startern Posts: 175
    Flasher wrote:
    Tiagra doesn't have hidden cables so there must be some fairly signifiant build differences between the two, I'd have thought?


    There aren't actual build differences, quality of parts of the internal mechanism are same.
    It's solely down to the orientation of the mechanism inside the shifters.

    There's no particular advantage or disadvantage to having one or the other. The shifter with the cable protruding out of the side or running concealed is simply a difference in design. The reason to conceal the gear cable is it gives a cleaner look depending on the eye of the beholder.

    Personally, it doesn't matter to me either way. But I think the previous style of shifter better encased its internals. The new style of shifter has a gaping hole underneath it thereby exposing all the internals to the outside.

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