105 (5800) or ULTEGRA (6800) For winter use?

jamie4759
jamie4759 Posts: 117
edited April 2015 in Road buying advice
Hello all. I have bought the Ultegra (6800) for my summer bike and I am looking for a Shimano groupset for my winter bike (after having Campag on all bikes for years). The Ultegra looks a great buy, but, so does the 105. I thought about the 105 with an Ultegra cassette and chain for winter. Any views? Are the 105 cassettes and chains any worse or less durable than Ultegra? I can't help thinking that the 105 is an absolute bargain, and there are no bad reviews of the new groupsets. I have never had Shimano before, so any views welcome.

Comments

  • jordan_217
    jordan_217 Posts: 2,580
    IME the only difference in both group sets is the brakes and shifter ergonomics. Properly set-up there's no discernible difference in shifting performance.

    IMO 105 is the best price:performance groupset Shimano produce. Get whichever is cheaper and treat yourself to a nice Winter jacket/softshell.
    “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
  • letap73
    letap73 Posts: 1,608
    I remember seeing a comprehensive review of bike chains by a German bike magazine - the Shimano 105 chain came top beating all the others including the Dura ace chain. This was admittedly for the previous generation of Shimano, however, this does suggest that Shimano do not really cut corners for the 105 group set.
  • mikenetic
    mikenetic Posts: 486
    Both of them are terrific group sets. I run 6800 on my winter and summer bikes. The winter bike is fitted with SKS longboards which keep a lot of the crap from wet roads away from the group set, a good way of increasing it's longevity.

    5800 is a steal, and if you're constrained on budget or want to spend on other items then go with that. It'll serve you very well.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    Go for Ultegra - better shifting, nicer ergonomics, lighter, better looking, better braking and shifting actions.
    Have both groupsets on two different bikes - Ultegra is the best of the two (but I am prefer SRAM over both).

    All differences between all groupsets are in this months (or maybe now last month's Cyclist mag - I can post high lights here if anyone wants but my copy is in the workshop and I am in the study at home).

    Both last just as well through winter weather.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    JAMIE4759 wrote:
    Hello all. I have bought the Ultegra (6800) for my summer bike and I am looking for a Shimano groupset for my winter bike (after having Campag on all bikes for years). The Ultegra looks a great buy, but, so does the 105. I thought about the 105 with an Ultegra cassette and chain for winter. Any views? Are the 105 cassettes and chains any worse or less durable than Ultegra? I can't help thinking that the 105 is an absolute bargain, and there are no bad reviews of the new groupsets. I have never had Shimano before, so any views welcome.

    As others have said, the differences between the two groups are fairly minor really. I certainly wouldn't be looking at going for an Ultegra cassette and chain. I've been using Tiagra chains recently on my son's 105 groupset and they last just as well and cost a fair bit less. 105 is fine for a winter bike, as is Tiagra, or even Sora. Spend the rest on beer.
  • cadseen
    cadseen Posts: 170
    edited April 2015
    105 for Winter - Merlin are currently doing a great deal on Shimano 105.

    http://tidd.ly/3c95753
  • banditvic
    banditvic Posts: 549
    I've given up on the theory of riding a not so good groupset on the winter bike because inevitably I spend more time on that than I do my dry bike.
    Having said that the price difference is much greater than the weight difference, I don't honestly believe anyone can say there is any noticeable difference in performance between the two groupsets.
  • mugensi
    mugensi Posts: 559
    edited April 2015
    I upgraded my 'good' bike from 5700 to 6800 recently and thought about putting the 5700 on my winter bike which is 4600 but figured tiagra is cheaper to replace and its been faultless for the last 3 years so why change it and sold the 5700 groupset. I would be loathe to fit 6800 on my winter bike which like you possibly gets used more than my good bike as its used exclusively from October to March and then during spring/summer when its wet (which is quite regular) and so it gets quite a bit of use/abuse.
    When the time comes I'll upgrade the winter bike to Tiagra 4700 which is out in June, I believe.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I have second hand 9 speed Tiagra and a 46/36 CX chainset on my winter bike. I like the chunkier shifting with winter gloves on, and suspect the 9 speed stuff is a tad more durable. I was building it on a budget though.

    If I was starting a bike build from scratch now I think 5800 is hard to fault.

Categories