105 or Ultegra? Will I notice?

Buying my first road bike, probably look at a C-dale CAA5 frame, should I got for 105 or Ultegra?
Difference is only about $200 to go to full Ultegra and that's Canadian dollars.

What is the difference other than price?

Stronger? Lighter? More Durable? Better riding?

Thanks

 

"MHF" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Buying my first road bike, probably look at a C-dale CAA5 frame, should I got for 105 or Ultegra?
> Difference is only about $200 to go to full
Ultegra
> and that's Canadian dollars.
>
> What is the difference other than price?
>
> Stronger? Lighter? More Durable? Better riding?
>
> Thanks
>
Since this is your first road bike, you'll probably discover things that you do and don't like about
this bike. Until I deleted the sentence, I was going to recommend the Ultegra, but I re-read the
post. Since this is your first road bike, try it out with the 105, see what you like or don't like
about the bike/riding road.

Once you've figured out whether this is THE bike for you, you can always upgrade later. Till then,
run the 105 till it wears out, THEN go Ultegra or
D/A.

I've gone through several bikes over the years, starting with an '88 Crit frame C'dale with the blue
105 on it. Would I have noticed the difference between 600 and 105? Probably not. Did the 105 work
fine? Yup.

Save that $200 saddle and pedals/shoes upgrades. They'll make more of a difference to you now.

Mike

 

In article <[email protected]>,
"Mike S." <[email protected]> wrote:

> "MHF" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Buying my first road bike, probably look at a C-dale CAA5 frame, should I got for 105 or
> > Ultegra? Difference is only about $200 to go to full
> Ultegra
> > and that's Canadian dollars.
> >
> > What is the difference other than price?
> >
> > Stronger? Lighter? More Durable? Better riding?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> Since this is your first road bike, you'll probably discover things that you do and don't like
> about this bike. Until I deleted the sentence, I was going to recommend the Ultegra, but I re-read
> the post. Since this is your first road bike, try it out with the 105, see what you like or don't
> like about the bike/riding road.
>
> Once you've figured out whether this is THE bike for you, you can always upgrade later. Till then,
> run the 105 till it wears out, THEN go Ultegra or
> D/A.
>
> I've gone through several bikes over the years, starting with an '88 Crit frame C'dale with the
> blue 105 on it. Would I have noticed the difference between 600 and 105? Probably not. Did the 105
> work fine? Yup.
>
> Save that $200 saddle and pedals/shoes upgrades. They'll make more of a difference to you now.
>
> Mike

Mike speaks sense, but it should be noted that the price difference you cite is a very low
difference between Ultegra and 105. Either the Ultegra bike is quite a deal, or the 105 bike is not.

That said, Mike's advice, unless you have some aesthetic attachment to Ultegra, is good. Spend the
money on -- [Fabrizio takes over] a Kelme helmet like mine, and some decent Euro-pro gear! [nyargh!]
-- some other gear.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

"Ryan Cousineau" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Mike S." <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > "MHF" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Buying my first road bike, probably look at a C-dale CAA5 frame,
should I
> > > got for 105 or Ultegra? Difference is only about $200 to go to full
> > Ultegra
> > > and that's Canadian dollars.
> > >
> > > What is the difference other than price?
> > >
> > > Stronger? Lighter? More Durable? Better riding?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > Since this is your first road bike, you'll probably discover things that
you
> > do and don't like about this bike. Until I deleted the sentence, I
was
> > going to recommend the Ultegra, but I re-read the post. Since this is
your
> > first road bike, try it out with the 105, see what you like or don't
like
> > about the bike/riding road.
> >
> > Once you've figured out whether this is THE bike for you, you can always upgrade later. Till
> > then, run the 105 till it wears out, THEN go
Ultegra or
> > D/A.
> >
> > I've gone through several bikes over the years, starting with an '88
Crit
> > frame C'dale with the blue 105 on it. Would I have noticed the
difference
> > between 600 and 105? Probably not. Did the 105 work fine? Yup.
> >
> > Save that $200 saddle and pedals/shoes upgrades. They'll make more of a difference to you now.
> >
> > Mike
>
> Mike speaks sense, but it should be noted that the price difference you cite is a very low
> difference between Ultegra and 105. Either the Ultegra bike is quite a deal, or the 105
> bike is not.
>
> That said, Mike's advice, unless you have some aesthetic attachment to Ultegra, is good. Spend the
> money on -- [Fabrizio takes over] a Kelme helmet like mine, and some decent Euro-pro gear!
> [nyargh!] -- some other gear.

I have Dura-Ace on one bike and Ultegra on another. I think that the Ultegra is every bit as good as
Dura-Ace except in the braking.

 

In general, the only time you will notice the difference between 105 and Ultegra is when some racer
snob comes along and sneers that you only have 105 components on your bike rather than Ultegra.

In fact, you will notice the same difference between Ultegra and Dura-Ace in some cases too.

 

"MHF" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Buying my first road bike, probably look at a C-dale CAA5 frame, should I got for 105 or Ultegra?
> Difference is only about $200 to go to full
Ultegra
> and that's Canadian dollars.
>
> What is the difference other than price?
>
> Stronger? Lighter? More Durable? Better riding?
>
> Thanks
>
I'm a little late on this for posting, but I am one of those people just getting back into
road cycling.

You will probably not notice any difference between 105 and Ultegra. There will be some small weight
difference. My biggest concern when buying a new bike was to make sure that I was not the slowest
person on the most expensive bike.

I looked at all kinds of bikes and decided on a Pavan bike with Campagnolo Centaur components. The
reason for the choice was that I love the idea of an all Italian bike, from a very nice retired
Italian bike racer. (www.pavancycle.com)

As far as I could see most bikes have similar prices when comparing apples to apples. When looking
in the Toronto area, I found that most of the American bikes - Giant, Trek, Klein and Specialized
all have frames made by the same manufacturer.

If you want to be a little different, look at the Klein for carbon stays and forks with a 105/Tiagra
mix for about $2,000.00.

Dollar for dollar, I found a number of places that had last years bikes for $1200.00 to 1700.00.

Bikefit in St. Catharines had a medium framed Giant OCR for $1100.00.

For the least expensive all carbon frame, there was a shop in Scarborough selling EPX carbon framed
bikes for $2400.00 with 105. You can find the store by looking on the EPX web site www.epx.com

My wife purchased a Guru Flite with 105 for $2100.00 with upgraded wheels.

Good Luck - there is lots to see out there.

Doug Thomas Welland, Ontario

 

Let me shock. Have you tried Tiagra?

The reason I ask is that I have a CAAD 3 with Ultegra which I race (Masters). The ultegra levers
rattle and make quite unpleasant noises but I have heard the new ones don't (mine are 99 vintage).
My wife has a beautiful LeMonde Zurich with Tiagra, she doesn't race. Aside from weight I see no
differences in the gear changing, but a huge difference in the brakes.

Yep, both bikes have gears that change perfectly. In fact I reckon I imagine the LeMonde is crisper
with its Tiagra but it has done a lot less kms than my Ultegra which is going on 15,000 km
(maintenance free expect chains and the first new rear cassette).

The Tiagra brakes can only be described as poor being fitted with undersize pad holders which I
swapped out for Dura Ace pad holders. The holes are cunning made to make the cheaper Ultegra holders
not fit (hole too small). I almost drilled it but decided not to.

The good advice you were given previously I agree with. If your not racing put the extra cash you
save into a saddle that's perfect for you, or lights that make the earth glow, or some other useful
bit. A little extra weight on the drive train can easily be worth trading for a better frame too!!

In fact every time I drool over the upcoming dura ace 10 speed my wife's response sum's up the best
advice I've heard... spend the money on a bike holiday in the mountains and make a real
difference!!!

Just my two cents,

Cheers,

Tony W.

--
Sabine Wilkins Germane Translations 26 Consett Street * Concord West, NSW 2138 Phone/Fax (02) 9743
5978 Mobile 0411 480 058 "MHF" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Buying my first road bike, probably look at a C-dale CAA5 frame, should I got for 105 or Ultegra?
> Difference is only about $200 to go to full
Ultegra
> and that's Canadian dollars.
>
> What is the difference other than price?
>
> Stronger? Lighter? More Durable? Better riding?
>
> Thanks

 

bosaci wrote:
> I have Dura-Ace on one bike and Ultegra on another. I think that the Ultegra is every bit as good
> as Dura-Ace except in the braking.

Is that right? I'm riding with Dura-Ace everywhere, but with Ultegra brake calipers. What
performance difference do you find between the DA and Ultegra brakes?

When I was making my decision, I visited roadbikereview.com, where there was some debate about which
brakes were better. http://www.roadbikereview.com/Brake+Calipers/Shimano/MPL_5126_2480crx.aspx

Nicholas Grieco