105 11 speed......anyone using them ?? any thoughts??

[StuAff]

I gathered, being fascias .
I also think, though I may be corrected, that this was a re introduction after dropping triples, the Athena that is.

The first 11-speed variants were all compact/standard doubles (no triple crank when I got Athena in 2010), though they now seem to have dropped the 10 speed triple option.

 

[HorTs]

Actually, Campagnolo do a triple version of Athena...no Shimano/SRAM options though.

Good point, I was only talking about Shimano.

 

[bpsmith]

It kind of is a trickle down effect in that 11 speed was held back only for Dura Ace and Ultegra and now 1005, but no further down. They hold it back to be top level specific and then it trickles down to the lower groupsets. It may be made with different materials, but it's still a trickle down of tech.

 

[Cubist]

I can see the time in the not too distant future when a 1x10 or 1x11 road group will be offered. All the gears are then discrete, narrow wide chainring to prevent drop, and death to the dreadful double\tripple mess we have right now. That extra gear will matter more then.

Already big in the MTB world. The advantage of a narrow wide single ring also means weight saved in the loss of front mech and shifter as well as chain device and bashguard. Clutch mechs keep the chain taut on the lumpy stuff.

Many companies are selling 40 or 42t cassette expander which fit behind a 36 t ten speed cassette, and you drop the 15t to make space. Enduro setups with 30,32,34,or 36t single n/w chainrings give you a bailout gear in the granny as low as 18.5 inches for steep climbs.

 

[DaveS]

I guess I may have derailed this thread a little and for that I apologise. With the 11 speed thing, I guess it all comes down to being honest with ourselves. The greater the number of cogs on the cassette, the less fault tolerant the system will be. For the fit and forget merchants, probably a bad idea, but for those of us that are engaged and happy to fettle, why not?

 

[bpsmith]

I guess I may have derailed this thread a little and for that I apologise. With the 11 speed thing, I guess it all comes down to being honest with ourselves. The greater the number of cogs on the cassette, the less fault tolerant the system will be. For the fit and forget merchants, probably a bad idea, but for those of us that are engaged and happy to fettle, why not?

I don't follow you? There's no more work involved with 11 speed than 10 speed than 9 speed...

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@DaveS and not to mention things built to higher tolerances tend to work better and for longer. Look at diesel engines over petrol, simply because diesel engines are built to higher tolerances they on the whole last longer, but lets face it on the great scheme of things its hardly high tech.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I don't follow you? There's no more work involved with 11 speed than 10 speed than 9 speed...

Dead right. Everything works exactly the same, it's no more complicated engineering wise than fitting a chainring with a few more teeth.