Quality of 2011 Shimano 105.... any views?

[jay clock]

I have a bike with 2 yr old 10 speed Ultegra and another with brand new 2011 10 speed 105 (double chainset). The look of the levers looks like a cover plate is missing (all just looks a bit agricultural). They work ok, but I have a feeling that routing the gear cables under the bar tape as increased friction so not as slick. But fine in my view. (I had changed from a Trek 1.2 with 2300 levers to a Trek 2.1 with the new 105 and no significant difference in ease of shifting)

However, I just had a week in Spain and rented a road bike. Cannondale Supersix with the same 10 speed 105 as I have at home, but a triple. The shift (partic the left STI) was unbelievably stiff. The guy I rented from has 80 identical bikes and was warning people about the poor shifting. He said that this year's 105 has the insides of last year's Ultegra but with some bits replaced with cheaper plastic (no idea if that is true). That combined with the cable routing is the reason that the shifting is so poor in his view. I must say the one I had required a huge amount of effort to shift, even the right STI being stiff, and meaning I was focussing on changes to make sure I really eased off the pressure before a front chainring change.


Anyone else got any views on this?

 

[billy1561]

I have the Synapse 105 and the shifting is quick and easy to do. Occasionally I feel I have to push a little further to engage a change on the front but its no harder to do. Had an indexing issue that was adjusted on the bikes first check which was just initial cable stretch. All in all very happy with 105 but I have nothing else to compare it with past or present.

 

[PaulSecteur]

I have to older 105 (5600 - gear cables external) on my secteur triple, and have tried the newer 105 (5700 - gear cable under the bartape) on a compact and they both shifted sweetly.

 

[festival]

If fitted and serviced correctly it is an excellent piece of kit

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

i've had to replace the stock cables as they rusted and they do run a bit sharp from the exit of the housing, plus the brake cables creak under the tape. i have interrupter cx brakes on the top of the bars tho. shifting seems ok but not as free as top end stuff, but 105's not top end stuff is it?

 

[the_mikey]

I have 2011 105 on one of my road bikes and have had no particular issues, the first few weeks of use is always a pain with shifters as the cables seem to stretch, requiring constant adjustment until they settle down.

 

[YahudaMoon]

New'ish 105 sti's here. I have the gloss black model without the 105 decals. No problems here after 12 month use

 

[smokeysmoo]

Routing the gear cables under the bar tape will not increase friction. You cannot exert enough pressure with bar tape to compress the outer cables to a level that be detrimental to their performance

Your cables may well have degraded over time and require replacement, but there position under the bar tape is in itself not an issue IMHO

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Routing the gear cables under the bar tape will not increase friction. You cannot exert enough pressure with bar tape to compress the outer cables to a level that be detrimental to their performance

Your cables may well have degraded over time and require replacement, but there position under the bar tape is in itself not an issue IMHO

Agreed - You need pliers to exert enough force to deform a cable outer!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Agreed - You need pliers to exert enough force to deform a cable outer!

i disagree with both off you, it's not the pressure of the tape that causes the friction, it's the bending of the cables into the shallow radii of the bars, and then the shallow radii bending round the headset to follow the frame. not by much i grant you, but it does make a difference and when i changed from drops to flat's i could tell the difference it made to the braking on my fixie, so much so i dropped from full v's to mini v's (yes i had the proper aero levers).

 

[smokeysmoo]

i disagree with both off you, it's not the pressure of the tape that causes the friction, it's the bending of the cables into the shallow radii of the bars, and then the shallow radii bending round the headset to follow the frame. not by much i grant you, but it does make a difference.

Perhaps it depends on the quality of the cables. All I can base my comments on is my own experience, (logically ), and on 7 road bikes set up with internal cabling since 2007, (rode MTB's before that), I've never had an issue with internally routed cables on any of them

 

[Angelfishsolo]

i disagree with both off you, it's not the pressure of the tape that causes the friction, it's the bending of the cables into the shallow radii of the bars, and then the shallow radii bending round the headset to follow the frame. not by much i grant you, but it does make a difference and when i changed from drops to flat's i could tell the difference it made to the braking on my fixie, so much so i dropped from full v's to mini v's (yes i had the proper aero levers).

Unless you bend the outer so much that it kinks the increase in fiction will be so minimal as to be unnoticeable.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Perhaps it depends on the quality of the cables. All I can base my comments on is my own experience, (logically ), and on 7 road bikes set up with internal cabling since 2007, (rode MTB's before that), I've never had an issue with internally routed cables on any of them

i didn't say it was a problem, i was just making a point. i've never had a problem either because it's so insignificant, but on the 105's i have if you hold the cable and pull on the brakes before the cable is taped up and after you can really tell the difference. but like you said it makes no difference to the 105's performance. the op wasn't asking about performance, just why the brakes bind when turning the bars.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Unless you bend the outer so much that it kinks the increase in fiction will be so minimal as to be unnoticeable.

read post above, you are wrong, if your statement was true, we wouldn't need good quality cables under the tape. try it with poor quality cables both above and below the tape.

i have on bikes in the past, poor quality cables work just fine not being internally run, but don't work satisfactory internally run.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

read post above, you are wrong, if your statement was true, we wouldn't need good quality cables under the tape. try it with poor quality cables both above and below the tape.

i have on bikes in the past, poor quality cables work just fine not being internally run, but don't work satisfactory internally run.

I have ridden bikes with clarks cables with the outers fitted under and over the bar tape. I have never noticed a difference. I have noticed issues if the outer sheathing is polluted by crud or not properly weather-proofed. What we have here are two conflicting personal experience stories. Bottom line is they tell us nothing.