# Shimano 105 vs. Shimano Ultegra



## [schmick] (Aug 3, 2004)

Hi Everybody,

Just wanted to know if people thought there was a significant difference between a bike equipment with full Shimano 105 Components and a bike equipment with full Shimano Ultegra Components?

There isn't much price difference between bikes with these components but was wondering whether it would be better to spend the extra couple of hundred on an Ultegra equipment bike...

Thanks for all your help....


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## OES (Jan 23, 2002)

*No*



[schmick] said:


> Hi Everybody,
> 
> Just wanted to know if people thought there was a significant difference between a bike equipment with full Shimano 105 Components and a bike equipment with full Shimano Ultegra Components?
> 
> ...


and no.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Only for your ego. Ultegra parts cost more, so they must be "Better". The truth is, the only difference is finish and weight. If you're thinking of putting either 105 or Ultegra on a bike, the 1/2 pound (or less), you save, won't make any difference.
Ultegra looks nicer. If that is important to you, go with it.


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## johnny99 (Apr 2, 2004)

When you're shopping for complete bikes, remember that an Ultegra-equipped bike often comes with nicer wheels and fork than a 105-equipped bike. In many cases, the wheel and fork upgrades will give you a bigger performance boost than Ultegra vs. 105.


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## LC (Jan 28, 2004)

The main thing you will notice is how shiny the parts are, but there are some functional differences as well. Better seals on the bearings is one thing, and the bearings in the STI shifters are better on Ultegra so after you have the parts a few years they will not be as sloppy. There are little things like self extracting crank arm bolts that are better when it come time for some maintenance. The cassette is a lot lighter with the aluminum carrier, and the chainrings of Ultegra last quite a bit longer too. 105 is good stuff and when new it is impossible to tell any difference while riding, but I think Ultegra is worth the price if you have the money for it and if you happen to ever sell the resale value is better too..


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## kure (Jun 29, 2004)

*lemmi get this str8*

ok ive been reading all these"ultegra Vs 105" Ultegra Vs D/A" everybody seems to say there is not much of a Difference beteween ultegra an 105 apart from weith... an then again most people also say Ultegra and D/a is not much of a difference 

so are we saying that 105 Vs D/A is not much of a difference in performance?????take out the weight factor..


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## Flying Irishman (Mar 23, 2004)

I have both 105 and Ultegra equipped bikes and have very little difference between them. The Ultegra components due have a nicer finish, but personally if building a bike I'd go 105 and apply the savings to a nicer set of wheels.


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## 633 (Feb 10, 2004)

Johnny's point is a good one that on complete bikes, there's often a slightly better wheelset on the Ultegra model. And another factor to consider is resale value - Ultregra will be worth more than 105 when you go to sell the bike.

If you're building up a bike and buying the components and you don't plan to ever sell it, then there may not be any value in spending the extra money for Ultegra.

Do note, though, that Ultegra 10 is due out this fall, so value of Ultegra 9 may drop considerably - and if you can hold out for a couple more months (not sure when exactly it's due), you may pay a lot less as dealers try to clear out bikes with Ultegra 9.


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## bkranich (May 7, 2004)

633 said:


> Do note, though, that Ultegra 10 is due out this fall, so value of Ultegra 9 may drop considerably - and if you can hold out for a couple more months (not sure when exactly it's due), you may pay a lot less as dealers try to clear out bikes with Ultegra 9.


That's what I did when I was building up my Cannondale frameset with DuraAce 9. Never thought I'd spend the money for DA until it became so cheap because of the new bling-bling crankset/bb and 10 speed componentry. I'm not at a point where the difference between 10sp and 9sp stuff is going to hold me back. Once the 2005 stuff comes out there's probably not going to be much of a difference between old Ultegra and 105 stuff.


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## Jett (Mar 21, 2004)

kure said:


> ok ive been reading all these"ultegra Vs 105" Ultegra Vs D/A" everybody seems to say there is not much of a Difference beteween ultegra an 105 apart from weith... an then again most people also say Ultegra and D/a is not much of a difference
> 
> so are we saying that 105 Vs D/A is not much of a difference in performance?????take out the weight factor..



Your logic is off here. Let say we can quantify the performance difference between component groups and that a value less then 1 is not a noticeable increase performance. Now, let say that going from 105 to Ultegra rates a .6 and going from Ultegra to DA rates a .8. Both those rating are under 1 so there is not a real noticeable increase in performance in either one of these upgrade paths. If we do the math going from 105 to DA would rate a 1.4, which translate into a noticeable increase in performance.

Now I just want to make it clear, I’m not say there is a noticeable increase in performance going from 105 to DA (or there isn't). These are numbers I just pulled out of thin air to point out the hole in your logic. You probably can’t even quantify difference in components.


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