Just been sent a great offer from probikekit..
Full shimano 105 11spd groupset for £266

Going from 36/46 chainrings and 12/27 cassette

To 52/36 chainrings 11/28 cassette

Im shit at working out what the ratios mean..
What will the real world difference be??

the 52 / 11 combo will make you awesome fast

how fast? calculator here if you know your cadence

http://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence

think the bigger drop from large to small will take a bit of getting used to but that’s the norm with compacts

bloomin heck, I just paid £65 for some 2nd hand 10s shifters! If I’d seen that offer I’d not have bothered!

Your lowest gear will be a tiny bit lower than you have now.

Your highest gear will be quite a lot higher than you have now.

The change between cogs on the back will be slightly more gradual (assuming you have 9- or 10-speed at the moment).

The change between cogs on the front will be quite a lot more dramatic that it is at the moment and will probably involve shifting a couple of cogs in the opposite direction on the rear to compensate.

The shifting will feel great! The new 11-speed stuff works incredibly well if maintained properly (and using the proper cables – which many of the OEM bundles you see are not supplied with. If yours doesn’t come with the proper cables, do yourself a favour and get some of the genuine Shimano polymer-coated 11-speed specific cables – it makes a heck of a difference. They’re supplied with the groupset if you get an aftermarket one).

Hmmm.. No idea on my cadence?
I tend to spin smaller gears fast (im a small light rider) and get out of my saddle quite a bit.

Not really sure why but Ive never really thought about the ratios.
All those numbers didnt make any sense… I just ran straight back to stw a bit confused.

Im pretty happy with what i have now but upgrade-itis is sucking me in..

105 5800 is sooooo nice.

The using the inner ring; the gears will be nigh on the same.

The outer ring will be a bit harder to pedal; you might find yourself changing to the inner ring sooner. If you find yourself comfortably spinning your 46/12, then the 52 will give you a bit more speed.

28/11 is a waste of time anyway. 27/12 is the perfect ratio cassette, shame they don’t do an 11 speed version.

If I were you, I’d get a 50/34 chainset with a 12/25 cassette.

Thanks dtf… annoyingly they dont have 170mm cranks in that combo

No worries. Pretty sure you can swap the rings about as the BCD is the same on the lot of them.

There’s probably not loads of difference in it. I using the large sprocket alot for short fast climbs; I reckon a 52 would mean I need to change down sooner.

A 34 – 25 is probably very close to your current 36 – 27 lowest gear. Benefit of the 25/12 is you gett loads of cogs in between. It’s my next cassette. Gosh, I can’t wait!

28/11 is a waste of time anyway. 27/12 is the perfect ratio cassette, shame they don’t do an 11 speed version.

Depends how heavy you are, a bigger rider will need a bigger range as their weight it working against them uphill but the extra power works for them on the flat/downhill, the lighter you are the more you can get away with closer ratio’s.

Having said that 52-11 is a bit nuts for most people, bearing in mind most pro bikes had a 52-13 until bikes developed more gears than we knew what to do with.

Great groupset, just bear in mind you need an 11speed hub/wheel

Could someone Link to the £266 groupset please, I can’t see it at that price on the website.

Thanks

It was a 15% off code sent to my inbox… Don’t think it’s transferable.
Went to checkout.. And what do you know…
There’s exclusions for the discount gawdddammit

£280 at Ribble this week.

Don’t ask me how I know that.

😳

You’ll be able to go faster on the downhills, probably won’t make much different on the flat. I just switched from 9 speed to 11 speed, but kept the same chainset size and roughly the same cassette size. Don’t notice a huuuge difference really. Just nicer.

I don’t think I could pedal 52*11. My knees would explode.

£280 at Ribble this week.

Is there a code for that?
Cheapest i can get it to is £301

just received 2 sets of 105 for our bike builds. Went for 50/34 and 11/32 cassette. Also changed to an ultegra chainset as I didn’t like the look of the 105 ones.

Is this not the right one?

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/gsd/road-track-bike/shimano-105-5800-black-11-spd-double-groupset?part=GSSHIM105B580010D&sub=conf_GS_SHR&bike=1

Actually it doesn’t seem to have your in-betweeney crankset, sorry.

Is there much between 105 and ultegra these days

^^^ I have 11 speed 105 on a new CDF and 2012 Ultegra on my Defy. The 105 feels nicer in use.

Yeah but i hear the new 6800 is a big improvement but then so is 105

105 5800 is sooooo nice.

Certainly is, and much less finicky to setup than I expected.

FWIW Merlin always sell at more or less this price (I paid a smidge over 300) – you just have to be quick to get the combination of components you want or take a hit elsewhere (I ended up sourcing an Ultegra long cage mech elsewhere in addition). This is retail boxed bits (apart from front mech for me) and includes Shimano cables etc.

It means you’ll be £266 lighter and your bike will still be able to be ridden exactly as it is now 😉

Is there much between 105 and ultegra these days

I could let you know myself in a couple of weeks, but the press seem to think it’s functionally very similar but with just under 400g weight difference.

As said, I wouldn’t go that high. I’m running 50/34 compact to 11/25 now in the Eastern Alps (edge of the Fens) and never use the top 2 or 3 gears. 50/36 and 12/28 cassette sounds perfect. However, if you do ride big lumps, the higher top gears may come in handy if you don’t want to freewheel whilst descending.

£280 at Ribble this week.

Don’t ask me how I know that.

Mine’s in the post!

I may swap the 34T inner ring for a 36T – should give a better spread of “conversational” gears without needing to keep changing the front.

Mine should be packed today, hopefully.

FWIW I have Ultegra 11sp compact 50/34 with 11-28 and it’s bloody marvellous for my hilly local riding.

Great range but still feels like close ratios between gears.