I’m particularly interested in the shifting and lever feel.
Anyone used both ?
Bargainlicious 105 5600 on Merlin Cycles at the mo at £280.

I may be wrong but doesn’t the later 5700 have hidden brake and gear cables.

It does, but is that it ? I’m not paying £200 to have my cables hidden!
I’ll only pay for improvements in shifting etc

100

It’s newer, which in shimano land makes it 32.568976528363% better in a way you never imagined possible.

I think the brake cable pull may be different. That and the cables are hidden.

I’ve got 5600 on my road bike and it works fine.

Andy

I have the 5700 105 on a cross bike and the older style dura ace on the road bike.

The hoods are fatter on the newer stuff … its not uncomfortable, but i think i prefer the older style hoods for holding, just a little more confortable for me.

The newer 105 shift seems to shift with a little more clunk than the dura ace … althought both work fine and smooth.

Other than that …. err the cables hidden.

Andy is correct, the brakes on 5700 are meant to be more powerful than 5600 (there is a Shimano percentage figure somewhere).

If you already have 5600, there isn’t too much point in upgrading, but if you are buying from new, the 5700 would be preferable, as it has better shifting, brakes, and the nicer under hood cable STI’s

Would look carefully at the Merlin deal, as the brakes on the £280 groupsets are Tektro, from experience, are usless; and only have 170mm cranks.

Have you looked at the German shops like Rose, as they can be cheaper than the UK stores?

I’ve heard that the 5600 STIs aren’t compatible with the 5700 mechs due to different pull ratios. May be worth considering if you think you’ll have to replace the rear/front mech over the next few years.

I’m sure someone on here knows better.

I’d be surprised if the gear cable pull is different, but what do I know. I much prefer the fully hidden cable style of the new top end Shimano groups (and SRAM/Campy). Would I pay and extra £200 for it, really not sure, but possibly yes.

I’ve heard that the 5600 STIs aren’t compatible with the 5700 mechs due to different pull ratios.

Believe this is correct, but Mister P will be back in a minute to straighten out compatibility queries 🙂

Front mech is different, rear is the same, and as above, brakes are different. You can mix and match brakes, but they’ll feel crap!

You can only downshift 2 at a time with 5700 vs 3 with 5600, and the internals are more exposed on 5700, although it doesn’t seem to be a problem in practice I’d be wary if it’s a winter/commuter bike.

Personally I prefer the older hoods, and like the cable as somewhere to hook my thumbs, just a pain with lights as they reflect off the cables.

Rear is fine and fully interchangable. Front can be slightly tricker to set up as the cable pull did change a little. It should be workable though, just not 100% perfect in Shimano’s eyes.

As for the brakes I ran new cable pull 6700 Ultegra levers with older pull BR-R600 long drop callipers and they worked and felt fine. As good as the 6700 Ultegra callipers they replaced when I did a frame swap.

New font, hidden cables, probably franctionally lighter and that’s about it. I’ve used both and honestly couldn’t tell the difference. Hidden cables look good though.

I’ve 5700 on my CX Bike..

It feels lovely…

And yup, the concealed cables look mint IMHO..

Some great advice there from all you kind folk so far – I knew you’d come up with the goods !! Thanks