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105 must be one of the best value for money bits of kit around. OK if you've loads of money and are a gear freak buy your battery powered Dura Ace. Great for showing off with but at the level of most average club guys the improvement in performance is negated by the riders inability to get the best performance from it.
Even once I get around to popping to somewhere like B&Q and buying an M5x25 bolt so I can fit the rear Cubeguard on my road bike, because Cube have cleverly supplied every v2 revision of this propriety set with an incorrect length M5 for the chainstay mount, I doubt I will choose to take it out in wet wintry weather. It will just make me more inclined to take it out on days where it might rain, spring through to autumn.
A replacement Shimano 5800 chain and cassette would cost ~£50. before we even talk about the extra wear to other parts due to winter grime, such as ~£40 for a pair of finned disc brake pads. Yes, these are consumables, but they will last longer on dry miles.
If I wipe out on some ice or simply wet tarmac, the cost of replacing drivetrain bits like the £300+ hydraulic br505 shifters would cripple my bank account.
In comparison, replacement cassette/chain/pads for the Wazoo cost ~£32 all-in. Plus I can choose to go out on anything from 28-100mm tyres, including a set of 38mm ice stud tyres, to increase the odds of staying upright... Even if I'm going to be slower on the heavier bike.
My best bike has 105! I feel like a fraud...
105 must be one of the best value for money bits of kit around. OK if you’ve loads of money and are a gear freak buy your battery powered Dura Ace. Great for showing off with but at the level of most average club guys the improvement in performance is negated by the riders inability to get the best performance from it.
Like sports cars then, see loads of people sitting in jams in 150mph £50k
Motors. But then I don’t own a car so happily spend on my bikes.
MrSmith that sticker set is excellent- I’m tempted to plaster my winter bike in them and see who notices!
loads of people sitting in jams in 150mph £50k
Moto
Not similar at all.
I do wonder what's behind the "I MUST have the best" psychology.
Obviously some folk are suckers for advertising and consumerism, but it's got to be vanity underneath it all. It's not much more than a badge.
So many better things to spend money on.
What performance benefits are there with Dura Ace over 105? I say that as someone with 105 on the winter bike and Dura Ace and Ultegra Di2 on the other bikes. Am I not getting the performance benefits from using my Dura Ace? Curious now, presumed they were the same just functionally but made from different lighter materials.
Do my club mates who know how to use their Dura Ace gears get some hidden benefit I'm unaware of? How does one learn to get these benefits between different groupsets?
It's a bit lighter, shifts a bit nicer and looks a bit better. Maybe lasts a bit longer (shifters and mechs) bit functionally the same.
Di2 is nicer than mechanical IMHO, but new 5800 105 is really quite excellent for what is apparently a mid range group set.
So many better things to spend money on.
Such as?
I do wonder what’s behind the “I MUST have the best” psychology.
Quite, still happy to ride a 10 year old steel frame instead of a carbon race replica.
I ride an xc hardtail for my do it all bike. In winter it sports a few small frame bags to stache food and extra clothing and I use it on and off road. After doing this for a while I realised that I couldn’t go back to using a road bike which is just far too harsh and rattly compared to an mtb. A further perk is that rocket rons on the road produce a fair bit of drag which coupled with the upright riding position means you can still put force through the peddles going downhill which is great for holding consistent average power. It also uses a 2x10 drivetrain which is great for gear range, shifts well even when cruddy, and is cheap to replace. I give this a squirt of water at the end of each ride but the bike remeains unwashed most of the time.
It's fine for clubruns too. In a pack there’s plenty of shelter if you need it and the extra height and riding position makes it easy to see over the tops of other riders which is nice, plus the odd pothole isn’t going to faze it.
I do a lot of miles though so have probably thought about it more than most. Currently logging about 15-18hrs a week of zone 2 riding.
Re: rims brakes and spokes, dealing with a broken spoke on the road is really pretty simple, happened to me last week, took a couple of minutes to loosen opposing spokes a couple of quarter turns, tighten neighbouring spokes a couple of turns, loosen brakes a bit, hey presto, no rubbing.
Still better than the horror of disc brakes in cold wet conditions, the noise! 😖