I‘m currently saving for the Canyon aeroad. I‘m not sure if I should save 6 months longer and get the bike with the Ultegra di2. Or is the 105 di2 more than enough?
by AdOwn9753
I‘m currently saving for the Canyon aeroad. I‘m not sure if I should save 6 months longer and get the bike with the Ultegra di2. Or is the 105 di2 more than enough?
by AdOwn9753
27 Comments
Someone might prove me wrong. But I think the only difference between 105, ultegra, and dura-ace, is weight. So if weight or lack of it is important to you keep saving.
The gains would be marginal (if any), so if I were you I’d just buy what I can afford at the moment.
It depends how often/at what level you ride and what your goals are, but 105 is enough for most situations and people. I ride 10-12 hours a week and I have the equivalent SRAM group and it’s never fallen short of what I need
The question is: What do you plan to use your bike for? For recreational rides, 105 is comfortably more than enough.
For races, save up for another 2 years and get Dura-Ace. /s
The only upgrade you would feel form the 105 to ultegra would be the extra buttons on the ultegra hoods , the weight difference is almost negligible in the group sets, the feel and the shifting experience is exactly the same ,almost all the weight difference is due to the wheels and that too only a couple hundred grams, the only benefit I can see in getting ultegra is the deeper section wheels which might be a bit faster than the heavier 50mm on the 105 version. It all depends upon where you live if you do a lot of elevation gain/ hills/ mountains even a little bit weight loss might be beneficial, if you live on flat terrain it won’t make any difference whatsoever.
The Ultegra group may be a bit better than the 105, in terms of ergonomics and functionality. But if this is your first Di2 groupset, you may not even notice it. The 105 is a really solid groupset.
So IMO, the choice would mainly depend on your overall financial situation. For example, if is is easy for you to replace a ~€270 rear derailleur (Ultegra) over one of ~€175 (105), or you have the room to pay more for broken shifters or such, then Ultegra is an option. If not, go for 105.
Looks like the wheels are different as well…
I’d go for Ultegra personally. I love the top button and satellite shifters. But it’s personal preference on whether they are worth it to you.
Honestly, if you need to save for it, it is probably not worth it
You can check the specs, but the aeroad is already a heavier bike being an aero bike, so you wouldn’t see as much of a difference in the total weight between the two.
I personally can’t notice any stiffness or performance differences between my 105 bike and my ultegra bike. That being said, I think the 105 version comes standard with different gearing. It might have a smaller crank in the front and a larger cassette in the back which will be better for a novice cyclist. The ultegra usually comes standard with a 52/36 crank and an 11/30 cassette which is considered the standard for performance. You can definitely get around with that no problem, but the bigger range in the standard 105 will be better for climbing if your legs aren’t up to par
I would save to buy a bike from a bike shop so when my pos direct to consumer bike breaks there’s someone around that can help fix it
Absolutely not.
For 1700€ you are getting Ultegra instead of 105, better wheels, and a carbon saddle.
It depends, if you have something to ride at the moment and when will you have to wait. If that half a year is during the winter, then who cares.
None of the bikes is available until November, so it might give you enough time to save up.
But if you decide to save another half year from november, it might be too long and leave you at the uncertainty of next batch delivery.
For me, Ultegra does not provide much added value, it’s even a complication, because it doesn’t come with an 11-34 cassette (105 does). But it does have programmable buttons for Garmin on the hoods.
You will have to decide for yourself, but for me SLX 8 is just too expensive and SLX 7 is already so capable bike it’s hard to improve drastically (for my fitness level).
With 105di2, you can go up to a 36 tooth cassette; not sure if that’s the case with Ultegra Di2.
I’ve ridden Ultegra most of my life. My new bike has 105 Di2 and I’m 100% happy with it. I haven’t ridden Ultegra Di2 but I can’t imagine it being worth the extra money.
105 di2 is more than enough for most people. Ultra won’t make you any faster really, it’s mostly a bit lighter. Unless you are worried about losing by half a second in a time trial, it’s just not worth an extra 2000
I’ve got Ultegra di2 on my endurace but have had 105 di2 on the bike I hired on two separate trips to Mallorca.
The main difference for me was the extra hood buttons which I use to change my garmin screens. Other than that I didn’t notice any difference in performance.
€1700 is a LOT of money for an upgrade as small as that imo. That’s money to pay for an excellent holiday imo
No, save the money!
Honestly, you aren’t going notice any difference between 105 and ultegra as an amateur in your performance. Ultegra might feel slightly smoother but as far as electronic gearing goes, both are fantastic.
However, if you’re able to save a few months extra and buy the ultegra, get the ultegra. The reason being is that if you buy the best you can get, you will always feel amazing and not having a feeling of settling.
Common sense says get the 105, desire says get the ultegra.
Simple fact of the matter is that all of us amateurs could more than likely do what we do on an a full ultegra carbon bike that we could do on a aluminium with carbon fork and 105 for less than half the price. But we don’t as we like nice things. Spoil yourself, go with the ultegra.
105 is a probably the most bang for your buck
I have Ultegra on my bike and 105 on my wife’s, you’d be hard pushed to notice a difference in the operation of the gears themselves.
If you’d need to save another 6 months then I’d recommend the 105.
Why Di2?
Most of us wouldn’t notice any differences at all between the two and there may be some weight savings involved which again you can accomplish with a little weight loss.
105 is fine.
I think if you climb more, go with the better gear.
Unless you are riding for income, there is never a reason (other than doing what floats your boat) to spend more money for better stuff on the bike.
If you want to and can, you absolutely should!
But if you’re not getting paid to ride a bike, you’re not riding a bike enough to actually get a real benefit (aside from satisfying your own interests – which is 100% cool!) from most bike upgrades.