- In spring of 2018 Shimano announced a complete overhaul
of their super-popular workhorse groupset 105.
And seeing as it's now cropping up all over 2019 bikes
both in the shops and on the internet
Shimano kindly sent us a full groupset
so we could talk you through it's finer points.
Oh and go for a ride.
The top line points to note
is you've got 11 sprockets at the back
and two up front giving you 22 gears.
The new groupset has two break options,
disc break and rim break.
And two finish options, silver
or the black that we have here.
You can choose from an array of super wide gear options,
even down to a lowest gear of 34/34.
And the redesign improves the ergonomics,
particularly for smaller riders
or those with small hands are gonna be super excited
because there is a smaller lever option as well.
Now we've got hands on the R7020 version.
Which as you can see is the hydraulic disc break one.
R7000 is the rim break version.
Now this is officially the first time
that disk breaks have popped up at 105 level
although there has been a disk option
at a similar price point,
just without the 105 logos on.
But it's with good reason
because it's fair to say I think
that Shimano don't take
sticking a logo on something lightly.
They're very particular about
what they call groupset integration.
And so they waited to design
it altogether from the ground up.
As they have done with it's bigger brothers,
Ultegra and Dura Ace, before it.
And I think it's a good thing
that this one has come out third
because as we all hoped
some of the features from those more expensive groupsets
have now trickled down on to 105.
Starting up here with the breaks.
Now there is a reduced shifter body diameter there,
so that affectively means it feels a little bit smaller
in your hands.
I think that gives you a more secure grip on the bike
as well as actually reducing fatigue as well.
Now in order to fit all the hydraulics inside
Shimano have kinda extended the lever forwards and up
a little bit more than they have on Dura Ace.
But it's been shaped quite ergonomically,
so it kind of functions as an additional hand position.
As well as the smaller diameter
being great for people with smaller hands
there is also reach adjust on there
so you dial in a little screw
and that actually brings the lever closer to your handlebar.
I mean essential for people with smaller hands.
In addition to that there is also, of course,
the aforementioned alternative lever option.
So it's called R7025, as opposed to R7020.
Remember that I'll be testing you on it later on.
Now on it the lever blade
has actually been angled closer towards the handlebars
bringing it in by that four millimeters Shimano say.
So another real bonus for people with small hands.
The disk rotors are available in 160 and 140 mil diameters
for smaller, again, perfect for smaller riders.
Larger riders will want to go for 160's
just because of reduced heat build up on long descents.
Although, as far as I'm aware,
all those early fears about heat and break faith
haven't ever materialized with road disk breaks.
These also, once we think about with heat
have got those thinned Ice-Tach pads
that we've seen before on Ultegra and Dura Ace.
What they don't have
is the large cooling fins on the rotors
that Ultegra and Dura Ace have.
But they do still share that same triple layer
with an aluminum core design.
Now in use, well what can be said about disk brakes
that hasn't been said before?
You get more power of course.
Although that's kinda not the point.
You get more modulation which gives you more control.
And as we're sort of getting towards winter
as you can see,
their ability in poor conditions
really makes them stand out, certainly for me.
The durability is a big one.
Down at the caliper you'll see it's flat mount
and in terms of the rotors
we don't actually have the new 105 ones on these wheels.
These are the older style Shimano disk rotors.
Away from the breaks
there have been loads of other wholesale changes
from the previous version of 105.
The new rear mech has been designed
using Shimano's Shadow technology.
This means that the derailleur has a much lower profile
and it's tucked underneath the rear cassette.
It's actually the first opportunity for Shimano
to design their 105 mech in the Shadow style
and it brings it in line
with their Ultegra and Dura Ace groupsets as well.
It means that it's better protected against knocks.
You know the ones where you lean your bike up at a cafe
and you see it falling over
as you sit drinking your flat white.
And it also apparently makes it a little bit easier
to put the back wheel in and out.
The derailleur comes in two cage length options.
The longer of which will fit an 11 to 34 cassette
which we've got here.
Now moving forward to the front derailleur
that has been completely redesigned.
It's now got that toggle-cam design
that we first saw on Dura Ace,
we've also see now on Ultegra.
A few different advantages to that,
firstly it actually reduces the amount of force
that you need to move the shift lever up
at the handlebars there.
Then you also get increased tire clearance.
So great if you're running it on a gravel bike.
And then finally, for the first time,
there is a cable tension adjustment bolt
which means that you don't actually need
a barrel adjuster somewhere else on your cable routing.
Which is great in my book
cause often those barrel adjusters
have always seized on my bikes.
As well as the derailleur
making the shift feel lighter at the handlebars
the actual internals of the shifters have also been changed.
Shimano say that they've now reduced the leaver throw
so what effect,
well that means is that you don't have to move
the levers as far to actuate a shift.
Now visually perhaps I think the crankset
is the most important part of a groupset.
And in this case
the 105 clearly shares the same silhouette
as it's more expensive brothers, Dura Ace and Ultegra.
You've got that asymmetric four bolt pattern.
Now not just looks though with this redesign
it shed 30 grams.
And although we can't really give any performance claims
about it Shimano don't make any about stiffness
and so forth,
given that it does share so much DNA
with Dura Ace you would expect it to be pretty beefy.
Now in use it certainly feels like that
although it'd be impossible to give you
any meaningful feedback given you can't really separate
stiffness of frame from crank, from pedals,
from tires, from,
well you get the picture.
Now interestingly, for about four of you,
the pitch of the chainring
has also been changed much like an Ultegra and Dura Ace
and although that doesn't change
the performance of the groupset
what it does do
is allow bike manufacturers
to actually design their frames a little bit differently.
You can have shorter chainstays,
which you wouldn't want on every bike,
but you would want
on really nice, racy, snappy feeling bikes.
Now whilst we're sticking with chainrings
I did notice that the big ring here
is really beefed up
with loads of kind of supporting fins on the inside.
Because I guess a stiffer front chainring
is a good thing
particularly for crisp, smooth shifts.
Now lastly
the pedals on this bike
are my eight year old Ultegra ones.
But actually the new 105 pedals
have changed quite significantly.
They're 20 grams lighter.
They've also got a lower stack height.
So what that would mean
is you could drop you saddle ever so slightly
putting you weight lower on the bike
which is excellent for fun cornering.
Now what about that all important weight then?
Well we haven't put our a particular groupset
on the scales but apparently all in
a 105 groupset is 2,489 grams.
Which probably doesn't tell you a great deal
but if I put into context
and say that Ultegra is just a 174 grams lighter,
then you'll see that there isn't much of a difference
there at all.
And actually when I say the old 105
and old Ultegra were separated by 370 grams
then you'll see that it's some pretty good news
that the gap between the two is coming down.
Now in performance terms
it's pretty hard to compare
this to Ultegra and Dura Ace
but we are gonna give it a try.
We've got a video coming out shortly
which is 105 versus Dura Ace.
So stay tuned to that.
There'll be some blind testing going on.
Oh yes!
I don't know quite how that's going to work,
but there we go.
Please give this video a big thumbs up
if you like what you see.
And also get involved in the comments.
What do you think about the new 105?
Is everything that you wanted to see here on this groupset?
Let us know.
I'd be very interested to read what you have to say.
If you want to see a video about
the Ultegra groupset versus Dura Ace
that Lloydie made a couple of months back
then you can get through to that one
by clicking on screen now.