Why are you thinking of upgrading? What do you think you'll gain?

I have (or had) bikes with Tiagra, 105, & Ultegra. I would never ever upgrade from 105 to Ultegra just for the sake of it. Total waste of money to replace perfectly working parts with little to no gain (Yes the difference is pretty small). Especially if I was a weekender doing 30mi.

If something breaks, then consider replace it with Ultegra if you wish.

 

Best bang for the buck; Shimano Road Components - Where to Spend Your Money

 

You don't say what generation of 105 you have (5700? 5800?), or which generation of Ultegra you are considering (6700,6800, 6870 di2?). You also don't say what you are trying to accomplish. Shiny new bling? Better shifting? Go faster (vrooooom!)

You also didn't tell us how much your money means to you, which makes it difficult for us to tell you if it's 'worth it'.

Assuming you are going from 105 11sp (5800) to Ultegra 11sp (6800), common sense would say this is not a good value. 5800 shifts really well across the board. Especially in the rear. You might feel some improvement in the 'feel' of shifting with new shifters and a new FD, but again, those gains are marginal, and subjective.

None of it is going to make you or your bike faster.

 

I'm with this guy. ^^^

I've ridden 5700 105, 5800 105, 6700 Ultegra, 6800 Ultegra and DA9000 Dura-ace. If you're going from the 5700 105 up to 6800 Ultegra, I'd say you'll notice a difference. It will feel different to you. It will be smoother, lighter action, etc. It just feels better all around. It won't really make you any faster, but you might enjoy riding your bike more and that can make you faster sometimes. If you're staying in the 10 speed class, simply going from 105 to Ultegra won't accomplish much, except maybe saving a little bit of weight. In the 11 speed class, I'd say the same. You won't see much change. My Allez started as a 5800 105 bike and I've gradually upgraded it to Ultegra 6800 as friends have upgraded their Ultegra bikes to DA and I picked up the used 6800 parts cheaply. I swapped the crank, brakes and FD. I have the RD but haven't put it on yet, because the 5800 RD is fine. At some point, I'll get to it, maybe over the winter.

 

I will say this.

You will notice a considerable improvement in shifting smoothness and quality going from Shimano's previous generation 5700/6700/7900 (10-speed) to their current generation 5800/6800/9000 (11-speed).

You will notice very little to no improvement going to a higher group set within a generation ex: 5700 to 6700 or 5800 to 6800. Waste of money.

Unfortunately, as TLG said, if your freehub is older and can only take a 10-speed cassette, you will have to change your rear wheel to a newer 11-speed compatible one.

 

You will notice a considerable improvement in shifting smoothness and quality going from Shimano's previous generation 5700/6700/7900 (10-speed) to their current generation 5800/6800/9000 (11-speed).

I own two bikes, one with 7900 and one with 6800 and definitely agree with that.

Even so though, OP, that better shifting does absolutely nothing for my speed or enjoyment. So I would't bother unless you just want to upgrade for the sake of being OCD about shifting precision. It does nothing for riding performance.

 

I'll provide a controversial and counter viewpoint...

I loved everything about my 2013 Felt Z4...except the drive train. It just never shifted well. I had it to 3 different shops (and probably at least 5 mechanics between them), tried different chains, replaced the shift cables twice, replace the rear mech once and nothing solved the problem.

After 2 years and about 15k miles I finally upgraded from the 5700 (10 speed 105) to 6800 (11 speed Ultegra). I also dumped the FSA crankset and the pressfit BB and got an Ultegra crankset with a Praxis BB adapter (I battled a creaking BB from the day I took it home from the shop).

It was like riding a new bike. The Ultegra shifted flawlessly whereas the 105 was constantly mis-shifting.

I know plenty of people run 105 without any issues and I believe them but for me it was a constant lesson in frustration. I'm more than happy with the upgrade a year and a half later.

 

yeah, but I don't think your experience had anything to to with going from 105 to Ultegra but had to do with going from one generation to another.

 

There ya go. Sounds like you should just buy a new bike with Ultegra 6800.

You are welcome =)

 

I can't speak about 105 to Ultegra but I upgraded from 6800 to 9000. Didn't really notice any difference on the brakes. Shifting is marginally better. Is it worth it if you sit down and do the analysis, probably not, but 9000 is as good as it gets for a mechanical group set and 9100 isn't much of a change unless you're getting disc or electronic and it just feels better to ride a top notch bike.

The important question to ask is what you are trying to achieve. If you think shedding some weight in the group set will make you ride faster, you'll be very disappointed. If you are on a previous generation 105, Ultegra, or Dura Ace you may find it worthwhile simply because the shifters feel better, at least they did to me. I also found myself using the trim feature less on the current generation than I did on 6700.

 

Not much advantage in going from 10 to 11 gears. The closer gear ratios mostly benefit racers who are trying to achieve some optimum ratio. 10 is plenty and in doesn't limit the extreme ranges.

 

First off, I'm new to this forum and wanted to say thanks for all the great advice. I took my bike to my local bike shop yesterday for a complete tuneup, change all my cables (which were the originals) new Ultegra chain as it needed a new one and some flashy new bar tape. The mechanic confirmed it wouldn't be worth switching over to Ultegra or even changing wheelset (in my budget). I'll save a few bucks here and there and start looking into a full carbon with Ultegra.

Thanks All

 

So..... how does it shift???

 

I do most of my own work. I buy my parts from a one man repair shop owned by a guy in my local bike club. He builds a few bikes but mostly just does repairs. It costs me a few bucks extra for parts but it is worth it for the free advice. Several years back he told me that anything above 105 was a waste of money. If you want to upgrade something that will make a difference go with better wheels.

 

I think most of these group sets perform their function when new, but how does a 5 or 10 year old sora hold up against a similar aged old dura ace? That's my question. As you go down from Dura Ace to Sora or less at each step Shimano is decontenting just a little. Maybe not a big deal when comparing Ultegra to Dura Ace but jump enough price points and you just might notice.

 

but how does a 5 or 10 year old

Unless they don't ride much, don't people just replace with new by then?

jump enough price points and you just might notice.

TBD? :confused5:

 

I recently destroyed the 10 speed 105 rear derailleur on my rarely used ’11 Trek 2.3. Had the local shop replace it with a current model Ultegra rear derailleur (along with new cables, chain, and misc tune up stuff…). It shifted ok before and it shifts ok now. So basically....I can’t really tell the difference.

 

Why replace the entire groupset? The chain and cassette wear out the fastest. Upgrade them to Ultegra 10s. I did find a noticeable difference.