Is Modern Shimano 105 Better Than Dura-Ace From Just 10 Years Ago?

shimano 105 the group set of the people yes jorah ace it's the best of the best it's what the pros use it features the lightest and most sophisticated materials paired with the most cutting-edge design ideas it's a tool that's designed to help the world's best cyclists win the world's biggest bike races but this top-end performance it comes at a price and a significant one prices vary but you can typically expect to pay around 2 000 pounds euros or dollars for jorah ace whereas 105 is much more affordable typically around the 650 mark and in cycling we often talk about trickle down tech the technological advancements made in top end components like jura ace working their way down to more affordable components like 105 and with that in mind we decided to get this the latest shimano 105 and see how it compares to jorah ace from over 10 years ago this climb is an absolute wall and i'm already in my easiest gear [Music] [Music] this is a complete jorah ace 7900 group set from 2008 and it's mounted on this rather nice argon 18 gallium it actually belongs to a chap called ghee who's very kindly agreed to lend it to us so that we can make this comparison video thanks ghee [Music] this generation jorah ace came out in 2008 7 900 was also the generation of jorah ace that introduces to di2 although that came out a year later in 2009 and initially a lot of the pros weren't convinced by it because it was heavier than the mechanical group set we have here although an interesting note is that current di2 group sets are actually lighter than their mechanical counterparts once you factor in the housings and the cables the other crucial difference here is that modern 105 has hydraulic disc brakes much more on that later this group set is 10 speed and the modern shimano 105 r7000 that i'm going to compare it against is 11 speed but before i go any further i really want to have a pole in the app we're going to play one of my favorite games would you rather so would you rather have a bike equipped with this mechanical jura ace retro group set or a bike equipped with modern brand new 105. vote in the app because i'm really keen to see which way you guys vote i really couldn't call it what about shifting performance myself and psy did a blindfold test to investigate the difference between modern 105 and jorah ace in this regard but in case you missed it i'm going to introduce a quick reminder now in my best american tv narrator voice previously on gcn i mean that i don't know is that 105 is that your ace okay if you uh if you step off to the left-hand side of the bicycle i i promise i will let no harm come at this point to you there you go there's your bike that's smooth that i'm i'm not just going off feel here i'm trying to go off all my other sensors i still haven't now we were able to do that because the contact points on the two group sets are pretty much identical but it'd be a pointless exercise here because these jorah ace levers are so much smaller than the 105 ones and also this is 10 speed the modern 105 is 11 speed [Music] the shifter hoods on this version of 105 are noticeably bigger and a little bit longer than that on the dura ace and this is because as well as having the shifter mechanics in them they also have to house hydraulics because i'm running the hydraulic disc brake version if you use the standard rim brake version the shifters are actually smaller it's a cool area where there has been improvement and refinement is in the lever action of the shifters when you go to change gear by tweaking the mechanical action and also improvements to the design of the derailleurs and how they manage the cables the lever action is much lighter and the lever throw the distance you move the mechanical lever slightly shorter as well it's really cool [Music] as a comparison the gear changing on the old dura ace is still really crisp i mean it's like it just bang bang it's like it's like you know loading a bolt action rifle but the lever throw is noticeably longer and you can see that that's how far it goes it's got shorter on the new stuff first up what are the weight differences between our two group sets well i've got them all written down but i'm not rain man i can't just remember them off top of my head so i'm going to bring in the laptop now first up the chain sets okay so dura ace 7900 that's 725 grams for that five arm chain set r 7000 105 that has switched to the four bolt chain set design that we see on the current jura ace and ultegra as well so it's got that and that comes in at 713 grams i mean that's really amazing this chain set lighter than the jora ace one and it's also said to be stiffer as well with a better design also has universal bcd more on that later the front mech on the dura ace is 68 grams whereas it's 95 grams on this one so a little bit heavier the levers are 370 grams for the dura ace 500 grams for those 105 levers but they are hydraulic so there's a bit more gubbins crammed in there the rear mech is 166 grams on the shimano jura ace 225 grams for this one but again it's a bit of a bigger rear mech we've got a longer cage on there so it's not all down to just the fact that it's 105. the cassette well that is quite a big difference 163 grams for the jura ace cassette but 320 grams for the 105 cassette when it's in the 32 tooth cassette this is a slightly lighter one because it's a 30 cassette the chain well not much in that 251 grams for the jorah ace 10 speed chain 257 grams for the 105 chain and the brake calipers are 379 grams for shimano and 287 grams for duress that's if you've got the rim brakes interestingly the weight of jorah ace has kind of constantly been getting a little bit lighter and a little bit lighter so jorah a7 800 that precedes the 7 900 we've got here that weighed 2 181 grams without the hubs and then when 7900 came out that was reduced to 2052 grams so quite a big saving there and if you're wondering what the weight is of this r7000 105 well with disc brakes because this one does have disc brakes we're looking at around 2280 grams but i say around because there's quite a few variables there so for example if you were to change the size of the rotors the size of the chain rings or the size of your cassette it can kind of alter it ever so slightly also that weight i'm quoting you there doesn't include the hydraulic lines as well which is kind of important and if you were wondering how this compares to the current mechanical dura ace with hydraulic disc brakes well that comes in again without the the cables factored in at 1 800 and grams so pretty competitive i would say for this 105. you know it's only 200 grams or so heavier than our dura ace from 10 years ago that's mad thought it'd be more than that i'm next going to ride both group sets up the steepest most horrendous climb that i could find near to me this behind me is prospect place near bath it's said to max out at 25 according to the sign but my wahoo regularly seems to read over 30. it is truly horrific now why am i putting myself and the group sets through this well hopefully for you watching at home it's quite amusing watching me grovel on this horror show of a road but also i believe this is a good way to demonstrate that 105 hasn't just caught up with jorah ace in some ways it surpassed it [Music] this climb is an absolute wall and i'm already in my easiest gear but these new 105 group sets are so much more versatile the cassette at the back can be much bigger the rear mech has got a much longer cage meaning you can fit up to a 34 tooth cassette on you can only get 28 on that jura ace 7 900 also the chain set is the same four bolt forearm spider that you've got on the modern dura ace and the best thing about that is it has something called universal bolt spacing which means you can fit any size chainrings you want and thank goodness at the moment i've got compact 5034 but you could put a 53 39 or even a 55 on if you really wanted ah oh god [Music] nearly at the top having these easier gears also means it's easier to stay seated on climbs as well which is a bonus so as a comparison the old adura ace is much less versatile when it comes to gearing the biggest cassette i can get on the back of this is a 28 and that's what i've got but on super steep gradients like this it doesn't feel like enough for a rider like me oh fun fact for you this generation of jorah ace was actually the first to offer a compact chain set but i don't have one here oh no i've got a 53 39 and unlike the modern 105 i couldn't just swap my rings either because it doesn't have that universal bcd the cranks the different cranks are different ah so if you want different size chain rings you can't just simply swap the chain rings like you can do on modern shimano group sets you have to change the whole chain set if the bcd is different but i'm going to tell you some more ah when i can breathe again oh god i'm going to talk a bit more detail about the derailleurs because that's what i'm into so the 105 rear mech we have here we talk about trickle down tech but this hasn't so much trickled down from jorah ace it's more trickled down from shimano's mountain bike groups it's xt and xtr so it's got this what shimano calls a shadow design now the advantages of this are that it's designed to sit closer in to the frame by 12 millimeters which makes it less susceptible to damage should you fall off your bike and we know bikes are like toast they always land butter side down weird it's also designed to be less prone to slapping and crashing into the chainstay and damaging that as well again something that's come from mountain bikes and also you'll notice this massive long cage on here which i said previously can accommodate up to 34 tooth cassettes and allow me to tell you about the front mech as well because that's really cool now it's the same design as what's found on the current jura ace and outwardly it's a lot more complicated than the front mech that we've got on the 7900 but this design has a number of key advantages this front mech design is better able to manage the front cable and dictate the angle at which it comes in to the front derailleur on previous designs this could be influenced by the frame you had and then that could actually alter the shifting performance of that front derailleur because on different frames the cable comes out at different angles we also have the inbuilt cable tensioner or barrel adjuster built in to the front mech you can actually adjust it by way of this little grub screw here on previous shimano mechanical group sets you actually had to have a separate barrel adjuster somewhere along the cable for the front mech on our argon 18 you can see it's on the down tube to make sure that you get the cable tension absolutely perfect there's a handy little guide built in next to the tensioner bolt here that you can line up and it tells you when it's right and that will enable you to get both uh shifts from both rings but also both trims as well and on previous mechanical group sets this kind of required a little bit trial and error braking is another area where modern 105 is better than old-school jura ace my bike equipped with hydraulic disc brakes they offer so much more modulation power and consistency over rim brakes they're vastly superior and the calipers on these brakes are actually the same as what's found on the dura ace ones pretty much they're just sort of painted a bit differently but the rotors are different however they're lower spec and according to shimano they're not quite as effective at dissipating heat as quickly as the higher spec dura ace rotors but irrespective of that they still absolutely destroy rim brakes but if we talk about rim brakes then the modern 105 is improved there as well the current caliper design is exactly the same shape and design as the modern jura ace caliper it's just made from slightly less expensive and heavier materials but this modern design is said to be stiffer and that translates into better braking performance it's also a bit of a neater design and the cam lever is kept out of the wind which shimano reckons makes it a teensy weensy bit more aerodynamic than this one at this time with this generation jaw ace there wasn't the option for direct mount calipers either only the single mount we have here and again direct mount rim brakes if your frame accommodates them offer greater sort of stability and stiffness within the caliper and translate to better braking than a standard rim brake and one final point about the rim brakes is that more modern calipers are designed to accommodate bigger tyres as well in this era 28-millimeter tyres weren't really a thing on road bikes although i reckon looking at it i reckon you could get one in here in other areas the old jora ace does still have the edge though so you've got really high quality materials used throughout things like carbon fiber on the cage of the rear derailleur and use of titanium alloys also more sophisticated machining and shaping of the components more expensive and higher quality bearings are used throughout and there's also surface finishes on things like the chain and the jockey wheels to help reduce friction and looks are subjective but i think it looks absolutely superb i love the the aesthetics of this generation of jorah a's and i also love that it's got kind of nostalgia attached to it the fact that it was used by you know so many pros for so many incredible victories back in the day and for me that kind of makes it a little bit special [Music] what can we conclude from this which is the better group set well jorah ace is still lighter but not by much and it still shifts absolutely beautifully surely a testament to the quality and engineering considering that it's over 10 years old it's also probably slightly mechanically more efficient in terms of drivetrain efficiency than modern 105 but considering the specific example we've got is over 10 years old they're probably similar now now 105 it shifts beautifully too and as for braking way superior in both rim brake and disc brake versions it's also far more versatile with regards to gearing options on the chain set and the cassette and when it comes to replacing worn components it's going to be much more friendly on your wallet i hope you've enjoyed this video and found it useful and informative and if you have then please give it a thumbs up as it helps support the channel also don't forget to vote in the poll i'm going to vote now but i'm not going to tell you how i'm going to vote also massive thanks to gee for lending us not this bike i don't know why i'm tapping this one but he's awesome argon massive thanks thanks for that man and get involved in the comment section and i'll see you in the next vid bye

Channel: Global Cycling Network

Views: 804,943

Rating: 4.8930068 out of 5

Keywords: shimano, dura ace, shimano dura ace, shimano 105, groupset, affordable, budget, gears, shifting, dura ace 7900, r7000, disc brakes, disc, hydraulic, di2, shimano di2, cheap, road bike gears, new, new groupset, upgrade, 11, 10, GCN, Global Cycling Network, Sports, Cycling, Bike, Bikes, Bicycle (Product Category), Road Bike, Cyclist, Road Bicycle, GCN Cycling, velo, sec-feature, gc21s, gc11shs, c3, c1, gc11sas, ସ, ଙ, ホ, パ, ィ, ゲ, o1, ዩ, ළ, Բ, Ի, Ծ, Ձ, ፕ15, ュ, ዮ, ኾ, 4101

Id: TUfyUUauuoY

Length: 19min 26sec (1166 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 27 2020