At the beginning of this year I tried to write an expose' on the differences (the REAL differences) between Shimano 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace. I phoned Shimano and told them what I intended to do. They gave me the run-around and told me I needed to talk to a "media liason" who told me I needed to talk to a "technical representative" who directed me back to their outside "media representative" who would contact their technical department. I abandon the attempt. Before I did, however, I spoke with several bicycle company product managers and wholesale distributors about the differences. Bottom line: Relatively minor differences from 105 to Ultegra but enormous differences from Ultegra to Dura-Ace that do result in performance differences. The short story is you will be fine with 105. The key question is, how does the bike fit?

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tried all hree. The weight and quality differences between components are relatively minor although definately there as you move up. The biggest difference is the dura-ace shifters. Shorter throw and a crisper feel to the shift. However, there is nothing wrong with 105.

If you really want the ultimate go with Campy!

105 should be fine. That's what I'm shopping for. A very reputable LBS where I buy all of my gear actually refused to sell me Ultegra on my last bike because I didn't need it. I still don't, and I would rather spend the extra money on food. When I win the lottery, I'll upgrade.

Marlin

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Enjoy being able to accept lower components while you can...before you become a gear snob like some of us (I include myself in this group)!

Realistically, unless you are winning road races, or at least placing, I wouldn't worry about it.

My TT bike last year was a mish-mash of 105 cranks, a second hand trispoke, a third-hand 7-speed disk, friction shifting from 8-speed bar ends, and to top it off, a campy derailleur which dates to the early 80's. It was kind of fun to beat some lawyer-types (no offense to whomever) with dura-ace equipped third bikes.

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Hell yes! My last tri racing bike was almost all 105 - didn't stop me from posting top 5 bike splits. Plus, you can beat the hell out of it and if it breaks, so what? Ultegra is probably a bit more durable (and in full disclosure what i am getting on my new bike) but 105 is good, rock-solid stuff.

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"To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Pre

MattMizenko.com

I've got that exact setup: Ultegra on my tri bike and 105 on my road bike. Although I only use my road bike for training, not racing, I can definitely say that 105 will hold up to all kinds of abuse. And you can definitely upgrade a component at a time later, if you'd like. Many times, you can find Ultegra components at one shop for the same price as 105 at another, though, so shop around.

   Until I recently succumbed to bike snobbery I'd never owned more than Ultegra-equipped bikes. My best success (due, admittedly, to having more time to devote to training) were on a 105 equipped Trek 1200. I never upgraded anything on the bike except put Specialized Tri Spokes and aero bars on it. I secretly loved the fact that I could run over bike snobs with their DA or Record equipped exotic titanium or euro-wonders! More recently I distinctly remember out-bike-splitting the field on an Ultegra equipped Tequilo. Can you do it? Yes. Should you do it? BY ALL MEANS! Spend your time and money on things that REALLY matter. I'd rather race one of Gerard's new Duals with a set of Alps than a $4k Litespeed wonderbike with DA but pedestrian 32 spoke Mavic Open Pros. (I'm not supporting or bashing Cervelo, Mavic, Hed or Litespeed, just making a philosophical point. And, to make Tom happy, I'd even make sure the bikes both fit properly ;) The Dual would be decidedly cheaper!

Of course I got a recent $$ windfall and bought a Saber "all the way" as we say in the south. Of course now I DAMN WELL better TRAIN and be fast or you'll be zipping by on your 105 Aluminum, laughing at my folly!

Absolutely. My road bike has full 105 that's a decade old. I bought it second-hand a year ago, had the look of being ridden hard and put away wet. Tore it down and built it up again, it all works flawlessly, good clean quick shifts, the hubs are just well broken-in ;-)
On the other hand, my race bike is a mishmash of Exage, Sora, RX100, 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace, all of which works fine too IMO, so maybe I just don't know how good components are supposed to feel.. heh.

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"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview

I have used 105 for years and then this year I took a look at the tension my bike had when I spun the cranks freely backward. It was extreme and barely spun backwards. I switched over to my girlfriends dura ace and the cranks spun freely................granted I'm sure there are some issued other than 105 versus dura ace, but mentally I felt better using the durace for ironman canada and actually pb'd this year as well (though the weather was perfect for once)

There's nothing about 105 that would prevent it from being good enough to race on, or even qualify if you were so inclined - so for your training rig, it's totally ample. Hell, I have RX100 w/ downtube shifters on my race bike. Which doubles as my training bike. And triples as my fixed-gear bike.

Run 105 until you decide that you want to invest in something better - but realize that the decision likely won't be all due to performance issues.

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<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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My bikes have everything from older 600 to mixes of 105 and all Ultegra. they all work fine.

Many bike shops will build your bike with a mix of 105 and Ultegra or DuraAce parts so you can pick and choose the ones that are most important to you. Although I'm not too familiar with DA, the shifters and rear deraileur are noticeably smoother in Ultegra than 105. It seems a number of people like the Ultegra bottom bracket rather than the DA. Although it is heavier, it's a sealed (non-rebuildable) unit and less likely to get full of crud if you're riding in less than ideal conditions.

In the course of researching a (failed)article on the difference between the groups from Shimano we dissected a rear derailleur and shifter of each group. here are some of our findings:
1. The Dura-Ace rear derailluer shifts with less force on the shift lever (regardless of shifter model) and shorter lever movement because of decreased cable tension required to actuate the derailleur. There is a plastic "pusher plate" that helps the movement of the chain up the cogset to the easier gears. This is a primary factor in the better shifting performance of Dura-Ace.
2. Shift quality of Ultegra and 105 when only the rear derailleur is changed is difficult to differentiate.
3. In general, once disassembled, it is nearly impossible to correctly reassemble and restore an STI lever to original working condition.

These are just a few of our findings. We have over 8000 words of notes on this project but never published it on our website since we got no cooperation from Shimano in researching it. They would never tell us the real differences between the groups. Interesting.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

That's another big advantage of Campy - the shifters can be rebuilt. Something about having to throw away an expensive but broken Dura-Ace STI really irks me.