Upgraded my full Ultegra bike to full 105 with great results
 

I took the 16 year old 6500 Ultegra triple crank 9 speed set off and replaced it with the 105 R7000 11 speed set that just came out 5 months ago. It's like a new bike! Shifting is much faster and easier. Instead of taking a full turn or two of the crank to shift, making lots of noise, it now shifts quietly in about a quarter turn. The dual pivot brakes look very cool. The Hollow tech bottom bracket alone saved me about half a pound. The compact 34-50 compact crank made me lose the 30 tooth low front gear. With my 69 year old knees, and everything else I was worried about riding the long steep hills on all of my rides so I made a frankin bike with a Woolf Tooth Roadlink, dropping my rear derailleur a half an inch so I'm able to run an 11-40 MTB cassette on the back. Everything went together well, but I had to take the B screw on the rear derailleur out and put it in backwards to drop the jockey wheels further. The first time I shifted into the 40 I thought my chain had fallen off because peddling as fast as I could, the freehub didn't engage until I slowed a few MPH. It's has no trouble making the jump from 35 to 40 gear. I was happy with 9 gears, 11 is just going to confuse me, but the bike was ghost shifting, dropping the chain a lot, it made noises in 1/2 of the gear combinations and when I tried to sprint up hill out of saddle the rear cassette would cross chain and freeze up. It was time to go, it served me very well for 10s of thousands of miles. I'll keep it in a box in a special place.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5745f97efa.jpg

B screw in backwards
I took out 3 links ( actually 4 links and added a Quick-Link) because I was getting a lot of sag in the 34-11. There is enough room between the jockey wheels in the 50-40 ( with the B screw reversed) but it's about one link to short to go in there easily, not that anyone would use either combination except by accident. It goes into the 34-40 very easily. Wolf Tooth sells a longer B screw for about $3.00, but someone on another website or U-Tube video said that long screw pushes past the short cog it engages, it's just a small cog and the head on the reversed screw is much wider and engages very well. Looks like that to me too. I don't know how many links are in a new 105 chain.

Good to know and thanks for the post. I am in sort of the same position except my 9 speed Ultegra (6500) setup still runs great. But... I have been thinking about picking up a 105 5700 groupset and taking that route. I'm really curious about how much better it might make my bike feel.

I am half way into the same conversion. Thought about it when the R8000 Ultegra came out last yr but put it off and waited for the R7000 105
group to become available which it finally did past month or so. The 11-34 R800 cassette which allows 11spd on 8-9-10spd wheels is nice as
well. My plan was 48-32 crank with the 11-34 cassette and the rest to be R7000. Everything obtained (about $650 for the lot) but a glitch with
the FSA Megaevo BB having an undersized bearing will put off final assembly for several weeks, awaiting a replacement but hope that FSA
didn't buy a container load of undersized bearings. Sealed bearings come in shrink fit, press fit and slip fit sizing depending application and
BB spindle should be slip fit. Glad to see your report of improved shifting and am looking forward to the final build reinforced by your post.

To TakingMyTime, the R7000 is a completely new re-engineering of the group RD/FD and cassettes allowing native use of larger cassettes
than the 5700 does. OTOH, if you don't anticipate needing 11-40 the 5700 saves $1-200 over the R7000, at least over the next yr or so,
until stocks are depleted as it will go out of production. My decision to change was prompted by the failure of the R brifter and the RD/FD were
18yrs and 24K miles old.

I have 3 bikes (I'm a BF under-achiever) one has 12 yr. old Dura Ace, one has 3 yr. old SRAM Red and the other 3 yr. old 105. Best shifting? The 105.

that is attractive.

normally i don't consider upgrading or repair until the end of a useful life. my bikes are more c and v, so not too worried about the latest tech. on country roads where we live there is not much use for shifting fast or shifting at all.

If anyone else is doing this you might think about looking for a 48-32 or even 46-30 crankset instead of the giant cassette. Praxis makes a great 28-32. I have on eon my Roubaix. FSA makes an inexpensive Adventure 46-30.

In the spirit of the tread "No Doubt - I'm Out of Touch", I also have Ultegra 6500. Mine with 9 speed, STI, 12x23 I purchased in early 2000.

I have been thinking of upgrading but torn between current components or going retro for my mid-90"s, I think, Colnago Master Piu frame.

I have ordered a 2018 close out endurance bike as I rehab my hip but have no plans to get rid of the Colnago. the question is upgrade to a similar current Shimano group set that is consistent from bike to bike or do a classic Italian frame justice with a Campy group, retro or current. Nice to hear so much progress has been made with components while I've been away from the sport for 15 years.

I recently updated my 33 year old frame with Shimano 105 5600 components, and an Ultegra 6600 10 speed 12-27 cluster. I chose a FSA Vero compact crankset with 50-34 combo. I also opted for a 700c conversion from And I doubt my fitness level will ever have me the 27" wheels.. What little I rode on the street, it felt good over all. And the 12-27 is great on the trainer. But I've been watching a lot of builds go with compact cranksets and 12 -32 and bigger cassettes. I doubt my fitness level will allow me to run the 50/12 anytime soon. And as I live at the top of the hill in my town, maybe a wider geared cassette might not be a better idea. Of course. I have to overcome my fear of going downhill (broke my back in a downhill accident and my mind is afeared), but I think I can go uphill. I hope...

If that's what it took with your old stuff, there was something seriously wrong with it.