Originally Posted by
joewein
I have a silver 105 RD-R7000-GS on one of my bikes. It looks more grey than silver to me, but I take that over anodized black any day. The R7000-GS handles up to 34T vs. 32T on the 105 GS and the Shimano 34T 11 speed road cassettes are compatible with 10 speed hubs.
IMHO, short cage derailleurs are for flat races, mid cage and long cage are for everybody else.
A mid-cage GS is not meant for use with a max cog smaller than 28, but you're not seriously thinking about an 11-25 cassette, are you? Nobody I ever rode with has ever complained about having low gears that they never use. OTOH many have gotten off the bike with leg cramps because they lacked low enough gears on steep climbs while I spun up the hill seated in my low gear. It's better for your knees too.
I love my 26-32 lowest gear (Sugino compact plus 42/26 + 11-32 cassette with Ultegra 11 speed shifting).
Coincidentally, I ordered a gray RD-R7000 last night. With the short cage I was definitely going for 11-28, giving me a 30-28 combo, but now I'll likely go with an 11-30 with options for lower in the future. I'm not thinking of gearing I'll want when out for a 30 mile jaunt, but what I'm going to want 3 days into a 1200k when faced with a long steep grade.