crustpup

I'm looking for a new cross build, most of the bikes I'm looking at run the Shimano 105 setup. Would that be a good start, or should I start looking for upgrades?

volosong

105 is a good groupset. It is considered the lowest level of a pro racing group...Shimano that is. They are available at a good price point. A little heavier than Ultegra, but works almost as well.

NormanF

You can even mix and match. Run an MTB triple crankset up front and 11-34 cassette with a Deore rear derailleur.

Would give you the best of both worlds.

crustpup

Would it be sensible to put An Ultregra group set on a Fuji 1.5?

volosong

I put Ultegra on all my bikes. It's the 'sweet spot' for price/performance/value in the Shimano line. It is often said that today's Ultegra is yesterday's Dura Ace. Not familiar with the Fuji line, so can't give a recommendation on what group to put on the 1.5. It's doubtful that it is a junk frame. Fuji has a good reputation.

IcySmooth52

It wouldn't be insensible to me, but what do you already have on the bike? If it were the current Tiagra or 10s 105, I wouldn't bother. Not worth the cost. I personally wouldn't want over 105 on my cross bike if it shifted. For the conditions and possibility of crash, I'd rather save some $$$ on replacement parts. (I ride it hard)

BTW, Fuji makes fine frames that perform and are still durable.

DirtRoadRunner

Agree completely - Ultegra is nice, but completely unnecessary for a bike you are going to beat on (like a CX bike). 105 is fine for general riding - I have 105 5700 brifters on my gravel bike, and they have been fine for 2,000 + miles of riding in the sun, rain, and dirt.

jtbadge

Yeah, even Tiagra is totally fine. The shifters are the only part really leaving anything to be desired. Great price/performance value.

09box

I have Gevenalle shifters on my bike. I have no complaints..

Tim_Iowa

105 is good stuff; Ultegra is great, and Dura-Ace is excellent.

105 has most of the features of Ultegra with a little more weight. I wouldn't upgrade a 105 component until I break it or wear it out. If you're a competitive racer, then maybe the weight savings of Ultegra is worth it (your opinion). But in that case, you'd save money buying an Ultegra-equipped bike from the start.

FYI, SRAM Rival is roughly equivalent to 105, with Force and Red above.

The big question is what gearing range do you require? Many cross bikes come with a tight cassette (11-25) and a short cage derailleur, which is good for cross racing. With the mid-cage 105 GS rear derailleur, you can fit a wider 11-32 cassette, which makes sense if you intend to the bike as an all-rounder/light tourer.

retroshift

105 is a fine group for CX, as noted Ultegra will just save you some weight and add some marginal bling looks. That said if you want to build a lighter bike up or save money on shifters so you can spend more money on wheels etc (instead of shifters - which you should consider 'disposable' for CX) please do take a look at our stuff, we build it precisely for CX to save your nice STI from the dirt. CX shifters are lighter than Ultegra and provide faster and more capable shifting (from the hoods).

That said we recommend you do NOT buy them if you are building a bike for fashion (we don't build to be pretty, just to perform.

Regardless, get out and ride ANY parts, ride just ride!

Goats

jtbadge

+1.

sgtdirt

i'm running a Shimano CX50 crankset and i absolutely love it. the best thing about it is, i can shifts while under power. it even works with my SRAM double tap shifters. it's paired with a SRAM X9 RD and a Shimano 10 speed 11-36 cassette. i can climb anything.

ambro

105 is an outstanding groupset. FWIW - I have been using the same pair of Shifter/Brake Levers since 2008 - switching from my old cross bike to the new one. Over time, I upgraded to an Ultegra rear derailleurs due to a crash - but the 105 groupset has worked flawlessly in over 5 years of muddy races plus now has new life on my new bike. In all those years I never missed a shift - even in the worst of conditions.

Gyro_T

I am also starting to look at cyclocross bikes, and the gearing looks a lot like road gearing to me. I don't understand this since a lot of gravel grinders, and other off-road touring bikes are running 1 X 11 and much lower gearing. I am looking for example at the Trek Boone with the Ultegra crankset of 46-36. Knowing what kind of terrain that can be encountered on a CX track, would not something closer to mountain bike gearing make more sense? What am I missing about this?

FrozenK

No, mountainbike gearing would be too low on a cyclocross race. You don't really need low gearing because there won't be any long hills. Anything steep enough that you can't ride you are better off running it. But you certainly want the tall gears on the flat sections.

Tim_Iowa

What @FrozenK said. Cross racers are usually pretty athletic and can stomp up a hill in 36-28, or hop off the bike and run up it. The tighter, medium gearing of a 46/36 works well for the race.

Lots of folks start out cyclocross racing on their MTB, and then upgrade to a dedicated cross bike if they like racing.

However, you'll see a handful of 1x11 setups on 'cross bikes this season. You could tune a 1x11 to cover the same range of a 46/36 with 11-28, and save the complexity (and mud trap) of the front derailer.

The Boone and Crockett are Trek's race bikes, so they have typical racer gearing. The 920 is their "adventure/gravel" bike, but its MTB gearing may be too low for some folks. Their 720 has decent gearing (50/34 crank with 11-32 cassette) and can probably clear a 40 mm tire, but the geometry is a bit road-oriented.

Gearing is one of the big differences between a cyclocross bike and a well-designed "gravel" or "adventure" bike.

I don't race (though I may try one or two this season), so I built my bike up with wider gearing for hilly gravel and dirt roads. I used a medium-cage road RD, an 11-34 MTB cassette, and a 50/34 front crank.

Sidney Porter

If the hill is step enough for mtb gearing there is a good chance it is faster to dismount and run up the hill carrying the bike

DinoShepherd

Maybe. It depends on the course and the rider.

I race Bs on a flat bar bike that goes down to 34x36. Sometimes I run and sometimes it makes sense to grind it out, especially on longer run ups that can really spike your HR.

That said, my background is MTB and BMX, not track and field, so I play to my strengths. :-)

bobbyl1966

105 5500 that is same groupset or is two different groupsets. or the 5500 is ultegra groupset.

cale

Shimano uses 4-digit numbers for designate group. Current groups include 105 5800, Ultegra 6800, and Dura Ace 9000. So if the designation starts with a "5" then it's 105. The second digit tells the generation.

So Shimano 5500 is a 105 groupset, 3 generations back. Hope this helps.

bobbyl1966

thank you for the answer. yes is help. wich groupset is good to build road bike. and not cost much on ebay or general online. i have two road bikes have downtube shifters i want put brifters. also i have one road bike with tiagra groupset i want put better groupset in that bike. most i am looking to have one good build road bike. many bikes is hard to keep up.

flargle

It's all about wheels and tires, man. On a retail bike, that's almost always where they skimp to make their pricepoint. You keep the stock wheels as backup.

105/Rival is great stuff, and it's essentially subsidized by the people who splurge for the high-end stuff. Shifting performance is IMO much more a function of how clean your cables, housings, and drivetrain are.