According to the Bank of England’s calculator, inflation accounts for around £132 of the extra £356. The calipers are BR-7170, the same as with the Di2 groupset. These offer 10% more rotor clearance to minimise brake rub, especially hyper bicycles when banking the bike side to side when accelerating or climbing, than Shimano’s earlier versions did. The cassettes use Shimano’s Hyperglide design, which involves shaping the teeth (and bits in between) to aid shifting.
The new ‘blade’ has a curvier shape when seen from the side, bringing it slighter closer to the handlebar. Officially the previous rear mech could handle a largest sprocket of 34T, but this newer version can cope with a 36T. Handy really, as that is the largest on offer in the range. Officially, the 6-spoke monocoque Bike Ahead BiTurbo RSX wheels are rated for cross-country, marathon, and downcountry mountain biking. They feature a 24.5mm rim depth, DT Swiss hub internals available in all the MTB freehub standards, and come with wheelbags & tubeless valves. Claimed wheelset weight is 1279g for a 27.5 pair, or 1329g for 29” wheels.
Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry gave some these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components and worked as a bike shop mechanic. hyper bicycles There isn’t a huge amount of competition either; well, at least not on a like for a like basis. SRAM’s road groupsets are now all eTap AXS, or in other words electronic. In fact, the only mechanical groupset SRAM offers in road or gravel ranges is the Apex XPLR. Being gravel-focused, though, it’s only available in a 1x setup.
With improved ergonomics and aesthetics, an extra cog and the continued high quality performance you expect, the 105 groupset remains a must buy. The subtle changes have improved it over the 11-speed, especially from an ergonomics point of view, and while there aren’t any huge changes in terms of performance, there really didn’t need to be. This 105 still delivers very well hyper bicycles from a performance/cost point of view, making it the all-rounder choice for everyone from racers to weekend warriors, club run attendees to commuters and tourers. The total RRP for 105 mechanical is £986.91-£1004.91, which is a bit of a jump from the £630.92 the old 105 commanded in 2020. We all know how much prices have increased across the board since then, though.
Oh yea, almost for sure….but every little bit hurts or helps. Unless you’re a racer, you won’t be seeing the traditional 53/39T chainset specced on many bikes these days, so it’s no surprise it’s not even an option in the 105 line-up. For 12-speed these levers are the only option, so 105 isn’t compatible with cable-operated brakes.