Continuing with Frankenbike’s mission in life as a product test bed, it was high-time to eliminate the cable spaghetti of the stock Shimano 105, 5600 Series shifters in front of the bars. This also led to an upgrade of both the front and rear derailleurs, thus finally making the gruppo homogenous, overall. Not that it was a moral imperative; it was just high-time to replace all of the cables, so I figured, hey; why not upgrade components, too.
In regards to the controls, up to this point, I had been
running an Ultegra 6700 crankset and bottom bracket, 105 shifters, 105 front
derailleur, 105 long-cage rear derailleur, and SRAM Red brakes. Well, the Red brakes stayed, but the gruppo
had to finally be unified (there is a new SRAM Red Wi-Fli rear derailleur
sitting in my bike toolbox, but that is for a future project). Having a complete Ultegra 6700 group would
not only make me happy, but it would look good, and perform even better.
The more ergonomic, carbon Ultegra lever shown above, and the new PRO Vibe 7S alloy bar shown below.
New GS "Long-Cage" derailleur above (with red cable housing this time), and 6700 front derailleur shown below.
I now have a few hundred miles on the new equipment, and I
must admit I am very pleased with the results.
Those whom have been using under the bar cable shifters for awhile will
not be impressed, nor will those using Di2.
But, for those still using legacy groups (and there is nothing wrong
with that, as they are solid, reliable systems), cleaning up the cables out in
front of the bars is a big deal to us.
So, in addition to the new, clean look, the 6700’s are very smooth
shifters (though they do require a firmer swing of the lever than my previous
105’s), and the hoods are significantly smaller, so the feel to my larger-sized
hands is much more comfortable.
Shimano PRO Vibe 7S alloy bar, and Fizik (hooray, it's reusable!) Microtex tape.
As for the bartape, well, in a previous review of the Fizik
line of Microtex products (Cycling Dynamics, 09-21-2012), I was very pleased
with the look, and durability, of the product.
The only downside was the difficulty of installation, due to the tape’s
unique stiffness. Well, it turns out
that its inherent stiffness is also a blessing.
Allow me elaborate.
With the addition of the new shifters, and both front and rear
derailleurs, I decided to try a Shimano PRO Vibe 7S alloy bar in place of my
trusty alloy Ritchey WCS, anatomical.
And, being the Microtex tape has performed so well day-in, and day-out,
I decided to see if it was reusable.
Well, turns out it was, thus my spare box of gloss red Fizik tape will
remain in the bike toolbox for another time.
As for the bars, I like them a lot, save for the drops which are not as deep (and comfortable) as the Ritchey’s. Fortunately, they flex just enough while in said drops to give some relief from the road, and I like the fact the top of the bar is a constant 31.8mm, before tapering down at the hood area. This is much less fatiguing on the hands than the smaller diameter tubing of the Ritchey WCS.
As for the bars, I like them a lot, save for the drops which are not as deep (and comfortable) as the Ritchey’s. Fortunately, they flex just enough while in said drops to give some relief from the road, and I like the fact the top of the bar is a constant 31.8mm, before tapering down at the hood area. This is much less fatiguing on the hands than the smaller diameter tubing of the Ritchey WCS.
I anticipate years and years of trouble-free use with this
new gruppo.
Pedal safe, my friends.
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