COMFORT AND JOY?

Is a £2,000 to £3,000 endurance bike with mechanical Shimano 105 going to do the job for you? Read on to find out how our tasty trio performed...

- Simen Withers

Shimano 105 has been the Japanese component giant's go-to-groupset for decades. Back in the 1990s I raced on a Giant TCR decked out with 105 when it would have had eight or nine ratios - it's so long ago I can't even remember. I can remember, though, that the gear cables weren't routed under the bar tape but hung in front of the handlebar like a pair of washing lines. And even today two of my own bikes, a Spa Audax and the Giant TCR Advanced 2 that was our 2018 Bike of the Year, come with newer versions of 105. But both of those have rim brakes and 11-speed gearing.

01 Gearing up

Step forward to 2024 and the newest R7100 incarnation of 105 has upped the ante to 12 speeds - more even than Spinal Tap envisaged - and rim brakes have disappeared into the past faster than my hair and my racing career.

02 Doing discs

It wasn't that long ago that roadies were arguing the toss over hydraulic vs rim brakes and in some corners of the internet and elsewhere they probably still are.

Well, my take on it is that the performance of hydraulic disc brakes is in a different league to that of rim brakes - even 105's excellent rim brakes. As these three bikes show, hydraulic disc braking is powerful, controlled and has a very light action. This is important to me as I'm just recovering from a tendon issue, so easy-on-the-hand braking is a real boon. The performance differences are even more pronounced in the wet; and the final, often overlooked bonus of disc brakes is that your rims should last much longer.

03 Boosting range

And while 12 ratios may seem like overkill if, like me, the move from five to six seemed like a big thing. But it really is a boon for everyday riders as well as pro cyclists.