Originally Posted by rekmeyata

I'm not sure which version of Claris and 105 you've tried but both of mine are 3 years old and the 105 is clearly much better then Claris in shifting crispness, precision, smoothness, and stopping...but stopping is probably an issue with the Claris pads. My wife has the 3x8 while my 105 is 2x10, but the rear shifting on the 105 is superior as is the front shifting but that could be due to hers having the triple system but I think even if it was a double it wouldn't shift quite as well. I keep my bikes clean so I can't report on the dirty cable and housing thing, but after 3 seasons neither are experiencing any odd sensitivity issues. Even my original cables and chains on both bikes, with my 105 having over 8,000 miles on it are all still in great shape.