Dancing Skeleton

I'm putting a new compact crankset, RD & FD on my bike.
I'm undecided between Shimano Ultegra 6600 & 105 5700.

Is there a noticeable difference in the two?
Does the 6600 RD have better (quieter) pulley bearings than the 5700?

Thanks,

Peter

rusted_rider

Ive heard the 6600 shifts smooth and crisp under load,weighs a few grams less,but other than that the new 105 is a decent gruppo for the $$

scirocco

You know you're comparing current generation 105 with previous generation Ultegra?

Trickle-down effect probably means that you would be hard pressed to tell any difference.

Dancing Skeleton

I know that the 6600 is older. I want dark grey or black components, and both are similar in price.

'm really interested in which drive train will be quieter & will shift better.

Thanks

valleycyclist

I know that the jockey wheels between 5600 and 6600 are different, and 6600 has much better jockey wheels. Looking at the Shimano techdocs, it looks like a similar difference between 5700 and 6700. Over time the 5700 jockey wheels may squeak.

If you want to get an 11-28 rear derailleur 5700 would be a better choice, but it should also work with 6600 (official spec for 6600 is up to 27 teeth).

Dancing Skeleton

I want to use it on a 34/50 11-28 setup. Will I be asking too much of the RD?

Thanks,

Peter

valleycyclist

I never tried that combination. Maybe someone here has tried it before. My feeling is that it will work. Is a 6700 rear derailleur an option?

wens

Officially the 28 won't work with shimano short cage deraillers. In practice it should.

trek2.3bike

I have both and cannot tell the difference.

kudude

it does

Dancing Skeleton

If the 6600 will work, I'll go with that. Right now, I have a 5700 triple RD, and it's a little noisy (in the pulleys).
Would the 5700 short cage RD be quieter?
Would the 6600 be quieter than both?

Peter

valleycyclist

I have about 15k miles on a 6600 RD, and it is running as quiet as day 1.

You can quiet down your 5700 RD by taking the pulleys off, taking the caps off and lubing them. If the noise sounds like squeaking, then that should keep them quiet for a while. It may just be the top jockey wheel that is noisy.

ptle

If I were given the choice, I'd probably choose the newer 5700 because of the internal cable routing. I don't think 6600 has internal cable routing, which is something I really like. I'm guessing 105 uses a lot of the same technology from the older Ultegra, making them nearly identical (except for the finish).

Chris_W

I believe they slightly changed the cable pull needed to operate the new FDs (5700, 6700, 7900). Therefore, the generation of your you front shifter should match the FD to make them play well together (although I've heard the change is small, and can be made to work with officially mis-matched parts).

revchuck 

Many 2011 bikes come equipped with a 5700 compact drivetrain and 11-28 cassette. I've got a FSA compact crankset, Ultegra 6600 rear derailleur and a 12-27 cassette, no problems.