Ultegra rear Derailleur

[Snoopy007]

Hi,
I've heard that some people have certain groupsets e.g shimano 105, but have bought a high "class" derailleur (e.g ultegra), and asked their lbs to put it on for them. Being new to cycling, i haven't actually bought my first road bike yet, but i plan on getting a 2012 Reid falco with the 200$ upgrade that adds the mavics, yes i know ive been posting about them recently, but anyway i'd like to know, would buying a Ultegra rear Derailleur (about 100$) and asking my LBS to put it on (this bike has a 105 groupset), will it have a difference in performance, if so how, and what do derailleurs actually do? =S sorry for the newbie questions, but im still pretty new.

Cheers

[Lazyweek]

I hate to be mean but if you don't know what derailleurs do, why do you need to upgrade it? My road bike has 105 and it does the job.

[Snoopy007]

I hate to be mean but if you don't know what derailleurs do, why do you need to upgrade it? My road bike has 105 and it does the job.

Like i said, because i heard some people saying they upgraded there's so i thought it might make a difference.. you could just be nice and help me out =P

[Lazyweek]

Honestly, I can't tell you how much better an Ultegra rear derailleur would be. I think you should just buy the bike and go from there. I can't see a 105 derailleur being a problem and you can always change it later if you want. Hopefully someone can advise about the difference between 105 and Ultegra rear derailleurs.

BTW, the derailleurs are used to change gears.

[DoogleDave]

Ultegra will be a little more smoother and lighter but (as you are new to cycling) and for what you need, 105 is perfectly fine.
I'd save the money and spend it on other more worthwhile accessories (lights, pump etc..) or to pay for a cycling membership which offers cycle insurance.

As for what the derailleur does - it guides the chain onto the relevant sprocket (gear) on the rear wheel.
As you change gears from the shifters on the handle bars, the tension increases or decreases in the cable running to the derailleur which in turn adjusts the derailleur and the chain moves up or down to the next gear.

You also have a front derailleur which does the same thing but moves the chain between the chain rings that are attached to your right crank arm.

Just a tip: after a couple of hundred km's on your new bike (once you buy it), the cables will stretch and the gear changes won't be as smooth. This means it's time to return to your local bike shop (LBS) for it's first service, in which they should adjust the cabling so you have smooth gear changes again.

Dave

[Lazyweek]

As for what the derailleur does - it guides the chain onto the relevant sprocket (gear) on the rear wheel.
As you change gears from the shifters on the handle bars, the tension increases or decreases in the cable running to the derailleur which in turn adjusts the derailleur and the chain moves up or down to the next gear.

What Dave said. Much better than my reply. Thanks

[Mulger bill]

Brutal honesty.

NO. Not worth the money. 105 gear is perfectly fine to begin with.

Once you've ridden it halfway into the ground and discovered you really like this bike riding thing is the time to consider upgrades (but chances are, by then, it'll be the whole bike you want to upgrade )

As Dave said, spend the money on the little extras.

[Lazyweek]

Quite interesting how times have changed, that is, there is now so much readily-available information on the internet. I think this is great but sometimes too much information is not very helpful either. When I was your age Snoopy (I am now officially old after saying that), I liked mountain bike riding so saved up some money and bought a hardtail. I didn't really do much research, I just went into a bike shop and bought it. After that, I just rode the bike alot. In the end, I was quite fit and did the city-to-gong ride on my hardtail with a slick on the back. The amount of lycra-wearing older guys with fancy road bikes I passed was amazing . Point is, don't get caught up in the little details and just ride. Good luck.

[HappyHumber]

Point is, don't get caught up in the little details and just ride. Good luck.

+1. Amen.

[Paul B]

Get the Ultegra.

[Chris249]

Stick with 105. We (my wife and I) have had bikes running the full spectrum from 2200 to (older) Dura Ace and new Ultegra and the difference between groupsets seems impercitible above the Sora level (and even then the RD was fine).

IF you're not going hard, you probably won't notice a significant difference. If you are going hard, you will be in so much pain that you won't notice a significant difference!

[warthog1]

The rear deraileur just does what the cable tells it to and the cable does what the shifter tells it. Probably more to be gained in feel from upgrading the shifters, which is more expensive unfortunately.
The good thing is that 105 is fine and you don't need to upgrade:)

[JustJames]

The rear deraileur just does what the cable tells it to and the cable does what the shifter tells it. Probably more to be gained in feel from upgrading the shifters, which is more expensive unfortunately.
The good thing is that 105 is fine and you don't need to upgrade:)

Listen to this man - he speaks sense!

A RD 'above' the rest of the gruppo is really all about the bling, but the RD, as warthog1 hath spake, is just a dumb thing that goes where the controls tell it to go.

[Snoopy007]

Thanks for all the help guess i wont be getting one =)