Just gathering thoughts on this issue. I finally put a deposit down on my new bike today. One of the decisions I had to make when picking the bike was which derailleur to go for. We all know 105 is better but would a complete novice notice the difference? When in the LBS today having the above two explained to me I realised how out of touch I was with modern racers. I spent a couple of minutes looking for the gear levers, my last racer was a home build Eddie Merckx's, how shocked I was to be shown they were part of the brakes. Weird. My budget put me in at the top of the Tiagra spec bike. I would have had to stump up at least another £150 to get a bike with 105s that I liked.
So going back to the question, being a complete novice would I notice the difference? Would the difference be worth the price hike? The bike is going to be used as a commuter bike.
So going back to the question, being a complete novice would I notice the difference? Would the difference be worth the price hike? The bike is going to be used as a commuter bike.