A Newbie with Question

[JonF]

Hi all, I'm relatively new to the road cycling scene, about 15 months old and 6 of those were off the saddle after I snapped my hip after a dog took me off my first bike (but that's another story!)

I'm hoping someone might be able to answer my question?

I currently run a 105 5600 groupset, 53/39 double with an 12-25. I'm waiting for my new upgraded wheels to arrive, now I'm not as regular a rider as I should/would like to be and struggle at times with climbing (and it's very hilly around the Lake District), so I bought a new cassette at the same time which is an Ultegra 6700 11-28 and will make climbing a little easier.

My question is, will I need a new rear mech or will my existing one be ok? I don't know if it's a short or long cage, or how I can tell?

Does anyone else run an 11-28, and is shifting from 21-24-28 compromised much or ugly sounding...?

Cheers

Jon

 

[rusty bearing]

I run an ultegra 11_28 on my road/touring bike with a long cage mech no problem with shifting. Needed the long cage to cope with the range. How to tell what your mech is? Look for the part number on it. GS.... is short SGS is long........

 

[TheDoctor]

Do bear in mind that if the 11-28 is still a little harsh, then a compact will significantly ease the load...
A Sora compact will work nicely with 105 kit - I'm on this myself.
I have an 11-28 7 speed on one of my bikes, so 11-28 10 speed should be fine.

 

[PpPete]

I run an ultegra 11_28 on my road/touring bike with a long cage mech no problem with shifting. Needed the long cage to cope with the range. How to tell what your mech is? Look for the part number on it. GS.... is short SGS is long........

According to Shimano spec sheet both SS-5600 and GS-5600 are capable of running 11-27. The GS (strictly speaking this called a medium cage - not a long cage) is only needed for chainsets with range of greater than 16T
5700 series mechs are rate 11-28 and the latest 5800 series are rated 11-30
You can usually push them at least a couple of teeth bigger than the rated capacity.

 

[JonF]

Thanks for the input peeps.