This month we’ve got two big hitters: the hotly anticipated Shimano 105 12-speed Di2 groupset and a run through of all of the new bikes – both those released and still yet to be officially announced – that look set to be ridden at the Tour de France.
Now, we did record this before the first stages of the Tour took place – so we have now seen some of these bikes in action. Others are only likely to be brought out once we get to the high mountains – we’ll have to see.
Competition
But just before we get into all of that, we just wanted to let you know that we’ve partnered with Garmin to give away a brand new Garmin Edge 1040 head unit.
It might not have the fancy solar tech, but the rest of the specs are all the same – and with a claimed 35 hours of battery life (up to 70 hours in battery saver mode) it still boasts an impressive run time.
The key features include multi-band GPS for even more accurate location tracking, a whole new user interface that’s more intuitive to use than before, and clever pacing software which can tell you how hard you need to push on the climbs and the flats to get round a course most efficiently (i.e. quickly).
To be in with a chance of winning, simply click this link (opens in new tab) or fill in the form below. We’ll get in contact with the lucky winner by the end of this month. If you don’t end up being the lucky one – don’t worry, we’ll be running it again next month.
Shimano 105 12-Speed Di2
(Image credit: Shimano )
Having unveiled 12-speed Ultegra and Dura-Ace last year, an update to Shimano’s third tier 105 groupset was clearly on the cards – but that still left many questions as to what form the refresh would take.
Would a 12th sprocket be introduced and the mechanical shifting retained? Or would electronic shifting be trickled down whilst keeping the gearing the same?
Turns out it was both, with a jump to 12-speeds and Di2 derailleurs being bestowed upon105 simultaneously. What’s more, most of the other tweaks that we introduced for Ultegra and Dura-Ace have been assimilated too – the most significant being the 10% wider spacing between the brake pads and the rotors, the option for wireless shifters, and a change to the bleed port for easier maintenance.
12-speed 105 is about a grand cheaper than 12-speed Ultegra, although it is about a grand more than what 11-speed Shimano 105 would previously sell for. So this update does mark a bit of a step away from being ‘the people’s groupset’ –…