Proper cycling shoes help keep your feet comfortable, improve power transfer and let in air to cool your feet on hot days. They’re an under-rated part of the cycling wardrobe and needn’t cost the earth.

The key to the function of cycling shoes is the sole. Cycling shoes have soles that are substantially stiffer than those of regular shoes or trainers. They don’t need to bend for walking, so they can be very stiff. That spreads the force you’re putting on the pedals around your foot and stops your foot uncomfortably bending at the edges of the pedal.

Let’s take a look at cycling shoes from the sole up.

Soles

A cycling shoe sole is stiff because it’s made of some sort of rigid plastic, often reinforced with fibreglass or carbon fibre. Most cycling shoe soles have threaded inserts so you can attach cleats for use with clipless pedals, though there are a few retro-styled shoes with smooth soles for use with clips and straps.

Pearl Izumi M Elite Road IV Shoe with three threaded inserts for a cleat and ventilation holes

There are two types of soles for clipless pedals. Road racing-style shoes have three threaded inserts for a cleat that sits on the outside of the sole. Mountain bike style shoes take a two bolt cleat that sits in a recess in the sole tread so that the shoes are easier to walk in when you have to get off the bike.

Shimano MW7 winter boots with a recess in the sole for a two-bolt cleat. (Only one pair of bolt holes is used at a time.)

Shoes for three-bolt cleats are great for rides where you don’t get off the bike for more than a cafe stop. If you want to walk around in between periods on the bike, go for two-bolt shoes.

Three-bolt soles usually have a couple of lumps of rubber under the heel and toe to make it slightly easier to walk in them, but they only improve things a little.

These Quoc Pham Fixed shoes are intended for use with clips and straps and so don't have fixings for cleats

Uppers

Bontrager Classique Shoes have a synthetic leather upper and laces for a retro look.

Cycling shoe uppers are made from many materials including real leather or suede; synthetic leather or suede; and nylon mesh. They are usually stitched together from various panels of material, but some high-end shoes have the upper moulded in one piece, which saves weight. Look for seams reinforced by double lines of stitching at the edges of the panels.

Shaped heel cups keep your foot securely in place in the shoe

The main body of the upper will have padding, reinforcement and stiffening in various places. The most significant stiffening is usually around the heel. This heel cup is shaped to hold your heel down in the shoe so it doesn’t slip on the upstroke as you pedal. The toes are usually reinforced against scuffing, especially in shoes intended for mountain biking. There’s usually padding at the heel and top of the shoe for comfort.

Shimano RP900 shoes have multi-panel construction with mesh and a rubber toe bumper

Some high-end shoes have uppers that can be moulded to more precisely fit your feet. Your dealer warms them, usually in a special oven, and then you put them on and buckle them up. As they cool they’ll take on the shape of your feet.

Closures

Laces can still be found on more casually-styled shoes like these Giro Petra VRs

To keep them on your feet shoes need to be fastened. The old school way of doing this was with laces, but most cycling shoes now use Velcro straps, buckles, dials or some combination. Laces have made a bit of a comeback in the last few years, though, with some very high-end models using sophisticated string to keep them snug. 

Shoes with laces will usually have a Velcro strap to cover the knot or some sort of ‘speed laces’ with a buckle to hold the laces in place and a place to tuck the free end. Either way, you don’t want any dangling string that can get caught in your chain or wrapped round the pedal axle so be sure to there are no loose dangly bits to get snagged. They may be a bit fiddly, but laces allow you to spread the tension evenly over your foot, which can make lace-up shoes very comfortable.

B'Twin Road 5 shoes are a very typical three-strap shoe

Velcro straps are the cheapest option. There are usually three along the top of the foot and you simply pull them tight and cinch them down. They’re quick and easy and they hold the shoe firmly im place, but as there are only three of them it’s easy to overdo tightening one and end up feeling like part of your foot has been clamped. Tighten them gently.

Vittoria Speed shoes each have a pair of Velcro straps and a ratchet buckle

On more expensive shoes you’ll find a ratchet buckle replacing the top strap. The advantage of a ratchet is that it’s very easy to adjust the tension as you ride, either to tighten it for a big effort or loosen it off if your feet are getting tired.

Bontrager Specter shoes combine a BOA with a single Velcro strap

On some high-end shoes you’ll find one or two dials that tighten very fine plastic-covered steel cables. In effect this is the high-tech answer to laces, spreading the tension around the top of the foot. The idea first appeared as the Boa closure; several shoe manufacturers now use it or their own versions. Like ratchets, wire-dial closures allow you to adjust the tension while you ride.

Insoles

The underside of these CurrexSole Bikepro insoles shows the different regions for support and shock absorption

Inside the shoe you’ll find an insole that cushions your foot and spreads the loads around. These vary in sophistication from a simple layer of foam to liners with multiple densities and adjustable support to heat-mouldable insoles that can be shaped to fit your foot. You can also buy new insoles to improve the fit and comfort of your shoes.

Ventilation, warmth and waterproofing

Vents at the front and in the middle of this Gaerne sole let cooling air fow through.

All that pressure through your feet can lead to them getting hot on warm days. As well as weight reduction, that’s why some shoes use lightweight mesh to let air in and cool your feet. Many shoes also have ventilation holes in the soles, though these can make you too cold in the winter. A strip of duct tape fixes that.

Winter cycling shoes ward off the cold and wet

Speaking of winter, you can get shoes specifically-designed to keep your feet war and dry during the cold and wet months. They usually have a breathable, waterproof Gore-Tex liner and a layer of insulation. That means they’re not cheap, but they’re worth it if you want to carry on riding through the winter. Pro tip: buy them in the spring when they’re heavily discounted and put them away for winter.

Women’s shoes

In general, women have narrower ankles than men and smaller feet. Women’s shoes are therefore a slightly different shape, and some models are available in smaller sizes than the 36 that’s usually the lower limit of men’s ranges.

What do you get for your money?

It pays to shop around; shoes are rarely sold for full RRP. At actual prices of around £50 you start getting ratchet buckles for easy tension adjustment.

Want something stiffer and lighter? The cheapest shoes we’re aware of with carbon fibre soles will set you back £65, and you don’t have to pay much more for heat-mouldable soles.

From there on up shoes generally get more orientated toward racing, with a few exceptions like winter boots and expedition mountain bike shoes. That also means soles usually get stiffer and the whole shoe lighter. The light, high-strength materials needed to achieve that are expensive, which pushes up the price of the shoes. Won the lottery? Check out the handmade Assos G1 shoes with carbon fibre soles, kangaroo leather uppers, Boa closure and every clever detail you can think of. A snip at £370.

Five great shoes for beginner cyclists

Triban RoadC 100 shoes — £29.99

Shoes with two-bolt SPD cleats are great for riders who are new to cycling shoes because they're easier to get into and allow you to walk around off the bike. These cycle touring shoes from Decathlon are a bargain, with a Velcro strap to stop the laces getting tangled in your bike and a reflective insert in the heel for visibility.

Muddyfox RBS100 — £30

My eyes! It's okay, these budget road shoes from Muddyfox are also available in a snazzy white, red and black colour scheme for those who aren't sufficiently extrovert for screaming neon.

They have a two-strap closure, with a very broad strap across the top to spread the tension over your foot, and Amazon reviewers say the sole is plenty stiff. For just £30, they do the job.

FWE Pitch Sport — £49.99

For £60 these SPD shoes from the Evans store chain look like a decent deal. There's also a road-specific version for the same price.

There are plenty of other shoes for under £50 at the moment in Evans' sale.

Giro Petra VR — £59.99

While there's always going to be a time and a place for super-stiff lightweight road shoes, sometimes that's not always what's required, or desired. The Giro Petra VR Shoes are designed for those times when there's going to be a fair bit of walking as well as riding, and when a more low-key looking shoe may be the thing. But they're still technical.

Officially in Giro's 'dirt' section of the company's website, the Petra VR is more a touring or casual shoe, rather than a technical mountain bike shoe. They lace up, have a Vibram sole, and feature a removable plate under which lurks SPD attachment points, but they are styled much more casually.

The men's equivalent is the Rumble VR.

Read our review of the Giro Petra VR

Find a Giro dealer

Shimano ME2 — £32.00 - £49.99

Happy customers report comfort on three-hour-plus rides from these three-strap mountain bike shoes which have fibreglass reinforced soles for comfy pedalling. A rubber outsole provides grip when you're off the bike, so these can be used for strolling around as well as riding.

Find a Shimano dealer

Fizik R1 Infinito Knit — £249.95 - £359.99

Only kidding!

If you’re choosing between Shimano Tiagra and Shimano 105 – either fitted to a complete bike or as an upgrade on an existing bike – here’s everything you need to know to make the right decision.

A groupset is a component manufacturer’s collection of mechanical parts, usually covering the derailleurs, shifters, brakes, chainset, bottom bracket, cassette and chain. Brands group these parts into various different levels.

If you want to know more about what a groupset is, check out our beginner’s guide.

Shimano offers six road groupsets. Starting at the top these are:

• Dura-Ace
• Ultegra
• 105
• Tiagra
• Sora
• Claris

Plus, Dura-Ace and Ultegra are available with Di2 electronic shifting, and Dura-Ace, Ultegra and 105 are also available with hydraulic disc brakes, and Shimano offers both hydraulic and cable discs for Tiagra

The recommended retail price of a complete Shimano Tiagra groupset (chainset, shifters, derailleurs, chain, cassette, brakes, bottom bracket) is £500 or £450, depending which retailer you choose to believe. A Shimano 105 R7000 groupset is nominally £596. That’s a difference of £96-£146.

However, both groupsets are widely available heavily discounted. You can pick up a Tiagra group for about £300, and 105 R7000 for as little as £400, though cheap deals like that usually don't offer the full range of chainring, cassette and crank length options.

Read more: Complete guide to Shimano groupsets

The biggest difference between the groupsets is that 105 – which is the most popular groupset in the world, according to Shimano – is 11-speed (there are 11 sprockets on the cassette) whereas Tiagra is 10-speed.

Tiagra is offered with both a double chainset (there are two chainrings) and a triple chainset (there are three chainrings) whereas 105 comes as a double only.

A number of technologies have filtered down to 105 R7000 from the more expensive Ultegra and Dura-Ace groups and Tiagra components are a little heavier. As ever, you pay more for lighter weight.

Read our full Shimano 105 R7000 groupset review.

Read our full Shimano Tiagra 4700 groupset review.

Dual control levers (mechanical)

The main difference between the dual control levers is that Tiagra (below) is a 10-speed system and 105 is 11-speed.

In both cases the bracket is made from GFRP (glass-fibre reinforced plastic), the main lever is aluminium, and you get screw-operated reach adjustment to bring the levers closer to the handlebar for smaller hands.

Gear shifting on the Shimano 105 R7000 group is light and snappy, a significant improvement on the previous 105 iteration. Shimano has captured the very light lever action of Ultegra and Dura-Ace and brought it down to a cheaper price.

Tiagra has cables that are routed underneath the handlebar tape like the higher level Shimano groupsets, a feature that was a long time coming to the budget groupset.

When we reviewed Tiagra we said, “Shift feel is perhaps a little heavier than Dura-Ace or Ultegra, but that's an unfair criticism given the huge price difference.”

Unlike 105, Tiagra is available with a triple chainset (with three chainrings rather than two, see below). If you want to go down that route you’ll need to buy the compatible dual control levers.

Dual pivot brakes

One of the biggest differences between 105 and Tiagra is the braking performance.

Shimano calls its latest calliper design SLR-EV Dual Pivot and this is now found on 105 (above), Ultegra and Dura-Ace. The new symmetrical twin pivot design equalises the braking forces through each arm for better control and power.

Slowing rather than stopping can be achieved with just a couple of fingers applying pressure to the lever and it's easy to avoid locking a wheel. The brake pad compound feels a little more grippy than the previous version in both wet and dry conditions.

The latest Tiagra brakes (above) do provide more stopping ability than before but they aren’t a patch on 105. The brakes will certainly stop you in a hurry, they're just lacking in feel and feedback through the levers.

The one-piece brake blocks also exhibit some flex, and changing them isn't as simple as swapping a brake pad in more expensive cartridge brakes such as those found on 105 and Ultegra.

Shimano says both 105 and Tiagra have room for tyres up to 28mm wide. However, the latest 105 R7000 brakes have slightly more drop (the distance from the mounting bolt to the brake pads) than before: 51mm v 49mm. That implies you should be able to run 30mm tyres with the right frame.

105 is also available in a direct mount option (you need to have a compatible frame and fork) where the brake arms bolt straight on to the frame/fork rather than via a central bolt. There is no Tiagra direct mount option.

Disc brakes

The 105 hydraulic STI units for disc brakes are 11-speed, as you'd expect, while the Tiagra are 10-speed. The new 105 R7000 STI units are considerably streamlined compared to both their predecessors and the Tiagra versions.

Riders with small hands should definitely look to the R7000 brakes. The ST-R7025 levers sit closer to the handlebar than the standard ST-R7020 levers.

We've been impressed with the Tiagra hydraulic discs. They were fitted to the Genesis Datum 10 that Mike Stead tested in mid-2017, and he commented: "I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that Shimano can do no wrong brake-wise, the performance being consistently excellent across all specs from base model non-series to Dura-Ace. Stopping power is enhanced by the use of a 160mm rotor up front, meaning there's never any need for more than two fingers on the levers, even with hands on the hoods let alone in the drops." The Tiagra brakes specifically boosted the Datum 10's performance downhill: "the wide tyres and hydraulic brakes give you the confidence to bomb rough-tarmac descents without fear."

Chainset

Shimano Tiagra (below) and 105 each feature chainsets with aluminium crank arms and a steel axle. They both use a four-arm spider with uneven spacing between those arms, the idea being to provide strength and stiffness where it’s needed while keeping the weight low.

The outer ring in both cases is aluminium/GFRP. Again, the design is intended to provide stiffness.

Both 105 and Tiagra are available in 165mm, 170mm, 172.5mm and 175mm crank lengths. Diminutive riders can also choose a 160mm 105 R7000 crankset

Chainring options are slightly different. With 105 you can decide between 53-39, 52-36 and 50-34 tooth setups but Tiagra lacks the traditional, racing-orientated 53-39 option.

On the other hand, Tiagra is available in a triple chainset configuration: 50-39-30. You’ll need a triple-compatible left hand shifter and front derailleur as well.

All 105 (below) and Tiagra chainsets use the same bolt circle diameter (BCD, 110mm) so it’s easy to swap from one size of chainring to another.

As commenters have pointed out, the 105 chainset is significantly lighter than the Tiagra, but is reported to work fine in an otherwise Tiagra set up, so if you have a Tiagra bike, a 105 is a worthwhile upgrade.

Front derailleur

The 105 (below) and Tiagra front derailleurs are made from the same materials – aluminium with a chrome plated stainless steel chain guide – and each comes in braze on and band on varieties to suit different frames.

The differences are that the 105 front derailleur is suitable for 11-speed use and a large chainring of between 46 and 53 teeth while the Tiagra one (below) is 10-speed compatible and takes a large chainring of between 46 and 52 teeth. (If you want to use a chainring larger than 53-teeth, Shimano says you have to go all the way up to a top level Dura-Ace front derailleur). You can also get a Tiagra front derailleur that’s suitable for use with a triple chainset.

The two derailleurs have very different appearance because the 105 R7000 uses what Shimano calls a "compact toggle design". This design — previously seen on Dura-Ace and Ultegra — increases tyre clearance and provides a cable tension adjustment screw in the body of the derailleur.

We found the Tiagra front derailleur to shift cleanly, smoothly and quietly, even under load.

Rear derailleur

Following the design of the Ultegra R8000 rear derailleur launched the year before, the 105 R7000 is a radical departure from previous 105 derailleurs and looks very different from the Tiagra unit. The 105 R7000 derailleur uses the Shadow design Shimano originally developed for mountain bikes to tuck the derailleur in to the bike and increase the largest sprocket it can handle.

The Tiagra version is designed to be used as part of a 10-speed setup while the 105 version is designed for 11-speed. Each is made with a bracket body, plate body and plates made from aluminium.

Both Tiagra and 105 rear derailleurs come in short cage and long cage versions for use with different cassettes. The short-cage Tiagra derailleur can handle up to a 28-tooth large sprocket, while the 105 R7000 equivalent can shift up to a 30-toother. The long cage versions will both handle a 34-tooth sprocket, though we've found the long-cage version of the 105 R7000 will actually shift all the way to a 40-tooth chainring without any hassle at all.

When we reviewed Tiagra we said, “Shimano says it has revised the cable pitch on the rear derailleur (above), claiming it now offers 'precise and long-lasting shifting performance'. It's certainly living up to those claims compared with old Tiagra.”

Cassette

The Tiagra and 105 cassettes both feature nickel plated steel sprockets although the 105 version has an a spider arm and a lockring made from anodised aluminium and it’s considerably lighter. The biggest difference, though, is that a 105 cassette is 11-speed while a Tiagra one is 10-speed.

105 is available in 11-25, 11-32 and 12-25 tooth options, plus a newly-introduced 11-34 that will fit on a 10-speed wheel, while Tiagra comes in 11-25, 12-28, 11-32 and 11-34 tooth.

When he reviewed the previous Shimano 105 Stu said, “Resistance to wear has always been a reason for me to buy 105 sprockets even with an Ultegra or Dura-Ace equipped bike, and that remains here as the nickel-plated sprockets are standing up to pretty much anything you can throw at it.

“The shifting is sharp and those computer designed tooth profiles must be doing their job as even under load there were no missed shifts.”

Chain

The 105 chain (below) is 11-speed rather than 10-speed, so it’s narrower and a little lighter than the Tiagra version.

They both run very quietly thanks to Sil-Tec (PTFE) coated links.

Bottom bracket

The Tiagra press-fit bottom bracket is nearly as light as the 105 version. Although the threaded model is quite a bit heavier than the 105 one (above) in percentage terms, you’re still only talking about 15g, and that’s negligible considering the overall weight of your bike. That said, for the tiny increment in typical price, the BB-R60 (105) is also used in the Ultegra groupset and has an excellent reputation for durability.

Conclusion

Tiagra is a really impressive groupset. It does everything you want from a mid-level road bike with only a few minor quibbles. The biggest decision is whether you're really fussed about having the 11-speed of Shimano's more expensive 105.

If you go for Tiagra you can’t upgrade to 105 one component at a time because 10-speed and 11-speed drivetrain components aren’t interchangeable. You’d have to upgrade most of the groupset components at once for optimum performance. As well as an 11-speed cassette having an extra sprocket, the spacing between those sprockets is smaller, an 11-speed chain is narrower than a 10-speed chain, and, obviously, an 11-speed shifter has one more position than a 10-speed one. However, you should be able to put a 105 rear derailleur in a Tiagra system as the cable pull ratios are the same, but to go to 11-speed you're eventually going to need the big bang of new sprockets, chain and shifters.

If you go for 105, on the other hand, you could swap to Ultegra or Dura-Ace gradually as each component wears out. That might be attractive, but only if you’re realistically likely to do this.

If you want really low gears, 105 is the better choice. In theory both systems will handle a 34-tooth largest sprocket, but while we've heard of people persuading Tiagra to cope with a 36-tooth, we have direct experience of a long-arm 105 mech cheerfully shifting to a 40-tooth sprocket.

The other major difference between the two groupsets is that the 105 brakes are considerably better than Tiagra ones. They are a real highlight both in terms of all-out power and fingertip control.

Tiagra offers excellent value for money but 105 is certainly the better groupset and we’d recommend going for it if your funds allow because of the better brakes, the small weight saving and the upgrade to 11-speed.

A groupset is a collection of matching components used by a bike manufacturer to turn a frame into a bike. But confusingly, the term doesn’t cover all the parts on a bike, so let’s take a look at what it does cover, and why groupsets exist.

The first groupsets were produced by Italian component maker Campagnolo and just as today, a groupset was a collection of components that matched visually and in quality and function. The shapes of the various cast, forged and machined parts of a groupset all follow similar lines. Often there will be a common colour too, with various shades of grey currently in vogue.

Who makes groupsets?

The big names in bike component manufacturing are Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM, and these are the brands you’ll see almost exclusively on the groupsets fitted to bikes. In fact, you’ll have to look fairly hard to find anything but Shimano, such is the Japanese company’s domination of the market. You’ll find SRAM groupsets on a few mid-priced bikes, but this American-based company is currently focussing on very high-end bikes with its wireless eTap electronic shifting, and on cyclocross and gravel/adventure bikes with its 1X transmissions that combine a single chainring with a very wide-range sprocket set. Taiwanese/Italian manufacturer FSA has been working on groupsets for some years and launched an electronic system in 2018, but it hasn't been widely adopted.

There used to be more. Mavic made some strikingly-styled groupsets in the 1980s, and we previously wrote about the demise of SunTour of Japan and Zeus of Spain. Sachs, part of the German Mannesman industrial conglomerate, made groupsets in the 1990s before selling its designs and production facilities to SRAM. A few other brands have appeared on groupsets, but usually some of the parts have been rebranded components from other manufacturers. Italian company Miche, for example, used to offer groupsets with rebranded SunTour derailleurs, while Galli, also from Italy, made its own brakes and derailleurs but rebranded other companies’ parts for the rest of its groupsets.

Today, each of the big three makes a range of groupsets covering bikes from the entry level up to professional racing. The table at the foot of the page lists them, and gives an idea of the cost of the bikes you'll find them on. 

What’s in a groupset?

Campagnolo invented the groupset. Dripping with carbon fibre and titanium, Super Record is its top offering.

A modern groupset usually comprises brakes, brake/gear levers, chainset, derailleurs, chain and sprockets. That’s changed over time, though. For example, there was a time when a groupset included pedals and hubs. Groupset makers still offer hubs and pedals that are designated as part of a group, but it’s rare to see them on off-the-peg bikes. Bike makers usually buy complete wheels, sometimes from the groupset manufacturer — Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM all make wheels — sometimes from another company. Bikes often come with very basic pedals, or none at all. The customer is expected to fit their chosen pedal system. Campagnolo and Shimano used to offer seatposts, Shimano made headsets and handlebar stems (and very lovely the stems were too, as Kim Chee points out in the comments), Campagnolo has dabbled in saddles and for a while made highly-regarded rims.

What about the other bits?

A bike’s bar, stem, saddle and seatpost will come from a different company than the one supplying the groupset. There’s no particular reason for this, except that groupset makers tend to have long-standing specialisation in moving parts and leave the less complicated components alone.

But we’re talking about the bike industry so it’s Not That Simple. Some manufacturers of non-groupset components have expanded beyond that original remit, notably FSA and Ritchey with headsets, wheels and chainsets. From the other direction, Shimano owns Pro Bike Gear, which makes bars, stems, saddles, seatposts and wheels, plus bags and accessories. You’ll need tyres and tubes, but it’s otherwise possible to build a completely Shimano/Pro-equipped bike, and when FSA’s gear system becomes available (see below), you’ll be able to the same with its parts.

Why have a groupset at all?

Trek's top-end Madone SLR 9 uses SRAM's latest wireless electronic AXS 12-speed groupset

We’ve already touched on two reasons why groupsets exist: matching aesthetics and matching quality. A bike with a complete groupset looks good, because the chainset, brakes, levers and derailleurs will all be the same colour and share other visual features. Perhaps more importantly, the quality of all the parts will be similar, so you can expect them all to be similarly durable. The metal treatments and high-strength alloys that make pivots and bearings more durable and that also make parts lighter are expensive, so better groupsets are pricier. If you ride 10,000 miles per year, the reliability of an expensive groupset is a decent investment; if you’re a 2,000 mile-a-year weekend warrior, perhaps not so much.

Materials themselves may delineate groupsets. You won’t find any carbon fibre in Campagnolo’s entry-level Veloce groupset, but its top-end Super Record groupset is positively dripping with composites, as well as a fair amount of titanium. That use of high-tech materials makes Super Record the lightest groupset on the market, as well as the most expensive.

Another reason is that a bike with a complete groupset almost always works better than one with a mix of parts from different manufacturers. Component makers design their shifters to pull just the right amount of cable for each gear shift or braking action, and their sprockets and chainrings to grab their chains and move them smoothly from one tooth to another. Change almost any component and things won’t work quite as well.

That said, some manufacturers are pretty good at making compatible parts. SRAM sprockets work well enough in Shimano transmissions and it’s not unusual to find KMC chains on bikes equipped with any of the big three’s groupsets. In fact, KMC is widely reported to supply chains to Shimano, so you’d expect its chains to work with Shimano gears. Nevertheless, with rare exceptions, if you want your bike to work as well as it possibly can, then fitting a complete groupset is the way to go.

How many gears?

Aside from weight and durability the main difference between cheaper and more expensive groupsets is the number of gears you get. The latest top-end groupsets have 12 sprockets on the rear hub, giving a wide range of closely-spaced gears. From the next tier down to the middle of the range, you find 11-speed transmissions.

When it comes to groupsets you'll find on bikes in the shops, Shimano's Tiagra transmission is the only common 10-speed set-up, although SRAM's Apex groupset and Campagnolo's Veloce ensemble are also 10-speed.

If your needs are more modest, Shimano is the only game in town, with the 9-speed Sora groupset and 8-speed Claris.

Stopping options

Just a few years ago there was only one way of slowing down a road bike, with brakes that acted on the wheel rims, operated by cables. Since then, hydraulically-operated disc brakes have become common on bikes from about £1,200 and up. 

All the major manufacturers now offer groupsets with disc brakes; Campagnolo was the last to come to the party, and aside from the grizzling of a few retrogrouches they're now an accepted part of the bike component universe. While they're a bit heavier than rim brakes, they offer better control, are less affected by the wet and still work if your rim gets damaged or you break a spoke.

What’s the future of groupsets?

Shimano's Dura-Ace R9150, introduced for the 2017 model year, is the state-of-the-art electronic-shifting groupset

The barrier to entering the groupset market is high. Most of the customers are bike manufacturers with well-established relationships with their existing suppliers. You need substantial amounts of heavy machinery for the forging, casting, stamping and moulding processes that convert raw metal to bike parts, and either robots or inexpensive labour to assemble them.

As a result, nobody enters the field with a complete groupset. The trick is to get started with a part that’s better than what’s already available, or at least very different from it. SRAM did this with its throttle-style gear shifter GripShift, and expanded by buying other companies like Sachs (derailleurs), Avid (brakes) and Truvativ (chainsets).

The rear derailleur of the FSA K-Force WE electronic groupset

A new entrant we’ll almost certainly see more of in the near future is FSA. Its logo is already a common sight on bikes with its chainsets, seatposts, bars, stem and headsets. FSA has been threatening for years to make complete groupsets for road bikes, but so far has only produced a triathlon bike set. At the 2016 Tour de France, prototypes of an FSA electronic gear system, dubbed K-Force WE, appeared on the bike of top Italian rider Ivan Basso. A few weeks later FSA showed off the new shifters at the Eurobike show  and our Dave Arthur was able to take it for a spin.

We tested K-Force WE when it finally became available and found it had some way to go to catch up with the electronic groupsets from Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM. Since then it lookd like FSA has squashed some of the bugs. In August, Angel Madrazo Ruiz of the BH-Burgos team won a stage of the Vuelta a Espana using K-Force WE.

The reason it took so long for FSA to get a groupset out is probably that decent-quality road bikes now all have combined gear and brake levers. There are only so many ways to do this and they’re all covered by patents held by Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo. However, Shimano introduced its STI brake/shift levers in 1990, so its patents on that design should now have expired. That we’ve not seen copies yet is testament to Shimano’s technical expertise in getting a quite delicate mechanism to work reliably.

The trend over the last few years has been to ever-greater integration between parts, and that will continue. In the days before indexed shifting you could use a Campagnolo derailleur with Shimano gear levers (though Campagnolo derailleurs of that era shifted so badly it’s a mystery why you’d want to). You can’t do that now and be certain the indexing will work properly, nor should you use Shimano levers with Campagnolo brakes — they have different cable pull requirements. And you definitely can’t use SRAM hydraulic brakes with Shimano levers because they use different, totally incompatible hydraulic fluids.

Imagine a system that senses that you’re braking and changes gear for you. That would require a level of integration beyond the current state of the art. Or how about a seatpost that automatically adjusts your saddle height within a range: lower for descending, higher for climbing?

Read more: Your complete guide to SRAM road bike groupsets
Read more: Your complete guide to Campagnolo road bike groupsets
​ Read more: Your complete guide to Shimano road bike groupsets

Know your groupsets

The table below lists the groupsets currently offered by Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo, along with the recommended retail price of a complete set of each one. You'll almost always be able to find them for less than RRP, but the prices give you an index of the relative quality of each groupset.

We’ve also listed the approximate price range of bikes with each group. We have to stress these ranges are very approximate. Some groupsets — especially those from Campagnolo — are very uncommon on off-the-peg bikes.

SRAM offers a rim-brake version of Force AXS but we haven't been able to find any bike manufacturers that are using it

A change of pedals can lop a chunk of weight off your bike and also give you a chance to switch to pedals that work better in other ways such as providing a broader platform for your shoes or user-friendly double-sided mechanism.

In the selection of lightweight, high-end pedals below we’ve picked pedals designed to save weight but that also improve over regular or less expensive designs in other ways.

For example, Look’s latest Keo Blade pedals have a very large steel contact plate, which in theory makes the cleat — and therefore the shoe — steadier on the pedal.

The Hairsine ratios for these pedals are based on Shimano’s 330g R540 pedals, except for the Ritcheys which we’ve compared with Shimano’s 374g M520s.

>>Read more: Buyer's Guide — The best clipless pedals

Ritchey WCS Micro — £93.05

Weight: 208g Hairsine ratio: 1.34

The Ritchey WCS Micro Road Pedals are lightweight, sleek pedals for SPD-cleat users. At 208g (plus cleats), they’re are at the lighter end of heavy; they’re almost certainly the lightest option if you want to use shoes you can easily walk in.

Once clicked in they feel just as good as any other high-end SPD-style pedal, with a decent amount of float, no fore-aft slop and clean entry/exit even with grime underfoot. Being single-sided you have to look a bit, and without the SPD-SL's large rear end they don't hang ready to clip into.

We didn't find flipping them over to engage to be any hassle, the compactness meaning they didn't want to spin all the way over under their own gravity. Double-sided SPDs might be a boon off-road where you are clipping in-out frequently, but for even moderately-experienced road users the single-sidedness of the Ritcheys shouldn't be an issue.

The Pro version we reviewed is no longer available, but the WCS model is lighter and has recently had a bearing and axle upgrade to prolong its service life.

Read our review of the Ritchey Micro V4
Find a Ritchey dealer

Speedplay Zero Stainless Pedals — £143.99

Weight: 208g Hairsine ratio: 0.85

Those who love Speedplays rave about the low weight, adjustability, and shallow stack. But it's undeniable they need more looking after than most pedals, the large cleat is awkward to walk in (the new aero cleat is a big improvement on the original naked cleat though) and they're susceptible to clogging from even the smallest amount of dirt.

But if you have knees that are in any way fragile, or you want pedals that are incredibly easy to enter and release but fit stiff-soled road racing shoes, their free float and double-sided design make Speedplays well worth considering.

Read our review of the Speedplay Zero Stainless Pedals
Find a Speedplay dealer

Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 Carbon SPD-SL — £139

Weight: 228g Hairsine ratio: 0.73

Shimano's top-level Dura-Ace R9100 pedals offer loads of security and stability and they're a few grams lighter than the previous version, although still not quite as light as some of their biggest rivals.

The pedals feature an injection-moulded carbon composite body with three small stainless steel plates across the centre to provide protection from wear. These plates are moulded in and aren't replaceable (the screwed-on plate of the previous generation Dura-Ace R9000 pedal wasn't replaceable either).

The pedal platform is 66mm wide – a little wider than previously – and provides plenty of stability. That broad platform is one of the best things about these pedals, and is especially welcome when you're riding out of the saddle.

Read our review of the Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 Carbon SPD-SL

Xpedo Thrust XRF08CT — £159.78

Weight: 184g Hairsine ratio: 0.91

Despite their conventional steel springs, these carbon-bodied Look Keo clones from the upmarket arm of Taiwanese pedal giant Wellgo are very light, thanks to their pared-down carbon fibre bodies and titanium axles.

Out on the road these provide you with a whole lot of stability. That wide pedal body gives you a solid platform underneath your foot for putting down the power, with no rocking from side to side. The mechanism hangs on to your cleat securely, and if you wind up the tension there’s virtually no chance of your foot disconnecting unexpectedly.

Read our review of the Xpedo Thrust XRF08CT

Look Keo Blade Carbon Ti Pedals — £184.99

Weight: 180g Hairsine ratio: 0.81

This is the lightest incarnation of Look’s Keo pedals, and uses a weight-saving carbon fibre leaf spring to provide the retention force in place of the usual steel coil.

We like the less expensive Keo Blade and these have even more bells and whistles, including a very large steel contact plate for stability (700mm² rather than the Max’s 400mm²) and titanium axle.

The latest versions of the Keo Blade Carbon and Keo Blade Carbon Ti have interchangeable leaf springs; they come set up with 12Nm springs, but there's a 16Nm spring in the box, and a special tool to help make the job easy. You can also buy a 20Nm spring, but Look warns that you shouldn’t come crying to them if you crash because you can’t get out of the 20Nm version.

Read our review of the Look Keo Blade Carbon Pedals

Time Xpresso 15 — £304.99

Weight: 140g Hairsine ratio: 0.62

The Time Xpresso 15 pedals are extremely light and clipping in/twisting out could hardly be easier. The downside is the price, and the cleats wear noticeably faster than those of other brands.

At just 140g for the pair, they're phenomenally light thanks to carbon bodies, titanium axles, aluminium top plates and ceramic bearings. Clipping in is very easy thanks to a spring mechanism that stays open after you click out.

Read our review of the Time Xpresso 15
Find a Time dealer

Speedplay Zero Titanium Nanogram — £508.99

Weight: 120g Hairsine ratio: 0.41

At just 120g/pair these race-day-only pedals are Speedplay's demonstration that the Zero design can be made extraordinarily light. Speedplay has often displayed superlight bikes at trade shows; these pedals help make bikes like those even lighter.

The low weight is achieved by the use of every lightweight material you can think of: carbon-reinforced thermoplastic bodies; ceramic bearings; titanium axles; titanium bolts; and aluminium top plates. The cleats have been lightened too with carbon fiber replacing the plastic and aluminium fasteners instead of steel. They're bonkers expensive, but you have to admire the fanaticism.

Find a Speedplay dealer

>> Read more: All road.cc pedal reviews

[This article was last updated on October 23, 2019]

If you’re deciding between Shimano 105 and Shimano Ultegra groupsets, either on a complete bike or as an upgrade, here’s everything you need to know to make the right choice.

Starting at the basics, a groupset is a component manufacturer’s collection of mechanical parts, usually covering the derailleurs, shifters, brakes, chainset, cassette and chain. Brands group these parts together in various different levels.

Going from the top, Shimano's current road groupsets are:

• Dura-Ace
• Ultegra
• 105
• Tiagra
• Sora
• Claris
• Tourney

Additionally, Dura-Ace and Ultegra are available with Di2 electronic shifting. We’ll leave Di2 to one side here because there’s no 105 version to consider. If you want it, your decision is between Ultegra Di2 and Dura-Ace Di2, and that’s outside the scope of this article.

Check out our Complete Guide to Shimano Road Groupsets.

Shimano usually updates each groupset every three years. The latest version of Shimano 105 is called R7000 (the disc brakes are R7020) and the most up to date Ultegra is R8000 (the disc brakes are R8020, the Di2 is R8050 and Di2 with hydraulic disc brakes is R8070).

A Shimano 105 groupset with rim brakes retails at £612.91 (without pedals) while an equivalent Shimano Ultegra groupset is £982.91 (without pedals) – that’s £370 more, but what do you actually get for the extra money?

We quote official recommended retail prices here, of course, but we've also included typical online prices. The weights listed below are Shimano’s official figures.

Both 105 and Ultegra are 11-speed systems and there are many more similarities between them than differences. Although Ultegra is more expensive, all of the same technology features in 105, and you operate them in exactly the same way.

The differences are mainly down to materials used, and because of this 105 components are a little heavier.

We've put all the prices and weights into a table at the bottom along with the scores we awarded when we reviewed each groupset independently, just to make life easier for you.

Check out our full Shimano 105 review here and read our full Shimano Ultegra review here.

Dual control levers

The dual control levers are high points of both the Ultegra and 105 (above) groupsets and they each work in exactly the same way. They’re slim and comfortable to use with a short stroke and a light action (much lighter than earlier incarnations).

When he reviewed the Ultegra levers (above) Stu Kerton said, “The biggest difference of R8000 [current generation Shimano Ultegra] over 6800 [the previous version] is the shape of the brake lever. The curve for your index finger is more pronounced and if, like me, you like to wrap your finger around the bar when on the hoods then you'll find it very comfortable.

"The shape allows you to use just your second finger for braking to slow down, and to quickly add all your fingers for hard braking efforts."

The 105 levers have been redesigned with shifting mechanisms that make the shift a bit more snappy than before, and the shape of the lever is squarer, slightly more compact and features a patterned rubber cover for extra grip on the hoods.

There is a difference in the materials used. Ultegra dual control levers have carbon-fibre reinforced plastic brackets and main levers while 105 has glass-fibre reinforced plastic brackets and aluminium main levers.

The 105 levers are a little heavier but you won’t notice any difference in performance.

Chainset

The 105 chainset (below) has a spider with four unevenly spaced arms, the idea being to provide stiffness where it’s needed while saving weight over a five arm design. This is technology that started off in the top-level Dura-Ace groupset and has trickled down via Ultegra.

Both 105 and Ultegra (below) are available with 53-39-tooth, 52-36-tooth and 50-34-tooth chainrings, and Ultegra is also available in a 46-36-tooth cyclocross option. All of them use the same bolt circle diameter (110mm) so you can easily swap a 53-tooth outer chainring for a 50-tooth, for example.

The 105 and Ultegra chainsets use the same technology and the same materials in key areas. Although many rivals have shifted to carbon-fibre cranks, Shimano has stuck with aluminium. Its Hollowtech technology results in a hollow crank arm to keep the weight low while retaining stiffness.

The 105 chainset's outer chainring is heavily machined on the inside face to reduce weight, retaining splines across the machined section to make sure stiffness isn't compromised. It's not quite as technically advanced as the Ultegra outer chainring which features a two-piece construction, but you wouldn't know unless you looked at it from the back. The design is a bit more susceptible to storing grime in all the recesses but that's not a huge issue.

As usual, there’s a slight weight penalty if you go for 105.

Whereas some chainsets feature a aluminium axle in a 30mm diameter, Shimano uses a steel axle with a 24mm diameter across the board.

The weights given above are for chainsets with 50/34-tooth chainrings.

Front derailleur

The 105 (above) and Ultegra (below) front derailleurs each come with a glass-fibre reinforced plastic outer link, an aluminium inner link, a chrome-plated steel chain guide, and light shifting. A trim position allows you to avoid chain rub as you move across the cassette.

Both the Ultegra and 105 front derailleurs have been redesigned and use a cam arrangements to actuate the shift, allowing the units to be much more compact than before.

They each feature a tension adjustment screw, which means there's no need for an inline barrel adjuster.

The largest chainring recommended for use with each of them is 53-tooth. That’s fine for most people although some time trialists who like pushing big gears might struggle.

Rear derailleur

Both Ultegra and 105 (below) rear derailleurs are available in short cage (SS) and medium cage (GS) versions to suit the chainset and cassette that you are using. Go for the medium cage version of either and the maximum sprocket size you can officially use is 34T (although in reality they'll handle much more).

They're similar to one another in terms of materials although the Ultegra model has better pulley bearings.

For the latest versions of its top three groupsets, Dura-Ace, Ultegra and 105, Shimano has incorporated its Shadow technology, brought over from the mountain bike side of the business.

Its design means that the rear derailleur profile is much narrower when you look at the bike from the rear, sitting 12mm closer to the bike when in the bottom sprocket of the cassette. This means that should you crash or the bike gets blown over there is less chance of damage to the bike or wrecking your gear hanger.

The new design is compatible with direct mount frames, although there aren't many of those in the road sector right now.

In his review of Shimano Ultegra R8000 Stu said, "The gear shifts feel slightly quicker and lighter than on 6800, and it really is a joy to use."

Once set up, we found 105 shifting to be precise and consistent across the whole cassette. It's crisp and light whether you're using the short cage or the medium cage rear derailleur.

As well as the normal rear derailleurs, Shimano offers clutch-operated Ultegra RX options (£89.99 for the cable-operated version, £259.99 for the Di2 version) which are aimed at the gravel/adventure market. There's no Shimano 105 clutch derailleur.

Cassette

Both 105 and Ultegra are 11-speed systems. 105 cassettes (above) are available in 11-28-tooth, 11-30, 11-32, 11-34 and 12-25 options. Ultegra is available in all of those plus 11-25 and 14-28. There’s no reason why you can’t use an Ultegra cassette with an otherwise 105 groupset, or vice versa.

With both 105 and Ultegra, the largest sprocket you can officially use is a 34-tooth, although in truth you can go much larger than that; we have gear systems with 11-40 cassettes that work very happily.

In both cases, the sprockets are made from nickel-plated steel, although an Ultegra cassette has a carbon/aluminium spider arm and an anodised aluminium lockring while a 105 cassette has an aluminium spider and a nickel-plated steel lockring. These differences make for a difference in weight, but we're talking about 23-35g, depending on the size of the cassette.

Dual pivot brakes

Both Ultegra and 105 SLR EV dual pivot rim brakes are made from anodised aluminium and we rate them very highly. They’re essentially the same design: a symmetrical twin pivot system that’s designed to equalise the braking forces through each arm allowing for better control and power.

In reviewing the 105 brakes (above) Dave said, “The Shimano symmetrical dual-pivot brakes are, for me, the best road rim brakes out there. They have a very solid feel and modulation is excellent. I've been using the brakes on my race bike, which has Swiss Side Hadron 485 wheels that have an alloy brake track, and the brake performance is about as good as you're going to find for a rim brake. The 105 callipers are not noticeably inferior to the Ultegra brakes in anything other than weight, and even there the difference isn't great."

The maximum tyre width Shimano recommends for its Ultegra (above) and 105 SLR EV Dual Pivot brakes (below) is 28mm.

Shimano also offers direct mount brakes in both the Ultegra and the 105 groupsets. They’re virtually identical to one another, each taking tyres up to 28mm.

Hydraulic disc brakes

Shimano has offered 105-level and Ultegra-level hydraulic disc brakes for some time but it's only recently that designs have actually been incorporated into each of the groupsets.

The new Shimano 105 mechanical shift/hydraulic brake dual control unit is based on the cable-operated version (above), with the same lever design and a similar hood profile with the textured finish for better grip in the wet. The body of the hood is a bit bigger, especially at the bottom where the hose exits the lever, but not so much that it's a problem.

Read our Shimano 105 R7020 hydraulic disc brake review here

The 105 system has an aluminium brake lever while it's engineering composite if you go for Ultegra, which is a little lighter.

The brake callipers are very similar to one another, although the body on the 105 version is painted while it's anodised for Ultegra.

Will you notice a difference in the quality of the braking if you opt for more expensive Ultegra? In short, no. It works brilliantly whichever you choose.

You can buy a brake calliper and dual control lever separately (see table above) or you can buy a set that includes the lever, the brake calliper and the hose (£249.99 per brake in the case of 105, £309.99 per brake for Ultegra).

You'll also need to factor in £55.98 for two Shimano 105-level disc rotors, or £99.98 for two Ultegra-level rotors to complete the package.

Chain

Both the Ultegra and 105 chains undergo a Sil-Tec low friction plating process that’s designed to make them run smoother and require less maintenance, as well as increasing the durability.

The only difference between them is that the 105 chain has this treatment on the roller link plates (the inner ones) only while the Ultegra chain (above) has it on the pin link plates (the outer ones) too.

It's great to see that Shimano is finally offering its chains with a quick link similar to those used by KMC and others, making them much easier to fit and remove.

Bottom bracket

Shimano recommends the same bottom bracket whether you go for an Ultegra or a 105 groupset. The BBR60 (77g) is available in both British and Italian threaded versions, while the BB72-41 (69g) is for press-fit systems.

Pedals

The Ultegra and 105 (below) pedals both have wide carbon composite bodies, widely spaced bearings, chromoly steel axles and adjustable entry and release tension. The Ultegra pedals have slightly more stainless steel body plating, designed to reduce flex and wear, and a little more clearance (33° as opposed to 31°).

The Ultegra pedal is also available in a version with a 4mm longer axle for more clearance between the crank arm and your shoe.

Conclusion

If you’ve read everything above, looked at the pictures, and come to the conclusion that there’s not all that much difference between 105 and Ultegra components, you’re right. They work in the same ways, the shaping is the same and so is the engineering. There are no major technological features in the Ultegra groupset that aren’t included in 105.

Table comparing the prices, weights and road.cc review scores of Shimano 105 and Shimano Ultegra components

The differences are minor and mostly come down to materials. This results in Ultegra components being a little lighter than their 105 counterparts. No single Ultegra component is massively lighter and the small savings add up to just 191g across a whole groupset (the figure could be a little more or a little less than that depending on exactly which options you choose).

We reckon that 105 is as good as it gets in terms of bangs per buck right now and there is no compromise in functionality: this groupset is better than top-level Dura-Ace was a few years ago, for a fraction of the price. There's no aspect of its performance that would be meaningfully improved by going one rung up the groupset ladder.

We awarded both Shimano 105 and Ultegra 10/10 for performance, and we give out very few 10/10 marks. We marked Ultegra 7/10 for value while giving 105 9/10 courtesy of offering a very similar level of performance at a significantly lower price. That might or might not be important to you.

Whether the small weight saving you get with Ultegra is worth the extra cash is something you have to decide for yourself based on your bank balance and your priorities.

Updated October 25, 2019

When it comes to clipless pedals, you have the choice between a three-bolt road-style system, like Shimano’s SPD-SL, and a two-bolt mountain bike-style system, such as Shimano’s SPD, and here we’re going to help you decide which is the best option for you.

Check out a whole road.cc forum topic on the subject .

Now, although I’ve already described a three bolt system as ‘road-style’, not everyone who rides on the road opts for this type of pedal, and SPDs are certainly not confined to trail use.

One other thing to mention up top is that most of the characteristics of Shimano’s SPD-SL system are shared by other three-bolt designs from the likes of Look and Time. Plus, other mountain bike systems are similar in essentials to SPD. We're sticking to Shimano here to keep things simple, but here's a pic of some Look Keo Blade Carbons, just to show we're not biased!

Oh, and then there’s Speedplay, a unique system that has many avid fans, although for clarity we’re not going to cover it here. Sorry. If you want to know more about Speedplay, which is particularly valuable for those who need a lot of float, go to our article on 10 of the best clipless pedals.

Read our pedal reviews here.

Okay, so what are we talking about when we say SPD and SPD-SL?

Shimano first released its SPD (Shimano Pedaling Dynamics) design way back in 1990. A smaller metal cleat is mounted to your shoe with two bolts, fitting in a recess in the sole. The recessed cleat makes it easier to walk in SPD shoes and helps guide the cleat into the mechanism, so it’s easier to clip in. Originally intended for mountain biking, SPD has become popular with commuting and recreational riders too who tend to go for inexpensive workhorses like the Shimano PD-M520, above, £21.95).

SPD-SL pedals, on the other hand, are quite similar to the original road racing clipless pedals introduced by Look in 1984 and updated many times since. These have a three-bolt cleat that stands proud of the sole, hooks into the front of the pedal and is held in place by a spring-loaded latch at the rear. You can see the mechanism in the carbon-fibre-bodied Shimano 105 R7000 pedals, above which are popular with road riders and will typically set you back about £66. This allows an uncomplicated, rigid sole, but is awkward to walk in; think of a penguin waddling on ice or a sheep on lino and you’re somewhere close.

"Our pedals are always developed with particular shoes in mind (and vice versa), so we can give riders a complete pedalling system," says Shimano's Ben Hillsdon. "When making a decision on which to go for it's important to consider whether the shoe and pedal combination offer you the right level of usability and comfort for the type of riding you're doing. One of the biggest differences between the two pedal systems is how easy it is to walk in the shoes, which can have a big impact on a rider's experience and mid-ride coffee stop!"

What type of soles are right for you?

When you walk in SPD-SL shoes, the prominent cleat is in contact with the ground. Little tips on the cleat provide some protection against wear but you get relatively little grip. Most manufacturers make three-bolt soles as rigid as possible for cycling performance, and that’s far from ideal when you’re not on the bike. Really, you want to keep walking to a minimum: getting to and from your bike, tapping in and out of the cafe, that kind of thing.

The dhb Aeron Carbon Road Shoes that we recently reviewed here on road.cc are typical shoes for a three-bolt system. They come with a full-carbon sole that has a 3k weave top layer.

“Although it's not the most rigid sole ever, it's pretty damn stiff and there's no sense that your power is being directed anywhere but straight into your pedals,” we said.

That’s great when you’re in the saddle, but it doesn’t make for ease of walking. You get very little grip on wet surfaces, while mud and SPD-SL systems really don’t get along.

The fact that an SPD cleat sits in a recess means that when you’re off the bike it’s not in contact with the ground nearly as much as an SPD-SL cleat. Manufacturers can give you a treaded sole that’ll grip on various different surfaces.

“The grip on the sole is pretty fat, chunky and made from SlipNot rubber tread,” said Jo Burt in his review of Specialized’s £200 two-bolt Recon Mixed Terrain shoes. “There's even a little bit of waffle grip mid-sole should you fluff a clip-in or be a little nervous and need to ride a section resting on the pedal not clipped in, and there are studs in the toe in case any rides see you scrabbling up muddy banks and suchlike.

“The tread works well in both on and off-road environments, although they're going to flounder in really muddy situations, and for off-bike applications they're confident even in the slipperiest of surfaces – such as the floor of a gent's toilet in a pub.”

Read our review of Specialized’s Mixed Terrain shoes here.

The two-bolt Giro Civila Women’s road shoes (£69.99)that we recently reviewed are designed for more recreational riding.

“They are easy to walk in, comfortable for the job and the grippy sole sections offer a much better likelihood of staying on your feet on a tiled or laminate floor than many shoes offering equivalent performance,” we said.

Also, although mountain bike race shoes, like road race shoes, have rigid soles, some shoes designed for SPD pedals offer more flex.

Giro describes the Petra VR shoes (£69), for instance, as “versatile shoes that combine performance riding features like clipless pedal compatibility with the walkability and comfort of light hiking shoes” (the recess for the cleat is covered in the picture below).

When she reviewed them here on road.cc Lara Dunn said, “These are one of very few pairs of cycling shoes of this ilk that I've tried that genuinely don't feel like cycling shoes when you're walking, such is the fine-tuning of the flexibility of the sole. The soles are also grippy enough to be genuinely useful to walk in.”

Check out all of our shoe reviews here.

There are many two-bolt touring shoes out there, like Shimano’s RT5s (£57.99 - £74.99, RT stands for Road Touring).

“There’s no ultra stiff low profile carbon sole with a road-style three-bolt cleat drilling here,” we said. “Instead, it’s a glass fibre sole with a recessed two-bolt drilling that’ll accept Shimano’s mountain bike SPD cleat system with the raised tread sections ensuring you can walk without fear of slippage. It’s not an aggressive sole like you get on a mountain bike shoe – they’re not intended for walking in muddy conditions, but getting around town, the office or cafes without slipping up and spilling your flat white.”

Read our Shimano RT 5 First Look.

Some two-bolt shoes are designed specifically for urban use, like Shimano’s £58.44 CT5 (CT stands for City Touring) which have a casual trainer style to them along with an EVA mid sole designed to add walking comfort.

The more time you’re likely to spend walking, the more appealing SPDs become.

So why wouldn’t you want the treaded outsole that an SPD system allows? There’s no point for a lot of us. If you get on your bike and ride until you get home again, or you just stop for a coffee or to nip into a garage for an emergency Snickers, you might as well save a little weight by doing without.

If you really don't know whether you'll be better off with a two bolt or a three bolt system, some shoes, such as Shimano's RP2 Women (above) are capable of taking either. Look out for a sole that has a pair of SPD bolt holes nestled among the three spots for SPD-SL cleats

Clipping in

Most SPD-SL pedals are single sided, meaning that you can only clip in to them when they are the right way up. With most of the weight at the back of the pedal, they’ll usually hang with the correct side facing backwards towards your foot, so clipping in is straightforward when you get the hang of it. Occasionally, though, bikes do funny things and you might find yourself trying to engage the wrong side of the pedal. Hopefully, no one will notice!

Some people find it easier to clip into SPD pedals than SPD-SLs. First, most (not all) SPD pedals are double-sided, so you can clip in to either side. There’s no such thing as having those pedals the wrong way up.

Second, the recess in the sole of the shoe can help guide the cleat into the mechanism. In truth, though, you’ll probably soon adapt to whichever system you choose.

Shimano Click’r is essentially a variant of SPD with even easier entry and release. You use the same SPD cleats but clipping in and twisting out of Click’r pedals takes far less effort than with standard SPD pedals. You want figures? Shimano reckons it takes 60% less force to clip in, and 50% less force to release.

Over on the road side, the R540 pedal is available in a standard model for £23.37 and a Light Action model (£27.50).

All of these pedals have spring tension adjustment allowing you to alter the force holding the cleat in place. It’s a simple hex key job that takes seconds.

Check out our guide to getting started with clipless pedals.

Contact area and weight

SPD cleats are small and many people find an SPD-SL system more stable, especially when riding out of the saddle. The top-level Dura-Ace 9100 road race pedals (£139), for instance, have a platform that’s 66mm wide.

Read our Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 pedal review.

However, you can buy SPDs that have a cage around the pedal body to increase the size of the contact area with your shoe. Shimano’s PD-M424 pedals (above, £27.95), for instance, features a resin cage that’s designed to increase foot stability while the PD-M324 pedals (below, £33.99) have an SPD mechanism on one side with a steel platform on the other.

Despite being larger, SPD-SLs are a little lighter than SPDs of an equivalent standard. SPD-SLs weigh from 228g (per pair) for race-focused Dura-Ace R9100 up to 330g for R540.

SPDs weigh from 310g for XTR cross-country mountain bike pedals to over 500g. A pair of the M324 SPD/flat pedals (above) just mentioned, for example, weighs 533g.

People often say that SPD-SLs offer more stable attachment of the shoe to the pedal than SPDs. Is that true?

"SPD-SL pedals hold the cleat in three positions whilst the SPD pedal holds the cleat in two positions (fore and aft) to make it easy to unclip in off-road situations." says Shimano's Ben Hillsdon. "With both pedal systems, though, the cleat retention (and therefore the stability of the connection) can be adjusted."

Cleats

SPD-SL cleats are available with three different amounts of float (the degree to which your feet can rotate while the cleat remains engaged with the pedal). Cleats with red tips are fixed (0°), blue offers 2° of float and yellow gives you 6°.

The fact that they’re made from plastic and they’re exposed (rather than recessed into the sole of your shoe) means that SPD-SL cleats wear out fairly quickly if you walk far in them on a regular basis.

SPD cleats are metal and they’re better protected when you walk so they tend to last much longer. They’re cheaper too – £14.99 rather than the £19.99 you have to pay for SPD-SL cleats.

SH51 SPD cleats allow you to release from the pedal by twisting your heel outwards while SH56 SPD cleats (above) allow you to disengaged by twisting your foot in either direction.

"Common Shimano SPD cleats (like the SH-51) offer at least 6° of float," says Shimano's Ben Hillsdon. "It's worth mentioning that as cleats wear the amount of float increases so it's important to adjust tension on the pedals to reduce unwanted unclipping."

Prices

SPD-SL pedal prices start at £23.37 for a pair of PD-R540s (above) and go right up to £139 for Dura-Ace PD-R9100s.

SPD pedals are a little cheaper than SPD-SLs of a similar level. They start at £21.95 for PD-M520 (above) and go up to £108 for XTR-level PD-M9120 trail pedals.

Multi-purpose M324 SPD pedals are £33.99.

What we say

Comments from the road.cc team

“I find SPDs more practical, particularly for commuting, getting on and off the bike, popping in to Sainsbury's on the way home. They're easier to walk in, and because the cleats are metal they don't wear at anything like the rate of a plastic SPD-SL or my Time road cleats. Even when they do wear, they still work. Also, maybe because I'm more used to them, I find them more comfortable over short to medium distances.”
Tony Farrelly, road.cc editor

“I use SPDs for mixed rides and long rides, and the shoes are better for walking in. Maximal power transfer and platform stiffness aren’t such an issue on a 400km audax as not falling down the steps at the tea rooms. Also, they’re easier to clip in to because they're double sided, and cleats and pedals cost 3 shillings and sixpence and last about 1,000 years. If I'm racing, or on the chaingang, I use road shoes and SPD-SLs because they look more pro. Erm. I mean, they're lighter and stiffer”
Dave Atkinson, road.cc tech guy

“If it has fat tyres and I know I’ll be heading off-road at some point in the ride, I ride SPDs. If I’m staying on the road I’ll always go for a three-bolt system because I know I won't be doing any walking and prefer the lightness and stiffness for maximising every measly watt of power I can output (even if it's only in my head). That and I'm also using PowerTap's excellent power meter pedals that i can easily swap between test bikes for consistent power measurement.”
Dave Arthur, road.cc technical editor

What you say

Comments from the road.cc forum

“When I got back into road a few years back I just took the SPDs off my mountain bike and went riding in my carbon soled mountain bike shoes. It was okay but felt wobbly on climbs.

I was then persuaded to buy SPD—SL and some mid range road shoes… The difference in power transfer, and more importantly, foot stability/knee tracking, was night and day different.

I still use SPD on the mountain bike, but for road riding riding, including hill climbing, long distance and even commuting, it’s SPD-SL.”
hampstead_bandit

“The physical benefits of SPD-SL over SPD's are the wider platform of the cleat and pedal means there is more lateral stability for your foot on the pedal.

“The single sided nature of the SL also reduces the profile of the pedal allowing you to pedal marginally deeper into a corner.

A proper road shoe has a stiff sole all the way to the tip of the toe giving a more stable base, whereas in most MTB shoes the carbon or nylon stops just ahead of the cleat to allow the sole to bend slightly at that point, to aid walking as often required in MTBing.

“Road shoes are generally lighter as they don't have tread and reinforcements, so a slight reduction in rotating mass.

“As with all the bike industry claims, none of the above will make the huge difference they would like you to believe, but I do prefer the more stable, lower profile of a proper road shoe/pedal setup.”
DaSy

“Having learned to ride clipless with SPDs, I thought I should try SPD-SLs on my road bike. I never got on with the clipping in on the SLs. Partly this is because it is much easier clipping in to double-sided pedals, but this is not the only factor - I ride A530 single-sided SPDs on my commuting bike, and even these are much easier than the SPD-SLs, even though they are not double sided.

“I was also really unimpressed with the wear on the plastic SPD-SL cleats. I made a real effort not to walk in them, and they still rapidly wore down such that I think I would have needed to replace them at least twice a year, and they're not cheap.

“If your shoe sole is stiff enough, SPDs are fine.”
Mystery Machine

Shimano's GRX 600 groupset is an excellent way to breathe gravelly life into an old (or new) wide-tyre-clearance frame. With typical Shimano attention to detail it's delivered a groupset that works brilliantly in any weather or terrain, and evolution will no doubt sort out the current shortcomings.

• Pros: Excellent braking and shifting in the grottiest of off-road conditions, compatibility with many other Shimano products
• Cons: Limited 1X gear ranges, no post-mount calliper option, only two quite large chainring options

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy these online here:

• FC-GRX RX810-1 chainset
• RD-RX812 rear derailleur
• BR-RX810-F brake calliper
• ST-RX600R 2 x 11-speed dual control lever (right)
• ST-RX600L 2 x 11-speed dual control lever (left) + BR-RX400-R brake calliper
• HG701 chain
• Shimano XT CS-M8000 11-40-tooth 11-speed cassette
• Complete groupset

Shimano's GRX 600 1X groupset represents a validation by the world's largest groupset manufacturer of the fact that 'gravel' is not a fad, it's here to stay as people move towards cycling in a safer, more scenic, low- or no-traffic environment. The company has finally embraced the public desire for better performance and more options when taking drop-bar bikes off road.

Much has been written about the tech specs and pricing of GRX, summarised at launch by Dave, and there's a large selection of GRX bikes now available, starting from as low as £1,300 equipped with this GRX 600 1X groupset.

Test setup

To test the groupset I fitted it to a 2016 Boardman Team CX bike – originally £999, fitted with SRAM's workhorse Rival 1X hydraulic groupset. It's a great alloy frame with gravel-friendly touches like two bottle cages, mudguard/rack mounts and tons of tyre clearance.

My first challenge with fitting GRX was the frame and fork having now-almost-obsolete post mount callipers. GRX brake callipers are rebadged Ultegra and are flat mount only, and no, there's no way to put a flat mount calliper on a post mount frame/fork (though you can put a post mount calliper on a flat mount frame).

A benefit of Shimano's thinking is that many components are interchangeable, and I was able to use the BR-RS785 post mount callipers with no issues at all. You can buy the 2X 600 levers as a pair, but not the 1X set, so if you need to go the post-mount route you'll need to order the brake-only left and brake+rear-shifter right separately, with your callipers of choice.

The RX810 1X chainset comes in only 40 and 42-tooth flavours, and because it's 1X it can benefit from thick-thin alternating tooth profiles, greatly assisting chain retention. GRX matches it with an M8000 XT cassette in either 11-40 or 11-42 ranges. There's an 11-46 on the GRX page, but the GRX long-cage rear mech is limited to 42T max. So if you stick with GRX, you've got a lowest gear of 40x42, or the roadie equivalent of a pretty spinny 34-tooth small ring and 11-36 cassette. As it's Shimano, many Hyperglide-compatible cassettes are possible, including Ultegra and 105, which helps to keep running costs down.

Shimano originally sent me the 42T chainring and 11-40 cassette, but I found that just a bit too high-geared for the often 10-15% gradient hills where I ride. Swapping to a 40T chainring and 11-42 cassette made a world of difference, the extra 10% or so lower gearing enabling long, seated climbs; it would definitely be the way to go with luggage.

The RX812 dedicated 1X rear mech has a clutch to keep chain tension high, avoiding chainslap and dropped chains. The clutch has an on-off switch which reduces the shift effort needed when off, but to be honest it's hard to tell the difference at the lever end so I left it on all the time. Coming from a SRAM setup, one obvious missing feature is no cage holder mechanism, to remove tension by swinging the cage forward to facilitate easier wheel removal and installation.

Installation

There were a few foibles during the install process, with the levers posing some questions. The left-hand brake-only lever didn't come with the required flange bolt to secure the brake hose, which is a new larger design. The bolt was included in the GRX flat mount calliper box so fortunately I had one to hand, but if you were buying the lever separately from the post mount calliper you might not get the right size flange bolt included. You'll be needing the Y8AL98020 flange bolt kit.

I had a media-release GRX setup and not the final consumer version, so had to do a full oil install and bleed. When you buy GRX, the lines and levers will come with oil installed and everything ready to go – just cut the brake hose to the right length, remove the bung from the lever, insert and tighten the flange bolt. If you're mixing and matching outside the GRX family, you might want to triple-check you have all the required bits to hand. Leave the lever only loosely attached to the bar in the correct position as you'll likely need to remove it to tighten the flange bolt once you've got the hose length correct.

Matching up the calliper and levers was standard Shimano bleed procedure, but be warned you need the new ST-R9120 plastic adapter (£5) to connect your oil reservoir to the lever bleed port, which – like the flange bolt – is now larger than previous bleed port threads.

The RX600 levers have lever position adjustment but no 'free stroke' pad-bite adjustment, which is reserved for the higher-spec Di2 Servo-Wave-enabled models. Doing the bleed process properly delivered perfectly good lever feel and bite point for both brakes.

Installation of the 1X crankset was painless. The GRX crankset chainline is set 2.5mm further out to help accommodate wider gravel-friendly tyres, meaning you must use the GRX-specific front mech if going 2X. My bottom bracket is actually a PF30 with adapters to run 24mm Shimano cranks, and I have 5mm of spacers to play with. I chose to put them on the non-drive side to take up the gap and move the chainline more central to the cassette in the more-used lower gears. Given how much time I spend out of the saddle and my mileage split between different bikes, this tweak isn't a biggie, and the chainline shift quietened things down in lower gears which is where I spend a lot of my hilly time.

There's talk on the internet about the extra 2.5mm of chainline equating to an increase in Q-factor (pedal spacing) of 5mm over 'Shimano 146mm standard'. I measured the GRX pedal spacing as 151mm. My set of bog standard Shimano RS500 non-groupset cranks measure almost the same, maybe 1mm of difference, if that – so Shimano road cranks clearly differ if 146mm is common. Anyway, the distances we're talking here are nothing of huge concern.

GRX in use

The assorted technical angst and somewhat-restricted options disappeared out on the gravel. The most noticeable advantage of GRX is the hood and brake lever design, and by crikey it's a hands down winner. Based on the Ultegra R8000 lever, the GRX 600 lever is roughly the same shape, with three critical differences: the rubber hood material, the lever pivot point and the lever shape/material (noting that the higher-spec GRX levers are a different shape again, with taller hoods and Shimano's 'Servo-Wave' mountain bike brake technology).

Shimano claims the braking of the 600 levers is on a par with Ultegra, and I can't disagree. I never needed more than a finger, maybe two at most on really long descents. A grippier rubber hood means you feel totally connected to the lever even in rain and with muddy paws, and the deep indentation at the top of the lever gives your index finger a solid home. The lever itself has a rubberised finish that adds to finger grip.

Finally, the pivot point is shifted up so it falls above the knuckle of your index finger instead of under it. This means you can apply force to the lever more easily with your index and middle fingers.

Shimano has clearly done a lot of homework here, with the result that I never felt out of control on the hoods, bombing along stretches of very rough, rocky or rooty singletrack, bare-handed or wearing thick gloves. I run a reasonably wide Genetic D-riser bar with 420mm between the hood centres, and the combination with the RX600 levers was nothing but comfortable and confidence-inspiring. I only ever went into the drops for long flat sections where being a bit more aero was of use, and again it was easy to get one finger hooked on the lever for confident control.

The shift feel is typical Shimano – less positive than SRAM DoubleTap, but never found wanting. The slick inner cable and standard SP41 outer stayed smooth throughout the review, only needing the usual half-a-barrel tweak after a few hundred miles as the outer casings settled into place.

The combination of the clutch and alternating chainring tooth profile meant no matter what I tried, the chain stayed put and almost totally silent. There were a few sections where I managed to get a bit of slap going on over large rocks or roots, but this was in the 11T sprocket through silly-rough sections. On flat gravel at any speed/cadence/in any gear, the clutch worked its magic.

The limitation of an 11T smallest sprocket was not the issue I suspected it would be, coming from SRAM. Generally, by the time I'd wound up to the point I needed 40x11, I was already doing 43kph at 90rpm and trying to push a lot of air out of the way. A 10T shifts that speed up to 47kph – ie not much in the great scheme of things – if you really want it, spin faster.

Conclusion

Overall, the GRX experience is one of trust. Based on my experience, it's going to shift with typical Shimano 105-or-better accuracy, and the chain isn't going to fall off unless you do something rather spectacular. Your hands are going to stay put on the hoods, and your fingers will be able to brake and shift even when cold, wet and muddy. When something wears out you'll have a load of options for replacement. If your needs change, it's likely you'll find a compatible alternative for a component at a decent price.

> Beginner's guide to groupsets

Shimano has hit a home run with GRX 600. It's affordable, easily upgradeable, works with many other Shimano components and most of all works out on the road or trail to deliver a flawless shifting and braking experience in the worst of weather or trail conditions. You have the option to install 'interrupter' hydraulic brake levers on the tops if you want to brake from there as well, and as with all Shimano brakes they use mineral oil – a more environment- and workshop-friendly alternative to SRAM's DOT-5.1 fluid. If you really want to push the boat out, Shimano does a dedicated left lever that can operate a cable-pull dropper post, for the tidiest step possible.

No doubt we'll see wider-range rear mechs and 1X chainrings appear, further broadening the scope of terrain and luggage you can tackle without upgrading an entire groupset. It's this typically Shimano system-thinking that makes GRX a good investment. If you start now with standard GRX on a post mount frame/fork, in a few years you can upgrade to flat mount callipers and maybe a dropper post lever, maybe a different chainring or rear mech capacity, without losing your shirt.

Verdict

Affordable, easily upgradeable, compatible with many other Shimano components and works on road or trail

Shimano's Tiagra Disc levers and callipers are what you should look for on your next commuter or winter bike. They have one less speed than 105 but apart from that you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference without a set of scales. The setup is reasonably easy, and they're light on maintenance and easy to bleed. If you really can't live without 11 speeds at the back they won't be for you, but given the quality of the shifting and the braking, they're a great choice. As an upgrade they're still expensive at full RRP, but you can find them a lot cheaper than that if you shop around.

• Pros: Great braking, accurate shifting
• Cons: Not 11-speed, not compatible with old 10-speed

Our review kit consisted of two ST-4720 levers and two BR-4770 flat mount callipers, for a 2x10 hydraulic disc setup. Setting the system up was simple enough. The hoses come filled with mineral oil and connected to the callipers, and there's an olive ready in the lever which is also full of oil. If you don't need to cut the hose then all you need to do is route the hose, poke a hole in the seal keeping the oil in the hose, and then tighten everything up.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy these online here

You will need to cut the hose, though, unless you're on a tall bike or something. That means you'll need to dig the insert out of the end of the cut bit, and stick it in the shortened hose. If you heat up the end of the hose with a hair dryer then you can press it in pretty easily.

Once you cut the hose you're in danger of losing some of the oil, but even with pretty extensive faffing with internal routing – which included sticking a bit of sharpened coathanger wire in the end of the hose to guide it through the frame – there was still no real need to bleed the brakes. The bite point was fine and both brakes were about the same. There's no free stroke adjustment on the ST-4720 lever, so you can't adjust the bite point once the system is sealed.

If you do need to bleed the brakes, it's pretty easy. There's an easily accessible cover on the top of the lever that gives you access to the reservoir. You screw an external reservoir into that, and pump mineral oil through the system from the calliper end until all the air is expunged. You need to be careful not to strip off the tiny 2mm hex key head on the reservoir cap, and it's best to remove your wheels to avoid getting oil on the rotors, but the process is straightforward enough.

If you're fitting this lever system as an aftermarket upgrade then the likelihood is that you'll be upgrading from a mechanical setup of some description. And the good news here is that whatever mechanical setup it is, these Tiagra hydraulics will be just miles better.

Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo all have their champions when it comes to their disc brakes. Personally, I'm happiest with Shimano: they're easy to set up and bleed and they're powerful and reliable, with a host of aftermarket pads available to tune things to your liking. I don't know if we're still talking about whether you need disc brakes on your road bike, or whether you'll be fine with some nice dual pivot rim brakes, or some cantis, or some pressed steel single pivot brakes with cork pads, or rod brakes, or just using your feet on your velocipede. Things move on. Disc brakes are better.

> The stuff they never tell you about disc brakes

These specific disc brakes are very good indeed. There's plenty of power there and they're easy to modulate, and they're exceptional in the kind of filthy conditions that epitomise about half the year's riding round here.

The hood shape has been refined over the last few years and I find it pretty comfortable; there's a small lump where the hose exits the lever and if you hold the handlebar in a certain way that could be an issue, though it wasn't for me.

The levers are easy to use from the hoods and drops, assuming you have nice big hands: I can grab a handful happily enough but I wouldn't want the levers to be much farther from the bar, and I've got hands like shovels. You can adjust the reach inwards, but by doing so you reduce the active stroke of the lever, and because you can't change the bite point you might find yourself running out of room between the lever and the bar if your reach is especially short. For riders with smaller hands there are the ST-4725 levers – they're pretty much exactly the same, just with a smaller lever size and slightly adjusted ergonomics.

The K03S Resin pads on this test set are a bit smoother in feel but don't last as long as the K04S Metal pads, which aren't quite as nice to use in my experience but last a lot longer. Whether the brakes come with resin or metal pads is down to whichever your country's Shimano distributor chooses – in the UK it's resin. If you want metal you'll have to buy them separately. My pad of choice once it comes to renewal time is the SwissStop Disc 34 RS– it doesn't feature cooling fins but I've never really found them necessary for UK conditions.

The pads self-centre very efficiently, so there's no need to constantly fiddle with the setup, although the space between the pads and the rotor is pretty minimal and requires fairly accurate setup in the first instance. If your flat mount is a bit off – and many are – then you might find that they rub and some facing off is required, even if your mechanical discs (where the pads tend to sit further from the rotor) were fine.

Derailleur-wise, the Tiagra system is 10-speed at the back but Shimano, in its infinite and benevolent wisdom, has chosen to change the pull ratio so that the new 4700-series Tiagra isn't compatible with any other 10-speed Shimano road groupset. You can in theory use these levers with an 11-speed derailleur, though, as the pull ratios are the same or near as dammit. Shimano wouldn't recommend that, of course, as it likes you to have everything the same. Life's not always like that though.

I'd been running a Shimano 105 groupset on the bike before this (I'm gradually working my way down the range, it seems) and that was with an 11-34 11-speed cassette. So the Tiagra's 11-34 10-speed cassette offers exactly the same range, and for the first seven sprockets it's exactly the same in terms of sprocket size. After that it ramps up a bit more quickly. I wasn't convinced that I'd notice the difference, but actually I did, especially the jump from 26 to 30 teeth (15%) which feels like a bit of a big step down. It's not the biggest on the cassette – the jump from 11 to 13 teeth at the other end is 18% – but it is the most noticeable, as it always comes at a time when you're working pretty hard up a hill. I stopped noticing after about a month, and now I've adjusted my filter to the bigger jumps. It's really not an issue.

> Your complete guide to Shimano road bike groupsets

Everything else about the shifting is great. The shifts at both ends of the transmission are crisp and accurate, and the lever action is light but positive. It's not as slick as the top-end groupsets, but in terms of actual functionality it's really not far off, which is impressive from a fourth-tier groupset.

Overall, the Tiagra hydraulic disc setup is easy to get on with, and easy to recommend. If you're running a winter bike or an all-purpose machine then it's hard to see how you can do better than this really: you get the ergonomics and most of the performance of the higher-end groupsets in a good value package. You're missing a speed you probably won't notice, and it's heavier than the Gucci groupsets, but that's about it.

Verdict

Great performance for braking and shifting; perfect for your winter bike or commuter

Eddy Merckx once famously said that you shouldn’t buy upgrades, but should ride up grades. Riding more is almost always the best way to improve your cycling, but there are some component changes that will improve your comfort, safety and speed. Here’s a selection that each cost under £100.

Gravel bike low gear kit — £85.98

Shimano SLX CS-M7000 11-40 cassette — £33.99
​ Shimano 105 RD-R7000-GS rear derailleur — £32.00
​Shimano CN-HG701 chain with Quick Link — £19.99

If you have a typical gravel bike with an 11-32 11-speed cassette, this combination of components gives you a substantially wider gear range with a 25% lower bottom gear. That's enough to make the difference between riding and walking when things get steep, or between spinning comfortably up a shallower climb and grinding up with your knees whinging that they didn't sign up for this.

But hang on, you're saying, surely even the long-arm GS version of the new 105 rear derailleur can only handle a 34-tooth largest sprocket? That's the gospel according to Shimano, but Shimano's official specs are always very conservative. As we demonstrated in this article, it works just fine, although there are a couple of gotchas to watch for during installation. And since the idea is to ride up grades, we think Eddy would approve.

Continental Grand Prix 5000 tyres — £70/pr

Why: Faster rolling; improved comfort (if switching from 23mm to 25mm or 28mm)

Our long-standing tyre recommendation, the Continental Grand Prix 4000S II is no more, but its successor is superb and rolls slightly better, especially if you take the opportunity to switch to tubeless.

The Grand Prix 5000's main claim to fame is its low rolling resistance. As a tyre rolls along, it flexes, and this flex absorbs energy; the tyre literally resists rolling. Tyres with thin tread made from flexible rubber, and light, supple casings have low rolling resistance. Problem is, they also tend to be easily punctured. The success of the GP 5000 is down in part to a layer under the tread of fabric made from Vectran, a high-strength synthetic fibre. This helps ward off punctures, though they still happen. It’s not as effective as the thick anti-puncture layer in a tyre like the Schwalbe Marathon Plus but it’s considerably better than nothing.

While you’re buying new tyres, consider going up a size or two. The 28mm version of the GP 5000 rolls superbly and can be run at lower pressures to improve comfort and road holding.

A pair of these comes well under our budget, so consider adding Michelin or Vittoria latex inner tubes too (both about £10), to further reduce the rolling resistance. Can’t be bothered pumping your tyres up daily? Fit a pair of Continental’s 50g Supersonic tubes.

Read more
All tyre reviews on road.cc
Buyer’s guide to tyres
The best tyres for winter riding

Speedplay Zero Aero Walkable Cleat Set — £49.99

Why: easier walking for Speedplay Zero users

If you’re a Speedplay pedal user, then you know the system’s biggest weakness is that the cleats are very awkward to walk in. To make things worse, any significant amount of walking, or even frequent touching down at lights, erodes the aluminium outer plate.

Speedplay’s Walkable cleats fix both these problems by putting a rubber cover over the cleat mechanism, so the metal is protected.They come with plugs that stop crud from getting into the mechanism too, fixing another common gripe with Zeros.

USE Duro Carbon Seat Post — £64

Why: Less weight, less road buzz

USE is better known to road cyclists for its Exposure lights, but it has a long history as component maker, particularly of seatposts. At 174g in 400mm x 27.2 post, this is a light post, and will be lighter still in a more road-appropriate 300mm length.

Weight aside, carbon fibre seatposts have the advantage that they’re usually more flexible than those made from aluminium,reducing the road buzz that gets through to your bum.

If road buzz is more important to you than weight, Syntace’s P6 Flex post is specifically designed to absorb road shock. It’s usually over £200 but we’ve just noticed Amazon has 27.2mm versions for around £100 (okay, £101.20, but what's £1.20 between friends?).

Read more: All reviews of seatposts on road.cc

Fizik Aliante R3 K:ium Saddle — £88

Why: Improved comfort; less weight

At 215g, this classic saddle lops almost 100g off a typical stock seat and is famously comfortable. The usual caveats apply, of course: everyone’s bottom is different, so what suits other riders may still give you a bum rap.

More broadly, changing your saddle, and carefully adjusting its height, angle and fore-aft position, can be the biggest comfort improvement you can make. If you’re not sitting comfortably — if cycling is literally a pain in the arse — then go shopping for a better seat.

Read more
All saddle reviews on road.cc
Buyer’s guide to saddles
Buyer's guide to women's saddles
Buyer's guide to performance saddles — improve comfort & save weight in one upgrade

Shimano Ultegra 11 Speed Cassette & chain — from £65.99

Why: Better shifting; less weight; chance to change ratios

For the most part, Shimano shifting systems work best if all their components are made by Shimano. If the company that made your bike shaved a few cents off the bill of materials by using a non-Shimano chain and sprockets, then you’ll get slicker shifting if you fit Shimano parts when they wear out.

With its alloy carrier, the Ultegra-level CS-8000 sprocket set is in Shimano’s value-for-money sweet spot. It can be found for around £50, weighs 212g in an 11-23 (the Dura-Ace cassette is feathery at 166g, but costs three times more) and Just Works™. In a bundle with an Ultegra chain, it’s a no-brainer.

Ultegra brakes — £93.98/pr

Why: More stopping confidence

The brakes on many less-expensive bikes are, frankly, not great. In particular, the cheap unbadged brakes you often find on sub-£1,000 bikes lack feel and oomph. Replacing them with these solidly-built stoppers substantially improves braking feel and power, and if you can brake with more control, you can go faster.

Shimano says these brakes should only be used with Super SLR levers, but that’s all current Shimano brake/shift levers.

Hope Stainless Steel Bottom Bracket — £85.50

Why: Improved reliability and durability; pretty colours

Hope’s bottom brackets have an enviable reputation for durability, with plenty going strong after five years or more of mountain bike use. Your cranks spin on Swiss INA bearings, and for another £24 you can have ceramic balls in them instead of steel.

Because the sleeve between the two threaded bearing holders is aluminium not plastic, the Hope bottom bracket is slightly heavier than a Shimano unit, but to make up for it you can have it in a choice of colours.

Shimano Ultegra R8000 SPD-SL Pedals — £84

Why: Light weight, excellent durability and reliability

Shimano’s SPD-SL pedal system is popular for its reliability and function. The Ultegra version is light thanks to a carbon fibre body and durable because of its stainless steel top plate and excellent, easily-maintained bearings. As with many Shimano pedals, you can remove the axle unit, fill the body with grease, and screw the axle back in, forcing fresh grease into the bearings.

Read more
All pedal reviews on road.cc
Buyer’s guide to clipless pedals
Buyer's guide to high-performance pedals

Save money and keep your bike running better by doing your own maintenance; here’s what you need.

You don’t need a vast array of specialist tools to work on your bike. Most essential jobs can be done with a few good quality standard tools and a handful of bike-specific ones.

If there’s an area where the adage ‘buy quality, buy once’ applies, it’s tools. Good tools work better, last longer and are less likely to damage the parts you’re working on. Think of them as an investment, not a cost.

Each bike’s different, but there are many tools common to almost all bikes. Here’s what you need for straightforward jobs such as changing cables, adjusting brakes and gears, tweaking saddle position and angle, setting up handlebars, changing and inflating tyres and changing your chain and sprockets.

Ball-end Allen keys. Don’t skimp on these; you’ll be using them a lot. Ball-end keys allow you to turn a bolt from an angle, which speeds up many jobs. As well as being harder and more accurately made, and therefore less likely to mash the bolts you tighten with them, high-quality keys have a narrower neck for the ball, and therefore work at steeper angles, making them more versatile.

Recommended: Bondhus 1.5 - 10mm Hex Key Set — £11.73 | Park Tool PH1 P Handled Hex Wrench Set — £57.05

Screwdrivers. You want a couple of flat-blade screwdrivers and Phillips (cross-head) No 1 and 2, and possibly a size 0 too. A more extensive set will include sizes that are useful round the house too.

Recommended: Stanley Cushion Grip 8-piece Screwdriver Set — £18.99 | Draper 43571 16-Piece Screwdriver Set — £30.59

Combination spanners. I almost hesitate to include these because bolts with spanner flats are now rare on good quality bikes. You will almost certainly never need more than 8, 9 and 10mm, plus a 13mm if you have bolt-up hubs. If you need spanners for other jobs, then the sets we've suggested have everything you need for the bike too, but if bike fettling is your only need, then it'll be cheaper to buy individual spanners.

Recommended: Draper 11-Piece Metric Combination Spanner Set — £27.18 | Bahco 12-piece Metric Combination Spanner Set of 12 — £34.99

Pliers. A set of combination pliers has lots of uses, from generally holding and pulling parts to crimping cable ends.You'll also find lots of uses for long-nose pliers, so a set of three with side cutters is good value.

Recommended: Draper 09405 160mm DIY Plier Set — £16.58 | Stanley Tools FatMax Compound Action Plier Set of 3 — £36.49

Torx keys. Torx fittings are becoming increasingly common. Like Allen keys, you can get them with plain or ball ends.

Recommended: X-Tools Torx Star Key Set — £6.99 | Wera Multicolour Tamper-proof/Ballend Torx Key Set — £21.95

Bike-specific tools

Tyre levers. You need a couple of sets, one for your home toolbox and one for your on-bike toolbag.

Recommended: Lezyne Power Tyre Lever — £3.20/pr | Park Tool TL-5 Heavy Duty Steel Tyre Levers — £22.97

Floor pump. It’s much easier to keep your tyre pressures up to snuff with a floor pump (aka a track pump) than any portable pump.

Recommended: Topeak Joe Blow Sport III — £26 | Beto Surge — £45

For more options see our Buyer's Guide to track pumps

Pedal spanner. If your pedals have 15mm flats, then you'll need a 15mm spanner to take them on and off. A standard 15mm spanner will fit some pedals, but others need the thinner jaws of a specific pedal spanner.

Recommended: Lezyne Classic Pedal Spanner — £16.81 | X-Tools 15mm Pedal Spanner — £3.99

Cable puller. Owners of hydraulic-braked bikes with electronic shifting can ignore this. The rest of us will find fitting and adjusting brake and gear cables a lot easier with a tool that pulls the cable snug and holds it in place while you tighten the clamp bolt.

Recommended: Draper 31043 Cable Tensioner — £11.53 | Park Tool BT-2 cable puller — £39.99

Cable cutter. Do not try and cut cables with pliers, sidecutters, tin snips or any other vaguely sharp snippity-chop tool you have kicking around; you’ll just make a mess of them. Get yourself a proper set of cable cutters with blades shaped to keep the cable strands together.

Recommended: Draper Expert 57768 Cutters — £9.64 | Shimano TL-CT12 — ~£31

Chain wear gauge. You can keep an eye on the wear of your chain by measuring its length over 12 full links with a good quality ruler. If it’s 12 1/16in long, then it’s time to replace it and if it’s reached 12 1/8in you will probably have to replace the sprockets too. A wear gauge makes this easier by telling you when your chain needs ditching.

Recommended: Park Tool Chain Wear Indicator CC3.2 — £7.99 | Park Tool CC-2 chain checker — £16.99

Chain tool. Essential if you want to replace your own chain. If you've a Campagnolo 11-speed transmission you'll need a tool with a peening anvil like Campagnolo's, which has a wallet-clenching £153 RRP. Fortunately, Park Tool and Lezyne, among others, have cheaper alternatives that will tackle other chains too.

Recommended: Lezyne Chain Drive Tool - 11 Speed — £20.99 | Park Tool Master Chain Tool — £54.22

Chain joining link pliers. Almost all chains now come with a joining link. SRAM calls it a Powerlink, KMC a Missing Link and Shimano a Quick-Link, but they're all basically the same thing: a pair of outer link plates with a permanently mounted pin in each that fits into a slot in the other. Once upon a time, joining links like this could be opened by hand, but for 10-speed and 11-speed chains there's just not enough room to leave slack for hand operation, and they have to connect tightly enough that you need these pliers to separate them. Shimano's 11-speed master links are an extremely tight fit and need force to join them too, which is why these pliers have an extra set of jaws.

Recommended: Shimano TL-CN10 Master Link Pliers — £22.74 | SuperB_ToBe 2 in 1 Master Link Pliers — £11.90

Workstand. On the one hand, this is a bit of a luxury; on the other being able to hold your bike steady and well clear of the floor makes any job easier. Your back will thank you for not leaning over a bike for hours on end too.

Recommended: FWE Compact Folding Workstand — £49.99 | Feedback Sports Pro Ultralight — £154.99

Torque wrench. Expensive, but essential to prevent damage if you're wrenching carbon fibre or other super-light components.

Recommended: Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza II — £149.99

Sprocket tools. To change your sprockets you’ll need a chain whip — to hold the sprockets in place — and a lockring tool to undo the nut that holds them in place.

X-Tools Pro Chain Whip BTL11 — £14.99 | Acor Cassette Lockring Remover — £11.24

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