Fed up with the "woolly" shifting on my 105's...

In answer to the original question, SRAM is much crisper than Shimano equivalent. I have never had to feather a change on my SRAM kit but it is a regular occurrence on the Shimano stuff. However, if your 105 has been good at some time, new cables will probably restore it to its former condition.

jasonm945: You can't just replace the 105 levers with the Sram Rival levers. The cable pull ratio is different.

You can swap cassettes and cranks, but you can't mix levers and rear mechs:

http://sheldonbrown.com/drivetrain-mixing.shtml

Be warned!

are people saying 'industrial' when they mean 'agricultural' (i.e. clunky) ?!

105 on the GF's bike shifts well, in a crisp, industrial manner. which I would call utilitarian. That's not a bad thing for a shifter! New cables and moving parts kept clean and well lubricated.

For comparison, Campagnolo Veloce action on my bike is lighter, more based on feel, I'm used to it so I like it. Not as reliable shifting as her lightly used 105 though, but it's over 4 years old and still works!

As others have said, just clean thoroughly, re-adjust, replace cables if necessary, is my recommendation. no need to spend £££

went from apex/force to Athena 11. Campag is crisp and exact, SRAM was,
as noted, industrial and positive.

Thinks of it like this ...
Shimano you barely feel.
Campag you get a click.
SRAM you get a clunk.

Of them all campag everytime but to get over the "softness" of 105 I think
that SRAM will give you what you're after ....

I moved over from Shimano to Campy on all of my bikes. Never looked back and never will

Ultegra give you amazing shifts, especially the 6600 series with exposed cables, light and precise as you could want. You can pick up a pair of ST-6600 shifters, an RD-6600 and an FD-6600 very cheaply on Ebay. Worth the (minimal) expense if you're unhappy with 105, as you can sell the 105 on Ebay afterwards.

But as I said, if you want a more 'industrial' feel, replace the top guide pulley with one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11t-Aluminium-Ceramic-bearing-bicycle-jockey-w...

That WILL give you more positive shifts, but at the expense of a (very) little harshness.

I ran the Scott CR1 team on the 105s for at least 7000kms, and traded up to Ultegra. I can tell you that it was a night and day experience for me..

I agree that you need to be happy with your cables and set up - my 105s were great for a long time - but even after servicing were never as direct and positive as the ultegra have been since day 1.

Well worth the upgrade if you ask me.

I'd have a look at those cables to be honest, my 105 eats through 'em at a rapid rate in comparison to Ultegra. You shouldn't have any issues with poorer shifting unless something is wrong, as others have said 105's reliable as anything.

Every time mine slips it's always the cables that either need a bit of a tweak or just all out replacing. I've done about 10k km's on mine and have only needed to replace the chain & casette once, but cables have been done about three or four times, aside from that it just keeps going!

If you're thinking of upgrading (I can't comment on SRAM) Ultegra overall is only about 280grams lighter and there really isn't too much in performance.

SRAM is that bit more industrial (I also like that about it) but I'd definitely recommend new cables including the housing first. Moving to SRAM should give you that positive feel but it's a very expensive option for a small change in feel.

Jagwire is good, Yokozuna is even better. Try to avoid tight curves in the housing too when you install it.

I think you need to adjust your cables and lube the pawls. If that doesn't fix it, new cables. If that doesn't fix it, downgrade to Tiagra. I find 105 shifters quite firm compared to Ultegra (but just as good at shifting) and people say they get even heavier further down the range. Anyway, 105s are brilliant - unless they're worn out, you should be able to get lovely shifts.

Could be a mulitude of things.
I had shifting issues like that last year (Campag Athena), replaced cables & outers, set up the mech time and time again, in the end it was found that my hanger was a bit bent, and the cassette & chain were shot.
How old are the chain and cassette?

Have you been running the 105's for a while? It is possible that a bit of cable stretch could be enough to make the shifting slightly off, particularly if they are quite new and just bedded in.
I would agree that adjustment/lubrication should be the first port of call. You can reset the adjustment pretty much from scratch pretty easily. I did mine after a few weeks when they had bedded in and they run pretty smooth with just an occasional tweak of the barrel adjuster if necessary.
You tube has loads of guidance videos if needed.
Can't comment on the relative merits of Sram though.

105 as with most Shimano shifters is normally very crisp. So you probably need to see what the problem is first.

Have a look at the cables/derailleur adjustment and lubrication before doing anything rash.

As a last resort I recommend replacing the upper guide pulley -- which has rubber bushes allowing it to cushion/soften the shift -- with an alloy ceramic bearing pulley (c. £12 on ebay). That will give you a crisper shift but it may feel harsher than normal.