Bike group sets advice? Is more gears better?

[Sloth]

Hi, not posted for a while.
I am getting a new bike this year, probably around August.
Anyway, I am aiming to spend arpound £800 max on the bike but am fine with paying less secpond hand, in fact I think that looks like the best bet for VFM.
Thing is, I'm not good at hills and want to make sure the bike has a groupset/gears that will take me up most hills more easily.
I am thinking that a Shimano 105 is perhaps my best bet if I want smooth changes with a good gear range?
I know Sora is cheaper but it is only 9 speed and Tiagra only 10, whereas 105 is 11.
Am I correct in that the more gears the better for hills?
As a 'newby' will I notice the larger gear range more or is it less relevent?

I currently ride an old 2002 Claude Butler Cape Wrath, 27 speed with a Deore 3x9 set up.
I only ever use the middle front cog, as it seems to catch on any others so I just ignore the front mech. I get up most hills on my routes OK, a few longer or steeper ones are still a problem though.

Am I making too much of the No. of gears or is it as important as I think?

Are the 105 or above noticably smoother and quieter than say a Sora or Tiagra?

Should I dig in my heels and wait for something with a 105 or even Ultegra to pop up, or should I consider Tiagra or Sora?

I like the single click of Shimano vs the double click of SRam and Campy also seems a bit of a faff as well?

Any help appreciated?

 

[Arrowfoot]

If it's hills, you got the concept right. 105 is so much better than Sora and Tiara. You will eventually learn to move it seamlessly by feel.

 

[kenmiles]

I would go with a GRX 46/30 crankset with the 105 long cage RD.

 

[Milkfloat]

More gears does not necessarily mean a wider range, in fact it could mean the opposite. If you want a wide range then you need to look at the size of the smallest and biggest cogs both on the front and rear.

 

[Sloth]

More gears does not necessarily mean a wider range, in fact it could mean the opposite. If you want a wide range then you need to look at the size of the smallest and biggest cogs both on the front and rear.

OK, makes sense but how would I know this when scanning, say eBay for a new bike? Would most sellers know and/or would this information be readily available on the manufacturers website? (presuming it's not too old a bike and still on their website!)

 

[T4tomo]

If it's hills, you got the concept right. 105 is so much better than Sora and Tiara. You will eventually learn to move it seamlessly by feel.

absolute rubbish, I feel this post was unhelpfully made in jest.

for more ease in hill climbing, short of new legs, the number of gears is irrelevant, its what the lowest gear is.

very few road bikes come as 3x anything now, but if you can find a triple great. Most are a 50-34 double up front. avoid anything that is 52-39, that's no good for you, too much high gears not enough low ones.

look for something with preferably a 34 at the back e.g. 11-34, be that claris, sora, tiagra, 105 or whatever. If you are at or close to 1:1 lowest gear (i.e 34-34) that's fine for on road stuff. 34-32 will also probably suffice.

the good news is a lot of manufacturers have realise this over last 10-15 years and whereas 11-25 used to be a standard stock cassette 11-28, 11-32 11-34 are now much more common.

 

[Milkfloat]

OK, makes sense but how would I know this when scanning, say eBay for a new bike? Would most sellers know and/or would this information be readily available on the manufacturers website? (presuming it's not too old a bike and still on their website!)

You wouldn't as the owner could have put anything on. The type of bike might give you a clue. However, you said that on your current triple you only use the middle chainring, which means that practically anything you buy will cover that range. A 1X setup (one chainring only) sounds like it could be good for you.

 

[vickster]

If you’re looking at second hand, perhaps seek out a bike with a 105/Ultegra triple and actually make use of the small ring for hills
You could get your current bike fixed so it works in all gears?
There's no faff with SRAM roadbike brifters, it's just different, milliseconds to shift. I much prefer to the wobbly brake lever on my Ultegra bike (bought second hand)

 

[si_c]

Forget the groupset level in terms of the range of gears you have, more gears just means smaller steps between the gears. The useful range of the gears is determined by the size of the cassette (11-32 for example) and the crankset (50/34 for example). The lowest gear is determined by the smallest front sprocket compared to the biggest rear sprocket. The number of gears just determines how big the steps are and are more useful if you are racing and trying to keep your legs turning at the same speed.

If looking online at the second hand market then where the gears are concerned good seller should have listed the number of teeth on the front crank and the cassette at the back, if not ask a question to find out, but you can always change these later if needed.

By far the most important thing to consider when getting a bike is whether it fits you or not and is in budget or not, do you like how it looks or not, the groupset I would consider to be a secondary criteria and more useful in choosing between bikes.

With the current market for new bikes, it is highly unlikely you would get a 105 or Tiagra bike in your budget unfortunately as the pandemic has put paid to most bike availability. If you do want a new bike, something like the Trek Domane AL 2 is a lovely looking bike, it's "only" Claris 8 speed, but I genuinely don't think that is a problem, parts are relatively very cheap to replace and readily available.

As a side note, I used a Sora equipped bike (R3000) for commuting 150 miles each week for a number of years and it was utterly reliable and was a pleasure to use, I never felt that it was missing anything. Moving up to the higher tier groupsets you do save a little weight and get a slightly lighter action for shifting which makes it "feel" a bit better, but I didn't notice it in practice when riding.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Hi, not posted for a while.
I am getting a new bike this year, probably around August.
Anyway, I am aiming to spend arpound £800 max on the bike but am fine with paying less secpond hand, in fact I think that looks like the best bet for VFM.
Thing is, I'm not good at hills and want to make sure the bike has a groupset/gears that will take me up most hills more easily.
I am thinking that a Shimano 105 is perhaps my best bet if I want smooth changes with a good gear range?
I know Sora is cheaper but it is only 9 speed and Tiagra only 10, whereas 105 is 11.
Am I correct in that the more gears the better for hills?
As a 'newby' will I notice the larger gear range more or is it less relevent?

I currently ride an old 2002 Claude Butler Cape Wrath, 27 speed with a Deore 3x9 set up.
I only ever use the middle front cog, as it seems to catch on any others so I just ignore the front mech. I get up most hills on my routes OK, a few longer or steeper ones are still a problem though.

Am I making too much of the No. of gears or is it as important as I think?

Are the 105 or above noticably smoother and quieter than say a Sora or Tiagra?

Should I dig in my heels and wait for something with a 105 or even Ultegra to pop up, or should I consider Tiagra or Sora?

I like the single click of Shimano vs the double click of SRam and Campy also seems a bit of a faff as well?

Any help appreciated?

So, I *think* you're asking:

"What's the best option to give me a road bike with slightly lower gears than I currently have in my middle ring at modest cost"?

(£800 being modest but not bottom of the range by modern road bike standards)

Is that what you mean?

If it is, in order to answer, a full spec of what you have now (chairing and cassette sizes) is needed.

I have bikes with Sora, 105 and ultegra. I would suggest the quality of Sora shifting is more than adequate. Being unkind to those (like myself) who have shelled out for ultegra, I might suggest it's more about bling than performance, the difference in the latter being marginal unless you're racing at a decent level.

 

[vickster]

@Sloth presumably you are considering a drop bar road bike with STI shifters and not flat bars with trigger shifters? As you don't actually say and the Shimano groupsets come in both guises

 

[vickster]

With the current market for new bikes, it is highly unlikely you would get a 105 or Tiagra bike in your budget unfortunately as the pandemic has put paid to most bike availability. If you do want a new bike, something like the Trek Domane AL 2 is a lovely looking bike, it's "only" Claris 8 speed, but I genuinely don't think that is a problem, parts are relatively very cheap to replace and readily available.

Sub £800 Tiagra here (there may be others)
https://www.merlincycles.com/wilier-montegrappa-tiagra-road-bike-190094.html

 

[nickb]

I have the most recent 11-speed 105 groupset on my Trek Checkpoint with a 50-34 compact chainset and 11-34 cassette and it'll get me up pretty much anything.

My son's Cannondale Topstone is equipped with Tiagra 10-speed but with the exact same range - there's just one fewer gear in the middle of the range (dunno exactly where) so he can tackle the same inclines as I can (although my legs are better than his!).

Honestly, I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in a blind test between the two. Both are superb bits of kit and probably better than, for example, 10-year-old Ultegra.

Don't sweat what the cassette is if you find a bargain. You can put a different one on with a wider range as long as the number of gears is the same (unless you also want to change the shifters) for £30-£50 - even an Ultegra cassette isn't much more.

My old (now scrapped) road bike from around 2009 had a 10-speed Campagnolo Veloce groupset (I still have the parts) and that was every bit as good as the contemporaneous 105 and would still be excellent today. That had an 11-23 cassette (virtually a corncob) and got me up most things. You deal with what you have

 

[Once a Wheeler]

This special offer caught my eye on sale here at just over £700 with the stated 10% extra discount:

Perhaps not quite what you are looking for but, with a bottom gear of 34x28, it should be good for most hilly rides.

 

[CharlesF]

@Sloth. I had a similar problem with hills and was able to visit Spa Cycles where I explained my need for really low gears. Based on my bike, they sold me one of their own brand chainsets with about 44/33 and with the correct length cranks. My bike was Sora equipped and I also bought a cassette with a low gear of 36, I think.

They’re helpful on the phone, so no need to visit them.

If you’re happy with your existing bike, that’s the way to go!