shimano sora or something...

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walker

New Member
Location
Bromley, Kent
Maz said:
What makes the tiagra and above, better? Quality of build/material or are the paddles more reachable/easier to use?

materials used, shifiting on a sora say is a bit clunck clunck, go all the way up to Dura ace, and you can barely feel the shift, let alone hear it.
 

Milo

Guru
Location
Melksham, Wilts
Mines fairly smooth smoother than a posh campag bike I borrowed once.
A plus is spare chainrings cost next to nothing on wiggle.
I have a 2007 bike so my sora is only 7 speed but not really an issue for me.
 

domtyler

Über Member
miloat said:
Mines fairly smooth smoother than a posh campag bike I borrowed once.
A plus is spare chainrings cost next to nothing on wiggle.
I have a 2007 bike so my sora is only 7 speed but not really an issue for me.

Good point, more gears are not necessarily better, may even slow you down in fact.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
Maz said:
What makes the tiagra and above, better? Quality of build/material or are the paddles more reachable/easier to use?

both. all the others have the up changer behind and parallel to the brake lever, which makes them easier to use on the drops. the design of tiagra and above is virtually identical, it's just that as you go up the scale you get lighter materials. i've ridden a 9-speed dura-ace equipped bike, and noticed no difference from my 9-speed tiagra in terms of shift speed/quality.
 

biking_fox

Guru
Location
Manchester
Don't understand the "not being able to do it"

If you can reach the brake you can reach the shifters. If you can't reach the brake you probably want to change your riding position anyway.

It took me all of 5 minutes to aclimatise to them* and I'll not go back to anything else. Although I spend much more time on the hoods than I do fully dropped.


*Currently a 3yr old Tiagra groupset, no indicators, but I learnt on a Dawes Giro with Sora I think.
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
biking_fox said:
Don't understand the "not being able to do it"

If you can reach the brake you can reach the shifters. If you can't reach the brake you probably want to change your riding position anyway.

I think it's in relation to Sora - the movement that releases cable tension (to smaller sprockets) is via the paddle on the inside surface of the hoods, not to the rear of the brake lever itself as in Tiagra and upwards shifters.

I found that I couldn't reach that on Sora equipped bikes without some contortion of the hand whilst riding on the drops (and wasn't convinced i could do that contortion whilst moving at speed...) As the drops are where I am most of the time (habit from riding my old, DT shifter equipped bike) I decided Sora wasn't for me. (Also the fact that Ultegra/105 gear is available in 9 speed, etc etc)

No problem reaching the Sora paddle from the hoods though.
 

Milo

Guru
Location
Melksham, Wilts
Ooh I have a dawes giro too!
Love it.
 

iacula

Senior Member
Location
Southampton
walker said:
sora's - 8 speed
105's - 10 speed, you'd need a whole new drivetrain


Ah! I see..... thanks, this cycling milarky is a whole new science, I think I should have got a more expensive bike in the first place, still it's probably as well just to plunge in and learn by mistakes.

Cheers
 

gavintc

Guru
Location
Southsea
iacula said:
Ah! I see..... thanks, this cycling milarky is a whole new science, I think I should have got a more expensive bike in the first place, still it's probably as well just to plunge in and learn by mistakes.

Cheers

Upgrading from Sora can be quite pricey and needs to be considered carefully. My wife upgraded once parts of the Sora system needed changing - rear mech, cassette, chain and front ring. The cost was therefore ameliorated by needing some parts. She decided to make a complete jump and put Campag Veloce on her bike as she was disenchanted with the cheapo Alex wheels and was planning a wheel change as well. (Campag needs a different rear wheel hub).

To be honest, Sora and Tiagra both work pretty well and for most people satisfy most needs. I would suggest that you stick with what you have, read and ask around, then make your upgrade (if you need it) based upon a well researched plan. It may take you down the Campag route.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
gavintc said:
Upgrading from Sora can be quite pricey and needs to be considered carefully. My wife upgraded once parts of the Sora system needed changing - rear mech, cassette, chain and front ring. The cost was therefore ameliorated by needing some parts. She decided to make a complete jump and put Campag Veloce on her bike as she was disenchanted with the cheapo Alex wheels and was planning a wheel change as well. (Campag needs a different rear wheel hub).

To be honest, Sora and Tiagra both work pretty well and for most people satisfy most needs. I would suggest that you stick with what you have, read and ask around, then make your upgrade (if you need it) based upon a well researched plan. It may take you down the Campag route.
but bear in mind that swapping sora for the base model of campag is not an upgrade in terms of quality, although it is nine speed. you would be better upgrading to tiagra or the campag equivalent.
 
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