sora tiagra 105 Techy questions

[007fair]

Hi I see some bikes have 105 rear mech and Tiagra shifters or Sora shifters and Tiagra rear mech etc

I am looking for a bike with tiagra transmission .. so does it matter whats on the rear mech? Why do they mix and match and does it matter ?

Is the higher spec preferable on the rear mech or the shifter..?


Qualification; I only have a vague knowledge of what I am talking about! I hope this makes sense.

 

[PatrickPending]

no, well so long as the rear mech is designed for the right speed casette/freewheel (or is close can run 9 sp rear mech on 8 speed etc) oh and that its not a campag shimano mix, but even some of those will work apparently.

Have 105 shifers 105 rear and ultegra front on my commuter, dura ace shifters , da front and tiagra rear on my roadbike. Works fine...

Does it matter, well quality is better as you go up and weight is reduced, though I've found most stuff in the range (shimano no experience of others, well apart from suntour etc that I had as a small person) to be fine.

It seems you normally get higher spec rear mech than shifters, don't know why, and front to match shifters eg sora front, shifters, tiagra rear. Guess marketing is as much the reason as anything else.

 

[spandex]

Welcome 007fair

Some people love how a shifter fills or a rear mech so they mix and match.

But overs brake something and go to there LBS to get it fixed but they do not have the same part in stock and it will take a week or so to get it in. So the only thing to do is to put something else on.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

In order to save pennies, some bike manufacturers/distributors will mix and match components from higher lower groupsets. IMO it's much nicer to have a complete groupset, i.e. all the component parts gear shifters STi's/Ergo levers,front derailliuer (FD), chainset, cranks, rear derailliuer RD, cassette and chain matching.

But, as long as the cassette speed (number of cogs) is matched to the Shifters/RD you'll be fine.

What I dislike is when bikes come with a different chainring make to the FD and RD i.e. Sh*man* 105 RD Sh*man* Tiagra FD and FSA/Truvativ chainring. really annoying and aesthetically bad IMO.

But it is all about cost so the manufacturer can maximise his profit, it's also a sort of guaranteed upgrade, as people like me who want a 'complete' groupset are going to change stuff.

My advice, would be to choose a bike with a straight through groupset, however that said the combo's they sell bikes with will always work, but may not be pleasing to the purist.