Tiagra v 105, Couple of Questions

[potsy]

Yes they are. I have 105 shifters and tiagra rear mech. I think @potsy does too.

Mine has a 105 mech, don't think there's a huge difference between it and my Tiagra equipped bike shifting wise but it certainly looks neater with the cabling

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Yes they are. I have 105 shifters and tiagra rear mech. I think @potsy does too.

That's what I wanted to know, many thanks to you and all who replied.

 

[bpsmith]

The differences show when you have a 105 full groupset over a Tiagra groupset. Hybrid setups won't show the full story, as the shifting will only be as good as the lowest spec component. To a point at least.

Not rubbishing Tiagra at all, don't get me wrong.

I have 105 on my Defy 1, and thought it was superb until I got Ultegra on my n+1 recently and can now see a big difference. If I had put just the Ultegra shifters on my Defy, I doubt that I would have noticed a huge gain.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

The differences show when you have a 105 full groupset over a Tiagra groupset. Hybrid setups won't show the full story, as the shifting will only be as good as the lowest spec component. To a point at least.

Not rubbishing Tiagra at all, don't get me wrong.

I have 105 on my Defy 1, and thought it was superb until I got Ultegra on my n+1 recently and can now see a big difference. If I had put just the Ultegra shifters on my Defy, I doubt that I would have noticed a huge gain.

I've never found the front or rear mechs made any difference to shifting, the quality of gearchange is all in the shifters and cables. I've used Veloce shifters with all mechs from Xenon to Centaur and one was a good as the other, however there was a big difference between Xenon and Veloce shifters.

 

[bpsmith]

I've never found the front or rear mechs made any difference to shifting, the quality of gearchange is all in the shifters and cables. I've used Veloce shifters with all mechs from Xenon to Centaur and one was a good as the other, however there was a big difference between Xenon and Veloce shifters.

I have not used mismatched shifters, so you are definitely more experienced in that respect. Good to know though, when it comes to needing to replace the 105.

 

[Kevoffthetee]

Sorry to jump in on this one, but how much extra is it worth paying on a new bike to get 105 over tiagra in the first place.

Say for instance it's the same frame, just the components differ e.g giant defy

 

[vickster]

£150-200? Often the higher model has better bits elsewhere too, like wheels

 

[Drago]

Hi I have 105 and tiagra on different bikes the 105 is only slightly better imo

Agreed. I got 2012 105 on one bike, 2014 Tiagra on another, and they look virtually identical - probably due to Shimano's 'trickle down' policy for their tech - and ride identically. Aside from a tiny weight difference they're pretty much indistinguisable..

 

[jowwy]

Agreed. I got 2012 105 on one bike, 2014 Tiagra on another, and they look virtually identical - probably due to Shimano's 'trickle down' policy for their tech - and ride identically. Aside from a tiny weight difference they're pretty much indistinguisable..

So does the 2014 tiagra have the cables going neatly into the back of the sti and nicely under the bar tape???

 

[User6179]

So does the 2014 tiagra have the cables going neatly into the back of the sti and nicely under the bar tape???

More like older 105 and new tiagra having external cables .

 

[Drago]

...but a lighter action as a consequence.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Why not? At least you can brake and shift at the same time if needed

Oddly, I manage to do that with the Tiagra on my Ribble, the Ultegra on the Ridley, the (8-speed) Ultegra on the Dyna-Tech

Plus, (when I used it) the 105 on the cross-bike - but the cantilevers it uses aren't that good match to the STI levers