Tricross Shifter Upgrade (8sp Sora > 9sp Tiagra)

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

jenic

Über Member
Hi,

I currently have an 8 speed sora triple gear set on my bike.

I am wanting to upgrade to Tiagra shifters, purely because I prefer the shifter position of the Tiagra.

If I get a pair of 9 speed triple Tiagra shifters, and a 9 speed Tiagra cassette and chain, will this setup work with my current front chainset and 8 speed rear derailleur? I believe it should as I think the cassette is the same total size?

Many Thanks
Mike
 
Should do but no guarantees as 9 speed chain is slightly narrower. Try it, at the worst you'll have to buy a rear mech as well. Why not bite the bullet, buy the rear and front mechs and chainset as well and go 105 10 speed?
 
OP
OP
J

jenic

Über Member
Should do but no guarantees as 9 speed chain is slightly narrower. Try it, at the worst you'll have to buy a rear mech as well. Why not bite the bullet, buy the rear and front mechs and chainset as well and go 105 10 speed?

A front chainset and mech adds a fair bit to the price, and I'm unsure of the gains I'd see. The upgrade is purely to get the changes on the lever and lose the thumb button.

Or get 9sp Sora

Today's Sora is yesterday's Tiagra.

As above I'm wanting to lose the thumb button changer, hence the move up a group. Unless new sora offers this?
 
Location
Pontefract
The Sora 3500 has the paddle levers, I upgraded a Sora 7sp 3300, both the FD & RD worked fine, the limit was 27 large sprocket on the rear, front shifting might have been better with a 9sp FD but worked fine. Has as been said the new Sora is 9sp.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
what about a claris triple shifters, keeps the 8 speed so you only need the new shifters and lose the thumb button ?
2014-05-31-13-25-51-jpg.46495.jpg
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
Interesting.

So what are the main advantages of going Tiagra 9Sp or Sora 9Sp over Claris 8Sp? Is it just number of gears and weight?
You get an extra gear and a minute weight saving , about sums it up .On a triple you have a good spread of close gears anyway some of which will be the same as others ( or close enough ) dependant on front/rear gear combination so unless you feel you are riding on gears that have to bigger jumps than you are comfy with currently i would suggest that you dont really need to go from 24 to 27.
 
Location
Pontefract
As @cyberknight says an extra gear, though I don't entirely agree about duplicate gears, yes there are duplicates but you generally use them in different situations, I am just changing from a 12-27 to a 12-23
upload_2015-3-22_10-26-29.png


You can see from the table it tends to be the extremes of the cassette that has much of the duplication, and generally you would be on either the inner or outer, though I will use the 23 or 12 tooth on the middle, because I don't tend to stay there long, I once did a cassette range on a 7sp with 12-13-15-17-19-21-24 with a 26-38-48 front which worked quite well, on an 8sp you could make a closer one and 9sp even better.
Wight saving over my previous cassette 42grms I will lose that on a 30-40 mile ride.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
As @cyberknight says an extra gear, though I don't entirely agree about duplicate gears, yes there are duplicates but you generally use them in different situations, I am just changing from a 12-27 to a 12-23
View attachment 83337

You can see from the table it tends to be the extremes of the cassette that has much of the duplication, and generally you would be on either the inner or outer, though I will use the 23 or 12 tooth on the middle, because I don't tend to stay there long, I once did a cassette range on a 7sp with 12-13-15-17-19-21-24 with a 26-38-48 front which worked quite well, on an 8sp you could make a closer one and 9sp even better.
Wight saving over my previous cassette 42grms I will lose that on a 30-40 mile ride.
I bow to the man who knows about triples :smile: , i have one triple and i never use the granny ring but im a stand up and hack rather than a sit and twiddle kind of rider .
 
Location
Pontefract
I bow to the man who knows about triples :smile: , i have one triple and i never use the granny ring but im a stand up and hack rather than a sit and twiddle kind of rider .
Misconception ;) that many have about the inner ring on a triple, the 26x23 is no lower than a 34x30, however I am a bit like you, don't tend to spin up hills, I do for variety and to exercise different muscles, but round here with have neither long nor very steep hills for long.
 
Top Bottom