New (Sora equipped!) bike ordered...

jam1e

Well, after some more thinking on my new bike I've ignored all the helpful advice I've received in the past, completely backtracked and ordered the model with sora rather than tiagra/105...

So in a couple of weeks I'll have a Lapierre R-Lite 300, Sora equipped and carbon forked (and red and white, which played a much greater role in the decision than I'd like to admit!).

I've decided that the money I save by sticking with the Sora I can spend on a turbo trainer, training book, HRM etc which are likely to improve my riding a lot more than some better gears and such like.

So now I'm looking forward to finding an East Yorks club and getting some miles in...

wiffachip

what did it cost ? I admire someone who ignores advice

I fancy a Giant Defy 2.5, mainly because its very black and white. I wouldn't have a red and white bike if they were giving them away

Toon Army

jam1e

Toon Army? Bloody Dads Army could run rings around them! Hope your fortunes improve soon though mate.

To be honest I'm getting it at mates rates but it's normally about £600ish I think. Looks really nice and is definitely better than I deserve!

It's not so much ignoring advice, I like to think of it as following the unspoken concensus...

stronginthesun

sora will be fine

littleandy0410

You'll regret it when one day you'll be going down a hill and your gears will just spontaneously combust and burst into flames, and your bike will buck you off it, into a ditch!

.....Actually, I'm sure you'll find it fine, and to be able to buy all that extra stuff on the same budget makes sense!

batch78

Sounds sensible to me.

I also went with a Sora equipped bike, and bought off the internet without trying for size!!

I have, as yet, not died, caught the pox or suffered from any part spontaneously combusting.

redddraggon

Personally I was glad to dump Sora as soon as possible.....it's like they have some sort of nasy STI (sic)

marky2484

Er - actually I quite like Sora -people moan about difficulty changing from the drops, but I spend about 99% of my time on the hoods -like most people I suspect.....actually preferred to the Ultegra units on my other bike. Yeah, I would like Dura Ace but I , regardless of quality, would pretty soon have to find some indefinable " superiority" to justify spending all that cash.....Bottom line -Sora shifts, lasts pretty well, and costs a whole lot less to buy ( and replace in case of a crash. ) Bike snobs will scoff -just remember what Lance said ( It's not about the bike!!!!). :P

redddraggon

marky2484 wrote:

just remember what Lance said ( It's not about the bike!!!!). :P

......it's about how good your doctor is.......

alfablue

I just got a Dura Ace equipped bike, the shifters barely feel much better than the old RSX ones on my audax bike - the differences are slight, however I have used Sora, and it is not just the position of the thumb lever, it requires quite a hefty press and it is quite small. That said, thousands of riders are perfectly happy with them.

jam1e

To be fair it'll be the first road bike with gears I've had so I won't know any better. I'm guessing it'll be like Deore compared to XT, slightly agricultural but functional enough.

marky2484

redddraggon wrote:

marky2484 wrote:

just remember what Lance said ( It's not about the bike!!!!). :P

......it's about how good your doctor is.......

Just remember -he never tested positive........ :roll:

Garry H

I find the shifting fine. The breaks are crap though

Russell160

A recently discovered disadvantage to Sora levers as opposed to eg Tiagra is this: when you are clilmbing hard a natural position is to grip hard on the hoods. The Sora change button' is exactly where you want to put your thumb to get a natural grip when under pressure. I have never ridden with Tiagra or alternatives to Sora, but I assume they don't have this problem. I

bill57

Russell160 wrote:

The Sora change button' is exactly where you want to put your thumb to get a natural grip when under pressure. I

The same must apply to all Campagnolo groupsets then? You could live with it if you'd paid for Sora, real pisser if it was Super Record.

redddraggon

bill57 wrote:

Russell160 wrote:

The Sora change button' is exactly where you want to put your thumb to get a natural grip when under pressure. I

The same must apply to all Campagnolo groupsets then? You could live with it if you'd paid for Sora, real pisser if it was Super Record.

Buttons are in a different place

unclemalc

jam1e wrote:

To be fair it'll be the first road bike with gears I've had so I won't know any better. I'm guessing it'll be like Deore compared to XT, slightly agricultural but functional enough.

....A critical point in the 'need to upgrade' discussion. If you don't know any better, Sora works just fine.
If you try top-end kit you become unhappy, unfulfilled and a LBS stalker, always looking at the 'nice' bikes and kit, with a dreamy look on your face..
Enjoy the cheap end of cycling while you can!

andy_wrx

Sora works fine.

Despite what many people post, I found it is possible to change gear from the drops
(I'm not an octopus, I don't have size-15 hands, but it was possible for me, on my bike, with my handlebars)

But I found the hoods damn uncomfortable, on the web between my fingers and thumb.
So I swapped my Winter bike from Sora to secondhand 9sp Ultegra and find them much better.

jam1e

My being at the cheap end of cycling is going to come to a screeching halt at the Dalby Demo day I suspect...

damage36

Sora shifters are the bane of my sprinting life. Changing in the drops is horrible. My dad still beats me sometimes, while I'm over-revving in some pathetic gear. And he's 54, the wily old zabel-esque git.

alfablue

bill57 wrote:

Russell160 wrote:

The Sora change button' is exactly where you want to put your thumb to get a natural grip when under pressure. I

The same must apply to all Campagnolo groupsets then? You could live with it if you'd paid for Sora, real pisser if it was Super Record.

Campag have different shaped hoods though, is the position exactly the same?

bill57

My point is about how ridiculous this argument is. There's nothing wrong with Sora, it's comfortable, the button does not get in your way, it works well and it's cheap - maybe that's the problem? If you want to sprint and change gear from the drops, buy something else, but don't slag it off for something it was never designed for. Have you actually used it?

Personally, I regard them as gears. Give me Campagnolo or Shimano, or a good set of downtube levers, if it's a good bike I don't care.

alfablue

bill57 wrote:

My point is about how ridiculous this argument is. There's nothing wrong with Sora, it's comfortable, the button does not get in your way, it works well and it's cheap - maybe that's the problem? If you want to sprint and change gear from the drops, buy something else, but don't slag it off for something it was never designed for. Have you actually used it?

Personally, I regard them as gears. Give me Campagnolo or Shimano, or a good set of downtube levers, if it's a good bike I don't care.

Yes, they are fine, downtube levers are fine, but is any better? Should we not aspire to better, more ergonomic solutions?

I haven't used Sora enough to find a problem with the lever position, my slight gripe is the lever is very small and requires a fair amount of force. My girlfriend finds this a bit hard to do sometimes. I prefer the lever design from Tiagra upward because of this, but if Sora was at the top of my price range I would still be delighted to have a modern, fast bike that it probably would be. If buying a new bike, and particularly at this time of year when there may be a choice of cheaper 08 models versus pricier 09 models, one might be able to get a Tiagra 08 for the price of a Sora 09, all other things being equal, I personally would choose the former. For those who have not used any of these shifters and who are considering a new bike purchase I think it is worthwhile and maybe helpful to point out these differences. Whether it matters to them is their choice.

redddraggon

bill57 wrote:

Have you actually used it?

Yes, I use it every single day on my commuting bike.....

andy_wrx

It might be worth throwing in that 2007-and-previous Sora was 8sp and 2008-and-up Sora is 9sp and is supposed to have had some trickle-down of features from higher groups.

I've not tried the new Sora myself, can't compare it to the older 8sp which I did use, but the mag reviews said it was a major improvement to use, much lighter and better feel to it.

Similarly Tiagra was redesigned (in 2006 ? 2007? I forget) and the reviews said how much better it was than the previous model (mew model 4500 vs old 4400) and that it was now almost as good as 105.

jam1e

Thats the fundamental flaw in knocking modern lower grade groupsets really - they're probably better than the high end stuff that the cyclesnobs were lusting after not to long ago!

So, not as good as higher end stuff? - fair enough, but crap? - it's not really is it?

alfablue

I don't think anyone is saying its crap (except Gary H who said shifting was fine, brakes were crap). It is infinitely better than what was available 20 years ago. The discussion is more about how important the differences are between Sora and the next step up. If your budget is absolutely limited, Sora is fine, if your budget has a little flexibility then Tiagra would be worth it IMHO, especially as the cheapest you will ever get the shifters is when they come with the bike, subsequent upgrades are expensive. It is also hard to justify to oneself an expensive upgrade when the existing kit is still working, albeit not as ergonomic as one might like, so one would probably have to live with it for a long time 'cos it probably won't break quickly!

jam1e

To be honest, I quite fancy trying the cheaper groupset so that I'll appreciate the upgrades in future. If I get really involved in road cycling/racing I'll upgrade the gears and wheels in spring.

I see what you mean about the cost/benefit trade off though, my budget has room to move but I don't really feel it's needed at this point.