sora or tiagra shifters???

scazzer

hi guys n girls
Always had mtb but do alot of road cycling on it,work has just set up for cycle scheme so im after getting a road bike aswell.

went looking at some LBS to get an idea of wot spec the bikes are for my price range which is £500-£600. In 1 of the shops was told to try and go higher in price as for my price range i would more than likely get sora shifters and that the tiagra shifters are the way to go :?

Like i say im new to road bikes so are they awkward to use(sora) or would i be ok as i cant really afford to pay much more unless i want my balls cut off by the missus

skyd0g

Picking Tiagra over Sora may be worth the risk of at least one testicle. IMHO Sora have an annoying thumb lever (which is difficult/impossible to reach from the drops).

FeynmanC

skyd0g wrote:

Picking Tiagra over Sora may be worth the risk of at least one testicle. IMHO Sora have an annoying thumb lever (which is difficult/impossible to reach from the drops).

+1

The way I convinced The Lady was to get her to try them out - she said "Get the ones that work properly!"

scazzer

skyd0g cheers m8,suppose i can live with 1 :shock:

so is that the difference that sora are ok when hands positioned on top and tiagra are ok top and on the drops??

skyd0g

scazzer wrote:

skyd0g cheers m8,suppose i can live with 1 :shock:

so is that the difference that sora are ok when hands positioned on top and tiagra are ok top and on the drops??

Essentially, yes. The Sora shifters have a thumb lever to change up (ie. moving down the cassette) that you can only reach from the hoods.
The Tiagra (like 105, Ultegra, Dura-Ace) have a fully integrated brake/shifter lever that you can use from either the hoods or the drops. Much better. 8)

softlad

nothing wrong with sora shifters, I have them on my winter bike. For the amount of time you may realistically spend on the drops (ie not much) then having a thumb shift is not a problem. I actually quite like it...

skyd0g

softlad wrote:

nothing wrong with sora shifters, I have them on my winter bike. For the amount of time you may realistically spend on the drops (ie not much) then having a thumb shift is not a problem. I actually quite like it...

True, nothing is wrong with Sora shifters - they work perfectly well. I just find Tiagra etc. to be more ergonomic and easier to use in any position. IMHO.

evil_breakfast

softlad wrote:

nothing wrong with sora shifters, I have them on my winter bike. For the amount of time you may realistically spend on the drops (ie not much) then having a thumb shift is not a problem. I actually quite like it...

+1
I'm predominantly a hood rider, and personally don't have a problem with the location of the shifters.
If you think ahead vis-a-vis gearing on the drops, then its not really an issue.
besides, I can't justify spending approx 150 clams to replace shifters that i'm happy with.

Red Rider

I'm pretty new to all this havin' got my first road bike back in July. It's got sora shifters and I don't have too much of a problem with them. I'm not sure if I have particularly freaky thumbs, or if people are exaggerating slightly about the difficulties cos I can, just about, shift up when on the drops.

I can see it would probably be easier on integrated shifters like the Tiagra but my buidget was like yours scazzer and I couldn't stretch to the extra.

I find it even less of an issue now that I've started using it almost solely for commuitng as I spend most of the time on the hoods anyway. Give them a try - if you've never used integrated then it might not seem as bad to you as someone who has to trade down to using sora.

redddraggon

I like the Thumb lever, I like using the Thumb Lever from the drops, so I use Campag. Far better than a wobbly brake lever

volvicspar

I can reach the thumb shifter no problem on my Sora shifters. Am I a freak (Ans. Yes). I prefer Sora they are more comfortable to me.

But it's a personal choice though I suspect the LBS is more interested in a bigger sale than your shifter comfort

daveclow

skyd0g wrote:

Picking Tiagra over Sora may be worth the risk of at least one testicle. IMHO Sora have an annoying thumb lever (which is difficult/impossible to reach from the drops).

i have enormous hands, no really, and i can do it just lol

scazzer

thx for all replies,prob wont be an issue to me as ive never tried either,just that when something gets put into ur head u start to think mmm can i afford that bit more........

few bikes im interested in are 'Defy 3.5 £525 ,Scott Speedster S60 £599.Trek 1.2£530
still looking around or if any1 know of any others in this price range that are decent then pls let us know [/url]

avoidingmyphd

scazzer, before listening to the idea that you can't reach the sora thumb lever from the drops, I'd try them. lots of people say this, but they just say it louder than the many of us who have never had this problem.

there are reasons to buy tiagra over sora, but the supposed impossibility of clicking from the drops is not one of them if you don't actually suffer from this problem!

nmcgann

I hired a Giant Defy 3 that had 9-speed Sora when I was in the Pyrenees this Sept and I was pleasantly surprised how well the groupset worked. I have both Ultegra and 105 on my own bikes and they are a bit slicker and nicer-feeling, but Sora worked just fine. The thumb button is a bit different to the normal Shimano STI system, but I soon got used to it and it is reachable from the drops - especially the modern compact drops where your hands remain relatively high up and close to the levers anyway.

I'd be happy to recommend Sora on a first road bike.

fungus_the_muffin_man

I have sora on the Trek and ultegra on the Bianchi. Shifting is just as easy on both wether you are on the hoods or the drops. I also agree with others in that the sora shifters do seem to be more solid where as the other ones do seem a little bit " wobbly" in comparison. Obviously this is all my opinion and counts for nothing :roll:

Wulz

Another happy sora user here. Got my first road bike 3 months ago, trek 1.5 2009. I like it very much. i do suffer from not being able to operate the thumb shift from the drops but i tend to use the hoods more and really like the performance of the sora shifters / with the tiagra kit. When i picked the bike i thought that id upgrade if i took to road biking. Well ive defo taken to it but im still happy to run the sora shifters.

Id still quite fancy a go with the 105`s or ultegra stuff and maybe ill re-think the upgrade path after i have, but for just now im very happy .

Cheers folks. and as this is my first post id like to say hello!!

Willie

Aspman77

I have Sora shifters on my Secteur Sport. They are perfectly functional but I don't like 'em.

Will be changing to something else next year when I have pennies to spend.

rkdj

i have sora on winter bike and tiagra on summer bike - like both of them - on balance it think sora is better for me but it really is personal choice.

Scot speedster is the bike to go for IMHO.

Beware though - once you get into biking your Scott will be next years winter bike and you will spend a lot more on a summer bike!

Thats what has happened to me and lots of other bikers.......

Do you have a VISA card!! :roll:

scazzer

ok cheers for replies much appreciated

As for visa card all maxed out at moment :oops: and wots the difference between winter and summer bike?????sorry to be abit nooby :shock:

duracer

only tiagra, 10 speed you can mix with better cassette or/and chain,

9 speed is suicide,

lloyd_bower

I'm a fan of the sora levels too, I prefer the thumb click shift reminds me of the campag levers I used to have on my old bike which unfortunately got written when I got knocked by car.
I have sora and ultegra on my road bikes now, the sora levers must be nearly 10 year old but still perform excellently. Given the choice I had go with campag, but the cost is a fortune out here (NZ).

lloyd_bower

scazzer wrote:

ok cheers for replies much appreciated

As for visa card all maxed out at moment :oops: and wots the difference between winter and summer bike?????sorry to be abit nooby :shock:

what's the difference, nothing really just like having a sunday best, and saving it for the good weather days. certainly not essential to have summer & winter bike.

keef66

I have a bike. If it's warm and sunny, chances are it's my summer bike. If it's snowing, more likely to be my winter bike. Any other combination of temperature / windspeed / precipitation, who knows?

For those fortunate enough to own two or more bikes, a winter bike has an old alloy or sometimes steel frame, often has mudguards, heavier puncture-resistant tyres, and is kitted out with hand-me -down components as the summer bike is upgraded. Cleaning and maintenance tends to be neglected.

The summer bike in contrast is made of carbon fibre or some exotic thin-walled alloy, or a combination of the two. It has a very light and expensive groupset, wheels that cost more than the entire winter bike, and is uncluttered by mudguards and lights. It is lovingly cleaned and polished, often with baby wipes, and the chain sparkles like the morning dew.

uptonspark

I have sora shifters on my Allez and while I have no problem with their working it's the ergonomics that I find annoying. For my hands, while on the hoods, the natural place for my thumbs seems to be below the shift cables, now that's not possible as the shift button is in the way and the gap is way too small.

johnmiosh

Fully agree with Uptonspark. After my trusty 531c died in an accident 18 months ago, I decided that the components were too outdated for economic repair to the frame, so I went and purchased a new Bianchi. Mainly Sora components, but to me they were 10 times better than my old (very old) ultegra/105 mix.

After a few months I developed a pain in my left palm. Thought at first it was the alloy frame transmitting too much road buzz. Started to wear gel mitts for every ride. Eventually I worked out that I was compensating for the shift button by moving my hands lower down the levers. I am now making a conscious attempt to move my thumbs further between the cables and the buttons. I have found this to be irritating, but not painful to the palm.


You may be OK with Sora, but I would recommend Tiagra as a minimum; I now have a new cheap end of stock Ultegra SL groupset to fit on saturday.

Jynxman

I used to have Sora's on my old bike and I really liked them, you will get used to whatever you use. Now I have Ultegra SL's and after a few days decided that the finger shifting was definately the way forward. It seems more flexible to me. Also, are the Tiagras slightly better build or is the only difference in the position of the shifter?

To answer your next question, the only difference between a summer and winter bike is a winter bike is generally a second bike that you don't mind getting damaged from water, dirt, salt etc. Sometimes people just change over a couple of bits in the winter like tyres with a tread, older wheels etc. Personally i try to ride my main bike in the winter, even though I have an old Trek 1000 with Sora and Chrina wheels but I don't like the ride anymore as it is all Alu. and heavy so I lend it to my mates. If it is really bad like a bit icy or really wet, I'll bring out the old mountain bike.

brad1234uk

No diffierence at all it just means you have the privalidge of owning 2 bikes which generaly means that you dont have to get your best bike wet and muddy on winter rides.

mogsawerble4

I know this is an ancient topic but the new sora 2013 has shifters like tiagra but black in case anyone else wanted to know.

Buckie2k5

tiagra is 10 speed now.

secretsam

1. Sora here, but find the thumbshifts a bit of a pain, going downhill and wanting to bang up through the gears means contortions (note that Campag is a different design)
2. Tiagra costs more, natch, and is now 10 speed
3. Please don't use text language, you'll find grammar Nazis like me get really annoyed :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: