Upgrading Shifters

mjd611

I'm looking to upgrade my brake levers/shifters on my trek 1.2 which is a 9 speed sora. I have a couple of questions

Do the new shifters have to be 9 speed, or can i get away with 10?
Similarly as my bike is a double can i get away with a triple?
Is it an easy job to change shifters? I have a reasonable knowledge of bikes.

Thanks for your help.

Smokin Joe

The new shifters will need to be nine-speed too. They are easy enough to do, plenty of advice here or on the Park Tools website.

rrsodl

And can be triple..... no problem with that.

rake

unless you get a 10 speed block and chain as well and go 10 mspeed.

topdude

As above, if you are going to the expense of changing the shifters which are the most expensive item in the gear train then go 10 speed with a new cassette and chain.

bendertherobot

MIght be getting rid of a 10 speed Ultegra triple groupset soon.

mjd611

Thanks for the replies. Although now i wonder if its worth me selling the 1.2, saving a few pennies more than i would spend on new shifters etc. and buy a new bike with new groupset. For what i'll spend upgrading, the new bike may be the sort of 'cheaper' option, or am i just kidding myself?

The sora compact does get on my nerves.

bendertherobot wrote:

MIght be getting rid of a 10 speed Ultegra triple groupset soon.

- I might be interested, perhaps you could pm when it comes to sale time.

mjd611

When upgrading shifters will i notice much improvement seen as the derailleurs are the same?

andy_wrx

Yes you will, whereas if you upgraded the derailleurs and kept the same shifters I bet you wouldn't.
Obviously to get the best quality shift, you want to upgrade both.

I'd argue though that you won't notice hundreds of pounds-worth of improvement by changing shifters, but that's up to you.

If you switch from Sora to any other Shimano shifters, you will obviously notice that you no longer change up with your thumb, instead you have another lever inside the brake lever for it.

Lots of people on here maintain it's impossible to change up while on drops, but I managed it and I don't have huge hands...

Personally, I upgraded from 8sp Sora to 9sp Ultegra because I had 10sp Ultegra on the other bike and wanted the same 2-lever arrangement on both bikes, plus I found the shape of the 8sp Sora shifters uncomfortable on that web between my thumb and forefinger.

I was already running 105 9sp derailleurs as I'd upgraded the rear one after the original was crash-damaged and I upgraded the front one because it was far easier to set-up/adjust

The shift quality was a bit better with the Ultegra levers than Sora, but not night-and-day...

Mar ge

So am I rght to understand that the rear derrie is the same for either 9 or 10 speed, hence changing shifters, chain & cassette is all that's required to upgrade to 10 speed?

andy_wrx

Not 'the same', but yes any Shimano rear mech will work, regardless of it being 8sp, 9sp or 10sp (there are exceptions like pre-98 Dura Ace, but assuming you mean modern stuff...)

Remember that many bikes come from the manufacturer with an 'upgraded rear mech', e.g. have Sora shifters and Tiagra mech, or Tiagra shifters and 105 mech, etc
- costs not a lot to make it this way and looks better from the sales/marketing point of view...

mjd611

andy_wrx wrote:

I'd argue though that you won't notice hundreds of pounds-worth of improvement by changing shifters, but that's up to you.

I should be getting hold of some cheap ultegra shifters, so will just buy other components new from cheapest shop/website.

Thanks for your help