Shimano Sora . . . Opinions? is it 5hit?

petemadoc

As the title says. Is Sora any good?

Found a bike that I think is ok for the wife but it's got Sora. Last thing I want to do is put her off road cycling with gears that need constant adjustment and don't last long. I'd be surprised if they don't work as they should though, anyone got some experience they can share?

crescent

I have them on my Specialized Allez and find them OK. Certainly not in constant need of adjustment. The down shift trigger can be a bit fiddly to use especially when you are on the drops though.

Cheers

raymondo60

Sora is excellent for the money. Had (and have) Sora on a Cube Aerial I use on a regular basis; rear mech is smooth as 105 and I'm really happy with the brakes, which are superb. I do have to 'tweak' the front mech once a year (about every 1000 miles) as it goes out of line but I ride a lot so I don't think it will be an issue. Like all kit, maintenance is important but please do not think that Sora is a 'cheap' option.

centimani

Nowt wrong with Sora. Ive had it on my winter hack for 3 years, trouble free and on a previous roadbike for maybe 4 or 5 years, trouble free.
The only thing thats a consistent niggle with them is the front derailleur is a tad prone to siezing up, but only with winter riding. Salt gets in the pivot and siezes. Its a straightforward fix though. Never had it happen any other time, winter riding / commuting really abuses the components so its not surprising really.
If you consider Campag Xenon is Soras equivelent, the shifting is almost identical in method so unless you're going to go for more expensive shifters, there's virtually no difference, barring the fact you upshift with the brake lever with Sora and with the paddle behind the brake lever on xenon.
Two bikes with Sora, rarely ever had to adjust the mechs barring for cable stretch which is going to happen on any bike, whatever its fitted with.

chicken_leg

I had Sora on my last bike and hated it. My hands aren't very big and I struggled with the downshifters. By tippinig the bars forward I could just about get my thumbs to reach, but the front shifter could be pretty stiff. Also the reach on the levers isn't adjustable, which didn't inspire confidence when descending.

I expect that Sora calipers work fairly well. My set up used some cheap unbranded junk that made matters even worse.

I wouldn't rule them out, as others agree that value for money is great. But I'd definitely check the fit carefully before parting with cash.

My 2p worth...
G

Crankbrother

My gf's first road bike had sora and when she got into it then got a new bike with ultegra ... And hated it ... She then had to buy a new bike with campy just so she could get on with the shifters ... Basically getting as close to sora as she could but with 10 speed ...

Is it a triple you're thinking of getting? If so, another option is to get a 48/34 compact and get 10 speed ... You might lose 4 gears but wil likely end up with 10 more useful ones ... That was my gf's experience ...

And if she's a shortarse ... 650c wheels do help with the geonetry and handling ... People moan about getting tubes and tires but conti do a 650c version of their decent tyres so it's not a problem ...

passout

I had a sora groupset on an old Trek 1000 and it lastesd years. Durability & reliability are both excellent in my experience. Performance isn't as good as more expensive groupsets, obviously, but it's not at all bad. If there is a weakpoint it's the feel of the shifters That said more recent versions of this gruppo have probably been improved. I'd go for it.

Tom BB

I really like Sora-its a pain to shift on the drops-other than that, it works really well. I find that it needs a little adjustment every couple of hundered miles, but it adjusts really well in my experience.

zanes

centimani wrote:

Nowt wrong with Sora. Ive had it on my winter hack for 3 years, trouble free and on a previous roadbike for maybe 4 or 5 years, trouble free.
The only thing thats a consistent niggle with them is the front derailleur is a tad prone to siezing up, but only with winter riding. Salt gets in the pivot and siezes. Its a straightforward fix though. Never had it happen any other time, winter riding / commuting really abuses the components so its not surprising really.
....
Two bikes with Sora, rarely ever had to adjust the mechs barring for cable stretch which is going to happen on any bike, whatever its fitted with.

+1

petemadoc

Thanks for the advice peeps

I'm still torn on what to do with this. She is a short ar5e with small hands! How are the Sora shifters for smaller hands? Does anyone know what the cheapest groupset is that has an adjustable reach? I've heard of shims that can be fitted to some to bring the levers in closer.

Re 650c wheels, how does this affect performance, does it make you slower? She's 5ft 1" or 154cm more accurately, I don't think she'd need 650c?

supertwisted

I have 8 speed Sora levers on my SCR3. I've got quite small hands for a bloke, barely bigger than my wifes.
One of the boons with the Sora stuff is you can adjust the brake lever reach using the screw in the hood, which for my child like hands is invaluable. Edit: not sure if the newer 9 speed sora have this feature or if you have to buy shims like you do with the other lines.

No complaints on it's performance so far, seems solid and dependable.

ALaPlage

My wife's first road bike had Sora fitted. She never had any problem with it but did find the shifting awkward due to her small hands. It didn't put her off but was one of those niggles - bear in mind she previously had an mtb with grip shift.

When I bought her a new bike it had 105 fitted - I hadn't particularly looked for this spec but thought she might find it easier and as it was standard anyway it was just in the mix.

She has been delighted with it and tells everyone that its the best thing about her new bike - so naturally I take the credit as a thoughtful husband for getting her a bike with an easier gear system on it! I actually bought her it to get a lighter bike to help with the climbing (lots of hills in Yorkshire) plus her first road bike was a hand me down that was a little oversized for her too.

So I think the answer to your question is Sora is absolutely fine as a system and seems to work smoothly however you may find that Tiagra or 105 will be better for your girlfriend to use.

My wife is 5'2" and has 700c Mavic Aksiums on her Kona Lisa 48cm frame.

wasabi_m

Have Sora on my winter bike. Its excellent, never needs adjusting, despite harsh treatment and infrequent cleaning. I honestly think the shifting is better than Dura-Ace on my main bike.

stevie63

Remember as well most of us spend 95% of our time on the hoods anyway and Sora is a doddle to shift from there. In fact I just took one of my older bikes out for a spin which has Sora and I think the front shifting is better than on Sram Rival.

morxy

You can adjust the reach of the levers with shims if you have smaller hands. There are 3 reach options: 0, 4 and 8 degrees. Excerpt from Shimano's ST-3400 manual...



I've just installed Sora 3400 (9 speed) on a spare bike. Looking forward to riding it. I've done 17000km on Sora 3300 (8 speed) and really liked it. Still plenty of life in it!

morxy

supertwisted wrote:

One of the boons with the Sora stuff is you can adjust the brake lever reach using the screw in the hood...

That was a great feature of 3300. The screw lets you fine tune the reach more precisely. Unfortunately 3400 only uses shims. Still, better than nothing.

chrishd883

No exerience of Sora. But have ridden many miles on 650c wheels. These can be found on some TT bikes and some female specific bikes.

The wheel rim is in between 700c and 26" MTB in size. Thought to be stronger (hence the TT use) and as slightly smaller - can be found on smaller frames (normally female secific or youth racing bikes).

Any differences in the ride is imperceptibe to me. The only drag was rememberng to change the inner tubes if I switched between bikes. Tyre choice is less, but not a problem, except that you aee are less likely to find them in stock at an LBS. Inner tubes are OK - just buy MTB tubes for the narrow tyres. These are compatiible.

cyberknight

I have ridden sora / 2300 and found them fine , i am still considering whether to get my next bike with sora or apex !! and i need to decide for tomorrow to get my C2W papers in asap .

BelgianBeerGeek

+1 for Sora.

Completely reliable in all weathers and nice, crisp shifting. If set up right they are superb performers.

petemadoc

Thumbs up for Sora then