Sora to Tiagra brifters.

Duffer65

A friend has offered me his 'old' Tiagra 9 speed brifters. I currently have Sora ST-3400 brifters on my bike. Would it be a relatively quick swap over to fit the Tiagras or is it a complex job? I have trouble doing up buttons in the right order so I don't want to start something that I'll only f**k-up.

Ben6899

Isn't Sora 8 speed? I think this might cause problems when making the switch... i.e. running 8spd mechs, cassette and chain with 9spd shifters.

I have never looked into this though, so not entirely sure.

Duffer65

Pretty sure the ones I have, Sora ST-3400, are 9 speed.

schweiz

The indexing is in the shifters not the derailleurs.

So, if it's 9 speed, swap them over. If you have 8 speed Sora, you'll need a new 9-speed cassette too.

You'll need to use new cables too.

I'm not sure what the brake pull ratios are on Tiagra and Sora. If they are different then your brakes may feel different but will be OK.

Redhog14

head over to the workshop forum you'll get an answer from Nickouse who is a sage in all things bike mechanics. Pretty sure this is ok and Sora does come in 9spd.

Duffer65

Redhog14 wrote:

head over to the workshop forum you'll get an answer from Nickouse who is a sage in all things bike mechanics. Pretty sure this is ok and Sora does come in 9spd.

Will do cheers.

night_porter

Your Sora is indeed 9 speed so changing the shifters will be all you need to do BUT!!!

As you have said that buttoning your shirt in order is complex then you might want to take the bike and shifters to "a man who can..."

You will need to:
Remove the tape from your bars, carefully if it is to be reused or cleanly if not
Remove the old levers and salvage the inner cable if in good condition or buy new if they are unsuitable
Position the levers into the right position to give comfort on the hoods and in the drops
Ensure that BOTH levers are in the same position
Recable the gears and the brakes, hopefully re-using the outers
Set up the brakes so that they stop you properly
Index the gears so that they change gear properly
Retape you bars

Tools required
Allen keys
Cable cutters
Craft knife
Scissors
Spirit level or tape measure


Definitely a satisfying job if you can do it and should take no more than an hour but if you don't know what you are doing it could render your bike unrideable until someone else sorts it out.

Duffer65

My only reservations about doing it myself are possibly messing up the gears. I had a 'fiddle' with the gears on a hybrid a few years ago which ended in an embarrassing trip to the LBS. Strange as I used to do a lot of mechanical work on my VW Beetle without effing-up, obviously, bikes are more complicated than Beetles!

night_porter

Brake lever combined with gear lever or also known as STi (Shimano Total Integration).

ba68

No need to remove the bar tape, pull back the hood and you can undo the clamp with an Allen key, disconnect the cables, fit the new shifts and connect the cables, check the indexing on the gears and you're done. 15 minute job if you adept at these things, 30 minutes if you're not.

night_porter

Good point about the bar tape, as long as the clamps for the shifters are the same just swap the lever assembly.

As for re-indexing the gears BR have made a video for you:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/v ... ears-31231

How thoughtful is that?

Duffer65

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll give it a go....there's a LBS down the road if it all goes t*ts up :oops: