upgrade ?

robcretro

I'me currently riding a specialized secteur, happy with it apart from sora gears could be smoother,
is it worth upgrading to something like specialized roubaix or similar, would i notice the difference, or do you
think it would be a waste of money.

Wirral_paul

Are your gears actually set up properly? Sora gears are decent enough and should be smooth if properly maintained (inc cables), set up, and are in decent condition.

How many miles have you done on the current chain and cassette? Its well worth a few pounds to get yourself a chain wear indicator and see if the chain and or cassette needs replacing before thinking of spending £1,000+ on a new bike. Some new wheels lightweight wheels such as RS80's also may well transform your bike too - more so than a new bike at that level. Your current wheels could then be used for your winter rides and save the new ones for summer.

simon_masterson

What Paul said.

My favourite bike has 30 year old Shimano 600 on it and it runs beautifully. The key to a good transmission is maintenance; keep your derailleurs and cables adjusted and lubricated, replace the cables when needed, change your cassette/freewheel, chainrings and chain when they get worn, keep your chain and sprockets clean (preferably use a degreaser and a stiff brush to get all the road muck out)...

The bicycle transmission is extremely simple. Primitive; crude, even. It has hardly changed in decades. Newer or more expensive transmissions definitely should run more nicely than older or cheaper ones, but weight is currency in cycling. More expensive groupsets are a lot lighter; the weight savings for the cyclist whose frame weighs less than a kilo are considerable.

I daresay you may well know all of the above, but I strongly advise you that it's nothing to spend big money on. There's nothing wrong with trading up (if that's your way of doing things), but do it because the new bike is significantly better in performance.

Obviously Ultegra is going to run much better than Sora, but A) the considerably higher class of bike that it will be furnishing is likely to be a huge factor in that, and with the greatest of respect, if the existing hardware on your bike were holding you back to the point at which you actually 'need' better, you would be complaining about more than the smoothness of the gears.

I also agree with Paul's suggestion of new wheels. The 'contact points' on a bike are the most important factors in performance after the frame and the setup: Wheels/tyres, shoes/pedals, bars/stem, saddle. Rolling and air resistance are the forces that you are doing battle with, and after that it's a matter of best transmitting power. It's likely to be a long time in coming, but I'm planning my next bike purchase, and the wheels are likely to be the highest class of component on it...

unixnerd

My tourer did 1000s of miles on Sora with no problems until the front mech's spring corroded through! It should be smooth if adjusted right.

I have a Roubaix and it's a great bike. But you'd get a bigger bang for your bucks with lightweight wheels, something around 1500g such as Shimano RS80s or Planet-x Model B's for a bit less. Even my 3000 quid Roubaix came with heavy wheels that I sold off straight away. Buy nice wheels and you'll keep them when you upgrade the bike.