First road bike

dastrass

Looking for my first road bike and was wondering if its worth going for a bike with 105 or would a bike with tiagra on be good enough to start with.Any advice is welcome.

simon_masterson

Sora is 'good enough'.

In fact, 'good enough' doesn't really come into it. As a beginner, it's not something you need to worry about at all, excepting for the fact that a sub-1k bike with a groupset that normally costs the best part of that would concern me. All beginners and most people around here would be just fine with (mechanically sound and maintained) heavy plain-gauge steel bangers from eBay. Once you've got a few aspects right (drop bars, good saddle, clips and straps or clipless pedals), the rest is up to you.

But seriously, the premium in cycling is in weight primarily. Dura Ace isn't £1000 better at shifting and spinning than Sora. The bicycle transmission is very simple. It has barely changed in decades. A 105 derailleur isn't going to shift gears significantly better than a Sora derailleur. It's an extremely primitive device. As a beginner you will not appreciate the superior quality of a 105 transmission (if it's that much to talk about), and if you're buying a bike that's as good all-round as the 105 groupset, it's too good for a beginner. (and you could better spend the money)

What makes Ultegra and Dura Ace the choice of pros is that they are putting them on extremely light bikes. They (or their mechanics) have built these bikes (and spent a lot of money doing so) to be as light as possible (above the minimum weight). Once you've got a frame that's under a kilo, you aren't going to want to waste the advantage with a heavy groupset.

What's important is the ride quality. Forget about what groupset it's got; focus on how comfortable it is and how well you fit it. Go to a bike shop and let them guide you to the ride frame size and adjust the seat to you, and then ride it and see if you like it.

So yes, Tiagra will be more than fine. I personally have 30 year old Shimano 600 on my favourite bike, with inexpensive Tektro brakes. It works beautifully; maintenance is most important. See the other threads of this sort; as I and others have said in all of them, spend less so that you can buy all of the other stuff that you need.

dastrass

Thanks for the advice simon,gonna visit lbs at weekend and try some for size. C2w voucher should get here in september, so plenty of time to decide

Mongoose1981

On this note is the Shimano 2300 that is on the new Specialized Allez Compact better or worse than Sora. I used to cycle when I was 16-18 doing timetrials etc. I am now 31 and I am baffled with how things have changed, no idea about the kit, except 105 and Campag gear seems more expensive than I remember.

Gizmodo

Mongoose1981 wrote:

On this note is the Shimano 2300 that is on the new Specialized Allez Compact better or worse than Sora. I used to cycle when I was 16-18 doing timetrials etc. I am now 31 and I am baffled with how things have changed, no idea about the kit, except 105 and Campag gear seems more expensive than I remember.

2300 is the bottom of Shimano's road bike groupset, Sora is the model above that. Also I believe that 2300 is 8 speed, Sora is 9 speed and Tiagra (new ones anyway) and above are 10 speed.

In order of price and supposed quality/weight:
- DuraAce (also available in Di2 electronic)
- Ultegra (also available in Di2 electronic)
- 105
- Tiagra
- Sora
- 2300

lc1981

Gizmodo wrote:

Also I believe that 2300 is 8 speed, Sora is 9 speed and Tiagra (new ones anyway) and above are 10 speed.

This is worth bearing in mind, because it has implications if you want to upgrade parts of the transmission at a later date. The comments above notwithstanding, I'd consider going for Tiagra as a minimum on a new bike, so that you have a 10-speed groupset which is relatively future proof.

karlth

Popping in for the first time. Hi all.

I have what's a cross between the Triban 3 from Decathlon and its predecessor, the Sport 1. It's a cross because it is actually a Sport 1 but I broke it and it now has a Triban 3 carbon fork.

I can recommend these bikes if you've got a Decathlon nearby and can try one - buying blind is a recipe for being unhappy with the bike. I think it's a good beginner's road bike because:

1. It's cheap enough for you not to have made a massive investment and find you don't like it;
2. It has a triple chainset. I know dyed in the wool roadies look down their noses at this, but it's actually very useful; easier gear combinations for beginners (and cheaper) than a compact, which requires shifting a lot on the back when one shifts at the front, gives a nice low 30x25, which is handy for steeper hills. If you're used to cycling, but not road cycling, you'll be used to having gears that possibly go down to something like 24x32; moving to something with a "low" gear of 42x26 can be a bit too much of a shock! Spinning's good, anyway.

Some people claim it's a bit heavy, but compared with hybrids and MTBs it's actually very light and I doubt a KG on the bike makes that much difference; most beginners would be better served losing a KG or two from their guts than their bikes, me included.

Edit - note you're in the Lakes. You want a triple. You'll probably want to replace the cassette with something going down to a 27 unless you're bloody strong.

matt@theforce

My 1st road bike is a Forme5 from Decathlon which comes with a Sora groupset. It's perfectly fine and has seen me do quite a few large rides and alot of commuting. If I wasn't changing my bars to drops I'd have kept it as is and not spent a penny on it but as I have the opportunity I've gone for some Tiagra shifters (because I could).

(PS. The only reason I didn't buy the Forme3/Triban3 with the 2300 groupset was I wanted a black bike)