Sora to 105

JoeAllez11

I am gradually upgrading my bike from Shimano Sora to Shimano 105 5700. I have got a new chain, cassette and new shifters. What else would be worthwile to upgrade? Would there be a noticeable difference between the sora chainset and brakes compared to the 105 ones?? Thank you

p1tse

Interested how you get on as I'm lookin for my first road bike and want to skip sora and tiagra to minimum 105

JoeAllez11

Ill let you know. I think 105 is worthwile i'm just interested as to what order I should upgrade in

lotus49

JoeAllez11 wrote:

I am gradually upgrading my bike from Shimano Sora to Shimano 105 5700. I have got a new chain, cassette and new shifters. What else would be worthwile to upgrade? Would there be a noticeable difference between the sora chainset and brakes compared to the 105 ones?? Thank you

If you are using the original Shimano pads try upgrading those first. You'll probably find that makes more difference than the brakes themselves (although opinions seem to vary on how much better the 105 brakes are than the Soras).

JoeAllez11

Thank you for the idea. If I was to upgrade my Sora Compact chainset, would you advise a double or a compact. I have the usual amount of hills as i don't live in any mountains.

buckmulligan

I'd say stick with the compact. If you enter any events you'll soon have some decent sized hills to deal with and there's nothing worse than running out of gears and having to grind up it at a crawl.

As for upgrade order, I'd say the brakes are probably the last thing on the list. Upgrading the mechs will give you better shifting performance and the chainset will save a load of weight and possibly help dialling out chain rub on the front mech, because I think the chainring spacing on the 5700 series is narrower than on cheaper/older models (and would be recommended for best compatibility for your shifters).

You should definitely notice the difference upgrading to Sora, but as others always state on here, drivetrains needs love and care. Let it get filthy dirty and it'll soon be performing like your old Sora stuff!

unixnerd

The Sora brake pads are likely cheap all in one affairs without a metal backing plate. Going to a 105 would likely give you a metal carrier with a replaceable pad inside it. Whilst upgrading the whole unit would be a bit of an improvement just changing the type of pad and carrier is the biggie (assuming it's compatible with your caliper).

I went from 105 to Dura Ace on my Cannondale, took a few months but I got all the bits used on ebay for a fraction of the new price. Some of the parts were actually brand new but I was going for the recently replaced (at the time) DA 7800 groupset, not the current 7900 and that made a big price difference. I used my 105 kit to replace the Sora on my tourer which after almost 10000 miles was showing it's age.

vectra0

Funny actually, but i went the other way, from 105 53/39 chainset to a sora compact... i got it very cheap for ironman wales.
Its completely changed the feel of the bike... slow, sluggish and weak when looking for power...
Im putting the 105 straight back on asap... i rode it for 6weeks to see how it would settle in and i hate it.
the weight was no different because of the size difference.
As for brakes.... if you want to notice a real difference save a bit more and get sram force calipers. Much better than 105