Shimano 105 vs Tiagra

sazzaa
sazzaa Posts: 17
edited September 2013 in Road buying advice
Can someone explain the difference to me/which is best? I can only find outdated articles on the web!

Comments

  • garyk72
    garyk72 Posts: 76
    105 is better. It is a bit lighter, has nicer shaped hoods and has the cables routed under the bar tape rather than sticking out of the sides of the levers. Nothing wrong with Tiagra though mind you!
  • focuz
    focuz Posts: 150
    garyk72 wrote:
    105 is better. It is a bit lighter, has nicer shaped hoods and has the cables routed under the bar tape rather than sticking out of the sides of the levers. Nothing wrong with Tiagra though mind you!
    +1
  • sazzaa
    sazzaa Posts: 17
    I hadn't even noticed the cable routing!
  • patrickf
    patrickf Posts: 536
    The cable routing annoyed me on my old Tiagra as I had a torch mounted to the bars for winter commuting. The cables from the shifters used to be in the way of the light.

    That said, side exit cables are a little easier to maintain.
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    I built a bike with "new" tiagra for a mate and was really impressed. It was cheap and better than "old" 105 that the missus has on her bike. if you can live with the aesthetic of the side cabling, its a good buy. i'm a sram fan, but wouldn't feel put out riding a tiagra bike....
    http://www.georgesfoundation.org
    http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
    http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/
  • anthdci
    anthdci Posts: 543
    patrickf wrote:
    The cable routing annoyed me on my old Tiagra as I had a torch mounted to the bars for winter commuting. The cables from the shifters used to be in the way of the light.

    That said, side exit cables are a little easier to maintain.

    Same for me, as petty as it is i thought the clothes hanger cables ruined the looks of the bike. I love the 105 groupset on my defy1, lovely shifting. I haven't used tiagra so cant compare though. Its a huge stepup from my old 2300 triple though.

    Note though the 5600 version of 105 has side exit cables, the newer 5700 version has internal routing.
  • hugo15
    hugo15 Posts: 1,101
    You could always mix and match. I went for Tiagra groupset on my winter bike, but upgraded to 105 shifters to get internal routing.
  • patrickf
    patrickf Posts: 536
    While it's perfectly fine to mix & match Shimano/Sram front derailleurs, make sure that the rear derailleur matches your shifter. I.e. Shimano shifters & Shimano rear derailleur and Sram shifters & Sram rear derailleur.

    Mixing within a groupset is generally fine.
  • mugensi
    mugensi Posts: 559
    I have a 9spd Tiagra and 105 (5700) equipped bikes and yes the 105 hoods do look better. The 105 shifters have a softer 'click' when shifting up/down on the rear and the mechanism seems smoother but saying that i have never had a problem with the tiagra shifters and the gear changes have always been crisp and precise. The tiagra front derailleur is actually smoother than the 105 front derailleur for some reason. Its all down to looks and price but in terms of reliability i'd say there is very little in it and with new Tiagra being 10spd then there is even less of a difference.
  • navrig
    navrig Posts: 1,352
    MugenSi wrote:
    I have a 9spd Tiagra and 105 (5700) equipped bikes and yes the 105 hoods do look better. The 105 shifters have a softer 'click' when shifting up/down on the rear and the mechanism seems smoother but saying that i have never had a problem with the tiagra shifters and the gear changes have always been crisp and precise. The tiagra front derailleur is actually smoother than the 105 front derailleur for some reason. Its all down to looks and price but in terms of reliability i'd say there is very little in it and with new Tiagra being 10spd then there is even less of a difference.

    I have both. Tiagra on a Ribble Audax and 105 on Ribble Gran Fondo. Both are fine. Hoods on the 105 are a bit more comfortable but that's a personal issues. I would say that the Tiagra gear change is smoother even though the Tiagra is older and has seen more winter use. I do my own fettling with the gearing so I don't think it is the set up.

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