Cannondale Synapse Claris 2015 vs Sora/Tiagra?

jasondainter84

Hello All.

I'm a beginner rider, looking to buy my first road bike. I'm ideally looking for something fast, but since i'll be riding mostly on roads/in towns and not really racing, it needs be be practical also. Ive read the Synapse range is perfect for this.

I'm looking at buying http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec071024 today (The Synape Allow Claris 2015). It comes to 600 GBP, which seems like a bargain and Evans do delivery to Sweden also (where I live).

I'm trying to figure out if its worth paying a bit extra and getting either the:

1) Sora (700 GBP)
2) Tiagra Disc, comes with disc brakes (850 GBP).

Does anyone have any tips on the differences, whether its worth paying extra for the upgrades, and if so why? Are the brakes good enough on the Claris model without disc brakes?

Thanks ahead!

arlowood

Certainly worth the extra £100 to get the 9-speed Sora over the 8-speed Claris.

You will also avoid the dreaded thumb shifters on the Claris and benefit from the dual lever STI's on the Sora. This design is standard as you move up the range to Tiagra, 105, Ultegra etc so should stand you in good stead if you upgrade in the future.

Not sure if the extra £250 is justified to move to the Synapse Alloy Disc although you do get 10-speed Tiagra which by all accounts performs pretty well. Not heard of the Promax Render Disc brakes before so that is a but of an unknown quantity.

jasondainter84

Thanks arlowood thats amazing advice. I'd actually totally forgotton you one speed on the claris. Agree its worth paying 100 pounds more here for that plus the duel lever STI's.

Plus, not that it should matter at all.. but the sora does look pretty damn nice also! http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec071023

kajjal

The rimbrakes on the synapse are very poor bordering on dangerous in the wet so budget for an upgrade unless you go for disc brakes. Appart from that very nice bikes, more gears means you can ride smoother so go for at least sora.

freestyle_gus

arlowood wrote:

Certainly worth the extra £100 to get the 9-speed Sora over the 8-speed Claris.

You will also avoid the dreaded thumb shifters on the Claris and benefit from the dual lever STI's on the Sora. This design is standard as you move up the range to Tiagra, 105, Ultegra etc so should stand you in good stead if you upgrade in the future.

Not sure if the extra £250 is justified to move to the Synapse Alloy Disc although you do get 10-speed Tiagra which by all accounts performs pretty well. Not heard of the Promax Render Disc brakes before so that is a but of an unknown quantity.

The Claris do not have the thumb shifters. It's dual shifters throughout the Shimano road range these days. I have the 2014 Claris of this bike, it works brilliantly.

Kajjal wrote:

The rimbrakes on the synapse are very poor bordering on dangerous in the wet so budget for an upgrade unless you go for disc brakes. Appart from that very nice bikes, more gears means you can ride smoother so go for at least sora.

The rim brakes are fine if you upgrade the pads (the supplied ones appear to do nothing. I replaced mine with Kool Stop Salmon, they work great.

arlowood

freestyle_gus wrote:

The Claris do not have the thumb shifters. It's dual shifters throughout the Shimano road range these days. I have the 2014 Claris of this bike, it works brilliantly.

Apologies - My error then but I was going on the image displayed on the Evans site for the 2015 Claris based bike. If you look closely (link below), it certainly appears that the dual lever STI's are not in place - only a single brake lever in the image - which led to the assumption that the upshifting was with the thumb button.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... aign=78888

freestyle_gus

arlowood wrote:

freestyle_gus wrote:

The Claris do not have the thumb shifters. It's dual shifters throughout the Shimano road range these days. I have the 2014 Claris of this bike, it works brilliantly.

Apologies - My error then but I was going on the image displayed on the Evans site for the 2015 Claris based bike. If you look closely (link below), it certainly appears that the dual lever STI's are not in place - only a single brake lever in the image - which led to the assumption that the upshifting was with the thumb button.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... aign=78888

Yep, that's the old photo that most of the retailers stick with, it has the old shifters and even seems to show points for some panniers, which my bike certainly doesn't have!

zx6man

the sora one look nice in the flesh, the wife has a cannondale trail7 MTB in the same colour. Tempted for one myself.

Tiberius007

I have the Claris groupset, albeit on a Spesh, and it has the STI shifters. Functions admirably albeit a little 'clunky', ok side by side with my 11 speed and its no contest. But you get what you pay for.
I love my 8 spd Allez, nice run about and does what I need it to, and its a perfectly decent groupset, IMO, if your are starting out.

indyp

If you can afford it then Tiagra with Disc's would be my choice for road bike used for all sorts. There will be a noticeable difference in performance, especially braking so worth the extra cost.