Giant Defy 3 Drivetrain Upgrade

G Michael C II

I have a 2015 Giant Defy 3 endurance road bike. I wore the drivetrain smooth out over the past year. It came with a Shimano Sora 9 speed drivetrain. Would like to upgrade everything on the bike to Shimano 105 5800 wide range compact drivetrain and am gonna build a custom wheel set. Does anyone know if there will be any issues converting to 11 speed and if so what are they? Appreciate any advice and help. I do all my own work at my house.

wotnoshoeseh

G Michael C II wrote:

I wore the drivetrain smooth out over the past year. It came with a Shimano Sora 9 speed drivetrain. Would like to upgrade everything on the bike to Shimano 105 5800 wide range compact drivetrain and am gonna build a custom wheel set. Does anyone know if there will be any issues converting to 11 speed and if so what are they? Appreciate any advice and help. I do all my own work at my house.

Wow!! How many miles did you do?
There should be no issues making the change - just be sure that when you upgrade your wheels that you get wheels that are 11 speed compatible i.e. rear hub is Shimano 11 speed compatible.
One thing you I have noticed is that 11 speed chains do not last as long as 8,9, or 10 speed, but YMMV.

keef66

I'm either impressed or appalled that you managed to wear out a 9 speed groupset in a year. I've got an old 9 speed Tiagra groupset on my winter bike and regard it as almost indestructible.

Anyway, what he said ^

If you're replacing the lot, you should have no problems as long as your rear hub / freehub is 11 speed compatible. And I believe setting up the 5800 front mech can sometimes be a bit tricky, but once done it's very good.

G Michael C II

Thanks everyone for the advise. I put 2400 miles on the bike over the past year. never could get the shifter dialed in. it has always ghost shifted no matter how i tune it. the teeth on the cassette are worn out and the springs in the rear deraileur have become very weak. more than likely the parts wore out from not being able to dial in the rear deraileur. the bike is still rideable just have to be careful what gears i shift into. I recently purchased a 2016 Giant Anyroad Comax with Shimano 5800 11 speed drivetrain. Night and day difference over the Sora drivetrain. This is the reason i am going with 105 as the upgrade. The Sora Drivetrain is the hardest Deraileur i have ever tried to tune in. Been working on bikes for 11 years now. recently Overhauled a 1983 Schwinn Voyageur SP from the ground up. Again thanks for all the advise and help.

photonic69

I've a Defy 3 with Sora. Great bike. Love it.

I've had no problems with indexing at all. Shifts like a dream. I do keep the drive train spotlessly clean and lubed religiously though. FD can be a little clunky on changes both up and down but hardly a problem.

If you are having such issues I'd suggest a slightly bent rear hanger. Get a tool to check/fix (£35-ish from Wiggle) or get a LBS to check. Also get a new hanger when fitting your new Groupset just to be sure.

I too will upgrade to 105 when I can justify it / current setup wears out.

fenix

Only 2400 miles ???? That should not wear out a drivetrain. Did you maintain it or clean the chain at all ?

If you didnt then you'll just be spending more and probs wearing an even more expensive gearset out in a similar time.

G Michael C II

I clean and lube the drivetrain religiously too. Took a Hanger alignment tool to the bike a couple of months ago. The hanger is perfectly aligned. Have never had a problem from the front deraileur. When i shift from 4th to 5th in the big chainring it jumps to 6th gear. When in 6th it sometimes will ghost shift to 5th. shift again and it goes to 7th. shift again and it goes to 8th. then have to shift twice to get it to go into 9th gear. in the small chainring it tries to jump out of 1st but 2nd 3rd and 4th are just fine. Do not go any lower than 4th gear in the big chainring and dont go higher than 4th gear in the small chainring as i will not crosschain. I have always properly cleaned and lubed all of my bikes borderline ocd on this. Have not had time to take the bike to my lbs but if i cant get it to work properly in the next day or two thats where im heading. will not be able to order the 105 upgrade group set for a few months as I have a couple of things to take care of first. Once again thanks for the help guys.

fenix

Any pics of the drivetrain ? I cant believe its clean and worn out after such little mileage ?

photonic69

Might be worth chucking some new cables on it first. I had a similar problem on my mountain bike for ages. Kept lubing the cables and outers and they seemed to run smoothly but it still ghost shifted - normally at the worst time possible on inclines. Put new gear cables in and it worked a charm. This will be the cheapest, easiest first port of call. Wind trimmer in fully on rear der. then out 2x full turns. Pull cable really tight before clamping it up. Trim as required.

vrsmatt

Not a chance in hell 2400 miles wore out a groupset, unless it wasnt lubed at all

Even then, only rings, rear sprockets and chain need replacing

Just be honest and say you want to upgrade, theres no shame in it

G Michael C II

I do not have a reason to lie. I am anal on lubing all of my bikes chains and cleaning the drivetrain. have had shifting issues for most of the life of the bike. And i apologise about no pictures I dont have a camera or internet on my phone. Cheap track phone from Walmart. I am not looking for the cheapest fix. I am looking to upgrade for the benefits of an 11 speed drivetrain. 6th gear is very rounded off from the ghost shifting. The other gears are not too bad but you can definately see the wear on them. The springs inside of the Rear deraileur have hardly any tension left in them. Just never could Get the Deraileur to shift properly. Taking the bike to my lbs Saturday for a profesional look to see if they can figure out the issues going on right now. If I can find a way I will get some pictures uploaded here but thats not a guarantee. thanks again everyone for the help.

keef66

Son has a Felt with Sora and it's been faultless for 2 years, and he does sod all in terms of maintenance! Bit clunkier than the Tiagra and 105 on my bikes, but it works just fine.

There's clearly something wrong with yours or the way it's set up. Sounds like my 105 when it starts to eat the inner cable inside the RH shifter. I've learned the hard way not to ignore it; as soon as it starts playing up I just stick a new inner cable in.

I can't believe you've worn out a cassette in 2400 miles or that the return spring in the rear mech is failing in some way.

And don't ever say this again: "I am anal on lubing" When I read that I was having flashbacks to my last colonoscopy.