Difference between sora, 105 etc

[Cope]

What's to choose between Sora, Ultegra, and 105? And the cheaper one below Sora? Where does Deore fit in?

I'm a Campag fan - familiar with Mirage and Centaur - how do these new Shimano groupsets compare with Mirage or Centaur or a year or so ago?

 

[Will1985]

Didn't think there was anything below Sora. Deore is part of the mountain bike range, but I believe certain parts are interchangeable with road stuff such as the rear derailleur if you want a stupidly large sprocket.

As you're a Campag fan, I'll share something with you - the classification of 2009 analogue groupsets from worst to best is:
Sora - Tiagra - 105 - Ultegra - Dura Ace - Veloce - Centaur - Chorus - Record - Super Record

Only kidding!

In terms of price, Sora and Super Record sit on their own while the others match up ±£50 with their respective rival (eg: Tiagra=Veloce).

Can't offer much of a comparison I'm afraid as I've only ever used Shimano road stuff for about 2 hours.

 

[Chris James]

Shimano road groupsets, in increasing price order are:

Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace

Deore is a MTB range.

Sora is 9 speed (was recently 8 speed). Its shifters are slightly different to the other proupsets using an awakward to reach button for one of the changes. Most people prefer the higher range shifters.

Tiagra is 9 speed and well regarded in it's recent incarnation as not much worse performing than 105.

105 was always positioned as the best compromise between cost and performance. It is 10 speed too, so interchangeable beteen the best two groupsets.

Ultegra is 10 speed, lighter than 105. Probably about as good as most people would need.

Dura Ace is top of the range and has a price tag to match.

As with all things it depends how much you want to spend. All are reliable. Tiagra is possibly the best value, but being nine speed is less interchangeable with the top end stuff (only really a problem for indexed parts though).

 

[asterix]

Useful information Chris James. My new bike ordered in October was requested with Tiagra. Since then the builders have dropped the published spec to Sora and upped the price! Hope they stick to the original spec..

Given the choice I'd have opted for Veloce (as on my other bike) but they didn't offer it and as Shimano parts are more easily obtained round here I went with the flow.

 

[Cope]

Given the choice I'd have opted for Veloce

How does Veloce compare with Mirage? What is better about Veloce? I know that Campag don't do a Mirage or Xenon groupset any more.

I'm currently looking at a bike which can be shipped with a Mirage groupset. For the same sort of money, though, by fiddling with the options on the Ribble bikebuilder, I can get a Veloce groupset.

 

[RedBike]

What's to choose between Sora, Ultegra, and 105? And the cheaper one below Sora? Where does Deore fit in?

The shifters for Sora change gear in a way thats kind of simular to Campag except Shimano haven't quite got the design right. Sora shifters are not very smooth when changing under pressure and its near impossible to change gear from the drops!
Great for a cheap commuter / winter bike but rubbish for anything else.

Below Sora is 2200. I've never used these and given what I think of Sora shifters Ii'm in no rush to try. You don't see this groupset used very often.

The next groupset up from Sora is Tiagra. This works well and shifts nicely. The only real downside to it is it's weight / limited number of gears.

Next up is 105. A 10 speed groupset thats a good entry level race groupset.

Ultegra. It's light and components tend to hold up to a lot of abuse. Bearing are used in most things instead of bushes to make things smoother,

Ultegra SL, A lightened version of Ultegra.

Deore: A MTB groupset. Made to take a lot of abuse. It's a sensible choice for a touring bike but not a race bike.

 

[LondonCommuter]

How does durability vary as you go up the range? I realise they get lighter and from what various of you have said there are real differences in performance, but do they also get more durable and then tail off again? If you don't want ultra-light but want something decent and long lasting what would you get?

 

[Steve Austin]

105 is the workhorse. reliable dependable effective. Ultegra is the same, it just costs more.
No-one needs XTR/Dura Ace/super Record etc but it does work nice

 

[Joe]

How does Veloce compare with Mirage?

Which Veloce? 08 Veloce is a fair bit nicer than 08 Mirage. But I would say 09 Veloce is equivalent to 08 Mirage in terms of build quality (though probably lighter). It has aluminium brake lever, and plastic inner lever as Mirage did (If I remember rightly). By adding Super Record they've shifted everything else down a notch. So 09 SR is the new 08 Record, 09 Record is the new 08 Chorus etc.
The shifting feel, and lever shape for Campag is totally different in 09 though, so if you liked the old stuff I would try and get that

 

[RedBike]

How does durability vary as you go up the range? I realise they get lighter and from what various of you have said there are real differences in performance, but do they also get more durable and then tail off again? If you don't want ultra-light but want something decent and long lasting what would you get?

Hard to say.
In theory the durability shouldn't tail off as the higher end groupsets use surface hardening finishes, harder materials (ti sprockets in the cassette), bearings to reduce friction instead of bushes.
However, some bits like the chain / chainrings in my experiance seem to wear at a frightning rate on the dura-ace groupset.

 

[Will1985]

Titanium sprockets - like most kit at the top end - are there to save weight. They wear badly from what I've read.

I've heard that 10sp chains and cassettes wear out a lot faster than 9sp, and no doubt 11sp is just as bad. Actually I doubt they wear at a faster rate, just that there is less material in the first place to get worn away.