Shimano sora, any good?

[subaqua]

Like most others here, I would recommend sora, IF you cannot afford any better and IF you do most of your riding on the hoods.

It works fine for the price.

I don't know anybody who is able/has been to reach the little levers on the drops but, apart from Lulubel, most of the time this is not going to be a problem. Sora came with my first 'real' bike a couple of years ago and, due to an incident on my 'best' bike which is in bike hospital, am now riding it again all the time. Very strangely, I am coming to see why shimano tried this in the first place because from on the hoods they actually work well and are comfortable!

my experience of 2300 is the same as this . i was a bit fazed at first when on the drops as to HTF to change to a higher gear as my thumbs ain't that long .

my roadbike is the current commute while i stripdown and clean the MTB and it works very very well. if/when I upgrade the groupset on the Bike its going to be Tiagra or 105

 

[Davidc]

I have Sora levers - ST3300 - on my Horizon. They've been Ok, have worked reliably, but a pain to change up (rear) down (front) when on the drops though.

The plastic where the gear cable enters on the right hand one has cracked this week, and I'm wincing at the cost of replacement if I have to. If necessary though I'll probably change to bar end shifters, or if not I might upgrade to better STIs

 

[TheBoyBilly]

Get the Ribble with Sora. You can always upgrade later but you may find Sora is all you need. It's not a bad groupset by any means. But it will cost over £250 which is not always reflected in the differential between bikes 'in the shop'.

 

[Stu669]

Thanks for all your help guys. It seems as most things with bikes there are plusses and minusses with this. But thanks you have put my mind at rest coz I really want the ribble but can't afford any more than the sora and I can always upgrade the gear rather than having to buy a newer bike wen the time comes.
Thanks again

 

[TheBoyBilly]

Just a thought, but can you wait until the Cycle Show later in the year? At the 2010 show Ribble had quite a few 'show only' offers on their stand. If you can wait you might be able to save something towards your budget.

 

[John the Monkey]

I don't know anybody who is able/has been to reach the little levers on the drops but, apart from Lulubel, most of the time this is not going to be a problem.

When I bought my SCR2, I was riding in the drops a lot of the time - I tried Sora, but figured it would drive me crazy.

After being hit by a car in 2008, I didn't have the fitness/flexibility for the drops for a good while (I'm only just using them seriously now), so it wouldn't have bothered me quite as much.

 

[L.E.D.]

A Sora Equipped bike does exactly what it says on the tin, it changes gear and while it does have some niggles I found you learn to cope with them.

I managed a Sub Hour 25 time trial on a bike equipped with Sora and clip on tribars, Sure it was awkward changing gears but it was fun none the less and surely that's the bottom line when riding a bike.

 

[Fnaar]

I've had my roadbike with Sora for 7 yrs or so. Apart from one knackered shifter, which was replaced, it's fine. No probs, easy to use, easy to maintain, for the most part, does its job very well. Mind you, I don't use the drops that much.