Sora or Tiagra groupset

[mcshroom]

I'm about to build up a steel frame into a bike and I'm looking at groupsets. I seem to be able to find Sora 9sp for about £230-250 and Tiagra 10sp for about £300-320. Is it really worth the extra to move up to the tiagra?

My current bike has 2300 kit on it, so I'm used to the little side buttons and don't have a problem with them, although I know others really don't like them.

Also the 9sp should be directly mtb mech compatible if I go for a bigger cassette later, whereas I think the 10sp mechs don't have the same cable pull. I think I'm going to go for the sora, but I'm willing to move up if it will really make a difference.

 

[ShinyDave]

I know some people really hate the shifters on the Sora because of the awkwardness in getting to the thumb shifters from the drops, but assuming you're OK with that, you've given a pretty good non-financial justification for Sora over Tiagra...

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Also the 9sp should be directly mtb mech compatible if I go for a bigger cassette later, whereas I think the 10sp mechs don't have the same cable pull. I think I'm going to go for the sora, but I'm willing to move up if it will really make a difference.

True, but the sprocket pitch of Shimano (and indeed sram) 10 speed mtb or road cassettes are the same, it is the 10 speed Shimano mtb shifter/rear mech that have different cable pull to their road counterparts. Therefore if you end up getting a 10 speed Shimano road groupset and you need wider ratios at the back later, a Shimano 9 speed mtb rear mech will work just fine with the road 10 speed shifter and a 10 speed mtb cassette.

 

[potsy]

My bike with 10sp Tiagra comes with a 12-30 cassette as standard, coupled with a 30t inner ring that's a fairly decent climbing gear
As for the difference, well I have 9sp Sora on another bike and they both work fine, don't ever change gear from the drops so no problem there, the Tiagra a a bit smoother and seems to need a much lighter flick of the lever to change gear.
Personally I'd go for the best you can afford as it's better value to get it straight off than change it later.

 

[gavintc]

Probably a little premature for your immediate needs, but Sora is to get a facelift this year and it looks like the little buttons on the shifters are going.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/shimano-sora-and-tourney-2013-first-look-33204/

 

[amasidlover]

I'm one of the Sora 'haters' and had to spend a lot of money to upgrade the shifters at a later date... To be fair there was nothing particularly wrong with the rest of the Sora components I had, just that silly thumb toggle - I think its particularly telling that its gone in Sora 2013; but you're looking at the 9 speed so it would be on there.

Personally I'd spend the extra £80 without hesitation if I was faced with the same choice again.

 

[fossyant]

Bugger it, just get Dura Ace Di2

I'd plump the extra for Tiagra - much nicer kit.

 

[mcshroom]

Well in the end I went for neither.

For now I've got a good deal on a set of 8sp sora/2300 mix from another forum, so I'll build it up as 24 speed and upgrade bit by bit later. I also discovered that the frame needs 54mm drop on the brakes, so I'd have to buy different brakes to those in the set anyway.

 

[stumpy66]

Merlin cycles were doing 105 groupset for 299

 

[mcshroom]

Merlin cycles were doing 105 groupset for 299

I wish I'd seen that. It's currently £450 on their site.

 

[cyberknight]

WOW !
Although the article is slightly flawed as it states sora is the lowest groupset if i read it right sora now gets a lever and 2300 is being rebadged as tourney?

TBH if i was in need of a budget replacement groupset i would go for microshift as it does the job and is a lot cheaper than the rest , haing used it i can say although it might not look as nice as some of the others it does the job and the LBS said they liked it as it is "positive ".

 

[mcshroom]

I'm actually quite impressed with the microshift stuff, and I wouldn't discount their stuff when I go to upgrade later on. It would be interesting to know how yours get on over time

On the new stuff, I think you've basically summed up the changes, with the extra of copying SRAM and giving 32t capacity rear dérailleurs.

I've used 8sp sora and 2200/2300 before and I seriously can't tell any difference between the two. Moving to the tiagra shifting mechanism I've no experience of.

 

[cyberknight]

My microsfift was bought on a second hand carrera TDF , got have been 4 years old and it was going strong untill i sold the bike a year later to make room in the garage for the new bike .
I now have a selection of MTB twist shift, 2300 and sram and they all work,if in doubt try as many as you can and choose which suits you best in your budget range.
I like the look of campag and their 10 speed stuff is cheap but i have never had the opppotunity to try them.

 

[TheDoctor]

I wouldn't necessarily worry about upgrading. 8 speed kit is perfectly OK, and does give more options than 10 speed. I went from 8 speed Sora to 10 speed 105, and while I don't regret it, I'd like the option to throw a cheap MTB cassette and rear mech on if I was going to the Alps.
Granted, 10 speed MTB cassettes are now available, but for a few years they weren't...
Just one suggestion. The Shimano deep-drop brakes are good, but do change the brake pads to something better, even if it's just on the front.

 

[mcshroom]

I'll keep that in mind (although I went for tektro brakes with nutted fixings over the recessed shimano ones)