Sora to 105

[bikeman66]

Hi all.

Just bought myself a Felt F95, which I am very pleased with generally. The Sora mechs and shifters work OK, but are a little clunky (in fact the front mech seems to have such a violent action that it sometimes throws the chain off when shifting from the big to small chain ring, although impressively quick and accurate the other way around). It is a 9 speed set-up and I was wondering whether Shimano 105 mechs would work OK with the Sora shifters and make the gear changes a little less noticeable and agricultural? I'm not really in to changing stuff just for the sake of it, and I can't justify anything as fancy as Ultegra or Dura-Ace, so if you guys think 105 might improve things a bit I'd appreciate your input, thanks.

 

[jack smith]

Youd benifit more from changing the shifters too the 105 shifters are much better than sora, i think if you just changed mechs you wouldnt benifit much

 

[bikeman66]

Youd benifit more from changing the shifters too the 105 shifters are much better than sora, i think if you just changed mechs you wouldnt benifit much

Sweet! Thanks for the input Jack.

 

[Big_Dave]

I had 8speed Claris shifters which are below Sora spec and they were clunky with 105 rear mech and tiagra front mech, when I changed to 105 shifters they are a fair bit smoother, I changed to 10 speed, but still used my existing mechs. Although 9 speed 105 shifters might be a bit scarce these days

 

[dellzeqq]

Hi all.

Just bought myself a Felt F95, which I am very pleased with generally. The Sora mechs and shifters work OK, but are a little clunky (in fact the front mech seems to have such a violent action that it sometimes throws the chain off when shifting from the big to small chain ring, although impressively quick and accurate the other way around). It is a 9 speed set-up and I was wondering whether Shimano 105 mechs would work OK with the Sora shifters and make the gear changes a little less noticeable and agricultural? I'm not really in to changing stuff just for the sake of it, and I can't justify anything as fancy as Ultegra or Dura-Ace, so if you guys think 105 might improve things a bit I'd appreciate your input, thanks.

you might struggle to find a new 9 speed 105 mech - and, speaking from experience, using a 10 speed mech with a nine speed cassette and shifters doesn't work. However....you can find nine speed Dura-Ace and Ultegra mechs and shifters second hand, as people shift up (tish-boom!) to ten, eleven or twelve speed. So.....if nine speeds suits you then trawl through e-bay.....

And, when the time comes, you'll find that new 9 speed cassettes are a lot cheaper than ten speed.

 

[raleighnut]

Its all about cable pull and what is compatible so its a bit 'suck it and see' but shifters cannot make the change 'agricultural' that's down to the mechs, or how they've been set up.

 

[Big_Dave]

you might struggle to find a new 9 speed 105 mech - and, speaking from experience, using a 10 speed mech with a nine speed cassette and shifters doesn't work. However....you can find nine speed Dura-Ace and Ultegra mechs and shifters second hand, as people shift up (tish-boom!) to ten, eleven or twelve speed. So.....if nine speeds suits you then trawl through e-bay.....

And, when the time comes, you'll find that new 9 speed cassettes are a lot cheaper than ten speed.

Even the rear mech? The 105 10sp rear mech worked perfectly with my 8 speed cassettes/claris shifters on both my bikes, 10sp Front mechs are narrower and may cause problems on 9sp

 

[Cycleops]

Even the cheapest mechs should work smoothly. I think you have some sort of problem with yours from the description. Let your LBS adjust them properly if you are not confident before spending a lot on hardware.

 

[Drago]

10 speed 105 rear mech works perfectly with 8 or 9 speed, as my Pinnacle ably demonstrates. It's MTB Shimano 10 speeds that aren't back compatible, not the road series mechs.

Sora shifters are quite workmanlike, though they are great fro commuting where you spend a lot of time up on the hoods. If you're after a slicker action then upgrade the shifters to Tiagra or 105. It's not worth upgrading the Sora mech as aside from a bit more weight they actually work very well.

 

[arch684]

I have 9 speed tiagra shifters on one of my bikes with 10 speed 105 rear mech works perfectly smooth

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Most of the agricultural feeling will be from the shifters, they are ultimately what controls the derailleurs.

If the chain is dropping, nip up the limit screw

 

[jack smith]

Its the sora shifters they are very clunky i remember changing down to the small ring was really clunky and felt like the shifter would snap, 105 shifters and mech will work with your 9 speed of you wish but you could always just go the full way and get a cassette and chain too

 

[outlash]

Correctly setup it shouldn't be throwing the chain off. Having 105 on my road bike and Sora on my cross bike, there's not a huge difference in terms of performance, they both shift smoothly. Spend some time making adjustments to make it run properly, save yourself money.


Tony.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Its the sora shifters they are very clunky i remember changing down to the small ring was really clunky and felt like the shifter would snap, 105 shifters and mech will work with your 9 speed of you wish but you could always just go the full way and get a cassette and chain too

10sp 105 shifters will not work with a 9sp cassette, but will work with FD & RD's from 8sp - 10sp, though FD cage may be a little wide it should shift ok. ran a sora 7sp FD on a 9sp ok like wise the RD, ran a 105 5701 RD on both 8&9sp cassettes.

 

[jack smith]

On my allez i had sora 9 speed and i changed the mechs and shifters to 5700 105 and they worked fine, just had one extra click of nothing