The Cycling Thread

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by krhall

What's the main difference between simano 105 and ultegra, apart from the cost?

Weight and the Ultegra shifts a bit nicer. Levers etc nicer to use. Theres nothing wrong with 105 though.

oh ok, so what about tiagra and sora? I am guessing weight and shifting again?

[fizzwheel]

Weight, and shifting again. The Sora is very budget but it does work OK, it might take a little more fiddling with to get it to shift. Tiagra is probably as low as I would go in the Shimano range TBH.

Tiagra and Sora arent availabe in 10spd configuration, only 9, which can be a PIA if you want to upgrade to 105 or upwards in the Shimano range later.

The shifters on the Sora are different as well, using a thumb lever on the hoods to shift down the cassette rather than the 2nd lever built into the brake lever itself as the 105 and onwards use.

Its basically cost / expense, niceness to use. Tiagra will do the job just fine. As will Sora, but you might find the Sora a pain to setup / keep it shifting well. Whereas the higher end kit seems to work and last better. But its all relative depends on how you look after it. I had 105 on my best bike and it shifted better than the ultegra on my friends bike does, because I look after my kit and he doesnt.

I dont think you can go wrong with 105 TBH if you have the money for it go with that. But like I said Tiagra will do just as good a job.

[maviczap]

+1 to what Fizz said, don't buy anything lower than Tiagra and makes more sense to buy 105 as its 10 speed, although I think Tiagra is due to go to 10speed, but don't quote me on it.

If you buy Sora the bike snobs will laugh at you

I can get a Ribble New Sportive Racing with 105 groupset for £1160 ish or Ultegra for £1360...both are over budget!

...but I have got to order something, before the wife kills me for looking at bike porn.

[fizzwheel]

Go for the 105 and save your money. The difference in price isnt IMHO reflected in the difference in the groupset.

Sorry for all of the dumb questions, but here is one more...can I turn this http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/pl...black/77852166

Into a road bike, or not worth the hassle...\I promise I will buy a bike this week so no more questions after that (well not about what to buy anyway!)

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by krhall

can I turn this...Into a road bike

You can, you'll need a set of drop bars and some shifters. Looks like its 7spd which you'll find is a ballache to find shifters for. Also if it has a MTB rear mech I dont know if it will work with road shifters, as the pull on the cable can be different.

Personally, I wouldnt bother, its alot of hassle and not really worth it. Its only a cheap ish bike in the first place, it wont ride like the carbon bikes you've been looking at will.

Go with the ribble with 105 would be my advice out of all those you have looked at so far.

[Luckypants]

On the groupset debate, I have Sora on my winter bike and it works fine and dandy after 3000 odd miles (only half of them by me!). It sets up fine and has not needed constant fiddling to stay sweet. The shift quality is no where near as crisp or easy as the Ultegra on my Ribble, but really is fine - just don't try changing under pressure. To me the biggest difference between the Sora and the Ultegra is the brakes, Ultegra has more power and feel.

Fizz is right though, 105 is very good and when set up right you would be hard pushed to tell a difference between 105 and Ultegra. Again it's the brakes that I see most difference - had a go on a Bianchi with 105 at the weekend and would say downhill the Ultegra has an edge (but maybe it's just the brake pads?). Fizz is spot on with his assessment of 105, it's good kit.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

(but maybe it's just the brake pads?)

I would think it probably is the pads TBH.

Best braking increase I ever got was by replacing the standard 105 pads with Koolstops and then again with Swissstops.

105 with swisstops is enough to lock the front wheel if I am hamfisted with the brakes so I never felt I needed anymore braking power TBH.