teacherguy said:
My reason for swapping frames is strictly due to geometry. I test rode a Scott Speedster last week and was amazed as to how much more comfortable the ride was. This is due to a more upright position.
You were probably deceived by the parking-lot test ride situation which I presume you found yourself in ...
REGARDLESS, the Sora & Tiagra are
ROAD levers similar to your Athena levers ... intended for ROAD bars (vs. "flat"/mtb bars).
Last Summer, a friend was quoted $150 to convert his old, 8-speed Raleigh to a flat bar bike ... you can do it for less.
Look at the attached photos (sorry to bore everyone, but the old adage about a picture being worth a thousand words is true) ... they are three different frames with the same rider postion (i.e., MY riding position).
The first is a project bike that is waiting for cables/housing & a chain ... it began life as an extra HARDTAIL frame I have which I mated with a road fork ...
The second is my "Winter" bike ...
The third is just one of my other bikes ...
The reason to show those is because the three frames are different -- the two road frames are a different size, 52cm & 53cm (c-c), respectively.
As I mentioned, you can probably just replace your stem with a high-rise stem (about $20 + new cables & housing unless your current ones have enough extra slack) OR flat bars (if that is what the Scott had) ... OR, possibly a
shorter stem.
You can get a
threadless stem adapter (~$20) which will allow you to use any of a multitude of contemporary 1 1/8" stems which will then allow you to have at least a dozen options with regard to locating your handlebars relative to where you are positioned on saddle.
The bottom line is that if you like the way the Scott Speedster felt, then you can PROBABLY reconfigure the components on YOUR bike to give it the same relative rider position to mimic what you felt during your test ride.
Now, if the desire for a new/different bike is due to bike lust, then go ahead if your wallet and signficant-other allow it!