Shimano components

I'm in the process of buying my first road bike and could use a little help. What are the different levels of Shimano parts... ie Sora, Tiagra, 105, etc. Hopefully this will help make a decision a little easier. Thanks all.

 

HEre's the order from cheapest to the most expensive....

Sora
Tiagra
105
Ultegra
Dura Ace

Nice to know you are choosing Shimano. I guarantee you will enjoy using the gruppo! ;D

 

Welcome to the forums, Keode.
Altwegg is our official Shimano salesperson, so we leave all Shimano FAQ's up to him. ;D

 

ATT: keode,

If I can give you my 10 cent worth of advise, I'll recomend you get 105 and up. With 105 you get briliant performance at a fraction of the Dura Ace price. You can also start upgrading to Ultegra or D/A seeing that all three are identical in relation there indexing and casette spacing.

I started riding 105 in 1992 when STI just came out. Upgrading from 7 speed to 8 speed cost me almost as much as my complete bike then. Today I'm riding with a brand new 9 speed. The only part that is not 105 but Ultegra is my casette and that is only because you do not get 11-21 in 105.

Al I can say is that you will not be disapointed.

Happy pedaling.

 

Thanks all for the info. Hopefully I'll be able to use this to get a nice ride.

 

I agree. 105 is costs about half as much as Dura Ace, but gives almost as much performance (according to many of those who have tried both), some say it gives 95% D/A performance! I an very happy with the way my 105 works. Of course, I wouldn't mind getting D/A, but at almost USD$1000? My whole bike costs less than that.

How about Campy? Have you checked their offerings too? I must say they make the sexiest cranksets.

 

no they dont , whats wrong altweg you traiter come back to the light side.

 

OMG! What did I just say? :-X

Campy cranks are still square tapered, they suck! ;D Stick with Shimano Hollowtech/Octalink cranks. ;D ;D

 

105 might give you almost the same performance as DA BUT performance isn't all you pay for:
105RD=232g
FD=84g
CR=663g
BB=250g
Shifters=495g
Breaks=352g
Rear Hub=410g
Front Hub=207
Total=2.461kg

Dura AceRD=195g
FD=79g
CR=594g
BB=173g
Shifters=432g
Breaks=317g
Rear Hub=376g
Front Hub=178g
Total=1.968kg

105 weighs 0.5kg more than DA, that’s why it’s so expensive, not because of the performance. The lighter you go the more you pay.

 

Tell me, you Shimano gurus, how do you measure the 'performance' of a groupset? What's your point of reference when you say that a 105 gruppo has 95% of D/A performance?
Goat is right, it's to do with weight and reliability.

 

On the "light"er side!!!!! After this weekends practice I will loose at least another 500g in weight ( I have lost 40kg already!!!) That means only another two weekends and my Tiagra will be a Dura Ace!!!! Another 20 weekends and my bike will weigh nothing at all!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

LOL

Keep those wheels spinning (to make your bikes lighter!!!!!)

Big H

 

What is meant by 95% of D/A is that shifting, braking, stiffness (of cranks) is "almost" as good as D/A's. Sort of like how Chorus is as good as Record, except that is is not made of titanium/carbon parts that make Record lighter/more expensive.

Goat is right, what drives the costs up when it comes to 105, Ultegra, DA is the weight. You get more bang for the buck once you hit the 105 level, then you experience diminihing returns as you go up to D/A.

 

I went with the 105 gruppo. Couldn't cost justify Ultegra or
Dura Ace. I am 195lbs, how much difference is a few onces going to make anyway, I lose more than that in persperation when I cycle. Talking to some of the riders in my neck of the woods, they couldn't see the difference either, except in "brag-rights". It would be great to be a proficent enough cyclist to NEED dura-ace.



-CG

 

Yep...

 

105 is what a good comprimise beteween price/quality. its 9speed and it works well. I just recently got durace because im realy serious about it. dura-ace :-*. same cant be said for the frame of my new bike. part of it fell of .

 

I couldn't resist.

A message from the Dark Side (i.e. Campy Corner)

10 Speed, 10 Speed, 10 Speed, 10 Speed

wha ha ha ha ha (puts pinkie finger to edge of mouth)

(However my record chain did cost me R480. :-[

 

What fell of your bike?

You're right, 105 is the best compromise between price and performance. However, I would really like to have that sweet Dura Ace groupset!

 

ok to be honest iv never riden campy so i cant comment i would be interested at the top speed you can get up to on a campy 10 speed. I spin out on my 9speed shimano at aroud 75k :-[ after that i get into a aearo tuck

altweg

part of the frame. the circular part on the front tube that holds/supports the gear changing wire. it just fell off . So a new frame is needed . iv been given a temporary frame from my bs in the mean time. you would not beleive what i had to do to get it sorted out. :-[

 

I take it that you mean in a sprint where you're actually still applying pressure in the drivetrain.

I usually get upto about 84kmph before tucking in but this is because my legs start hurting after the initial sprint. (11 tooth rear and 52 tooth front).

Bike starts feeling awfully twitchy at those speeds though. I've hit 92kmph once but I must admit I had a slight tailwind.

I'll give it a bash tomorrow morning and let you know when I stop pushing the pedals.
(Check out the project creatine thread) hehehe. (Talk about advertising) ;D

 

Oh look, how pretty. . .



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