Tiagra vs 105

[mrowkoob]

I´m building a winter bike/ hometrainer bike out of an old frame and other parts however I need to put a new grouppo on it.
It needs to be working without fuss when I use it. First I was thinking a 105 group. I´ve used it before, it´s solid and well functioning. I have Dura Ace and Record on other bikes right now. Anyway since this is a bike that primarily will be used fixed to a Tacx and not much else (except riding in sleet on salted roads when good conscience prevents me from riding a high end bike) Anyway I was thinking I might get away with putting a Tiagra Group on it. The thing is I´ve never used it and am not sure it´s up to par.
How is the shifting of Tiagra compared to 105? Anyone here ridden both groups lately? Does it need more frequent adjusting? It´s seem to have almost the same specs as 105 when one reads about it on Shimanos homepage. Except for the crankset not being hollowtech. Anyone? Thx!

 

[capwater]

If you're just going to use it mounted on a trainer you might want to consider downtube shifters to save significant bucks. My winter bike is 105 and Tiagra (shifters). Perfectly adequate for my needs, shift clean and crisp. Properly tuned Tiagra will beat badly tuned DA, so that is more critical. Nothing wrong with mixing groups if you have parts laying around. Kinda depends on how much you want to throw into a spare bike.

 

[Jaguar27]

I own two Cannondales, one is a year old CAAD4, R400 with 3000 miles on it, Tiagra R/D and Sora F/D...the other, a Six13 Team Replica with Record...

The CAAD4 group shifts first time, every time...smooth as silk, non of the parts have ever been replaced and it's only been adjust twice...

In fact, last week my wife and I did a Charity ride in LA (only 38 miles), it was raining when we left home, plus there was a Bike expo afterwards with Valet Parking for the bikes, so I decided to take my CAAD4, the Group on that Bike never skipped a beat and I did a LOT of changes as I weaved and dodged between maybe 2000+ Riders....

I'd say you'd be perfectly fine with Tiagra!!

I´m building a winter bike/ hometrainer bike out of an old frame and other parts however I need to put a new grouppo on it.
It needs to be working without fuss when I use it. First I was thinking a 105 group. I´ve used it before, it´s solid and well functioning. I have Dura Ace and Record on other bikes right now. Anyway since this is a bike that primarily will be used fixed to a Tacx and not much else (except riding in sleet on salted roads when good conscience prevents me from riding a high end bike) Anyway I was thinking I might get away with putting a Tiagra Group on it. The thing is I´ve never used it and am not sure it´s up to par.
How is the shifting of Tiagra compared to 105? Anyone here ridden both groups lately? Does it need more frequent adjusting? It´s seem to have almost the same specs as 105 when one reads about it on Shimanos homepage. Except for the crankset not being hollowtech. Anyone? Thx!

 

[boudreaux]

If you're just going to use it mounted on a trainer you might want to consider downtube shifters to save significant bucks. My winter bike is 105 and Tiagra (shifters). Perfectly adequate for my needs, shift clean and crisp. Properly tuned Tiagra will beat badly tuned DA, so that is more critical. Nothing wrong with mixing groups if you have parts laying around. Kinda depends on how much you want to throw into a spare bike.

What he said.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

The bike that has been affixed to my trainer all Winter is an '03 Allez Sport (bought it used at a very good price ). It's equipped with Tiagra and a Specialized brand crank. Out of the several bikes I own, it seems like the right bike for the right job.

 

[meehs]

If I were building-up a bike for the sole purpose of riding on the trainer and in crappy weather, I'd cob together whatever parts I could find really cheap as long as they function half-way decent. My wife has the Tiagra group on her Jamis road bike and it works great. In my opinion a brand new Tiagra group is too good and too expensive for a trainer/foul weather bike.

 

[rcrampton]

If you're just going to use it mounted on a trainer you might want to consider downtube shifters to save significant bucks. My winter bike is 105 and Tiagra (shifters). Perfectly adequate for my needs, shift clean and crisp. Properly tuned Tiagra will beat badly tuned DA, so that is more critical. Nothing wrong with mixing groups if you have parts laying around. Kinda depends on how much you want to throw into a spare bike.

Yep.

Save your money for more toys, more women, or bail money

 

[jasong]

You might even consider a flat bar concoction with twist shifters and MTB brakes. Nashbar has some Ritchey 2x9's that sell for around $10-15 and cheap MTB brakes can be found for $5-10. Get a $10-15 cassette for the back, and a pair of $35-50 hybrid wheels (all available at Nashbar). There are a lot of ways to build a new budget bike that still feels like quality.

Add some Endless Innovation Road ends to a flat bar for a bit more road feel with little cost and lots of flexibility.

I´m building a winter bike/ hometrainer bike out of an old frame and other parts however I need to put a new grouppo on it.
the crankset not being hollowtech. Anyone? Thx!

 

[mrowkoob]

You might even consider a flat bar concoction with twist shifters and MTB brakes. Nashbar has some Ritchey 2x9's that sell for around $10-15 and cheap MTB brakes can be found for $5-10. Get a $10-15 cassette for the back, and a pair of $35-50 hybrid wheels (all available at Nashbar). There are a lot of ways to build a new budget bike that still feels like quality.

Add some Endless Innovation Road ends to a flat bar for a bit more road feel with little cost and lots of flexibility.

I was a bit of a pig and got the new Ultegra tripple. I put some thought into it and decided the old frame besides from beeing mounted to the hometrainer and used in really bad weather I´m going to use for vacations in the south (the alpes,dolomites,pyrenees) where a tripple might come in handy for those narly descents. Also in the event of theft from my my car while down south the loss wont be as acute as if it was one of the high end bikes set up for racing locally. Thx for your input