Road Bike for £800 ?
Discussion
Fancy going back to Road biking after watching TdF (used to ride one but long time ago). Been riding MTB ever since and got the Road bug now.
So got budget around £800. Not fussed on the brand but which gear shifter to go for ? There seem to be lots of bike with Sora for under £800 - been told it is not very good shifter.
So got budget around £800. Not fussed on the brand but which gear shifter to go for ? There seem to be lots of bike with Sora for under £800 - been told it is not very good shifter.
I have a Trek 1.2 (2013 model for £700) with Sora shifters.
I've never had a road-bike before and got very used to my Shimano XT shifters on my current MTB, so they felt very alien to me to begin with.
Haven't compared them to any other road-bike shifters, so can't tell if the next range up from Sora is noticably better.
I think Sora used to have a thumb-operated lever to reduce the cable tension to drop down a gear which meant it was diffucult to operate if on the drops.
The 2013 range did away with this and uses the small lever behind the brake lever (as other higher ranges did pre-2013). This might be why you've heard comments about avoiding Sora perhaps?
I've never had a road-bike before and got very used to my Shimano XT shifters on my current MTB, so they felt very alien to me to begin with.
Haven't compared them to any other road-bike shifters, so can't tell if the next range up from Sora is noticably better.
I think Sora used to have a thumb-operated lever to reduce the cable tension to drop down a gear which meant it was diffucult to operate if on the drops.
The 2013 range did away with this and uses the small lever behind the brake lever (as other higher ranges did pre-2013). This might be why you've heard comments about avoiding Sora perhaps?
Op,
I'd go 10 speed if yu can, as futUre upgrades are easy that way.
Recently, wiggle had 105 equipped carbon bikes for a grand, so tiagra and ally for 800 quid should be pretty doable
Might be worth waiting for the silly sale season in a couple of months? Last year i got ultegra for under 600 sheets...
I'd go 10 speed if yu can, as futUre upgrades are easy that way.
Recently, wiggle had 105 equipped carbon bikes for a grand, so tiagra and ally for 800 quid should be pretty doable
Might be worth waiting for the silly sale season in a couple of months? Last year i got ultegra for under 600 sheets...
Some Gump said:
Op,
I'd go 10 speed if yu can, as futUre upgrades are easy that way.
Recently, wiggle had 105 equipped carbon bikes for a grand, so tiagra and ally for 800 quid should be pretty doable
Might be worth waiting for the silly sale season in a couple of months? Last year i got ultegra for under 600 sheets...
When silly sale season usually come ? suppose when the summer is over.I'd go 10 speed if yu can, as futUre upgrades are easy that way.
Recently, wiggle had 105 equipped carbon bikes for a grand, so tiagra and ally for 800 quid should be pretty doable
Might be worth waiting for the silly sale season in a couple of months? Last year i got ultegra for under 600 sheets...
Disco You said:
£600 for it - but is it any good ?craggers said:
£600 for it - but is it any good ?
Its little brother, the triban 3, gets awesome reviews. There aren't as many for this floating about. I can't see any other bikes for £600 with Tiagra components and a carbon fork: it seems like spectacular value. It's so cheap because of the (lack of) name, and own brand components in some places. I'd rather have unbranded handlebars and tiagra shifters, than Ritchey handlebars and 2300 shifters myself though...My girlfriend is about to buy one, so I can let you know what I think in a couple of weeks.
craggers said:
Basically shifter in road bike in order
1 - 105
2 - Tiagra
3 - Sora
?
Dura-Ace1 - 105
2 - Tiagra
3 - Sora
?
Ultegra
105
Tiagra
Sora
2300/2400
Don't get less than sora unless you absolutely have to.
The important thing to note, is that it is easy to upgrade parts at a time (e.g. a dérailleur) between groupsets with the same number of speeds. But with groupsets with different speeds it requires more to be changed at once.
This page is actually pretty useful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimano#Road_groupset...
Or get Campag! I have 10sp Xenon , in two years (first year it was standing in a garage, second year of hard abuse) I haven't had the slightest issue, the gears index perfectly in every gear and I haven't replaced anything , bar cleaning once a week. The shifters feel a touch cheap, but they are perfectly placed for drops & hoods.
craggers said:
When silly sale season usually come ? suppose when the summer is over.
Sadly yes - sales trend to be when 2014 bikes come out. Maybe 1-2 months from now? Slightly longer? However, there are some great deals about, I'd say this is a good baseline...
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/felt-f85-tiagra-2013/
Shimano Road Componentry
Dura-Ace Di2 9070 Series (Electronic)
Dura-Ace 9000 Series (Mechanical)
Ultegra Di2 (Electronic)
Ultegra (Mechanical)
105
Tiagra
Sora
2300 Series
2200 Series
As with all Shimano products, the technology filters down as they upgrade the components. So 105, which was new for 2011, takes a lot from the previous Dura-Ace 7900 Series (such as hidden cables).
The shifters are just one part of each series but a good indication of overall quality and price, the number of cogs decreases as you go down too:
Dura-Ace Di2 - £456 (11 Speed)
Ultegra Di2 - £267 (11 Speed)
105 - £180 (10 Speed)
Tiagra - £168 (10 Speed)
Sora - £128 (9 Speed)
2300 - £90 (8 Speed)
2200 - Can't even buy them I don't think (8 Speed)
Everyone loves 105 stuff, it's probably the best value overall and unless you're racing then as good as you'll ever need. That's not to say I wouldn't love a carbon bling machine fully decked out with Dura-Ace Di2 (or SRAM Red in fact, but not going there).
Dura-Ace Di2 9070 Series (Electronic)
Dura-Ace 9000 Series (Mechanical)
Ultegra Di2 (Electronic)
Ultegra (Mechanical)
105
Tiagra
Sora
2300 Series
2200 Series
As with all Shimano products, the technology filters down as they upgrade the components. So 105, which was new for 2011, takes a lot from the previous Dura-Ace 7900 Series (such as hidden cables).
The shifters are just one part of each series but a good indication of overall quality and price, the number of cogs decreases as you go down too:
Dura-Ace Di2 - £456 (11 Speed)
Ultegra Di2 - £267 (11 Speed)
105 - £180 (10 Speed)
Tiagra - £168 (10 Speed)
Sora - £128 (9 Speed)
2300 - £90 (8 Speed)
2200 - Can't even buy them I don't think (8 Speed)
Everyone loves 105 stuff, it's probably the best value overall and unless you're racing then as good as you'll ever need. That's not to say I wouldn't love a carbon bling machine fully decked out with Dura-Ace Di2 (or SRAM Red in fact, but not going there).
MiseryStreak said:
Shimano Road Componentry
Dura-Ace Di2 9070 Series (Electronic)
Dura-Ace 9000 Series (Mechanical)
Ultegra Di2 (Electronic)
Ultegra (Mechanical)
105
Tiagra
Sora
2300 Series
2200 Series
As with all Shimano products, the technology filters down as they upgrade the components. So 105, which was new for 2011, takes a lot from the previous Dura-Ace 7900 Series (such as hidden cables).
The shifters are just one part of each series but a good indication of overall quality and price, the number of cogs decreases as you go down too:
Dura-Ace Di2 - £456 (11 Speed)
Ultegra Di2 - £267 (11 Speed)
105 - £180 (10 Speed)
Tiagra - £168 (10 Speed)
Sora - £128 (9 Speed)
2300 - £90 (8 Speed)
2200 - Can't even buy them I don't think (8 Speed)
Everyone loves 105 stuff, it's probably the best value overall and unless you're racing then as good as you'll ever need. That's not to say I wouldn't love a carbon bling machine fully decked out with Dura-Ace Di2 (or SRAM Red in fact, but not going there).
Fantastic !! Make sense now.Dura-Ace Di2 9070 Series (Electronic)
Dura-Ace 9000 Series (Mechanical)
Ultegra Di2 (Electronic)
Ultegra (Mechanical)
105
Tiagra
Sora
2300 Series
2200 Series
As with all Shimano products, the technology filters down as they upgrade the components. So 105, which was new for 2011, takes a lot from the previous Dura-Ace 7900 Series (such as hidden cables).
The shifters are just one part of each series but a good indication of overall quality and price, the number of cogs decreases as you go down too:
Dura-Ace Di2 - £456 (11 Speed)
Ultegra Di2 - £267 (11 Speed)
105 - £180 (10 Speed)
Tiagra - £168 (10 Speed)
Sora - £128 (9 Speed)
2300 - £90 (8 Speed)
2200 - Can't even buy them I don't think (8 Speed)
Everyone loves 105 stuff, it's probably the best value overall and unless you're racing then as good as you'll ever need. That's not to say I wouldn't love a carbon bling machine fully decked out with Dura-Ace Di2 (or SRAM Red in fact, but not going there).
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