General Bike Thread (Desiderata, Questions, Pics)

Originally Posted by Althis

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Yeah it has the thumb on the inside. I haven't used a road bike before so I'm not really sure what the norm is.
The tiagra and up parts from shimano have both done with about the same motion. Shifting to bigger rings involves pushing the whole lever just like on the sora. Shifting to smaller rings involves clicking a lever that sits right behind the lever (instead of the thumb thing). The problem with the thumb thing is that you can't really reach it when you are riding in the drops (although even the highest end Campy shifters have thumb levers...they are shaped a little differently but I guess people can manage). I think a lot of people are of the belief that the only reason shimano builds the Sora units with the not very ergonomic thumb lever is to convince people to upgrade SRAM's shifters also have a lever behind the brake lever but to work them, you click it a little bit and it shifts to a smaller ring and then if you push it far, it shifts to a big ring (and the brake lever doesn't move at all).

Ah, I can see how it can be an inconvenience. I suppose I'll have to get used to it lol, thanks for the information. Is that the main difference between the Sora and higher end parts or is there a big quality thing too?

Originally Posted by Althis

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Ah, I can see how it can be an inconvenience. I suppose I'll have to get used to it lol, thanks for the information. Is that the main difference between the Sora and higher end parts or is there a big quality thing too?
There is a big quality differance on some of the parts as you get higher....a lot of the differance is in the weight of the parts though. Generally the quality differance is going to show up the most in parts like shifters and rear derailleurs and I would say the jump between sora and tiagra is pretty good (and sora to 105/ultegra/dura ace is huge). On things like the crankarms, front derailleur, brakes...the difference is not as large and becomes more of a weight and stiffness thing. If you are not riding really hard, you are not going to notice the weight/stiffness differences the way you would notice the difference between buttery smooth shifting and crunchy clanking between gears. Its not that the Sora stuff doen't work...just that if you could have a bike that used tiagra shifters and RD (and even just sora for the rest) for a small premium...it might be worth it. Also if you can get SRAM for a similar price...just do that instead (although that have to be a pretty good deal at your price range).

I'll talk to the guys at the bike shop but I doubt they'll be able to change much since I guess it's a whole predetermined package.

Last week I replaced a 10-year-old chain with a solid 2 years of all-year, all-weather commuter abuse with a SRAM 951. Never had a problem with the old chain, but it just felt like it was worn out. Tonight the SRAM snapped

1st post, so please be gentle iirc many continental pro's use sora shifters in the
off season. I don't know why, I'm a campag user, and the thumb upshift (higher gear) lever
has never been a problem for me when (rarely) in the drops.

Originally Posted by otc

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The tiagra and up parts from shimano have both done with about the same motion.

Shifting to bigger rings involves pushing the whole lever just like on the sora. Shifting to smaller rings involves clicking a lever that sits right behind the lever (instead of the thumb thing).

The problem with the thumb thing is that you can't really reach it when you are riding in the drops (although even the highest end Campy shifters have thumb levers...they are shaped a little differently but I guess people can manage). I think a lot of people are of the belief that the only reason shimano builds the Sora units with the not very ergonomic thumb lever is to convince people to upgrade

SRAM's shifters also have a lever behind the brake lever but to work them, you click it a little bit and it shifts to a smaller ring and then if you push it far, it shifts to a big ring (and the brake lever doesn't move at all).

Originally Posted by Frank Tango

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1st post, so please be gentle

iirc many continental pro's use sora shifters in the
off season. I don't know why, I'm a campag user, and the thumb upshift (higher gear) lever
has never been a problem for me when (rarely) in the drops.

Campy thumb shifter is in a different spot than the sora thumb levers

Also can't imagine a single pro rolling with sora....

Originally Posted by otc

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Campy thumb shifter is in a different spot than the sora thumb levers

Also can't imagine a single pro rolling with sora....
That's fair enough, the pro thing- from admittedly poor memory, I think it might be to do with ease of
use while wearing thick winter gloves. I do remember being surprised when I heard/read it.

I went back to the shop and asked about the soras, they said the old sora had the thumb shifter and they showed me the new one which has it on the brake lever

although they may be wrong because I can't find any newer models online with the shifter on the brake lever

No, Sora still has the thumb shifter.



Are you sure they weren't showing you Tiagra?

It's kind of hard to quantify, but there really is a difference in shift feel between the different groups.
I've got bikes with dura-ace, ultegra, and 105 shifters and the smoothness between the dura-ace and 105 is pretty noticeable. However they all work well and it's probably questionable how much the difference is worth.

What you guys think of these bikes ?
I just want something to cruise around on..



Or


minus ugly stickers...

I guess they showed me the tiagra instead of the sora even though they said that was what comes with the bike. Are the parts interchangeable? Can I have tiagra shifters with everything else sora?

Originally Posted by Althis

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I guess they showed me the tiagra instead of the sora even though they said that was what comes with the bike. Are the parts interchangeable? Can I have tiagra shifters with everything else sora?

Yeah, they're both 9 speed.
In general, just about everything is interchangeable up and down the line except for obvious things like 9-speed shifters with 9-speed cassettes and chains.

Originally Posted by FlyingLotus

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What you guys think of these bikes ?
I just want something to cruise around on..

I really don't like the second one.

went back to the shop today, they're not getting revenio's for a couple weeks so I was looking at this



http://www.raleighusa.com/bikes/stee...grand-prix-11/

I was quoted 750$

I think it may be a better option that the revenio, it's much less ostentatious and cheaper