Road Cycling - Help me component upgrade.

Allright, so by the end of the season I want to upgrade a few key components of my Devinci. The full specs can be found here:

http://www.devinci.com/eng/famille/routeent/chicane.htm

I'm thinking of going for Shimano 105 parts. First lemme say I know almost nothing about upgrading. Here is what I would like your input on:

- Should I keep the rear derailleur which is a Shimano Tiagra?
It works quite well. I have no complaints about it at all. I believe I'd have to upgrade the casset too if I upgraded the rear derreaulier right?

- I'm defintly gonna upgrade the front derailleur and crankset to 105 from the Sora.

- In your opinion is it really important to have the Sora casset, hubs, or the control levers upgraded for performance enhancement? How much of a difference would they make? (I really just want a primary upgrade of key components only, but I have never done it before so I don't know).

I can use the sora control levers with the 105 components, no?

- How is the bottom bracket on the 105 different from the Sora? Should I think of upgrading that?

- In terms of cost, which has better value, Shimano or Campy? I'm defintly on budget so it's very important. I'm thinking Campy components wouldn't go with Shimano mix... then again as I said I know nothing about upgrading so don't call me stupid.

I really need my bike to be race calibre by next year.

I had Sora on my 2000 OCR2....

Its functional, but 105 is far better....much lighter and shifts more consistently over its lifespan.


You will have to pretty much swap everything out. The levers on Sora arent compatible with 105. I chose to install a complete 105 group except for the brakes which I left as sora....they were fine. If you have a Tiagra RD that you are happy with, keep it...its compatible with 105....

Damn, in that case I gotta wait another 6 months before an upgrade cause levers are expensive... A complete 105 upgrade will cost me nearly as much as paid for the bike, so that's out of the question.

How much is it for a pair of 105 levers? I found some on ebay for $50, but I understand there are different versions correct? Which one am I looking for?

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&ebaytag1code=0&query=Shimano+105+levers

The left lever is configured for either Double or Triple chainrings
The right lever is configured for 8spd, 9spd, etc. depending on the year they were made.

My understanding is that a left (hence, front derailleur) lever that is labeled as "8-speed" will work just fine (provided it is a double and you have 2 chainrings, etc.)

8-spd stuff on ebay goes for far less, so if you are on a budget but want the functional upgrade, you could get an older left-8-spd with a newer right-9-spd.

Originally posted by Amir R. Pakdel
Damn, in that case I gotta wait another 6 months before an upgrade cause levers are expensive... A complete 105 upgrade will cost me nearly as much as paid for the bike, so that's out of the question.

How much is it for a pair of 105 levers? I found some on ebay for $50, but I understand there are different versions correct? Which one am I looking for?

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&ebaytag1code=0&query=Shimano+105+levers

Pretty sure you want the 105 STi 9 speed levers. Im not sure what youll need to do exactly though. Mine was ALL sora so I had to change levers....if you have Tiagra in the back I dont know if you need to do it because Tiagra and 105 are compatible( you have SORA levers with Tiagra in the back???)...Sora (as far as I know) is not, but only because its an 8 spd. system vs. 9 on all other Shimano grouppos. I changed my BB, crank, rear and front derailurs and cassette (as well as levers) to 105 for about 200 bucks...I left the brakes as sora...I dont think there is a huge difference except for weight.....you might want to check with a shop to make sure youre doing it all correctly.

I'm just wondering if it might be a better strategy to just start saving for a new "race ready" cycle in a season or two instead of putting a bunch a money into your current cycle---which is new this year--I'm assuming. -----------22.75lbs isn't "too bad" as far as weight goes---if your look at most of the full out racing cycles--they are in the 16 lb range--I don't think yours will ever be that light--even after you spend a ton of money.

Why not put all the cash into a racer---and still have a beater for training and leisure rides?? because in 2 years your bike now will be a beater compared to your new racer.

and, may I throw in 3 cents?

If you are becoming more serious about riding, consider ditching Sora entirely. 105 is a great groupset, many say best cost-to-functionality ratio in Shimano's lineup. Save up for 105.

Or..here is a peculiar idea and I can't say that I'd do it, but if it fits you, great: go on Ebay and "upgrade" to higher-end but older components....again, the 8-spd stuff is cheap, and not entirely obsolete! Many bikers pass on their well-functioning components just to get that extra gear. In their situation, it may be worth it....but coming from Sora, you can only go up! Worth a look.

I'm just wondering if it might be a better strategy to just start saving for a new "race ready" cycle in a season or two instead of putting a bunch a money into your current cycle---which is new this year--I'm assuming. -----------22.75lbs isn't "too bad" as far as weight goes---if your look at most of the full out racing cycles--they are in the 16 lb range--I don't think yours will ever be that light--even after you spend a ton of money.

I weighed my current set-up and it's 21.3 lbs. Not 22.75 as the site specifies.

I wish I could get another bike, but I'm not going to have that kind of money any time soon. Besides I really like my current set-up, just few of the components I'm not too happy with. Yeah, not everything on it is elite, but it's not exactly low-end either (other than the components I'm thinking of upgrading). So what if I go racing with a 21 lbs bike while the average is 16 lbs?

Just the other day I met a local climbing champ on a 22 lbs classic Vitali steel frame. It's all in the legs, not the 6 extra lbs. I'd rather train extra and compensate for the extra weight instead of ditching out $3000 for race dedicated bike.

My original plan was to add on little by little and make it something really nice. Some compnent upgrades here and there, and a carbon fork in the future.

I'm not disappointed by it now by any means despite the immediate frown everyone (even some very newbie riders) like to give the entry level groupie.


If you are becoming more serious about riding, consider ditching Sora entirely. 105 is a great groupset, many say best cost-to-functionality ratio in Shimano's lineup. Save up for 105.

I was thinking of that... but then I tought it would be better to upgrade some KEY components at the end of the season and have them for two seasons after. After that I will look into Ultegra and higher for changing the components that I did not upgrade previously.

It seems to me I'd save the most money this way.

Most of the Sora is gonna go, but not all. Why would I want to get rid of the Sora hubs when they are working perfectly. Maybe they'll start creaking after 5000km, but gonna leave them for now.

No need to touch the brakes either. They are good functional brakes. The Sora casset seems pretty good too, and the Tiagra RD is flawless.

Originally posted by H20.1


( you have SORA levers with Tiagra in the back???)

Yep. That I do.
If Tiagra is compatible with Sora levers, why wouldn't the 105 be???

I'm not sure ... My LBS seems really stupid about roadies so I don't want to go to them about this. They'd probably just insist that I'd definitly need the 105 levers cause:

1) they are clueless and seems to make sense to them
2) they'd want the money

if everything is flawless than why dont you wait until u brake it or come close to braking it and then change it

Originally posted by Amir R. Pakdel


Yep. That I do.
If Tiagra is compatible with Sora levers, why wouldn't the 105 be???

I'm not sure ... My LBS seems really stupid about roadies so I don't want to go to them about this. They'd probably just insist that I'd definitly need the 105 levers cause:

1) they are clueless and seems to make sense to them
2) they'd want the money

On my OCR2 I changed the levers but kept the actual sora brakes...I dont know, I was toldyou HAD to change the levers..I too could have cared less if Ihad 105 levers or not.....I cant answer this one!