Bicycle Mechanics - Sora groupset

I'm interested in upgrading my hybrid commuter, and moving towards a road/touring setup. I'm considering the Sora groupset, and figured I would buy online because prices in Canada tend to be total balls.

What is a reasonable price to pay for this groupset in your opinion? Did I put this thread in the right forum?

You need brifters, derailers, and brakes? Probably run you about US$250, which I think is CN$225 now.

I would scour ebay. People often upgrade their bikes from Sora. I would also consider Tiagra.

I will assume that you are starting with 7 or 8 speed Shimano indexed shifting.

You probably don't need a rear derailleur if you don't want. Many touring bikes use mountain RDs in order to get a wider gear range, and the pull is the same for all index capable Shimano rear derailleurs (except early Dura-ace). Both mountain and road.

The shifters will cost less than $150 US (see Loosescrews.com for one place with good prices)

A suitable front derailleur shoud be less than $30. (Front derailleur pull is different between road and mountain).

If you have V brakes, you either need to switch, or get Travel Agents for $20 or less.

Assuming you have the drop bars you want to use... Total cost $200 or less (plus shipping). ;)

You may want to try picking up a donor bike, remove and reuse the parts you are looking for, then resell the rest. Or you may find that the donor bike is more suitable for your needs, and keep the hybrid as is. That avoids a lot of work. For the price of the Sora group, I bet you could get an entire bike (used of course).

I'm interested in upgrading my hybrid commuter, and moving towards a road/touring setup. I'm considering the Sora groupset, and figured I would buy online because prices in Canada tend to be total balls.

What is a reasonable price to pay for this groupset in your opinion? Did I put this thread in the right forum?

Keep in mind that you can almost never replace just one part on a bike. Everything works together so, for every part that you change, you'll likely find something else that isn't going to work with the new part. This is a project that you'll want to think through very carefully before you start spending any money.

I thought about doing this. But when I put drop bars on the bike with the existing stem, the reach was far too long. I would have had to fit a really short stem to get them back anywhere close to where I needed them. Otherwise, Sora is ok. It has gone to 9 speed for 2008.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Here's some more info/questions:
My rear derailleur is an indexed 9 speed Shimano, I'm planning on leaving it on. My front derailleur is a triple so I'll have to switch that out. I don't have canti brakes, from what I can tell brifters need them (this is correct?).

In terms of bike dimensions I feel a little out of my depth, but my bike is a Devinci Amsterdam, and it has the exact same frame dimensions as the Devinci Caribou 1 (a compact touring bike), so i figure the drop bars should fit pretty well.

From my limited experience it seems like the upgrade should be relatively straightforward, but I have obviously never done this before. Am I overlooking anything?

You will also need in-line cable adjusters for the gearshift cables and the brakes.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Here's some more info/questions:
My rear derailleur is an indexed 9 speed Shimano, I'm planning on leaving it on. My front derailleur is a triple so I'll have to switch that out. I don't have canti brakes, from what I can tell brifters need them (this is correct?).

In terms of bike dimensions I feel a little out of my depth, but my bike is a Devinci Amsterdam, and it has the exact same frame dimensions as the Devinci Caribou 1 (a compact touring bike), so i figure the drop bars should fit pretty well.

From my limited experience it seems like the upgrade should be relatively straightforward, but I have obviously never done this before. Am I overlooking anything?

It would be really helpful for you to spec out your bike for us and then tell us what you plan on changing out. We can then tell you if there will be any catches.

It would be really helpful for you to spec out your bike for us and then tell us what you plan on changing out. We can then tell you if there will be any catches.

Here are the two links to the Devinci website for components and frame dimensions on my bike:
http://devinci.com/11055_an.html
http://devinci.com/11051_AN.html

The plan is to switch out my bars, brakes, shifters, front derailleur and crankset. I haven't decided on which drop bars yet, I plan on visiting the LBS this weekend to get a better idea. For all the other components I was leaning towards the Sora groupset (see thread title). Thanks for all the help :).

You might want to think about bar end shifters.

You might want to think about bar end shifters.

What are the advantages of bar end shifters? Mechanical simplicity? Reliability? Price?

You can get a set of Dura Ace nine speed bar ends for $60 shipped from Probikekit.com, so that is one point in their favor. Add a set of brake levers in, and you are well under the price of new STI. They will also will be better at handling the front shifting than the Sora STI. I am a fan of Sora, for the record, but its performance shifting a triple leaves something to be desired. Unless they have made a change, there are no trim positions. Bar end shifters also rarely fail mechanically.

If you want STI, go for it. They are indeed great. I raise it as just another option to consider.

You can get a set of Dura Ace nine speed bar ends for $60 shipped from Probikekit.com, so that is one point in their favor. Add a set of brake levers in, and you are well under the price of new STI. They will also will be better at handling the front shifting than the Sora STI. I am a fan of Sora, for the record, but its performance shifting a triple leaves something to be desired. Unless they have made a change, there are no trim positions. Bar end shifters also rarely fail mechanically.

If you want STI, go for it. They are indeed great. I raise it as just another option to consider.

Well, being a poor student, cost is definitely a factor. That was one of the big reasons I wanted to poll all you BF experts on the full cost of a project like this.

I didn't make this explicit in my previous posts, but I'm probably not going to buy a triple crank since I never use the inner chainring anyways. This makes STI more viable?

The more I think about it though, the more indecisive I get. I've never ridden a bike with bar end shifters before: will I be happy with them? Should I let the inner Scrooge win out? Maybe I should sit on the idea a little bit longer...

I just built a bike using bar-end shifters and Tektro Campy-style brake levers, and I am pretty happy with it. Although I probably would have used downtube shifters if my frame had the bosses for them.

The setup feels much more solid than Sora, which always seemed flimsy to me. Plus, I was able to hide the shift cables under the handlebar tape, which is much nicer than the exposed shift cables on an STI system.

Also, the non-indexed front shifting is so much nicer than fiddling with the index and trim settings with STI shifters.

If you plan to race, or feel like wasting money, go STI. Otherwise, bar-ends are fine for what you want to do. I think you will be happy with them, and they will last much longer than Sora levers.

Why swap the crank? You could keep the triple if you bought the triple version of the Sora levers.

I just built a bike using bar-end shifters and Tektro Campy-style brake levers, and I am pretty happy with it. Although I probably would have used downtube shifters if my frame had the bosses for them.

The setup feels much more solid than Sora, which always seemed flimsy to me. Plus, I was able to hide the shift cables under the handlebar tape, which is much nicer than the exposed shift cables on an STI system.

Also, the non-indexed front shifting is so much nicer than fiddling with the index and trim settings with STI shifters.

If you plan to race, or feel like wasting money, go STI. Otherwise, bar-ends are fine for what you want to do. I think you will be happy with them, and they will last much longer than Sora levers.

Hmm...well I have no plans to race, so maybe bar end shifters are the better option. I think I'd like to ride a bike with them before making my decision though. Do bike shops still sell bikes with bar end shifters or is it all brifter set ups now?


Why swap the crank? You could keep the triple if you bought the triple version of the Sora levers.

I don't particularly like the crank on my bike (Truvativ Touro), it flexes on climbs, and the non-drive side arm has a tendency to slowly come loose.

I just built a bike using bar-end shifters and Tektro Campy-style brake levers, and I am pretty happy with it. Although I probably would have used downtube shifters if my frame had the bosses for them.



I just put together the same setup, but mine is my first road bike. I haven't really used STIs but I couldn't justify the cost. My barend shifters (old Suntour Power-ratchet, non-index) were $30 used, and the Tektro levers were $25 new. It has taken some time to get used to no indexing, but I don't regret my setup.

Barends are super reliable (what's to break?) and they will work with any combo of cassettes and derailleurs. Once you have what feels like the right cable tension, there is really nothing to go out of adjustment. These are good things when talking about commuting and especially for touring. Who knows when your wheel is going to break, and the local shop only has a 27" 5 speed wheel?