General Cycling Discussion - Shimano MTB vs Road Groupsets

I'm trying to figure out how the Shimano mountain bike groupsets (Deore) compare to the road bike groupsets. What's the difference between the two sets and what levels would the road bike components compare to the mountain bike components (ie Deore is about the same as a Tiagra or Sora?).

I'm trying to figure out how the Shimano mountain bike groupsets (Deore) compare to the road bike groupsets. What's the difference between the two sets and what levels would the road bike components compare to the mountain bike components (ie Deore is about the same as a Tiagra or Sora?).

This information may be a little dated, but here are the price points of Mountain Bike Components, highest quality rated first, lowest at the bottom.

XTR - Dura Ace
Deore XT - Ultegra
Deore LX - 105
Deore - Tiagra
Alivio - Sora

I have not used most of these components, so this is not my own personal testimonial, more or less from talking to people and looking on the web.

Also, the mountain components have some features that you can not find in the road components. Perfect example is rear Mtn Bike rear derailleurs usually offer more capacity then equivalent road deraillerus, allowing a better selection of rear gears. I do speak from experience on this one, one of my road bikes has a Tiagra Triple Crankset and FD with 52/42/30 chainrings and a 11 - 34 cassette on the rear with a Deore derailleur. This front/rear combination was not possible with the road rear deraillerus.

That helps. I had a mountain bike that had an alivio derailleur which seemed to shift pretty well but I just bought a hybrid or road flat bar bike with a deore derailleur. So far I'm pretty happy with it but I have to log more miles.