Road Cycling - Sora to Ultegra Upgrade

A little on help here. I've been considering to upgrade my bike's Sora 8 speed Components to Ultegra. If I just change the Shifters, rear and front derailleur, they will be compatible? Or I need to change the cassette also?

Thanks for the help... :)

If you are converting from 8 speed to 8 speed, it should be fine. The main concern is with spacing. An Ultegra cassette would probably give you better shifting though.

RegularGuy is correct. My only response to you is what kind of frame are you putting this stuff on? Is the frame worth the Ultrega expense? Why not look into 105? 105 is far superior to Sora or Tiagra and almost if not just as good in function as the Ultrega, the 105 is not as polished as the Ultrega but cheaper than Ultrega.

Thanks for the comments...

Charlie21,
If you are upgrading from 8 speed Sora to 9 speed Ultegra, you will need new shifters, derailleurs, cassette, chain, bb, and crank. The works. The 9 speed drive system is narrower than 8 speed. I upgraded an 8 speed Sora (triple crank) to a double crank Ultegra on a touring bike and it came out perfect. Touring bikes are not sold with double cranks so it was worth it for me to upgrade rather than buy a new bike. I commute with this bike and wanted clearance for panniers and fenders, but road bike gearing since my commute is flat. I took 6 months to buy all the components (ebay, nashbar with 20% coupons, and a $200 gift certificate from my employer). You might consider a new bike rather than upgrading unless you are attached to this frame or have a specific situation like I had. There are some good deals out there on 9 speed Ultegra and 105 bikes. Ultegra will probably go 10 speed in 2005 and the 9 speed stuff will become less expensive.

Even better, go for a SRAM R9 cassette and PC89R chain...

I personally think there is quite a bit of difference between 105 and Ultegra. Mainly in weight and the feel of the shifting process. I think Ultegra is much more exact in the feel on your hands, much more refined. 105 feels a little more flabby and is a little harder to shift. This is from personal experience in test riding I was looking to buy.

I'm personally a Campy person, but pricing does point towards Shimano if you don't mind having to push your entire handlebar over to shift one chainring.

I found that a new bike was cheaper. If you find out otherwise, please let me know.

I personally think there is quite a bit of difference between 105 and Ultegra. Mainly in weight and the feel of the shifting process. I think Ultegra is much more exact in the feel on your hands, much more refined. 105 feels a little more flabby and is a little harder to shift. This is from personal experience in test riding I was looking to buy.

I'm personally a Campy person, but pricing does point towards Shimano if you don't mind having to push your entire handlebar over to shift one chainring.
I personally like the 105, I dont think its sloppy or flabby, if you were to take an ultegra sti shifter and a 105 shifter and lay them down side by side they would look "ALMOST" identical, until you pick them up, i am not sure on the weight between the two but I am sure its not so much as to be noticable. I find the shifting of my 105 groupo to be very smooth, YES ultegra is a better groupo, but in the hands of the right rider the 105 can be just as affective. Some people like ford, some like chevy, some like auto trans, some like manual, I prefer Bianchi with Shimano 105 :D