Bicycle Mechanics - what all do I need to go from 9 speed Shimano Tiagra to 10 speed Sram Rival

I have a 2008 Specalized Allez road bike and was wondering what I would need for parts to go from a 9 speed Shimano Tiagra drivetrain to a 10 speed Sram Rival drivetrain. Thanks

Front and rear derailleurs and brifters. Pretty much everything but the crankset.

Forgot to add, ten speed cassette and chain.

I would advise you to swap all the 7 major components pieces -- Shifters (STI levers swap to Double Tap levers) Derailleurs (front and rear derailleurs) Chain , BB and Crank (yes even the BB and cank). There will be forum members swear that their 7 or 8 or even 9 speed crank works with their 10 speed chain and shifters. The 10 speed crank will shift better and faster and safer than any of the 7/8/9 speed cranks. Will any of these other cranks work --- depends on many variables.

I'm wondering why you'd want to do that.

Wondering about what????

I find the shimano tiagra I have now does not shift that great and the chain rubs all the time.The store I got the bike from told me even the Top of the line shimano parts have the same issues but cost you a lot more because they are lighter. I wanted the 10 speed allez when I got the bike but only had enough money for the 9 speed triple allez. I seen reviews saying the sram parts are top of the line. Seeing all the pro's using 10 speed double I'm guessing it is better then 9 speed?

Do you have another shop near by?Are you cross chaining? Although not the best components and triples have their own issues, they should be made to work in a very serviceable fashion.

I find the shimano tiagra I have now does not shift that great and the chain rubs all the time.The store I got the bike from told me even the Top of the line shimano parts have the same issues but cost you a lot more because they are lighter.
The top of the line Shimano and SRAM will have the same rubbing issues if they are not adjusted right, and that is the problem with your Tiagra. If you get them adjusted right you will get sharper shifting with the high end versions. Going from triple to double will require new BB and crankset.

I find the shimano tiagra I have now does not shift that great and the chain rubs all the time.The store I got the bike from told me even the Top of the line shimano parts have the same issues but cost you a lot more because they are lighter. I wanted the 10 speed allez when I got the bike but only had enough money for the 9 speed triple allez. I seen reviews saying the sram parts are top of the line. Seeing all the pro's using 10 speed double I'm guessing it is better then 9 speed?

That's bull**** frankly.

You can adjust brand new tiagra/105/ultegra/dura ace to function as they were designed.

Wondering about what????

Why would someone want to upgrade from 9-speed Shimano to 10-speed SRAM?
That has now been answered, and there doesn't seem to be a good reason.

If you get it adjusted right, it should work fine.

If you still don't like the relative crappiness of Tiagra, I'd say get some 9spd Ultegra shifters and RD. Or the same bits from SRAM or Campy.

Not worth upgrading to 10spd, IMO. At 9spd, you can throw on Ergo FTW with no stuffing around.

And I hear those expensive 10spd chains wear out quick.

As you go up the Shimano line each level has more bells and whistles. One of the big differences that Tiagra has from the other Shimano STI levers is that it does not have all the indexing that the more expensive STI levers have. Less indexing will mean more gear combos that make noise. Bottom line -- if adjusted properly -- all Shimano components will work together well and with some or no noise from chain/front derailleur rubbing. A good mechanic can make your bike work and ride very good. Check out another shop.

Check out another shop.

Figure out how to adjust your drivetrain yourself. It's well worth it.

It's a bit hard if you don't have a workstand, but you can still spot most issues with the bike upside down. Sometimes doing FD adjustments you need to make the brake drag on the rim so the chain's tight enough when you crank it.

Why would someone want to upgrade from 9-speed Shimano to 10-speed SRAM?
That has now been answered, and there doesn't seem to be a good reason.

The reason is based on the premise that tiagra cannot be adjusted to work properly, unlike more expensive groups. Which is false.

If you get it adjusted right, it should work fine.

If you still don't like the relative crappiness of Tiagra, I'd say get some 9spd Ultegra shifters and RD. Or the same bits from SRAM or Campy.


You can't just "slap on" Campy shifters and derailleur. The cassette spacing would not be compatible.

The only upgrades on this Tiagra equipped bike that make any sense is to replace those parts that are confirm worn out, if any.

Sometimes doing FD adjustments you need to make the brake drag on the rim so the chain's tight enough when you crank it.

Uh, no?

If I stay 9 speed would I also have to keep the 3 ring crankset or could I get a nice 2 ring crank. I ride for health and want a set up that will work great for a long time. I do not see my self racing in the near future so do not care about counting grams. I got this bike on sale for $750 canadian and was just thinking a little upgrading to the drive train might make it work a little better. I know of one bike store in the city that has pro racers going the tune ups. There tune up prices are not cheap but a good tune up done right might be just what I need

Seriously, you can adjust your present components so that they will work beautifully. Here is everything you need to know; and it's really simple.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

You can spend a lot of money, but whatever you end up is going to need adjustment just like your present set-up, so why not learn now how to do it for yourself. There is no great mystery to it where you have to pay a lot of money for a PRO to work his magic--a child could do it (well, an intelligent child--haha)

You can't just "slap on" Campy shifters and derailleur. The cassette spacing would not be compatible.I stand corrected; saw some dude say they were the same, but I should've checked with Sheldon: Campag - 4.55mm, Shimano - 4.34mm.
Uh, no?
Often work on bikes without a stand, do you?

When the bike's upside down and you're adjusting the inner limit screw you can get it wrong cause of gravity's effect on the chain.

If I stay 9 speed would I also have to keep the 3 ring crankset or could I get a nice 2 ring crank. I ride for health and want a set up that will work great for a long time. I do not see my self racing in the near future so do not care about counting grams. I got this bike on sale for $750 canadian and was just thinking a little upgrading to the drive train might make it work a little better. I know of one bike store in the city that has pro racers going the tune ups. There tune up prices are not cheap but a good tune up done right might be just what I need

You don't have to keep the 3-ring crankset, but why wouldn't you? You said that you don't care about the few extra grams, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with having a triple on there, and it makes the bike more versatile. You could even remove the inner ring if you really don't want to use it (and re-adjust the front derailleur to compensate). Are you aware that if you go with SRAM then you'd HAVE to get rid of the triple crankset, they don't make a road shifter for triples. A compact may seem like a good idea at first, but a lot of people very quickly get tired of the bad gear combinations, ending up with lots of cross-chaining and lots of double-shifting (shifting on the front and rear simultaneously). Overall, it's a bad setup except in very specific circumstances, and definitely way worse than a triple.

ok then one last question. are all shifters workable with the tigara 9 speed triple or if I wanted better shifters do I need ones made for 9 speed triple. If not all work would anyone on here know what shifters do work with the 9 speed triple?

Your options are limited for new shifters for a 3x9 Shimano road setup. If you have Tiagra shifters already, then you have the best of the new ones that are currently available. You might be able to find some used ones that were originally higher quality: 105, Ultegra, or Dura Ace, all of which will be from at least five years ago, but finding used ones of those that are still in good condition might be hard (and finding new old stock will be virtually impossible). Furthermore, although they might be a few grams lighter, I doubt they would function any better than the Tiagra ones you have. There are some ways to use shifters from other manufacturers to operate a 9-speed Shimano rear derailleur, but then you really need to know what you're doing.

If you're shifting is not smooth, then it's most likely to be that it is not adjusted right, and not because your shift levers are not high quality, or due to any other specific part. Even when adjusted right, Tiagra-level components are not going to shift quite as smoothly as higher level components, but to get the smoothness of the higher-level parts then you'll probably need to upgrade everything to higher level components, and not just one or two of the parts. Doing that will probably cost as much as will buying a new bike and selling your current one, which would be the option that I would choose between those two. But, for now, get someone skilled to give it a good service and see how good is the best the current components can be. That person will then hopefully be able to tell you if there is one specific component that is causing a problem with your drivetrain, and in that case that alone should be changed. Your approach seems to be to randomly change parts in the hope that things will improve, which is a bad strategy.

are all shifters workable with the tigara 9 speed triple or if I wanted better shifters do I need ones made for 9 speed triple. If not all work would anyone on here know what shifters do work with the 9 speed triple?
Are you asking about the 9 speed triple?;)

Yeah, you need Shimano 9 speed shifters to work with the Tiagra 9 speed set-up.
Here's an article that discusses interchangeablity of the other parts. (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/k7.html)

OP, the common thought (and I agree) in most all of the replies is your equipment will work just fine if properly adjusted. Other than cross chaining, there should not be a rub issue.

ok then one last question. are all shifters workable with the tigara 9 speed triple or if I wanted better shifters do I need ones made for 9 speed triple. If not all work would anyone on here know what shifters do work with the 9 speed triple?

FYI, these guys are dead on. I have a Giant OCR 2 road bike for basic road rides when I'm not on my MTB or Tandem. This bike is a 2002 and came equipped with Tiagra 9 speed. I now have 9 to 10K miles on these shifters and they have always been quite smooth. I'm certain that they are nowhere near Ultegra or Durace but they have done very well for me. I did just replace the rear shifter late last year due to wear in the original but that was after many miles of dependable service.

You need to seriously look at why you want to make this change. If you're just looking to spend some coin and make a change, then go for it but if you are looking to improve the shifting a bit on a recreational ride, 1. Get it adjusted properly or batter yet learn how this is done and do it yourself. 2. Learn a smoother shifting techniqe. This will help you extend the life of your consumable hardware.

so are you guys saying out side of racing there is really no benfits in prefromance moving up from tiagra. off topic but what about the other pieces of the bike like wheels/tires and breaks? any benfits from upgrading any part of the bike?

There are always incrimnetal improvements to be had but you asked about a specific situation in which you are not satisfied with the shift quality of your current setup and the responses primarily are focused on 1. The proper adjustment of the bike and 2. Proper techniqe. One or both of those will solve your problem if it merely better performance for a casually ridden bike. I ride mine which is equipped teh same 2000 mile per summer with no complaints. I do want to upgrade but will only do so as an entire bike since that is the biggest bang for the buck. Also, my desired gruppo is the SRAM Rival or Force depending on my budget if and when I can upgrade but you can buy an entire bike for just a bit more than the separate component costs which is why you're getting the responses you are.

so are you guys saying out side of racing there is really no benfits in prefromance moving up from tiagra. off topic but what about the other pieces of the bike like wheels/tires and breaks? any benfits from upgrading any part of the bike?

Tiagra and Sora and 105 can all be made to shift perfectly unless something is completely worn out or damaged.
Moving from Tiagra shiftters and deraillerur to Dura Ace or Rival or Red or Record will offer no significant performance advantage - racing or no.

More expensive wheels might have slightly lower drag bearings than Tiagra, but with the Tiagra properly maintained and adjusted, even this difference is minor on the road.

The best investment you can make is the time and/or money to make sure your bike is as close to a perfect fit for your body as possible.

After fit, higher performance tires (usually with a higher thread count or tubulars) are probably the best way to actually improve a bike's performance. OFten, though, racing tires are less robust and faster wearing making them less suitable for recreational riding.

I suppose a lighter bike will be nicer to ride if you climbing a lot... but don't go crazy unless you have a trust fund or a sponsor giving you carbon parts.

Edit: the absolute #1 way to make your bike faster is to ride it more to get the motor fine-tuned.

I ride mine which is equipped teh same 2000 mile per summer with no complaints.

You got 2000 easy miles out of the same Parts I'm using maybe I do need a good tuneup done if you are having no issues

You got 2000 easy miles out of the same Parts I'm using maybe I do need a good tuneup done if you are having no issues
Read that again. I ride this bike 2,000 miles PER SUMMER for a total of between 9,000 and 10,000 so far. These were both older model Tiagra than you have until just last fall when I finally needed to replace the right hand shifter due to wear. I now have a mismatched set but they still work flawlessly. You have adjustment and or shift techniqe issues. And the poster above is correct. The single most significant factor for performance is the engine. Tune your engine (self) and get these adgusted properly and ride ride ride.

I stand corrected; saw some dude say they were the same, but I should've checked with Sheldon: Campag - 4.55mm, Shimano - 4.34mm.
Often work on bikes without a stand, do you?

When the bike's upside down and you're adjusting the inner limit screw you can get it wrong cause of gravity's effect on the chain.

I see.

No, I never work on bikes without a proper stand.

I did not realize that new 9-speed Shimano shifters were becoming so hard to buy. The good news is that to upgrade from 9-speed Shimano to 10-speed Shimano usually requires only the new 10-speed shifters, cassette, and chain. The Shimano 10-speed cassettes will work perfectly on the 8, 9, and 10-speed Shimano compatible hubs.

Al

I did not realize that new 9-speed Shimano shifters were becoming so hard to buy.

Exactly what I said months ago yet I was met with disbelief when I recommended going to 10 speed instead of 9 (except for *very* specific circumstances)

ok then one last question. are all shifters workable with the tigara 9 speed triple or if I wanted better shifters do I need ones made for 9 speed triple. If not all work would anyone on here know what shifters do work with the 9 speed triple?

Yes you need Shimano 9-speed triple shifters (which you already have). Actually all Shimano 9-speed shifters will work with double or triple cranksets except for Dura-Ace double shifters. This is NOT true for 10-speed shifters.

Exactly what I said months ago yet I was met with disbelief when I recommended going to 10 speed instead of 9 (except for *very* specific circumstances)

I don't believe the disbelief came from me.
My rule-of-thumb is to upgrade to 10-speed whenever the old shifters are "for sure" worn out. This is because the shifters are the single most expensive component.