scooterfrog

I am not looking to start a flame war soe lets just talk about shimano, not sram etc)
i am looking at hybrid and flat bar road bikes
i see a lot of budget bikes that ar a mixture of 2200 and 2300 and sora (4300) even on brands like trek ans specialized

they usually have sora rear dreadfulness and then a mixture of other parts. I have heard that thats because thats where the BIG MODEL NUMBER IS. but what is important (assuming compatibility ie everything works together)
the same question applies to mtb bikes but there the models are different.

also perhaps it matters less ie the difference in quality on some componeents. like on a flat bar bike you dont need sora shifters because the 2300 is just fine or the opposite.
I know that the higher lines will work better last longer stay in adjustment longer and weigh less where does this matter most

• front dr this seems to me to be the simplest of all the components is it least important
• rear dr this seems to be the one that is of the highest grade in a mixed set.
• shifters or brifters or brake handles I am thinking that this might be most important because that is where you feel the bike, its the interface to teh whole thing but I could be way off

Otter 718

I think you nailed it.

bobotech

Something I have noticed in regards to parts quality. When you first start, you have really low end junk that is all plastic with plastic pivot points and loosely riveted components. Then as you start moving up the quality line, you get parts that have more and more alloy components, stronger pivot points with less and less play, then you arrive in the mid-range. At that point, the differences between the mid range and high end parts aren't so much as how well put together the parts are or how well they work but rather as you pay more and go higher up the range, the lighter and lighter the parts get.

I really don't see a huge difference in shifting between a well tuned dura-ace set and say ultregra but there is a difference in weight.

This is just my humble opinion.

scooterfrog

is sora mid range? it's the third up from the bottom on their site in shimano is htetr esoemthing you would run away from (say 2300 r dr or maybe 2300 brakes) the shimano line is so broad its hard to tell.

smurfy

Recently I sold a road racing frameset to a young person just starting out in cycling. He purchased some new 105 parts for it, along with some various carbon bits and I helped him put it together since he didn't have the tools and knowledge.

I was shocked about how much Shimano had cheapened their parts. For example I installed the brake calipers and when testing and adjusting them I noticed how flimsy they were. The flex in the brake arms was simply amazing, not only the pivot areas but the metal itself! Yeah they seemed to stop the bike okay but I don't think I would want them on my bike. I just didn't have the heart to tell him so I kept that to myself. I didn't want him to get discouraged since this is his first modern racing bike.

I seems to me that the lower-end Shimano stuff is much poorer quality than fifteen to twenty years ago when I got into cycling as an adult. I'm sure they can't get away with this on Dura-Ace and maybe Ultegra, they just have to simply raise the price on these groups or go to gimmicks like electronic shifting, etc.

dwellman

I run a mix of components on one bike: ST-2300 shifters, RX100 FD, Tiagra RD (RD-4500-GS), SRAM 850 Cassette, SRAM Chain (PC-870), Shimano Crank (FC-R600). Shifting is mostly ok.

Moving up to full 105, for instance, shifting is faster and more precise.

I think if I moved to a "short cage" rd and a more modern, shifting would be a bit better, but not $75 to $100 better.

dbg

Two spots I try not to compromise on are headsets and bottom brackets. I hate it when those two components cheap out and get flakey so I tend to spend bigger on those two things when I build (or rebuild) a new setup. Beyond that I'm willing to compromise (but I do like ultegra brifters).