My '03 Lemond Tourmalet came with Tiagra shifters, cranks, front derailleur, hubs, and cassette. I've put about 10K miles on the bike and have raced it a bit. The shifters survived a rather spectacular crit pileup a month or so ago. I wish my collarbone was as sturdy.

As others have said, the Tiagra stuff works fine. It's just a bit heavy compared to the higher end components. I've replaced a lot of stuff on the bike, but the Tiagra shifters and front derailler remain. The solid (and heavy) Tiagra cranks were switched out for Ultegra hollowtech, saving considerable weight, and the wheels were replaced with Ultegra/Open Pros (training) or Cane Creeks (race). I've got a set of Ultegra STI shifters sitting on the shelf waiting for the Tiagra shifters to wear out but that hasn't happened yet.

In short, Tiagra is solid better-than-entry-level stuff. Ride it and enjoy it. Hope this helps.

Dr. Bill