I have a Sora/Tiagra(Tiagra shifters) mix and I love it! I did have the option to buy Sora shifters($50 less), but I did not like the thumb shifter. I have over 1500miles on the groupset and I have had no problems. It just took a little while to get everything tuned properly, but now it shifts great! I say go for a Sora/Tiagra mix, as a beginner cyclist you will probably not care too much about shifting especially if you mostly bike on flat land.