Originally Posted by
rekmeyata
I disagree with the above. When I got the 105 group I upgraded the 105 rear derailleur to Ultegra because it had better and faster shifting abilities, but also the 105 rear D used nylon bushings instead of steel like the Ultegra, and according to Matthew at Adrenalin he said the Ultegra would last longer then the 105 and I believe that to be true. Now that is not always true that the better the component the longer it will last because he also said that the Dura Ace rear D would not last as long as Ultegra due to using lighter sub-components.
And I've known people who purchased Sora and Tiagra and hated that stuff. It's good stuff if you never plan on putting many miles on a bike, but if you're a serious rider at all the stuff will fail quicker then 105. You can buy Sora complete group package on Amazon.
I'm a serious rider. I also have and use the Sora, so I can say from direct experience and not just from hearsay - the Sora holds up just fine. I though it would die an early death, and was expecting to upgrade it within a year, but several years later, and there is no reason to do so. I'm sure it does wear out faster than 105-ultegra, but if it's good enough to hold up just fine for several years without anything other than 2 chain changes (which were done preemptively, not because things were not working anymore), I wouldn't call it wearing out early.
For one of those years riding the Sora actively, it was my MAIN bike since I reserved my DA Cervelo for race day. I logged at least 80 miles per week all year on that Sora and peaked at around 220 miles per week with the Sora bike for a short stretch. In retrospect, in the 3 years I've ridden that Sora bike (it even became a commuter later one) I've logged at least 7500 miles on it, and that's probably a lowball estimate. Everything works great even after 3 spills, and as said, only the chain has been changed because the chain checker showed it was nearing the 1.0mark (still shifted fine).
And even if you do have to change the cassette - the parts cost nearly 50% of what ultegra costs. I still am shocked at how little the brake calipers are - the Sora calipers on Amazon are $37max (closer to $20 on avg) and the ultegra calipers are $140+. And honestly, if you just put on decent pads on the Sora (which are like $10) they brake really well - makes me wonder why I even bother with the expensive stuff since I've had zero complaints with it.
Also, even if you can buy individual parts individually on Amazon, I don't consider that the same access as buying the whole group. As you know, you get price gouged if you buy new parts piecemeal, compared to the group, making it cost-effectively pointless to buy a whole groupset piecemeal new (it would probably be cheaper to buy a 105 BIKE from bikesdirect in comparison compared to buying Sora piecemeal new.)
I used to ride both my Sora bike a lot more than my dura-ace bike for the past 4 years, until the past 9 months where I've been pushed to the dura-ace bike because I bought a powertap so I want the power data. But if it weren't for the powertap, that Sora bike is every bit as fun and effective to ride even with the slightly (and I mean very slightly) slower shifting. Shimano would love for you to believe that Sora is total crap, but it isn't.