Originally Posted by
fabioromeu
besides weight, what is the difference between, let's say, the 2200, the Sora and Ultrega? Does the Ultrega group lasts a lot longer than the 2200? Is it more reliable? Will the 2200 skip gears? Will it break sooner or lose the tuning faster?
Does a regular person notice some difference or it's more a pro thing?
I have one bike with 2007 Sora (with the R-500 levers, not the Sora ones) and another bike with 2006 105. Other than having two more cogs to play with on the 105 bike, I really can't tell the difference on the road. Both are crisp and quiet when shifting the rear, and about the same on the front. Now, bear in mind that the R-500 shifters on my Sora bike are Ultegra-grade, so that could be why I like Sora and other people don't.
I'm told Sora is harder to set up, but I'd never done it before when I rebuilt my Sora bike two years ago. I just followed the instructions in the boxes, and it came out perfect the first time.