acorn_user

Yup, I noticed. It looks like the new Tiagra one, that is to say awful. Pity, because the old one was lovely. I have one on my bike, and the finish is great.

I suspect that the Sora mechanism is much cheaper to make, hence it's use. The price differential between Sora and Tiagra sti's is best explained that way.

Banzai

I personally like the new Tiagra, and the "capless" look they've trickled down there. Plus I thought the alloy/titanium color was also a nice touch. But that's just me.

TallRider

The Sora thumb-levers are much further ahead on the lever body than the Campy thumb levers. Which makes them more comfortable to shift from the hoods, but it's very difficult to reach them from the drops. This isn't too much of a problem for riders who spend majority of their time on the hoods, as has been pointed out, which is Sora's main market.

Camilo

People talk about riding the hoods as if it is more common with novices than experienced roadies. Is this really true? I've been riding for 40 years and do the huge majority of my riding on the hoods, I'm thinking 80-90 percent. I've always been this way, even in the 70s.

Look at a random sampling of photos of pro riders - what percentage show them riding the hoods? A very large percentage.

I'm only saying, that riding the hoods, imo, is the most common position for all road bike riders, not just beginners.

That said, I have Shimano ultegra STI levers and do indeed shift from the drops, and not having that ability would be a detriment for me, but a relatively minor one.

On the other hand, my hands are kind of small, and sometimes I struggle to shift from the drops; one of my next improvements might be shorter reach bars or repositioning the levers to rectify that.

Can campy ergos be shifted from the drops? If not, isn't this a problem for racers?

knobster

Yes they can be. It's actually quite easy to downshift from the drops i.e. using the "mouse ears". I have Ultegra and Sora STI and Campy Record shifters and don't really like one over the other. They all get the job done. Racer may feel differently.

TO11MTM

A small addennum to that, New Tiagra comes with Reach adjusting shims, I don't know if any OEM bike manufacturers bother including the shims in the box tho'.

alanbikehouston

Sora shifters are the ONLY STI shifters that are as fast and precise as old-time downtube shifters. I hope Sora shifters NEVER change, and I hope Dura-Ace and Ultegra shifters get "upgraded" with the Sora thumbshifter.

Sora is as close to "Campy" quality as Shimano has ever gotten.

Sheldon Brown

That's very true. Partly this is 'cause so many newer bikes with threadless headsets wind up with the bars too low for comfort. Far too many bikes are sold with the steerers cut too short.

I believe that the low-handlebar trend has a couple of causes:

It _looks_ racier and faster.

Modern "aero" brake levers permit powerful braking from the hoods. This was not so of the old-style drop bar levers where the cable came out the top. Back when those were the norm, people needed to keep the bars high enough to use the drops, because from the drops was the only place the brakes were truly effective.

Sheldon "https://sheldonbrown.com/handsup" Brown

thermopickerol

I like my Sora! After a good 10000k my brifters still work very well and sit perfectly at home on my touring/commuter bike. IMHO they shift slightly better than my 105 9sp brifters but don't seem to apply as much power to the brakes. 105's are slightly better for shifting from the drops though my medium sized hands don't struggle too much with the Sora mouse ears from that position. The mouse ears are very convenient for shifting in the aero postion (clip ons). For racing I prefer having an extra cog with 9sp but for touring/commuting 8sp Sora brifters with a triple crank rules. I can go into any hardware store to get an 8sp chain (9sp chain works too) and I enjoy super fast up-shifts...down-shifts have a better feel IMHO as well. I sincerely hope Shimano continues to develop the Sora-Ace line...:0).
N.B. Sora derail's are garbage and should be avoided...hubs work OK.
TM

Zouf

Everytime a new product is introduced, there is a wave of panic "I won't be able to keep my old setup!". There isn't a 7-sp police going around picking up 7-sp (or 8-sp, or 6-sp, or whatever) bikes... No, you are not "soon to have everything in 10 speed", you are "soon to be able to get 8-sp stuff for even cheaper". You can still buy cassettes + chains + brifters for all that stuff.

barndoor

Yep....might be time for you to start buyin' yer 8-speed stuff up now....get some bargains!

Zouf

(Pro) Racers race what sponsors give them to race. Notice how all members from pro teams have the same preferences in equipment? And how their preferences all change at the same time when a new sponsor signs up? And how this year's setup is always the best they ever had?

Sheldon Brown

Yep. See: https://sheldonbrown.com/carapace.html#thin

Sheldon "Carapace" Brown

KrisPistofferson

That new Sora looks really nice. Makes me wonder how polished and/or carbon fiber widgety the high-end is going to have to get to justify all the guys who scoff at Sora. I ran Sora when I started road cycling and it all worked fine, and this is when I didn't know how to work on my own bike very well. Didn't look near as nice as this stuff, though.

barba

That looks very nice, and 9 speed will offer a much better upgrade path. The blurb also says that the RD has a 31 tooth capacity. That is 4 higher than the standard 27t claim, if I remember correctly. That seems very sensible to me.

Banzai

Okay, okay...you win. Perhaps I'm making mountains of mole-hills.

However, my concern is not simply that I will be completely unable to acquire 8 speed parts. My concern was mainly with the quality of those parts if certain manufacturers cease making them. I will be relegated, perhaps, to a second rate replacement part, or a more expensive conversion.

However...all the new Sora stuff looks really nice. And perhaps by the time my tank-like durable 8 speed stuff wears down, I'll be ready for an expensive re-build/conversion anyway.

Zouf

FWIW, I'm still riding a 7-sp config, with Shimano cassettes still available, any Shimano FD or RD being ok for replacement, and a whole choice of chains to pick from. And any Shimano chainrings can be used, since chains have gone narrower, not wider. Or you can use FSA, or TA, or Sugino, or... Only tight spot is brifters, where Soras are the only game in town. The day I get real paranoid, I'll buy a set in advance in case they get cleaned up the surface of the planet.

AndrewP

They shift better because they are better adjusted.

dtrain

Sora-level compact crankset? Wonder what that'll run price-wise.

TimJ

Query-

RE: 7 speed Sora, are shimano 7 speed cassettes spaced the same as standard (ie. you can buy new) 7 speed freewheels? I saw on Harris Cyclery the Sora 7 speed shifter and said compatible with both, but sheldon's cribsheet on spacing seems to suggest otherwise.

I'm curious because I've got a NOS bike I want to use for cyclocross that has a 6 speed freewheel drivetrain. I switch back and forth between the original wheels with the knobbies and modern cassette wheels with slicks and just use the bar-ends in friction for the modern wheels. It'd be cool if I could put a 7 speed freewheel on the original wheels and a 7 speed cassette on the new and have indexing for both. Plus I'm feeling I might want brifters if I race it.

HillRider

Shimano 7-speed freewheels (yep, there are still a couple of them in production) are spaced the same as their 7-speed cassettes. Nashbar sells a house brand 7-speed freewheel (Made by Sun Race, I believe) that should also be compatible with Shimano 7-speed shifters.

TimJ

I thought all modern 7 speed freewheel, SRAM, Sunrace, IRD, were spaced the same as shimano freewheels (in other words, I thought freewheel spacing on new freewheels had become standardized). Is that not correct?

Mr. Underbridge

Worse yet, it seems to me that the manufacturers put the bars low (for the sexy effect), but then put the brifters high on the bars (to make them usable as the dominant hand position). The end result seems to be that the brake levers are almost unusable from the ergo position on the drops.

I've seen some setups where one simply could not possibly use the drops without 10 inch fingers. Seems like the usual factory setup results in a lot of bad hand positions and no particularly usable ones.

Really, I don't understand why people get a bike with drop bars if they don't want to ride in the drops.

Turboem1

wait in a year or 2 when everything switches to 11 speed and they eventually have to give MTB spacing in the back to fit it. That will throw everyone for a loop.