I ride a Trek 1000C. It has Shimano Sora TripleDeck brifters on it. For the price I paid, its a great bike with a Sora 8 spd. The only downside is that it's impossible to downshift if I'm down on the bullhorns due to the placement of the little button that downshifts. I have been looking at upgrading to some Ultegra or 105 brifters. In particular, i have my eyes on these two
https://cgi.ebay.com/Shimano-STI-Shif...item20b0864e2d
and
https://cgi.ebay.com/Shimano-STI-Shif...item20b0864e81
I know relatively little about brifter history/quality hierarchy. Could someone more learned than myself enlighten me? Thanks!

Brent

sora, tiagra, 105, ultegra ( 600 if older, this is where ultegra came from) Dura ace.

105 and higher have paddles. Tiagra and Sora has thumb button.

Edit: I am incorrect apparently only sora currently has the thumb button, my bad

Thank midgetmaestro for catching that.

ultegra is higher up shimanos line-up than 105. they are both excellent performers.

swapping out sora to used 105 or ultegra 8-sp stuff is a bad move IMO. the sora stuff rides very well if adjusted properly, and you'll get used to planning your shifts. save your pennies until you can afford a new bike, or to take the whole group to current 10-speed.

I am currently a college student and for right now. So basically, the pennies I am saving are going to be used to pay off loans. However, I am willing to drop a little bit of money for the convenience of not having to use those damn thumb buttons. In time I am sure i will upgrade to a nicer bike, etc, but currently that (or swapping everything out for a 10 speed) is not exactly in the cards. With that said, do you all have any recommendations?
Thanks

This is the correct answer. I had a bike with 8spd Sora and I didn't like the shifters. I hemmed and hawed about how to upgrade them, maybe buying some old Ultegra, but at the end of the day I just bought a new bike with 10spd 105 and sold the old one. My new Allez is a thousand times stiffer because I didn't just upgrade the shifters, but also the bottom bracket, crankset and wheels. You'll be happier with a new bike than if you just upgraded your current. It's probably cheaper too. Upgrading my bike cost me $500 (after selling the old one). You couldn't upgrade your whole drivetrain to 105 for that.

Incorrect. The most recent reincarnation of Tiagra has paddles like 105+. It also has a gear indicator built into the top - Source:I just sold a set...

Sounds like the little thumb buttons on the Soras is some kind of Shimano ploy to get you to go to the next level. I've only had my current bike for about five months but I guess considering I now know that cycling is something I love and will probably continue to do for my whole life, it would be worth a possible setback of $4-500. What are your opinions on the different brands out there (I understand that this is a ridiculously open ended question).

Thanks

I just switched to 2009/2010 SRAM Rival from Shimmy 105 5600 - best damn thing I've ever done. It's super-intuitive, on par with Ultegra, costs a whole bunch less, and is repairable. Sounds pretty good in my book

The Tiagra brifters on my 2006 Pilot have neither thumb buttons nor gear indicators.

Can you explain what you mean by this. I'm not familiar with the SRAM set up, but find my Tiagra brifters very easy to use. Hard to imagine something easier to understand.

Keep up on the tech bud-


In response to the second question, it's truly a thing that every person has to decide individually. For me, it just seems easier - I have smaller hands so I can adjust lever reach, sprint shifting is nice, you don't accidentally brake while shifting (a huge plus if you race), I could go on and on forever.

Of course, YMMV.

Please don't call them that.

Despite the vast amount of knowledge and advice being given, there is no way I can afford to purchase an entirely new bike and or gearset at least until I graduate from pharmacy school. However, I do plan on upgrading my 8 speed shifters. Would the RSX 100's be a good option for this?
thanks

but shifakes doesnt sound right.

you may have missed my original point. i rode a sora equipped bike for several thousand miles when i was getting back into cycling. the thumb shifters were not the most convenient, but they weren't terrible either. my real advice was to just keep the sora and you'll learn to live with it, the current sora is light years ahead of dt shifters of the past, and with good adjustment they work very well.

i advise AGAINST buying used 8 speed shifters. you have no real way to know how many miles are on them, and how worn they are, and you're pretty likely to end up with worse shifting then you have now.

for the record, and i still say stick with what you have: to upgrade to 10-speed, all you need are the shifters and the rear cassette. i know for a fact that the sora rd will handle 10-sp.

^ and a 10sp chain

right on.

Peformance house brand Forte has Micro Shift for $189 for the ten speed, $139 for the 9 speed. I have about 600 miles on the shifters (10 speed) and they seem to work pefectly. They have a small paddle for the shifting to smaller cogs and its my favorite part of the shifters.

I have had them called crap, but they seem to to function pretty well for the price.

you can buy shimano 10sp STI levers for around that price too.
even less for campy 10sp ergo levers, but there's more to change by going to campy.

"Shifters" works perfectly well.

Where?

Good advice in my book.

fleabay

used to be able to get ultegra 10sp shifters for $200 at nashbar, but that was more like clearing room for the new shifters.

Maybe for some "new" takeoffs without cables, housing, or a return policy, but that's apples and oranges.

If you don't mind a 9 speed set up you could try something like this.