I went with a friend to get a new road bike. He walked out of the LBS with an 05 Allez from Specialized. It has the Sora 8 speed group set up. We went for a spin to dial in his fit and he kept rubbing his chain on the front drl. So I told him not to cross his chain over too many of the cog. Then I noticed the following:

1. On the big ring he could only access the first 3 cogs (12,13,14) then rub on the 4th cog.
2. On the middle he could not access the 1st cog. That was fine, but he could only access the 2nd to 4th cog then rub.
3. On the 3rd ring he could access the last 4 cogs.

I took the bike to the shop to see if it were tuned up right. The LBS guy told me the following:

1. Triples are for mountain bikes really and you have to live with the short range of each ring. I told him that if he were right then the bike with a triple and 8 cogs would only yield like 11 functional gears if you add them up. 3 for the front ring, 4 for the middle, and 4 for the last.

How many functional gears are there for a triple?

He's not far off.

With my outboard XTR BB bearings, I can effectively run:

Chainring - rear cogs

1 (granny) - 1 (biggest), 2, 3, 4, 5
2 - 5, 6, 7
3 - 7, 8, 9

Counterintuitive^^^ hhhmmm...

On my triple (Ultegra 9-speed), I can run all but 1 or two cogs on either the smallest or largest chain rings. Not that I cross chain like that when riding, but when I tune up the FD, those are the limits. On the middle ring, I can run all 9 cogs without rubbing. My wife's half bike is the same and so is our tandem. These are all road machines. Sounds like it needs some tuning to me, or perhaps the "gate" on the Sora is a bit smaller... OHB

P.S. Ride our mountain roads (8-10% for 10-15 miles) and you'll disagree that a triple is really for mountain bikes.

After much fiddling on my now-defunct mtb with a 9 speed rear derailleur, I could reach all but 2 gears without rubbing with any ring. However, I never ran more than 4 gears on a given chainring, i.e. granny --> 1,2,3,4, middle ring --> 3,4,5,6,(7) big ring --> 6,7,8,9. If you cross more, it's not good for the chainline anyway. Since I roughly had a 1.5 gear overlap between rings with my choice of rings/cassette, I had 12 effective gears.

In case you're surpriced 12 "real" gears are less than the theorical 27 available, remember that all these gears are just marketing BS from Shimagnolo.

The bikes usually come with a little pack of propaganda. Included in this pack, from Shimano, is a sheet showing the gear ranges for each chainring. #SI-FC00C, it shows the combos that you might get some rubbing in.
You can usually get them to not rub in most gears but it depends on the frame. It also helps if you have a shifter with trim. The Sora shifter has a trim position, a small click that allows you move it just a little when in the middle positions. If set up right you can get rid of a lot of the noise with proper cable tensioning, but you probably will not eliminate it.

Is it that you can't trim the Shimano or are you people just too darn lazy? With a Campy Record brifters, at least, you can trim the front derailleur so that you can use big-big and small-small without rubbing. Not that you should cross chain that way, of course.

I have a 9-speed Ultegra triple crank and 105 9-speed derailleurs and brifters on my road bike. The big ring rubs slightly on the front derailleur cage only in the lowest 3 cogs. The middle ring works fine in all but the smallest cog and the granny works with the largest 5 cogs. Your LBS is either incompetent or lazy.

^^^that was what I was thinking a triple could do...but is it the same for a Sora set up?

...good point...about the gate...and the LSB guy said that triples are for mnt bikes not me...

+1

Yeah, I gotta start doing more proof reading before I click on submit.

Fortunately, I have read many, many times. On this very Forum. That ANYONE can fix a bike. So you should have no problem fixing the issue even if the guy in the shop can't. I will check back in fifteen minutes. I'm sure it will be perfect.
By the way to answer your question. Well, not to answer your question as I can't find my calculator. But, 8x3 does not = 24 when you are talking about ratios on a bike. Seems like it is around 17-18 different gears. But I need to do some gear inch calculations and chops are on the grill. They come first.

P.S. It is Sora, not the most precise stuff ever, tho it should work better than what he has. My bet would be the shifter is not setup to trim properly, or, the angle/height of the der is set up poorly.

One other aspect of Sora is that it uses steel chainrings, and they may just run a bit noisier than alloy rings when the chain's coming in at an appreciable angle, whether the chain's rubbing on the derailleur or not. But I haven't worked with recent Sora, so that's just speculation.

^^^that is just it...if you all say what the LBS guy said then cool, but if peps here state otherwise then it is smoke up my assssss. I like most LBS guys but what burns me here is that I told the bike owner to go with a LBS over the internet to support and get good service...irony or not?....so the question is the LBS doing it right or not?`

lazy LBS is what I am thinking....

With my 46/36/26 Sugino triple and 9 speed XT 11/34 cassette with 105 triple front and XT rear derailleurs, I can shift to and ride in *any* combination. And I don't get any rub in the front because I have barcons and the front is friction only shifting.

I typically don't though, 99% of my riding is on the upper 2/3 of the middle ring. I don't normally crosschain on the small or big rings, but I feel free to use every cog on the middle ring.

But if that LBS mechanic is worth his pay, he should be able to get that thing to shift to any combination.

That sounds like it could be better, but I've never had Sora, I suspect it could be adjusted better though. When I had 105 shifters with Ultegra RD and a triple, I only got chain rub on only the most extreme cases of cross chaining and big ring, small cog on the down stroke. I'd say lazy or just doesn't know how to make it better.

Sora's really not inherently dramatically different from any other triple. It's not quite as light, not quite as durable (maybe), and may not shift quite as well ... but ... it's not substantively different than 105, Ultegra, or DA (dimensions are probbaly identical); therefore, when it's set up correctly, you ought to be able to get all but about the last two gears on your cassette (again, you shouldn't be doing even that too often, cuz' a) you don't need to (there's another comparable combo on another ring), and b) it's hard on the drivetrain.

Either find a better LBS wrench or (better) adjust the front der yourself.

ParkTool.com and SheldonBrown.com have good instructions.

My mountain bike (street beater now) is a 94 Specialized RockHopper Sport, 7 cogs on the back, 3 on the front. Mine rubs quiet a bit on the big/big combo but thats it. All other gears are accessible with no rub. Derailers are Shimano "STX". This hard tail has been ridden hard off road, jumped, raced a couple times, wrecked, wet, dirty, muddy, etc. I've cleaned it but never had to adjust the derailers at all.

I believe Specialized has some pretty extensive experience in the triple ring arena. I'd say your LBS is full of BS.

Sorry, it took more than 15 minutes, had to finish dinner. Is it fixed?
So far I am the only person to reply that has any experience with or even touched a Sora equiped bike. (Unless I missed one)
So every other opinion is moot.
However, I do think the bike should work better than it does. check the der angle and height.
The previous post mentioned Spec have some triple experience. I am here to tell you the Sequoias are tought to get minimal rub in. Crappy chainline.

One thing about the internet and buying a bike. You know that it comes mostly disassembled and completely unadjusted, in a small box. Ok two things, there is no warranty support for a new bike sold thru an internet source, it is against the dealer agreement. So if you had to send it back, you would need to stick it back into the box. Good times.

Your buddy needs to talk to the owner of the shop.

I have recently fitted drop bars and Sora to my hybrid, and only get rubbing with extreme cross chaining on the big and granny rings. However the Allez has shorter chain stays which results in a larger chainline angle, so you could expect rub in the two far cogs.

Same with my 105/Tiagra setup.

Running Big/Big or Small/Small is not a good idea anyways, so any triple will have gear combinations that will never be used.

I used to have a Sora equipped road back. I could use all but 2 rings on the large chainring, all rings on middle chainring , and all but 2 rings on the smallest front chainring.
Sora does seem to be a little harder to dial in and I had to adjust about every 2 months in season.
I think that your LBS is blowing smoke up your A$$$.