New Sora 3500?
 

Does anyone have experience with the Sora 3500 levers for touring? I'm not interested in bar-end shifters, and I would like a reliable set of STI shifters with Shimano's new cable pull ratio. (I have TRP CX9 mini-V brakes, which worked very well with my 105 5700 levers, but those levers were double-only and ended up on my new road bike frame). I just wonder if the new Sora shifters are durable, or if they are really plasticky and likely to break. I also can't find any information as to whether they pull the same amount of cable as the 5700 levers.

I haven't done much touring yet but I plan to this coming spring/summer. My (CX) bike has the Sora 3500 and so far I've put about 2000 miles on it. I haven't had any issues with them and they seem to be doing well. I'd imagine 105 levers are a bit more durable due to the materials they use. But even so, I think the new Soras are a good bit better than the old models. I think in general, many STI shifters can last quite a long time if treated well.

I believe all STI shifters should have the same pull amount. They all should work with calipers, cantilevers, and mini V-brakes.

I tried to check on that quickly but what do you mean by new cable pull? Are you talking about the front derailleur or brake cable pull?

new pull
 

Brake cable pull. TRP CX9 have 90mm arms and work best with the new cable pull ratio on most of the shimano shifters (5700, 6700, etc. -- just not sure about sora/tiagra).

Some mention of it here: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/view...107&p=18385697 . You can also see that e.g. competitive cyclist does not recommend ultegra 6700 be used with older brakes because of the new pull ratio: http://www.competitivecyclist.com/sh...ontrol-shifter

If the Sora 3500 hasn't been updated to the new pull ratio, then I'll have to set the brake pads very close to the rim.

I have these. I bought them for my medium reach shimano caliper brakes (non-series). They felt like they were too difficult to grab, somewhat like putting a v brake lever on caliper brake. So I i got the idea to try it out on my flat bar road bike which actually does have V-brakes:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...003_162110.jpg]

the fact that it has "road v-brakes" is purely coincidental (measured at 90mm arm length), when I started modifying that bike the brakes were the first thing I bought and I was just randomly searching parts with the word "road" in it, not knowing anything about bikes for the most part. I learned alot, but burned through a lot of money in the process. Anyway, it turns out the combination between the levers and v-brakes are a perfect match. I have read that the cable pull for higher end 2013 models are increased, but I can only assume that this is also true for the 3500 series because these work very, very well. Theres about 2mm (have not measured but its enough that if you're wheels are decently trued you'll have no problems) of clearance on either side of the rim to the pads, you will need an adjustable barrel on the brake line somewhere to remove the wheel easily (quick detatch in my case).
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...003_205843.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...009_020641.jpg

I'm basing these observations on a comparison I made with a pair of microshift dual control brifters, which, when coupled to the very same v-brakes, were bottoming out by the time i had any substantial braking force and were pretty much touching the rims when not in use. I assume these brakes use standard cable length pull which was in use prior to these 2013 brifters.

Now if you are using standard caliper brakes I am not sure how these will feel, the only calipers I used had extended reach arms and they felt too stiff. Its possible that the shorter reach might feel better.

As for the quality of the brifters. Shifting the brake lever sideways feels good, but the little paddle that releases the tension feels a little flexy to me. Its metal with a plastic end, so I don't think it will brake from regular use, but from a fall?? They have little optical displays which are really not useful at all without graduations but they're there if you like them.

edit: you said you had the CX9's so you should be good to go.

I read somewhere that the "road v-brakes" I have are 86mm but I measured from the pivot point to the point where my cable clamps down at 90mm just for reference.

thanks
 

OK thanks, I think I will give them a try...