Upgrading Shimano Gears

[[email protected]]

Hi


I've had Tiagra gears on my Sigma bike for the last 6 years and am
considering upgrading them. The question is to what - 105, Ultegra?
Will i notice a difference and what are the benefits?

Also in terms of performance, would give best results - the above
vcahange of gears or better quality wheels


Any ideas/ thoughts greatly appreciated

[Duncan Smith]

On Oct 3, 2:42 pm, wrote:
> Hi
>
> I've had Tiagra gears on my Sigma bike for the last 6 years and am
> considering upgrading them. The question is to what - 105, Ultegra?
> Will i notice a difference and what are the benefits?
>
> Also in terms of performance, would give best results - the above
> vcahange of gears or better quality wheels
>
> Any ideas/ thoughts greatly appreciated

Depends what it is that you dont like about your current gears. More
expensive gears may weigh less, potentially last longer between
servicing or have smoother shifting. Less weight could make you go a
smidge faster though I doubt the difference between this gear-set and
that would make a significant difference. To be honest I found Sora
to be not too bad.

Wheels could make a bigger difference. When not changing gear, the
gears will not make a difference. Yet the big wheels keep on turning
- so they're a constant factor. Even then, the biggest single factor
on your wheels will be the tyres, 'cause they're the bits that talk to
the road.

Regards,

Duncan

[[email protected]]

On Oct 3, 8:11 pm, "mb" > wrote:
> wrote:
> > Hi
>
> > I've had Tiagra gears on my Sigma bike for the last 6 years and am
> > considering upgrading them. The question is to what - 105, Ultegra?
> > Will i notice a difference and what are the benefits?
>
> > Also in terms of performance, would give best results - the above
> > vcahange of gears or better quality wheels
>
> > Any ideas/ thoughts greatly appreciated
>
> I have Dura Ace and Ultegra 10 speeds on my bikes and I wouldn't be
> able to tell the difference if I was blindfolded. I prolly wouldn't be
> able to spot the 105 either :)
>
> There is a world of difference between 9 and 10 speed. 10 speed is much
> better.
>
> So, to sum up: go for 10 speed 105 or Ultegra, whatever you can afford.

you might want to price up switching to Campag for comparison since
some elements are vastly cheaper (esp shifters). It is possible to
mix and match your drive train to some extent. Here, or
rec.bicycle.tech can usually help with specific questions

best wishes
james

[spokes[_4_]]

There is a world of difference between 9 and 10 speed. 10 speed is much
better.

Is there? I'm absolutely not disputing/disagreeing, just asking. How so?

[bookieb]

On Oct 3, 2:42 pm, wrote:
> Hi
>
> I've had Tiagra gears on my Sigma bike for the last 6 years and am
> considering upgrading them. The question is to what - 105, Ultegra?
> Will i notice a difference and what are the benefits?
>
> Also in terms of performance, would give best results - the above
> vcahange of gears or better quality wheels
>
> Any ideas/ thoughts greatly appreciated

If it's not shifting well, this is generally fixable at reasonable
cost.
Is anything badly worn/broken at the moment?
If so, just about everything to make it shift properly again is
available.

If you find the gears are to high, too low, or the steps between
successive gears are too far apart, all this is fixable, and again,
generally by replacing a few pieces, without expensive upgrades.

Be careful, upgrade parts are generally expensive. It's easy to spend
a lot, and it may be more cost effective to buy a new (or secondhand)
bike with them already fitted.

There's probably very little intrinsic benefit in upgrading the
drivetrain.
- The higher end stuff is generally a little lighter.
- I prefer the shifters on the higher end stuff (now on 105 and above,
I think), where the release lever is just behind the brake lever,
rather than a little "click" switch on the inside of the brake hood,
because you can operate it easily when down in the drops.
- The higher end stuff is supposed to be a bit more hardwearing (more
metal, less plastic, nicer finish etc.), but it's all pretty good
stuff from that point of view.
- It's more flash, if you care.

How dificult it is to do an upgrade depends what you have at the
moment.
How many speeds are do you have now?
Do you have integrated brake and gear levers, or are the gear levers
seperate from the brake levers?

Assuming that it's a drop handlebar bike with integrated gear and
shift levers :-

Increasing the number of gears will require a new shifter - Campag
ones can be modified to change the number of clicks, Shimano ones
can't.
If you increase the number of cogs at the rear wheel, you may require
a new rear hub (depends on how many speeds you are at now, and how
many you are going up to). [1]
If you go to 10 speed, a narrower chain is required. By the Shimano
book, you should then also change the chainrings and chainset, and
front der. to the narrower 10 speed types. OTOH, lots of people have
mixed and matched, and got it to work fine.

In terms of performance, there's probably more to be gained by
upgrading wheels and/or tyres. Unless there's somthing massively
wrong with your current drivetrain (broken, faulty or gearing range
significantly wrong), changes there won't make much difference.
Ridden "blind", it's hard to tell the difference between the various
levels of Shimano kit, from the saddle, bar the change in the shape of
the gear "release" lever.

hth,

bookieb

[1] it is sometimes possible just to replace the "freehub" component
without changing the rest of the hub (and therefore avoid having to
rebuild the wheel around a new hub), but the wheel _may_ require
redishing.

[David Damerell]

Quoting mb >:
>spokes wrote:
>>>There is a world of difference between 9 and 10 speed. 10 speed is
>>>much better.
>>Is there? I'm absolutely not disputing/disagreeing, just asking. How
>>so?
>For Shimano anyway, it doesn't require so much lever travel and the
>action doesn't seem to need so much effort and it's very smooth.

It doesn't need so much _effort_?

This is the braking effort thing all over again. After a day's cycling
it's not my gear-changing fingers that are tired...
--
David Damerell > flcl?
Today is Second Leicesterday, September.

[Duncan Smith]

On Oct 4, 12:10 pm, "spokes" > wrote:
> There is a world of difference between 9 and 10 speed. 10 speed is much
> better.
>
> Is there? I'm absolutely not disputing/disagreeing, just asking. How so?

Make a comparison to the world of razors. The Gillette Fusion has
five blades, whereas the Wilkinson Sword Quttro Titanium has a mere
four.

Clearly the Fusion is superior.

QED ;-)

[Simon Brooke]

in message . com>,
(' ') wrote:

> Hi
>
> I've had Tiagra gears on my Sigma bike for the last 6 years and am
> considering upgrading them. The question is to what - 105, Ultegra?
> Will i notice a difference and what are the benefits?

Briefly, better drivetrain components will be very slightly lighter and
very slightly more precise, resulting in very slightly better changes.
They may also be more durable and have long life - but they equally may
not (steel is by and large stronger and cheaper than titanium, but
heavier).

> Also in terms of performance, would give best results - the above
> vcahange of gears or better quality wheels

Unless there's something wrong with your gears, better wheels.

An upgrade to Campagnolo, of course, would change the bike beyond
recognition, from a mere vehicle into a work of physical poetry... but
that's religion, not science.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

' ' <------- this blank intentionally spaced left