Looking for feedback on Sora components

joel roth

My wife and I went looking at road bikes for her. After testing out
several bikes, she liked the Bianchi Brava and the Trek 1200C.

The Brava is steel with Sora components. The 1200C is alum with Tiagra
components. Sora is the bottom of the Shimano line. Will they hold up
over time? She will mainly ride along the Chicago lakefront, a path that
is almost entirely flat. She doesn't shift gears often, but will want
smooth shifts.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
Joel

Ted Bennett

> My wife and I went looking at road bikes for her. After testing out
> several bikes, she liked the Bianchi Brava and the Trek 1200C.
>
> The Brava is steel with Sora components. The 1200C is alum with Tiagra
> components. Sora is the bottom of the Shimano line. Will they hold up
> over time? She will mainly ride along the Chicago lakefront, a path that
> is almost entirely flat. She doesn't shift gears often, but will want
> smooth shifts.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Thanks.
> Joel


For the type of riding you have described, I don't think there is much
functional difference between Sora and Tiagra.

Practically everything Shimano makes shifts fine; the differences as you
go higher in the line have more to do with lighter weight and fineness
of finish. More expensive parts do tend to last longer, because of
better materials and seals, but that won't be an issue unless you will
be riding thousands of miles per year or are riding competitively. Yes,
I recognize the redundancy.

Hope that helps.

--
Ted Bennett
Portland OR

Matt O'Toole

joel roth wrote:

> My wife and I went looking at road bikes for her. After testing out
> several bikes, she liked the Bianchi Brava and the Trek 1200C.
>
> The Brava is steel with Sora components. The 1200C is alum with Tiagra
> components. Sora is the bottom of the Shimano line. Will they hold up
> over time? She will mainly ride along the Chicago lakefront, a path
> that is almost entirely flat. She doesn't shift gears often, but will
> want smooth shifts.
>
> Any thoughts?

Sora works extremely well, and looks like it should be durable. There's only
one thing about it that bugs me -- I can't reach the little "upshift" lever from
the drops. This wouldn't be a problem if you rarely ride in the drops, or if
you have really long thumbs, like Uma Thurman in that Tom Robbins movie.

Matt O.

Sheldon Brown

Ted Bennett wrote:

>>My wife and I went looking at road bikes for her. After testing out
>>several bikes, she liked the Bianchi Brava and the Trek 1200C.
>>
>>The Brava is steel with Sora components. The 1200C is alum with Tiagra
>>components. Sora is the bottom of the Shimano line. Will they hold up
>>over time? She will mainly ride along the Chicago lakefront, a path that
>>is almost entirely flat. She doesn't shift gears often, but will want
>>smooth shifts.

> For the type of riding you have described, I don't think there is much
> functional difference between Sora and Tiagra.
>
> Practically everything Shimano makes shifts fine; the differences as you
> go higher in the line have more to do with lighter weight and fineness
> of finish. More expensive parts do tend to last longer, because of
> better materials and seals, but that won't be an issue unless you will
> be riding thousands of miles per year or are riding competitively.

That's all true. The Chicago lakefront is dead flat and gears are
pretty superfluous there anyway, unless the Hawk Wind is blowing.

The Sora brake levers are a particularly good choice for many women,
because they feature a reach adjustment that allows them to be set up
for easier use by people with small hands.

Also the Sora shifters are less confusing to use than other Shimano
models, since the motion for upshifting and downshifting is done in
different directions, with different fingers...sort of like Campagnolo.

Sheldon "Sora, Sora, Sora!" Brown
+---------------------------------------------------+
| In theory, there's no difference between theory |
| and practice; but, in practice, there is. |
+---------------------------------------------------+,
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Harri_in_NS

Hi Joel.....I have a Giant with Sora components.....has been working
great except I find them a trifle noisy. I have heard that cleaning them
often is a good idea. Otherwise I find them pretty good.



--

wle

>
> The Brava is steel with Sora components. The 1200C is alum with Tiagra
> components. Sora is the bottom of the Shimano line. Will they hold up
> over time?

i have a 2002 fuji finest bike with all sora components,
still working fine after 5700 miles.

how long do you think it will take her to ride that far?



wle.

John Everett

On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 19:59:37 GMT, "Matt O'Toole" <matt@deltanet.com>
wrote:

>Sora works extremely well, and looks like it should be durable. There's only
>one thing about it that bugs me -- I can't reach the little "upshift" lever from
>the drops. This wouldn't be a problem if you rarely ride in the drops, or if
>you have really long thumbs, like Uma Thurman in that Tom Robbins movie.

"Even Cowgirls Get the Blues", actually a Gus Van Sant movie (with a
pretty amazing cast) from a Tom Robbins novel.


jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net http://home.earthlink.net/~jeverett3