All-In-One Guide: Shimano Road Groupsets. Claris, Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura-Ace. Di2 

I have specialized awol 2016 with tiagra 4700 rd, change the cassete to shimano mountain 11-36 (forgot the series) and its working flawlessly, no adjustment at all luckly.

BasedGod Strugglin' that’s awesome, I ride a giant contend 1 with shamino Sora.

Is the Triban RC 500 with Sora a good bike?

I remember when i got a year old bike with 105 discs for 950€

Thanks for the tip bro!

for the bling! I pass alot of those same full kit spandexers on my single speed 42x11 constantly around here and laugh.

My man/woman. I also have a singlespeed. though a rigid 29er MTB with 34x14. Looks really weird whenevery i take over some roadies with nobby tires and a cadence of roughly 100rpm XD

If you have a location like mine where rides are only 50 to 60 km but with 1500m inclination then...... double on compact crank will be ok. I have 50/34 crankset with 11/28 cassette. 23% hils are not easy but achievable. I have 10-speed newest tiagra 4700 and I have to say that it works better than old 5600, 105 group

Triple is a really nice since you will always have the gears for any hill. If you want to gain strength, it's much better to have more gears and never need to get off the bike.

you can go with either double or triple. both works fine. if you're going with a double though, and you're worrying, you can always get a 32 or 34 tooth on the back.

Expect Sora will be 10 speed next year and Claris goes to 9 speed. I’d buy R3000 now if I were you, it’s just the same unless you want to move up speeds.

@@johnhw0 I understand the strategy of upgrading the lower model with previous model. I'd happily buy claris then. I'll stick to 9s. I use mtb RD (alivio right now) since I can have an option to use bigger cog, and shadow tech. My bike is gravel, so sometimes I swith up. 10s have different compatibility and I don't like the idea of buying a whole new group set for my "secondary bike".

Not working?

Drivetrains can go for a very long time, provided you maintain them and replace your chain when needed. A worn chain will prematurely wear out your chainrings and cassette. 10 and 11 speed systems have a recommended interval of every 2500 miles, which is optimistic in many cases. I've been replacing mine at 2,000 miles due to racing and a lot of hard training. The wear is already noticeable by then. 9 speed seems to be the sweet spot for durability. After 9 speed, chain life dropped considerably on Shimano groups likely due to thinner chains. I used to change my chain ever 7,500-8,000 miles when I used 9 speed. no issues with drivetrain wear, ever, with 9 speed or earlier groups.

Some advice I've heard is change the chain every 3000km's and the cassette every 3rd time you change the chain so 9000km's. If you wait to change the chain til you've ridden 5000km's, you will have to change cassette too, at least on 105. Front chainrings I don't know anything about.

I know for a different opinion about chain and cassette but my last chain was 30k km at least. After that, it was a little bit longer (0,75 on calliper). My current 2 chains have 10k and 5k km. No need to change it. Original cassette 12-25, 15 years old, 35k km and same chainset (Tiagra) are still working without any problem. If you lube it properly and avoid cross chaining it will last very long. There are two things I do not recommend about Shimano. Chain and pulleys. You can run it very long but they are loud. For one bike I have Sram Red22 chain and some China pulleys (105 5800 groupset). Looking better and it is silent. I still have original chain for that but it stays in the spare box. The second bike has Conex chain and some Tacx pulleys (Tiagra 4400 9 speed). Tiagra 4400, 9 speed chainset works perfectly on 105 5800 groupset.

Rak Rakovica i used 601 chain on gravel bike. Assphalt conditions in general but 2000 km and 0.75 on wear indicator :( sad expirience. Changed chain on new. We'll see.

I think that 1x and compact chainrings are killers of the chain. You are always in cross-chaining. 52 theet in the front gives me good speed in the middle of the cassette. No need to use 11 theet in the back. In that case, the chain is really horribly bent. Especially on the 11-speed system. Now, I can feel how wrong it is on my mtb 36x11. It gives me some vibration on the drivetrain. It is not just a funny feeling. It is power loss and that kills my chain, chainring and pulleys. On the top of that, I have some horrible habit to change gear with 500+ W on cranks. And I do it every day for a few times a day. I know. That will kill some of my gear but nothing happens in the last 30 years. My drivetrain lasts forever. It is better to stay in the middle of the cassette even if you never use 11 theet and go 55 km/h on the flat. I'm not that fast. Not even close to that. But I no need to change chain or cassette so I have money for stupid things. Like carbon seatpost and handlebars.

I successfully paired Claris 2000 brake levers with Ultegra 8000 brake calipers on my Cannondale. Thanks!

@@mykeryu thanks for this, im about to do the exact same thing

I ask as the parts are so reasonably priced. I wouldn't mind swapping them myself with a buddy over a weekend.

Its better to upgrade 2-3 levels up

To 105

Go straight for 105.

Nope

If that old 10sp ultegra is still in good shape, then i'd prefer that old ultegra to the newer tiagra. Just my opinion. Oh and the price should be lower or at most equal to the newer tiagra.

Late reply, but 4700 is not compatible with any other 10 speed kit. All other 10 speed work together (inc mtb cassettes) except that one. Would personally go for 105, as all 11 speed work together, so later on you could get used current gen ultegra or duraace.

Francesco Paggin ya a long cage will pit every size cassette

SILVER SL-RS700 BLACK SL-RS700 SL-RS700 RAPIDFIRE PLUS Shift Lever (2x11-speed) this is the Shimano 105 for flat bar bikes.

Marcin Grajkowski yes. 9 speed cable pull is the same between road and MTB

thx Carson

zrace, sunshine

If it works well and you enjoy it it should be fine

Yes you can

@@InfernoVolatil how about a 105 crank on claris?

Tiagra is 52-36, and yes you could

@@sabognapawis General rule of thumb, you can go 1 speed up or down when mixing geargroups. For example, using a Claris crank and a Sora rear derailieur. Some have also tried to surpass it by using a 10 speed chain with 9 and 11 speed mechanics. So you'll be able to use a 10 speed crank with a Claris groupset, if you use a 9 speed chain. The reason for that is the width of the chain, and how it changes when the amount of sprockets changes too. I myself are using a 10 speed Tiagra crank with 9 speed Sora and it works just fine.

Easy fix. I run 105 brake calipers with Sora groupset. Works great.

Only reason for Di2 will be synchro shift. Ultegra works so well in mechanical version. R8000 has shadow RD.

@@rak2liga On temperature drops (say, 18°C dropped to 2° like it sometimes does in the spring in N-DE) or raises you sometimes need to adjust the mechanical derailleurs. That's what a Di2 setup (or hydraulic) does not need.

Reymon Reyes si es posible solo necesitas uno o dos separadores para rellenar el espacio que sobra porque el cassette de 9 es un poco mas pequeño . Colocas el separador luego instalas el cassette de forma normal

Yes, Shimano Metrea.

@@sabamacx M8000 and similar does interestingly work, too! Vitus Bikes mount them, as you cannot push the Metrea ones sideways.

maybe you can use discbrakes for gravel bikes

how did it go? managed a good build?

I am in the same situation, I'm not sure if really worth it, let me know what you decided

I'm riding Fuji cyclo-cross bike with claris groupset for commuting & weekend rides fitness. It serves the purpose and the shifts are butter smooth. You can spend extra bucks on accessories. If you still have more budget then go for Sora but I think it won't make much of a difference.