Sy Reene

This seems somewhat contrary to what I understood.. Get to the highest levels of groupset, and the focus goes to weight reduction, vs. longevity. For cassettes that means more Ti cogs, vs. steel. Harder and lighter, but quicker wearing.

srestrepo

My road bike is a shimano 105 5800 11-32 with a 50-34 105 crank. My commuter has the latest shimano Sora r3000 9 speed shifters but retains the previous version of sora derailleurs. This is set up with an 11-28 cassette and a 50-34 low end FSA crank.

At first I thought the Sora was garbage because the front derailleur never held and adjustment and clunked super hard whenever shifting from big ring to small. I thought it was the shifter so I bought the R3000 shifters that run the cables under the bar tape. Turns out, the bike shop had installed the cable wrong.

I think the group runs and shifts great. The throws are very light, the hoods feel good to me, the shifts are crisp, even the 4 trim positions for the front derailleur (previous shifter only had 3) work well and are clearly defined while shifting even with winter gloves on.

I think the only difference is weight and the obvious difference of two gears. Sure, it's not dura ace or ultegra, but it works great. And I don't feel bad about it getting messed up while commuting on salted roads, rain, muck and road grime or whatever else I encounter. For me, my budget and the purpose I've relegated this groupset to, this group is a winner.

Bah Humbug

I think it's only cassettes that become less durable (also the fragile CF carriers in DA cassettes). Just get the cheapest one with the correct spacing and gearing for you.

carlos danger

you want an all steel casstte imo.

FlashBazbo

Unless it's an older 9-speed non-Mavic hub. Recent years' 9/10/11 speed hubs and even older Mavic 9/10 speed will work fine. All it takes is to leave off the spacer that's behind the 9-speed cassette when installing the 11-speed cassette.

MattyMurdah

My thoughts are... you already bought the 105 groupset, so why not just put it on!? It's been a few years since I rode Sora but I was on a triple and I felt like I was always adjusting the derailers to prevent chain rub and keep things running smoothly. Currently, I have a race bike with 6800 and a cross bike with 5800 and the differences are noticeable but not by much.

100% I would say install the 105.

dgunay

I have not ridden a Sora, but 105 5800 offers best bang for the buck in Shimano's road groupset lineup. Yes, Ultegra is slightly better than 105 (I own both Ultegra and 105 groupset bikes) but IMO it is not worth spending extra money.

However, assuming your Sora groupset is in good condition, why would you need to replace (or upgrade) it before it's worn out? I'd return the groupset, save some money, and keep the bike as it is until it needs a replacement. Ride the sh.t out of it and upgrade it to 105 when the time comes. It's not going to make you faster, or the difference will be negligible unless you are racing.

Z953

My first road bike was a 2014 Allez Sport with a Sora groupset (came with an FSA crank and Tektro brakes but I got Sora replacements for those parts pretty quickly). After about two months on the Sora I upgraded to 5800 just because I wanted to.


Yes, the shifting is MUCH smoother but let's face it, the cranks and brifters feel pretty much same. But there is ONE thing that you cannot deny: 11 gears vs 9 is a HUGE difference. I went from the 9 speed 11-28 to an 11 speed 12-25 and let me tell you, the benefit of being able to shift in one tooth increments can not be overstated. Because I could tailor my gearing in such fine increments I could choose the perfect gear for my mostly level bike path riding. A little head wind? Add a tooth, feeling tired, add another. Tail wind? Go down a tooth. Feeling good? Go down again. This will help you enormously. Just by switching from the 3500 to 5800 I was able to cut over six minutes from my usual 32 mile ride. Yes, from one day to the next, I cut six minutes off of my time (which was huge for me) just because I had better gearing options. There were some jumps in the the 9 speed cassette that cost me time because I couldn't handle the (big for me) skip to the next, harder gear.


The Allez Sport is now just a frame and forks because I moved the 5800 groupset to my '16 Tarmac and am very happy with the groupset. Seriously, there will only be benefits from switching to the 105.

City Guy

Hi

I'll add my story. This previous summer I purchased Giant Contend 1, which was fitted with the Shimano Sora drive train and shifters, the brakes were from Tektro. After a month or so I found I wanted an 11 speed drivetrain. I also found that Sora shifting to be rough and sometimes would miss a shift under a load while climbing up a hill.

So, I purchased a Shimano groupset from Wiggle, and installed on the Giant. Everything went quite smoothly and I downloaded the Shimano shop manuals which I found to be quite helpful. The Shimano 105 groupset was an excellent upgrade and the components perform much better that the Sora's.

However, to keep in mind, Shimano has re-designed the 105 front derailleur to the 5801 model. This upgraded component is significantly easier to setup and offers a much better functionality. If you do decide to upgrade to a 105, I would recommend you obtain the 5801. This upgraded component was included in the 105 groupset I purchased from wiggle.

FlashBazbo

Thanks for posting this! I wasn't aware that there was a 5801. The one I bought is a 5800 -- the only model in stock at Bike Tires Direct. Do you know what the changes between 5800 and 5801 might be?


I'm going to hold off on my upgrade until I at least learn more.

Shinkers

The 5801 front derailleur doesn't have an 'arm' like traditional derailleurs. It has a spring loaded 'flap' over top of the derailleur that the cable loops through. This allows the cable tension to be adjusted via a set screw that rotates the pinch bolt assembly around. Shimano then provides alignment marks to achieve proper tension.


It's brilliant in my opinion and I truly hope it gets carried across the other groups.


For what it's worth, I firmly believe the cables and housing can have a large impact on how certain groups feel. Shift levers can have an impact as well, and I've noticed better shifts with a higher end cassette (I now opt for Ultegra level).


Were I building a bike today, I'd still use a Tiagra rear derailleur and crank, Ultegra cassette, 5801 front derailleur and 5800 shifters. YMMV.