I have been doing a lot more road biking recently and realized that the Sora group on my GT road bike sucks when you are doing 300+ miles a week with lots of hills . Specifically the front and rear deraullers need to go. Debating whether to replace them with Dura Ace or Ultegra. I have heard that they are both good, but strangely that the Dura Ace is less reliable?
Bike guys. Dura Ace or Ultegra?
- Thread starter tnitsuj
- Start date
Dura Ace is Theoretically thier best...but I am only replacing the derailleurs. The rest will remain 8 speed Sora. The problem is the damn Derailleurs though.
I just finished my new road bike and this is what I got:
Shifter/Brake levers, Front Derailleur, Rear derailleur : DuraAce, because the shifters last longer and I'd like to go top of the line on the shifting.
Brakes, Cranks, Casette, Chain : Ultegra, Cheaper but just as good, especially the brakes.
Bottom bracket: Ultegra, more durable than DuraAce
Top of the line shifting is what I want. I have almost wrecked a couple of times going up and down hills going pretty fast and having the shifting take forever or not work..or rattle..or whatever else the crappy Sora throws at me that day.
Don Vito Corleone
Elite
- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
- 67
- 91
The only Dura-Ace part that is less reliable than its Ultegra counterpart is the bottom bracket - the D/A is tricky to adjust and dies quickly if it is not properly set up. D-A derailleurs will be every bit as durable as Ultegra.
If you are mixing them with Sora shifters, there is no real advantage to going with Dura-Ace. a D-A front der has NO perceptible advantage over Ultegra, and the upgrade to D-A in the rear der will be all but imperceptible through a Sora shifter. Personally I prefer Campy, but in your case I would probably get an Ultegra rear and leave the Sora front. Spend your savings on Hale's Mongoose India Pale Ale and share it with me!
If you are mixing them with Sora shifters, there is no real advantage to going with Dura-Ace. a D-A front der has NO perceptible advantage over Ultegra, and the upgrade to D-A in the rear der will be all but imperceptible through a Sora shifter. Personally I prefer Campy, but in your case I would probably get an Ultegra rear and leave the Sora front. Spend your savings on Hale's Mongoose India Pale Ale and share it with me!
If you're going from Sora then Ultegra is good enough. Basically Ultegra is almost always good enough. DA derailleur on a Sora shifter won't make a difference but DA shifters on Sora might be noticeable actually.
Make sure your derailleurs are adjusted properly. Dura ace or Sora, if they are adjusted wrong, you will get crappy shifting. In my opinion, there is little difference between the groups besides the shifter itself, everything else is just weight savings.
Maybe I will just take it back to the shop again and tell them to make the Sora work. It looks like to really make any changes I am going to have to change th shifters which is big bucks.
MustangSVT
Lifer
- Oct 7, 2000
- 11,554
- 12
- 81
The thing is do you honestly thing changing the derailleurs will make a difference in the shifting. I want it to shift smoothly and quickly especially when I am trying to climb. From the replies I have gotten, it does not look like just changing them will make it noticably better.
I'd go w/Dura Ace myself
not a huge road biker, but I have a nice mtn bike and I know a thing or 2 about road bikes.
not a huge road biker, but I have a nice mtn bike and I know a thing or 2 about road bikes.
FWIW- I'd just upgrade the rear der and the shifters to Ultegra. Everything else isn't functionally different enough to justify a whole new grouppo. You can probably find some for semi-cheap on Ebay or something.
Oh.....and go Campy when you do get that new bike.
Oh.....and go Campy when you do get that new bike.
Originally posted by: Fausto1
FWIW- I'd just upgrade the rear der and the shifters to Ultegra. Everything else isn't functionally different enough to justify a whole new grouppo. You can probably find some for semi-cheap on Ebay or something.
Oh.....and go Campy when you do get that new bike.
Ahhh. Fausto pops in.
Can I use the new 9 speed Ultegrat Shifters on the Sora Setup? I thought that was a no no.
Is Sora nine-speed? Sorry, I'm not super-familiar with the lower-end Shimano stuff.Originally posted by: tnitsuj
Originally posted by: Fausto1
FWIW- I'd just upgrade the rear der and the shifters to Ultegra. Everything else isn't functionally different enough to justify a whole new grouppo. You can probably find some for semi-cheap on Ebay or something.
Oh.....and go Campy when you do get that new bike.
Ahhh. Fausto pops in.
Can I use the new 9 speed Ultegrat Shifters on the Sora Setup? I thought that was a no no.
EDIT- whoops....it's eight-speed. Yeah, you'd have to replace the shifters, rear der, rear cassette and chain to make things work right. Prolly not worth the $.
Originally posted by: Fausto1
Is Sora nine-speed? Sorry, I'm not super-familiar with the lower-end Shimano stuff.Originally posted by: tnitsuj
Originally posted by: Fausto1
FWIW- I'd just upgrade the rear der and the shifters to Ultegra. Everything else isn't functionally different enough to justify a whole new grouppo. You can probably find some for semi-cheap on Ebay or something.
Oh.....and go Campy when you do get that new bike.
Ahhh. Fausto pops in.
Can I use the new 9 speed Ultegrat Shifters on the Sora Setup? I thought that was a no no.
Sora is 8 speed. Mine is a double chain ring. Bike shop indicated that none of the 9 speed shifters would work on an 8 speed.
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