Shimano groupsets

I have a Tiagra triple on my bike (too heavy for a double :-) and am having
some shifting problems at the moment.

Coming from the MTB world I know how much difference moving the changers
from Alivio to XT would make - is it the same sort of gain if for example I
went to Ultegra mechs?

Also, how much of the shifting performance comes from the STI levers
themselves - if I upgrade mechs to Ultegra a) could I still use my Tiagra
STIs and b) how much benefit would I get from upgrading to Ultegra STIs
(given that the STI upgrade would costs double the combined front & rear
mech upgrade!)

Thanks if you can help.

Cheers,
Chris


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Chris Walters
Hungerford, UK
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Chris Walters wrote:

I have a Tiagra triple on my bike (too heavy for a double :-) and am having
some shifting problems at the moment.

Coming from the MTB world I know how much difference moving the changers
from Alivio to XT would make - is it the same sort of gain if for example I
went to Ultegra mechs?

Also, how much of the shifting performance comes from the STI levers
themselves - if I upgrade mechs to Ultegra a) could I still use my Tiagra
STIs and b) how much benefit would I get from upgrading to Ultegra STIs
(given that the STI upgrade would costs double the combined front & rear
mech upgrade!)

Thanks if you can help.

Cheers,
Chris



Dunno, dunno, dunno... but I *can* tell you that I have Tiagra shifters
and gubbins on my bike and they're lovely - what sort of shifting
problems are you getting?

Velvet

Velvet wrote:
Dunno, dunno, dunno... but I *can* tell you that I have Tiagra
shifters and gubbins on my bike and they're lovely - what sort of
shifting problems are you getting?

Front - various problems with indexing and not being able to set up the
limiters *just* right (happy that big-big and small-small are off limits,
but there shouldn't be many more gears causing rub on the front shifter).

Overall, expectations come mainly from using XT MTB STIs - they are very
smooth moving down the sprockets, and the Tiagra feels very clumsy indeed.
I'm sure that I've done the best possible setup, but just can't seems to get
it "nice" like I can on my MTB, where there is much more opportunity for the
rear to go way out of kilter (suspended).

Just really wondering if it's worth spending the dosh on better quality kit.

Cheers,
Chris


--
__________________________________________________ ___

Chris Walters
Hungerford, UK
__________________________________________________ ___

Chris Walters wrote:

Velvet wrote:

Dunno, dunno, dunno... but I *can* tell you that I have Tiagra
shifters and gubbins on my bike and they're lovely - what sort of
shifting problems are you getting?


Front - various problems with indexing and not being able to set up the
limiters *just* right (happy that big-big and small-small are off limits,
but there shouldn't be many more gears causing rub on the front shifter).

Overall, expectations come mainly from using XT MTB STIs - they are very
smooth moving down the sprockets, and the Tiagra feels very clumsy indeed.
I'm sure that I've done the best possible setup, but just can't seems to get
it "nice" like I can on my MTB, where there is much more opportunity for the
rear to go way out of kilter (suspended).

Just really wondering if it's worth spending the dosh on better quality kit.

Cheers,
Chris



Hmm, I manage without rubbing on mine, though they were tricky to get
right (but them I'm a bike novice and never had deraillieurs before). I
find the frame seems to flex a bit sometimes which can cause oddities
(531C frame) but never had the front shifter thing rubbing. There IS
something in the shifting that is slightly peculiar between smallest and
middle chainring, I think someone else here thought it might be to help
tailor it to what the chain is doing on the groupset at the back. I
assume you've adjusted the front thing that does the shifting of the
chain? When I shift, a good hard push of the lever to move the chain
over is what's needed, it will actually move it slightly too far then
drop back a little to help the chain seat right from what I can tell,
but then the chain doesn't rub at all. There's end stops that fix the
limits of travel on the chain moving gizmo, then it's down to cable
tension for the actual changing? Dunno if it's worth playing with that.

I also found when the bike hadn't done many miles the whole thing seemed
to need quite a bit of adjusting - it would keep wandering out of
adjustment and doing odd things on shifting, but now I've clocked up a
few more miles it's wonderful.

Does it rub when anywhere on the front rings? Can you identify which
side of the guide it's rubbing on, and does it swap sides depending on
where the chain is at the sprocket end, or stay the same, etc? Mine's a
9spdx3 and I can only just get it to rub when the chain is crossed on
big/big or small/small.

Moving around the sprockets staying on one chainring is lovely and
smooth for me, so long as I back off the power going through the pedals
while I shift - if I don't then it's very clunky and feels horrible, but
then I understand powering on while changing does Bad Things - wears
things out maybe - or causes a Falling Off incident if the gear-change
aborts or does something unexpected perhaps?

Sheldon brown has some good articles on how to adjust stuff, my
apologies if it's teaching you to suck eggs though :-) Course, it could
just be that they're different to what you're used to from the MB side
of things!

Velvet

Chris Walters wrote:
I have a Tiagra triple on my bike (too heavy for a double :-) and am
having some shifting problems at the moment.

Coming from the MTB world I know how much difference moving the
changers from Alivio to XT would make - is it the same sort of gain
if for example I went to Ultegra mechs?

Also, how much of the shifting performance comes from the STI levers
themselves - if I upgrade mechs to Ultegra a) could I still use my
Tiagra STIs and b) how much benefit would I get from upgrading to
Ultegra STIs (given that the STI upgrade would costs double the
combined front & rear mech upgrade!)

Thanks if you can help.

Cheers,
Chris

I have no idea what would make your difference. I would be very surprised to
learn that with everything in poper order it is impossible to adjust Tiagra
properly. I suspect something is not aligned properly. If you haven't all
ready ensure the mechs are aligned how they should be, remove the cables,
clean all the guides and fit new cables, you may get a little cable stretch
after a while, but decent quality cables will minimise this.

Chris Walters wrote:
I have a Tiagra triple on my bike (too heavy for a double :-) and am having
some shifting problems at the moment.

Coming from the MTB world I know how much difference moving the changers
from Alivio to XT would make - is it the same sort of gain if for example I
went to Ultegra mechs?

Also, how much of the shifting performance comes from the STI levers
themselves - if I upgrade mechs to Ultegra a) could I still use my Tiagra
STIs and b) how much benefit would I get from upgrading to Ultegra STIs
(given that the STI upgrade would costs double the combined front & rear
mech upgrade!)


These days the differences in shifting performance are small. They might be
lighter, change more gears at the rear in one go, wear less quickly and other
such differences but I doubt that you will find just switching to Ultegra
fixes the problems you have. I would have a go at adjusting them correctly -
the instructions that come with Shimano kit work well or look on Sheldon
Brown's website. When they wear out by all means change them but I doubt that
is your problem.

Tony

"Chris Walters" wrote in message ...

Front - various problems with indexing and not being able to set up the
limiters *just* right (happy that big-big and small-small are off limits,
but there shouldn't be many more gears causing rub on the front shifter).

Are you sure it's the front changer that's rubbing, and not the large
chainring itself when you are on one of the smaller chainrings and the
smallish sprockets?

--
Dave...

"Chris Walters" wrote in message
...
I have a Tiagra triple on my bike (too heavy for a double :-) and am
having
some shifting problems at the moment.

Coming from the MTB world I know how much difference moving the changers
from Alivio to XT would make - is it the same sort of gain if for example
I
went to Ultegra mechs?

I've got Alivio gear on my hybrid and the shifting is perfect. The best
upgrade you can do is to replace the inner and outer cables with brand new
ones for a few pence, then set it up like this:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQrindx.shtml

--
Simon Mason
Anlaby
East Yorkshire.
53°44'N 0°26'W
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

Simon Mason wrote:
"Chris Walters" wrote in message
...
I have a Tiagra triple on my bike (too heavy for a double :-) and am
having some shifting problems at the moment.

Coming from the MTB world I know how much difference moving the
changers from Alivio to XT would make - is it the same sort of gain
if for example I went to Ultegra mechs?

I've got Alivio gear on my hybrid and the shifting is perfect. The
best upgrade you can do is to replace the inner and outer cables with
brand new ones for a few pence, then set it up like this:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQrindx.shtml

Thanks everyone who replied - I think the answer is to spend a little longer
fettling to perfection! Damn, it's getting harder to do that *and* to go for
a ride in the eveings, without incurring the wrath of SWMBO for desertion
(but at least being able to use the excuse of not having to spend more money
to compensate) :-)

Cheers,
Chris


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Chris Walters
Hungerford, UK
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