Advice please

dub 24

Hey have been a long time lurker and am looking for some advice. I have a Giant Defy Aluminium frame set up ideal for my crooked back with aftermarket parts which came with the bike when I bought it off a mate.

I have Tiagra shifters and rear derailleur. 105 front derailleur. The crankset and is a Sora . Given that I have very little knowledge and experience of the finer technical differences particular parts make I was hoping to get some advice as to whether it's worth my while changing components and whether I would notice any difference.

One thing I did change when I first got the bike was to change the saddle to a Brooks based on recommendations from here and it made a world of difference.

The crankset is 52/39 as far I can count with a 9 speed on the back wheel.

Cheers

Dub 24

CantGetNoSleep

It depends on what you are looking for.

If shifting performance - you have a few different parts put together which assuming they are older Tiagra should work fine.

If it is a 39, the biggest difference you would get is moving to a smaller front chain ring (32 or 34) and possibly a larger sprocket on the rear cassette, which would make going up hills feel easier

dub 24

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

It depends on what you are looking for.

If shifting performance - you have a few different parts put together which assuming they are older Tiagra should work fine.

If it is a 39, the biggest difference you would get is moving to a smaller front chain ring (32 or 34) and possibly a larger sprocket on the rear cassette, which would make going up hills feel easier

Thanks mate for your reply yep I'm assuming all the components are fairly ancient . With regard to chain ring to be honest I'm used to climbing the hills on it . Would it be worthwhile just upgrading the chain ring to a higher quality .
Cheers

CantGetNoSleep

Depends really. If the shifting is working fine there is relatively little point in upgrading, you could just upgrade components as they wear out.

Higher quality doesn't make a lot of difference, Shimano Ultegra would give you two more gears and save a bit of weight but cost a bit. If the frame is perfect and components are worn out, Shimano 105 might be a good choice but you are still looking at 4-500€ and you'd need to make sure your wheels will take 11 speed.

What is your reason for thinking of this upgrade?

dub 24

Cheers mate
Shifting is fine, the chain ring is what I was thinking of changing up to a higher leval to match the rest but taking your advice I'll probably see very little difference and will wait and upgrade the whole lot on the frame when they are worn and require changing

CantGetNoSleep

If you are staying 9-speed then Sora is the current level Shimano 9-speed set up. Tiagra is now 10-speed. You could get a new Tiagra crankset to work on an older 9-speed setup but don't know if it would be advised.

I don't think you'd notice any difference from upgrading one step in the Shimano range on a crankset though so if it was me I wouldn't bother unless the part needed to be replaced anyway given there would be a cost involved

07Lapierre

What wheels do you have? New wheels can make a big difference.

dub 24

Thanks cantget no sleep for all your advice will take it and hold off until I need to upgrade everything
On the wheel front 07Lapierre I have magic askiums race which came with the bike however my cycling buddy has mavic ksyriums which I can try , would that be a greater benefit to me
Thanks to you both for all your help and advice