Everything You Need To Know About Shimano Groupsets

As the world’s largest manufacturer of bicycle components, we regularly refer to all of Shimano’s different groupset tiers on the channel, but not everyone may know which is which. To help explain, Ollie takes you through all six Shimano road groupsets, from Dura-Ace to Claris, giving you the lowdown on their main features and differences.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:51 What is a groupset?
01:59 Dura-Ace
04:07 Ultegra
04:48 105
09:28 Tiagra
11:40 Sora
16:40 Claris
17:44 Summary

Useful Links:

What groupset do you have on your bike? Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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[gcntech]

What groupset do you have on your bike?

[AleksiJoensuu]

My bike is 7-8 years old and uses a 2x8-speed Sora derailleurs and Claris levers. They still work just fine, shift accurately, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them. The only thing I could want for is hydraulic brakes, but an upgrade to Avid BB-7's seems to work well. Entry level stuff can serve for a long while.

[paulmorrison]

Shimano Tiagra, the new group set of the people ✊🏾

[Stefano_Rodriguez]

I just started cycling two months ago and bought my first road bike. Specialized Allez E5 with Claris.I'm enjoying it and already collected 1000km on my bike!

[grachtschrap]

I ride with mechanical Ultegra from a few years back. For a experienced amateur like me it is still sooo good man.

[GospelSami]

I ride a Colnago C40 Rabobank bike from 1997 with a Dura Ace 9speed group set (it was Matthew Haymans training bike). I was an elite rider in late 1990ties / early 2000s without (professional) contract, competed in 80 to 200 km contests. It might look oldfashioned with todays standards, but i can tell you it is still a high end bike. Now i am an old fart compared to the young guys at 53 years of age, but on my good days i still give them a hard time to keep up. Even at 25 years of old biking tech, i can tell you that the Dura Ace group set is the best quality available!

[NotYourAvgJoe]

I went from 105 R7000 to a Dura Ace 9200 crankset and I did 20meters and thought “oh my, what a difference”. Any group set you have, if maintained properly will work flawlessly. It’s only when you go from to the other that you actually realise why there’s so much hype around different grades

[johnossendorf]

Time to buy up all the mechanical 105 you can get your hands on !

[belowthehill]

Upgraded to a new bike with Sora and greatly improved my triathlon race times. Then got a Wahoo Kickr and mounted that bike on the smart trainer with a SRAM cassette, and got a new road bike with 105. The 105 definitely shifts better, but training on the Sora on Rouvy rocks!

[bx_cyclingchef]

My ulterga I noticed recently while doing maintenance found two broken teeth in the cassette. Checked out why. The metal used sucks. Went up to the next Dura Ace and sure enough it has stronger metal just like Ollie talks about. Changing now from ultegra to dura ace. Thanks for the video Ollie. From the Bronx, NY you saved this cyclist from rookie mistakes.

[dairesweeney]

I use claris on my city slash going to the shop bike, works great and would highly recommend to anyone who is looking at a bike just to get around and wants to save a couple of quid.

[AtomBom]

Claris is great. I run it on my commuter and tourer (11-36!). The latest shifters don't have the sticky out cables anymore so they won't rattle against the GoPro.

[charlesjoshi]

He makes everything so clear, I love his videos

[glenngardin]

Thanks for not bashing the lower lever group sets! Hoping my next bike has 105 or higher, but my current Sora works well.

[johnthackray]

I have recently upgraded by Boardman Team Carbon groupset with the 105 R7000 11 speed with rim brakes. I also swapped out the BB30 crank set and installed a Praxis BB convertor to the Shimano Hollowtech II system, so the new 105 crankset runs in the BB. I am super impressed by the shiting quality, silky smooth, so reliable. My only negaative point is the brake pads. I dont find them particiularly great, especially in the wet! Apart from that, I an extremely happy with 105.

[ronarmitage]

I rebuilt my 2010 Cannondale Quick 3 with the Shimano Sora R3000 9-Speed 34/50t 170mm Crankset with Shimano Sora R3000 9-Speed Flat Bar Shifters. I did use the SHIMANO Cassette Sprocket, CS-HG400-9, 9-Speed, 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34 to give me a little range on the hills. I use the bike to ride around town and a little trail riding. I have a Cannondale Synapse Carbon 105 for my road rides which I love and tried to gear the Quick 3 as close as possible.

[andrewpalmer]

I ride Ultegra in the summer months and Claris in the winter. Claris is absolutely fine. The only issue is the big jumps between gears. Sometimes you need to shift up to an easier gear but that jump is too easy. Come on Shimano you know you want to make Tiagra 12 speed mechanical!

[ankush_tesla]

Dura Ace 12
Ultegra 12
105 12 electronic /11mech rim
Tiagra 10
Sora 9 mech disc
Claris 8 rim

[ricardorgomez]

I bought a 2000 Scott Aluminum/Carbon fork road bike for about $1000. Fitted with Shimano Sora. It was so amazing. Mind you, I used to race in the 80's and had a top-end 1986 Pinarello fitted with the latest Dura Ace which had the first index-shifting system. The Scott bike was so superior to that Pinarello. Weight. Stiffness. Usability. Unfortunately, sold it as I just didn't ride it as much as I wanted.

I see so many people ride bikes fitted with Ultegra and Dura Ace riding 10mph... It's their money and they can choose to do with it what they will. But they could save a ton of money by going with something less. They'll never use the top 70% that these items can deliver.

Me, I hope to get a new Pinarello with 105 DI2. Like you mentioned, pretty much offers everything that Dura Ace does at a much less cost. And more options have become available since its release. They now have 172.5mm crank arms. Which was the ONLY thing holding me back from 105 DI2. I was hoping for a 53t chainring but with an 11t rear, I think 52t on the front will be fine.

Lovely video. Been looking for a video like this for a while....

[almin]

R7000 105 rocking here 😃✌🏻... Not a pro, not into racing, but cycling overall enthusiast that was my approach when deciding to purchase my Tarmac
If I eventually get interested into a now and then race or event and only when i wear out my 105 i would jump to Ultegra and I guess that would be my top... Great content as always you Gcn have been my tutors along the way ✌🏻