Shimano Tiagra 130 question ?

[54bullseye]

John Taylor here and I am wondering if there is any one who might know when Shimano first started making the 130 Tiagra ?? Maybe some one has catalogs showing when they first showed up or maybe bought a first year 130 Tiagra ?  There is all sorts of info on older 130 Internationals and others but I can't seem to find much on the 130 Shimano ?   Any info would be great !!    Thanks !  John Taylor

[Robert Janssen]

I don't have the opportunity to look into it right now, but you are on the right track. It was a couple of years after the 50s and 80s, so around 1997 or so, maybe 1998, dunno for sure.


Edit:
Just poking around online, i noticed there is a lot of hype and fluff about the hydrothermal drag cylinder. AFAIK it was only in the 50s and 80s, never in the 130s or anything else. Don't know if they still use it at all.

[54bullseye]

Thanks for the info Robert !!   John

[FatTuna]

All I know is there are two generations of Tiagras. Not sure when they first started making them. I'm sure someone will chime in though. I don't believe there is a way to accurately date them like an International.

Going from memory so take this comment with a grain of salt. The first gen 130s came with a gold knob. The bearings were different (shielded vs unshielded), the gear stud was a different size, the screws for the ratchet plate were different, the housing for the clicker (plunger holder) was made of a different metal. That's about all I recall. I used to own three of them.

The Tiagra 130A is part of the newer generation. The newer ones have the grey rubberized knob.

If you are going to fish it, I would definitely go with a newer one because the gear studs are different. You can't just swap handles. Might get tricky to find a replacement for an older one. Also, I didn't like the bearings. They were shielded so you can't easily service them.

I believe the hydrothermal drag piston is only found in the 50WLRSA, not the regular 50, 80, or 130. It's essentially a piston that expands with heat in order to combat drag fade.  

* I just recalled one other major difference. The older Tiagras didn't have a click pin inside the lever. I didn't like that. It would have been easy to accidently bump the drag during the fight.