Transitioning from hybrid to road/cyclocross

[Lady Hamilton]

I've been looking at 11 speed Shimano cassettes in 11-34 and for some reason, you can get 11-34 in Tiagra or Ultegra, right now, but nothing, so far, listed for 105. You can mix and match Shimano 11 speed stuff, so you could use Tiagra or, if you have the money, Ultegra.

Just checked. Hopefully, someone else will find this information useful.
Trek used 11-32 on both Tiagra and 105 Domane.
Specialized Ruby (base with Tiagra) uses 11-34, just like Cannondale Synapse. But Specialized Ruby Sport 105 uses 11-32, same for 105 based Dolce.

It certainly is interesting choice to use 11-34 on a cheaper bike, but I wonder if that is done deliberately.

So, the question is, is 11-34 Tiagra a better choice than 105 based machine with 11-32?

This starts to make Cannondale Synapse disk Tiagra a very lucrative option. The gentleman at the store yesterday asked me a ton of questions and he was not convinced I even need 105... He said that the newest Tiagra is plenty of gears for me. But I could definitely use the extra cogs. I have 11-32 on my 5 year-old Vita.

This is one of the hills featured in many rides. http://www.mapmyride.com/ca/hamilton...route-33307440