# Hoods for 9 Speed Sora (ST-3400??)



## Rhino4Five (Nov 5, 2009)

Hello,

I'm building up a second bike and I need to replace the hoods. The bike has 9-speed Sora shifters.

1. Am I correct that model for 2008 9-speed Sora shifters are ST-3400?
2. Are ST-3300 hoods compatible with the ST-3400? I can only find hoods for the 3300 for sale.

Does anyone know where I can find some chart/table/timeline of Shimano cycling components lines and the years the specific models were manufactured? I can't seem to find this on my own.

Thanks!
Rhino


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Don't go by the year, but rather find the model designation. With shifters, it's usually molded into the plastic bracket somewhere. Peel the hood back or off to find it. 3300 and 3400 hoods are not interchangeable. Ordering from Shimano through an LBS would probably be best. Here's the tech doc for the 3400 shifters:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/t...ST/EV-ST-3400-2755A_v1_m56577569830637997.pdf


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## Rhino4Five (Nov 5, 2009)

Thanks for the tip. I checked, and they are definitely ST-3400s. 

Any suggestions on where to buy these hoods? I'd rather avoid an LBS if I can get it cheaper online. Apparently they're also called "bracket covers."


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Yes, Shimano has odd names for some of their parts on these exploded views. No idea who sells the hoods over the net. Except for some small and often requested items, Shimano doesn't like to see internet sales of their spare parts and actively "discourages" such.


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## Rhino4Five (Nov 5, 2009)

Any idea how poorly the hoods for the ST-3300 will fit? These are all over the web.

I can only find the ST-3400 hoods (bracket covers) from international dealers, and I don't want to pay $27 for these hoods.

Thanks again!


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Sorry, don't know. You could try some returnable ones, but there are some things to consider. Inside configuration (reliefs, protrusions) could be different, and pulling them on could cause some damage. On the other hand, there were some supposedly "incompatible" Ultegra hoods some years ago that differed in only one thing: the newer version had little dome-shaped pimples to indicate where the Flight Deck switches are.


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

The 3300 hoods are very hard to get on the 3400 shifter, they look horrible and you can really tell they don't belong.

I tried this on a floor bike at work that had a torn hood on a 3400 shifter. Had to order it from Shimano.


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