Electronic shifting

[gavroche]

It is like cars with paddle shifting. Much faster than manual shifting. Also no cables, just a battery. Remains to see how long the battery last and reliability. Bet some bikes will use it in next year's tdf. Great platform for launching it on the market.

 

[Davidc]

I've ridden tourers and little else for a long time and would welcome electronic shifters. Wires are much easier to manage than cables, an electronic system would likely be simpler and more reliable than STI, and all the advantages of self adjustment etc. would be most welcome. At the right price. I have one STI shifter to replace sometime. If I can't get one cheap on ebay that's going to be about £100, so right needs to get below that for the kit, which will be a couple of years yet I suspect.

The little else is a series of round-town bikes, currently a got-at MTB, and the price would really have to fall for that bike to get electronic shifting but who knows.

I've used downtube and bar-end shifters in the past, and like not having indexing up to 8 speed. However I think non-indexed gears are a thing of the past with 9 speed and upwards, and if done well electronics should be better than mechanical STI type systems.

 

[ianrauk]

It is like cars with paddle shifting. Much faster than manual shifting. Also no cables, just a battery. Remains to see how long the battery last and reliability. Bet some bikes will use it in next year's tdf. Great platform for launching it on the market.

Cadel Evans won the TdF this year with Di2. And it was/is widely used in the peleton.

In regards to the battery, the esteemed poster on here who has and uses Di2 said the battery lasts a very long time. (He's only charged it once in a couple of months of usage)

 

[fossyant]

Seems cracking kit, and for the pro peleton to be using it so much it must work. In some Tour pics, noticed a few scuffed up/crashed rear mechs - the reason they weren't replaced (for cosmetics) was because of the price - but it looks as though the system is robust.

The ribbing I got when I turned up with brand new DA 7400 with 8 speeds and SIS (all the club had 6/7 speeds and friction) - oh my - this was just out on the market - still working like new 20 years later - fab investment.

Campag is almost ready to launch it's stuff, but they must get rid of "Campy" logo off the prototype stuff - "Campy" is so wrong - says me who rides Shimano.

I'd be very tempted with DI2 if I had the cash, or even standard 7900. Not too keen on the colours/design of the kit - certainly isn't as pretty as Campag, but it has never been as pretty. It just works, very very well.

 

[snailracer]

Some years ago, I built a DIY electronic shifter that I retrofitted onto my mountain bike. Using stepper motors and worm gears, it pulled on shortened gear cables to conventional front and rear derailleurs and it worked brilliantly (if I say so myself ).
It auto-trimmed the front mech to avoid rubbing when cross-chained, it had controlled overshift for smoother, faster shifting, it could step through all 21 gears in sequence (although some gears are so close together, it wasn't really worth it), it could optionally run in automatic mode to maintain even cadence, it even had a pressure switch under the saddle so it jumped up 2 gears automatically when I stood up! It was also dynamo-powered, with a battery reservoir.
I built that in my spare time, so actually I'm a bit surprised (and disappointed) that a commercially successful electronic gear system hasn't reached us yet.

 

[cyberknight]

And for those who want it looks like di12 will have an 11 speed cassette soon.......
http://www.cyclingne...brakes-for-2013

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

It is like cars with paddle shifting. Much faster than manual shifting. Also no cables, just a battery. Remains to see how long the battery last and reliability. Bet some bikes will use it in next year's tdf. Great platform for launching it on the market.

Quite

However to use the examples of cars, when my clutch mechanism developed a fault on my old Volvo with manual gear shift with clutch and gear lever, I simply carried on driving, changing gear with careful matching of speed and revs to the gear until I got home. Where I needed to stop, killing the engine then setting off in gear on the starter..

That#s the beauty of simple

 

[beastie]

It is like cars with paddle shifting. Much faster than manual shifting. Also no cables, just a battery. Remains to see how long the battery last and reliability. Bet some bikes will use it in next year's tdf. Great platform for launching it on the market.

Sky and others used it for this years TDF.

 

[topcat1]

this is fun

 

[Browser]

In the same vein, a clever chap in Germany has invented cable-free electronic bicycle brakes. Please excuse my luddite tendancies but these I really would be uneasy about.

 

[User482]

No use for tourers.

What makes you say that? The battery lasts for thousands of miles - you'd have to be doing some very adventurous touring to not have access to electricity in all that time. In any case, I suspect a solar charger could do the job.

The big disadvantage would be the difficulty of finding replacement parts in the event of a problem - but that's the same with any new technology.