Shimano Di2

[yorkshiregoth]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/17/video-the-shimano-di2-electric-bike-shifter-for-the-paradoxical/

 

[MadoneRider1991]

its cool, not worth getting atm though to much money and weighs more than the cable Dura Ace 7900

 

[John the Monkey]

Business Week's article on it is worth a read too;

http://www.businessweek.com/globalb...op+news_top+news+index+-+temp_global+business

 

[Keith Oates]

There was a video about it on the Bicycling magazine site and it really looked the business. It's been under development since 2002 and now they consider it to be very very good. Certainly would like to get a bike with one fitted for a try out!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Arch]

"The system allows you to shift 30% faster (as fast as you can move your finger) than with mechanical derailleurs "

Oh, so often I change gear and think, damn, if only I could shift 30% faster, I'd be a champion..

Load of balls, IMO, but each to their own.

Really, how long does it take to change gear manually?

 

[TheDoctor]

Is there a version for fixies?

 

[Arch]

I suppose fixies do have the fastest gear change of all

(unless it's an S3X)...

 

[Chuffy]

Three words: evolutionary. dead. end....

It works and it seems neat, but there's no real world application. It doesn't improve on the existing setup and it introduces a whole new world of pain with limited battery life and fritzy electronics. Making it work well enough for a pro-team to win with (and they wouldn't have with regular D-A?) proves nothing.

 

[TheDoctor]

@ Chuffers

Nail. Head. Hit.

Yes it's a neat bit of technical showing off, but it's a solution in search of a problem.

 

[gavintc]

We will all have it in 10 yrs time and regard the cable system as bizarre, fit only for folk with beards. It is the future.

 

[Will1985]

its cool, not worth getting atm though to much money and weighs more than the cable Dura Ace 7900

Heavier than 7900, but lighter than last year's 7800 which was the best Shimano users could expect less than 12 months ago. Big deal...it's cheaper to take a dump first.

 

[Chuffy]

We will all have it in 10 yrs time and regard the cable system as bizarre, fit only for folk with beards. It is the future.

I wonder if it was the future when Mavic came up with it? Although I fully expect Hilldodger to claim that it was invented in Leicester back in the 19th century...

It is the future in the same way that automatic gearboxes were the future for cars.

 

[Keith Oates]

The speed of the gear change is not so important, as others have said the manual changes are pretty fast already. I think the automatic trimming is the main advantage this system has and that could save a lot of fiddling when on the road. Shimano claim that once it's set up the settings will not alter and so we should have perfect alignment all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[John the Monkey]

I think the advantage for a pro-team might lie in not having to pay mechanics for the time they spend indexing gears (not sure if that's a significant amount of time or not).

Lower down the tree, there might be a plus in a consumer version of this for people who really don't want to mess with their bikes themselves, I guess.

 

[4F]

Will there be a version for down tube shifters ?