Shimano electric Di2

cj504

Afternoon guys, have just been looking at probikekit and they've got the new electic dura ace in. Has anyone ridden it? the youtube videos look neat, it's quite a big outlay, how long will the novelty of pressing a button to change up last ???

akkers

I know a guy who is using it....he states its an incredible piece of kit....the shifting is as close to perfection as you could find. However, he does say 1. it looks nasty and 2. you are always worried about losing all the charge whilst out riding....which wouldnt be very good :roll:

dennisn

akkers wrote:

I know a guy who is using it....he states its an incredible piece of kit....the shifting is as close to perfection as you could find. However, he does say 1. it looks nasty and 2. you are always worried about losing all the charge whilst out riding....which wouldnt be very good :roll:

I've always felt that who "gives a damn about looks if it works like a dream?". i.e. form should always FOLLOW function. Plus I think it looks sharp, very functional.
As for battery losing charge, well, you could always break a shifter cable, so I don't
really see a difference there. Anyway those are my thoughts, FWIW.

redddraggon

dennisn wrote:

As for battery losing charge, well, you could always break a shifter cable, so I don't really see a difference there.

Batteries will lose their charge within tens of hours - you should be able to get years out of a cable.

dennisn

redddraggon wrote:

dennisn wrote:

As for battery losing charge, well, you could always break a shifter cable, so I don't really see a difference there.

Batteries will lose their charge within tens of hours - you should be able to get years out of a cable.

I agree. But, out on the road, a broken cable or a dead battery are pretty much equal.
You can ride with both but not have much in the way of shifting options. Of course this depends on the cable that breaks.

dodgy

I'm shocked at the price of cables for this kit, I'd have thought that the cable was the least specialised part of the entire groupset but they're well over £100!

giant_man

cj504 wrote:

Afternoon guys, have just been looking at probikekit and they've got the new electic dura ace in. Has anyone ridden it? the youtube videos look neat, it's quite a big outlay, how long will the novelty of pressing a button to change up last ???

I dunno, but it's nothing new, there's already a manufacturer whose groupsets use a button to change up, it's called Campagnolo.

mrushton

Supposedly battery life is excellent (review on Bike Radar/Cycling News I think) and the prices, well it's new so a manufacturer will charge what they want. I'd like to know if it will still be as good in 4 years time, but the idea now is to dump the old groupset and get the 'latest' I don't like the look of the battery tho'and doesn't it secure with a zip tie around the down-tube?.

dennisn

I'm of the opinion that 10 or 15 years from how we will all have electric shifting and you won't believe the aftermarket add-ons that will be available. This opens up a whole bunch
of possibilities.

markos1963

I can't believe with all that development that Shimano couldn't have designed an underseat battery. The current setup looks so amaturish It would put me off even if I could afford it.

dennisn

markos1963 wrote:

I can't believe with all that development that Shimano couldn't have designed an underseat battery. The current setup looks so amaturish It would put me off even if I could afford it.

There are plenty of places to put a battery on a bike and I can't believe that Shimano
didn't give all of them a really good look before coming up with the current scheme.
Wait a few years and you'll probably see aftermarket batteries to will fit just about anywhere. You could always write Shimano and ask. I've emailed them a time or two and they have responded with the answers.

dodgy

I bet someone will bring out a seatpost with an integrated battery assuming you can get the cable out of a nearby bottle cage bolt

A Load Of Bull

Wait a few years and you'll probably see aftermarket batteries to will fit just about anywhere.

Surely the solution here is to have solar powered cells built into the frame...

dodgy

A Load Of Bull wrote:

Wait a few years and you'll probably see aftermarket batteries to will fit just about anywhere.

Surely the solution here is to have solar powered cells built into the frame...

But you'd still need a battery.

Monty Dog

You're paying a skyrocket price for premium depreciation - early adopters are going to do all the Beta testing for Shimano. Tri-geeks might like the extra tri bar shifter option, but for the vast majority of riders who don't have the luxury of a service car, I don't see the benefit. IME with anything electrical like this, the big weakness will be the cable connectors - a nice wet winter, salt and electricity are a wonderfully corrosive combination - £100 for new cable every year, the price of progress.

markos1963

Have to say that even though I ride Shimano I think that Campags 11 speed development is more relavent that Di2

eh

a nice wet winter, salt and electricity are a wonderfully corrosive combination

Exactly so this is for race bikes only, which I guess is OK, at that price point but it kinda limits its potential for later on (10+ years?) replacing 105, Sora type groupsets.

I think that Campags 11 speed development is more relavent

Not sure that 11 speed is much to write home about either, we are well into the minimal returns for a lot of cash area.

cougie

I'm sure it will be great and cheap in a few generations time, but I'm not paying for it yet.

I've not broken a gear cable in 25 years + of cycling - so I think thats pretty good reliability.

dodgy

Yep, much as I'm drawn to new technology (I'm a gadget fiend), I'll pass on the first few generations of this I think.

Smokin Joe

The electronics Shimano use are very much off the shelf and probably very cheap to make. The initial high price is to recover a massive amount spent on R&D, coupled with limited production. I'm with DennisN on this, a few years down the line electronic shifting will be commonplace on race and sportive bikes throughout the groupset ranges. They will not replace cables completely, but will run happily alongside.

I wouldn't have any concerns about reliability, I have ridden motorcycles which are packed with far more electronics than bicycle gearshifts, in torrential rain for hours at a time with spray coming off the front wheel at 70mph and they haven't missed a beat.

TheStone

It's probably great, but will get better and cheaper.
Compare the 1st generation iPods with the ones today in only a few years.

dennisn

Smokin Joe wrote:

I wouldn't have any concerns about reliability, I have ridden motorcycles which are packed with far more electronics than bicycle gearshifts, in torrential rain for hours at a time with spray coming off the front wheel at 70mph and they haven't missed a beat.

Excellent point.