Electronic shifting

greasedscotsman

Within the last couple of weeks I've been to two LBS, one telling me that electronic shifting isn't worth the extra cash and the other telling me I should be looking to get it as within a few years I won't be able to get the spares for mechanical systems.

Which is right? If you were looking to buy a new bike now, would you go electronic or not?

t.m.h.n.e.t

No,they were talking utter sh!te

GiantMike

The second LBS you mention sound like a bunch of feckin' liars to me. Or idiots.

I like the idea of electronic shifting, but at the moment I don't think it's worth the price premium. It's worth waiting for the 'early adopters' to make it mainstream and jump on the bandwagon when there's a more affordable version later.

GiantMike

joe2008 wrote:

Ask Dean Downing what he thinks of it now

Have you got a number for him?

greasedscotsman

GiantMike wrote:

The second LBS you mention sound like a bunch of feckin' liars to me. Or idiots.

I think what they were getting at was say in a few years from now would you be able to get hold of something like a brake lever/shifter if your mechanical one was broken, a bit like when they add extra gears. Will certain groupsets become completely electronic?

Don't think I believe them, I can see top end stuff becoming electronic, but not the lower end stuff. And if I was looking for a new bike now (which I'm not) don't think I'd buy it, think I'd wait a few more years and see what the other manufacturers come up with.

Yossie

T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:

No,they were talking utter sh!te

Agree 100% - what they are trying to say is that suddenly you won't be able to get parts for hundreds of thousands of bikes and the manufacturers won't mind losing all this business.

Utter bollards.

Admittedly you won't/it will be very difficult to get new Sora 8 speed, but anything 9/10/11 speed will be fine for years and years to come.

symo

Ah yes, I think I am getting more cynical in my old age, I think in cycling there is more gnosis and marketing want than in any other sport. "if only I had those £3000 wheels or that frame I would have been 30 minutes quicker" and there in lies the issue. We are being fed the need to have more expensive upgrades instead of just going out to ride. We are more than likely riding equipment good enough to use.

golfergmc

joe2008 wrote:

try this one https://twitter.com/dean0downing

Don`t know any of the details about his accident, but did his electronic shifting cause his accident?

Tom Butcher

I read his gears jumped sprinting on his local chaingang and caused him to crash.

RDW

I've got a (mechanical) film camera from the 1930s that can still be serviced. The same company sold a digital model from 2005-7. You can no longer buy batteries for it.

Smokin Joe

RDW wrote:

I've got a (mechanical) film camera from the 1930s that can still be serviced. The same company sold a digital model from 2005-7. You can no longer buy batteries for it.

And you can still buy the wheelbarrow to carry it round!

Technology huh, who needs it?

OffTheBackAdam

I wonder what shennagins will ensue with electronic shifters, if someone works out how to jam/hijack the signal?

verylonglegs

I think it's a safe assumption that electronic shifting will remain the choice for the minority of the millions of cyclists worldwide for a while yet, talking about conventional systems being obsolete anytime soon can only come from a salesman or an idiot.

brianonyx

verylonglegs wrote:

I think it's a safe assumption that electronic shifting will remain the choice for the minority of the millions of cyclists worldwide for a while yet, talking about conventional systems being obsolete anytime soon can only come from a salesman or an idiot.

It could even be that electronic shifting is the equivelant of 3D technology in the TV arena. A technology the nobody really wants??

RDW

Smokin Joe wrote:

And you can still buy the wheelbarrow to carry it round!

Technology huh, who needs it?

Oddly enough, there were small cameras even in the dimly remembered decades before the iPhone

Technology is great, but the suggestion that the original poster 'won't be able to get the spares' seems much more likely to apply to current electronic systems than mechanical - e.g. Shimano uses a proprietary battery like that digital camera. Batteries don't last for ever, and if Shimano switches to something else (like the camera company did), or the system never really takes off, there's no guarantee you'll be able to power it in future. Bet you can still ebay the components for the current mechanical groupsets long after the last Di2 battery is dead.

McBain_v1

Sticking with mechanical - I can still get spares for my Dura-Ace 2009 and Ultegra 2007 so I am not worried (yet). I love the idea of electronic shifting but I just couldn't justify it given my current lack of fitness and piss-poor diet regime Anyhow, if you want it - get it and so what the LBS says, at the end of the day it's all about you.