If you are thinking about an Ultegra Di2 bike....

baldwin471

DO IT!

I received my Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 Di2 today and have just finished my first ride (Only 10km to the grandparents for a Chinese, had one heck of a hill though, 20% in places ) and i loved every second of it, can't wait to ride home!

The shifts are unbelievably crisp and clean, such a change to my 105 set. I will probably sort out a post with some pics in the 'Your Road Bikes' section in a couple of days when I've taken the dork disc off (Seriously, why is it fitted as standard? Why not ship it and say "We recommend fitting it etc" but it's such a hassle to get off and it can only be cut about half way before the plastic is too touch to snip so waiting on a chain snaggererererer and lock ring removal tool)

So yeah, if you want Di2, go for it, it is fantastic.

wellbeloved747

There are some diss advantages though
Price
Water getting to electrics
remembering to recharge the battery.

However. I would like to try a di2 and compare it to a SRAM red

arthur_scrimshaw

wellbeloved747 wrote:

There are some diss advantages though
Price
Water getting to electrics
remembering to recharge the battery.

However. I would like to try a di2 and compare it to a SRAM red

not heard of these problems, IIRC there's a massive time between recharges.

wellbeloved747

Not good for touring then? Unless you had extra batteries which means extra weight

Grill

Touring with Di2 strikes me as the cycling equivalent of glamping.

arthur_scrimshaw

wellbeloved747 wrote:

Not good for touring then? Unless you had extra batteries which means extra weight

sorry wasn't clear, I meant that a single charge lasts months of 'normal' usage.

bramstoker

Rode mine for the first time yesterday.
Agree with everything the OP says

baldwin471

The battery is rated to around 2500 miles before needing charging. I don't think you'll need spares :L Also it's 99.9% waterproof so there is no problem with rain etc.

turnstyle

I'm so tempted to pick up a Canyon. How was the fit? And more importantly, can all those decals be taken off easily? How many times can you put your company name on a bike

ALaPlage

Di2 is a revelation. As OP states smooth shifting with the indexing clicking straight in to play. No cog bouncing as the chain fights to engage. I love the smooth changes when going up hill and at last Sundays Manchester 100 I was reminded of how effective this is as other riders around me changed gear and the crunching and banging that could be heard as they put their gearing under strain whereas the Di2 makes a little whirr and clicks into place.

Battery lasts for over 6000 gear changes according to some blurb I've read but all I know is that I bought my Madone at the beginning of May and have now covered over 1600 miles on the original charge. The battery light check is still showing green.

Unit is waterproof however Shimano recommend using a grease they produce, after washing to protect the battery contacts from corrosion. I've ridden through numerous downpours over the last 4 months and never have had any issues with the System. I take the battery off when I wash the bike and dry off the contacts before replacing it.

Bought with a new bike there is not so much difference in price between standard Ultegra and Di2 on the same frame. The Madone 5.9 for example is around £300 more than the non Di2 5.2 and you also get better wheels.

I know it's early days for electronic shifting systems but I do believe they are the future. Campag have just announced their "budget" EPS Athena 11 speed which although the wiring contacts are not compatible with the super Record version the only difference is in the flight deck with the Athena levers being made of Alloy versus the Carbon levers on the Record/Super Record.

It's easy to pooh! pooh! new technology but I've got to say having tried it I don't think I would ever go back to a mechanical system. First impressions are its quick and smooth and must have a little less chain and cog wear in the long run as the chain slots into place on changes smoothly and doesn't ever chatter across the cogs as it can do on even freshly indexed mechanical systems.

Give it a go before you condemn it

MattC59

Like the idea of Di2, but think it looks clunky and fugly at the moment. Next years Di2 is a step in the right direction, but aesthetically it's got a long way to go. The Campag stuff looks good, but the front mech and battery are still a mess.

I've had my Enigma built so that it will be easy to go electric in a few years, but until it looks better, I'm happy with the perfectly functional, and better looking cable operated stuff.

Grill

Di2 is fine, but I don't think it's worth the 800 pound premium I would have paid over 6700. For that I'd rather buy a nice set of aero wheels as it's actually an upgrade that would have a positive impact on performance.

It may be worth it in a couple years when it's more compact and ubiquitous, but until then I don't mind manually trimming.

baldwin471

Grill wrote:

Di2 is fine, but I don't think it's worth the 800 pound premium I would have paid over 6700. For that I'd rather buy a nice set of aero wheels as it's actually an upgrade that would have a positive impact on performance.

It may be worth it in a couple years when it's more compact and ubiquitous, but until then I don't mind manually trimming.

I got the Canyon for a cracking deal. £1600 all in.

I agree with AlaPlage, i don't think i'll ever go back to mechanical shifting.

I don't think it looks that bad to be honest, certainly looks nicer than my 105 set.

fossyant

ALaPlage wrote:

I love the smooth changes when going up hill and at last Sundays Manchester 100 I was reminded of how effective this is as other riders around me changed gear and the crunching and banging that could be heard as they put their gearing under strain whereas the Di2 makes a little whirr and clicks into place.

Oh yes, all the crunching on each hill in the M100. Reminds me why I set my bikes up right, and the only thing you could hear from my 22 year old Dura Ace 7400 (down tube shifters) was click, click. :twisted:

Many folk can't set bikes up properly. I did see one DI2 Ultegra bike - may have been you.

dennisn

wellbeloved747 wrote:

There are some diss advantages though
Price
Water getting to electrics
remembering to recharge the battery.

However. I would like to try a di2 and compare it to a SRAM red

Price?? Sure it's a little high.
Water getting in??? Don't believe it for a minute. Car and motorcycle electronics have been around for years without water problems. Why would a simple bike system fail??
Remembering? I suppose, if you're one of those people who doesn't know what a low battery indicator light means.

baldwin471

dennisn wrote:

wellbeloved747 wrote:

There are some diss advantages though
Price
Water getting to electrics
remembering to recharge the battery.

However. I would like to try a di2 and compare it to a SRAM red

Price?? Sure it's a little high.
Water getting in??? Don't believe it for a minute. Car and motorcycle electronics have been around for years without water problems. Why would a simple bike system fail??
Remembering? I suppose, if you're one of those people who doesn't know what a low battery indicator light means.

Plus the only way to miss all the battery indications would be if you literally did nothing towards maintenance on your bike. You'd have to be seriously silly to not see the warnings.

blablablacksheep

i went for the canyon SLX and very pleased with it, the speed that you can get from the bike is great and the dura ace tbh is perfectly fine for myself, ok the DI2 is great no dout but personally i just dont like the thought of having to replace things that i dont completely understand and couldnt replace myself. :P

nice bike though we need to spam the "your road bike" section with our canyon pictures..