Is DI2 worth it?
Lovey 1
Posts: 3
I'm looking at upgrading my bike and within budget are some with Ultegra DI2 as standard. What are everyone's thoughts. Go Di2 or maybe something with Dura Ace groupset. My concern is really about the maintenance position with DI2.
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On a TT bike, definitely. On a road bike DA9000 is the way to go.English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg0
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Plenty of people rave about it, but if I was upgrading I would choose dura ace mechanical over udi2 any day of the week"It never gets easier, you just go faster"0
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hi, i currently have Di2 and have to say its faultless, nothing to worry about maintenance wise, infact less than mechcanical in my experiance. just charge the battery every 1000k and your good0
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If you're loaded and love it, get it.
If not, wait till it gets cheaper. (You'll be able to get Tiagra Di2 one day....!)
(I am currently having a love affair with my new DA 9000).0 -
Put it like this, you won't be disappointed. Perfect shifting everytime with little hand movement and fast too. It's not for everyone but it gets my vote.0
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Having just got it on my new Wyndymilla i absolutely love it - clearly its like chalk and cheese over the 105 group i had before.
As per the above, if you have the money do it.
If you dont Mechanical 9000 is unlikely to leave you disapointed.0 -
Lets face it, for many of the people on here (and I include myself firmly in this category) Tiagara probably offers the best value Groupset. We'll never match up the over performance and longevity of anything more expensive.
It is only vanity and oneupmanship which encourages us to spend more money than necessary.
Is Di2 worth it?
Absolutely feckin' not but when it gets to a certain price, I'll buy it!
(I would prefer DA mechanical though. Electronics are fine for computer gadgets but not bicycles IMHO).0 -
I was in Italy in May in a bike hotel. They had a tour group there with top of the range bikes - Serottas I think and Campag electronic. Nobody could ride them though as the batteries needing charging first. Just for that I'm out.
When I press my manual gears - it changes. If it goes wrong I can fix it.
With electronic - if it goes wrong - it would be back to the shop.0 -
I had the same dilema when I bought my custom build S-Works. I opted for DA9000 as I wanted the top groupset and not the second tier Di2.
If I could have afforded it at the time of purchase I would have gone for the DA9070.
My decision for getting DA9000 was that I could upgrade to DA9070 in the future and move the DA9000 to my second bike.0 -
Thanks all. As this is a real treat to myself i have bit the bullit and broke the bank. DI2 loaded Canyon was ordered this morning....now the wait.....0
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I have it on my Jamis Nova Pro and was happy with it but it had a few niggles, i think maybe due to a slightly bent hanger then I got it on my Canyon AeRoad and I can honestly say i am really pleased with it and I am sure you will be to
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Di2 for me, I think a £2000 groupset shouldn't need a mechanical trim on the LH shifter - just my opinion! If your a purist though, mechanical.. although you should probably not be riding a bike with derailleurs either.
I think the new dura-ace finish looks cheap too... so I'd include Sram Red as a contender as well.0 -
People who slate Di2 dont have it or they cant afford it and so therefore put it down. Most of them havent even used it properly, just flicked the odd switch on a demo bike in a shop.
But the fact is, Di2 far outweighs anything mechanical. Ive used Ultegra and Dura Ace mechanical and none of them have come close to Di2. Name me one benefit of mechanical over Di2. There arent any. People who talk price are talking b*llocks, as the ongoing cost of having to change cables and moving parts on mechanical soon catch up with you.
Fact is, Di2 is quicker to shift, easier with maintenance (ie, there isnt any) and always shifts, every time. Theres none of this 'false shifting' you get with mechanical shifters. When you press the buttons it just works.
The only people slating Di2 are the people who are stuck in the past with some magical, mythical fairytale illusion that cable gearing is better simply because its been around longer. Its purely attachment.
Electronic shifting is here now and its better than mechanical, end of.0 -
I have had Di2 for over a year now and it works faultlessly, no issues around battery charging, lasts months on each charge, and is easy to charge between rides.
Is it worth it?
If I could go back in time I wouldn't buy it again
I am not competent enough for it to make that much difference, so I would have saved the money, or bought a better frame
That's my honest opinion0 -
EPO Delivery Man wrote:People who slate Di2 dont have it or they cant afford it and so therefore put it down. Most of them havent even used it properly, just flicked the odd switch on a demo bike in a shop.
But the fact is, Di2 far outweighs anything mechanical. Ive used Ultegra and Dura Ace mechanical and none of them have come close to Di2. Name me one benefit of mechanical over Di2. There arent any. People who talk price are talking b*llocks, as the ongoing cost of having to change cables and moving parts on mechanical soon catch up with you.
Fact is, Di2 is quicker to shift, easier with maintenance (ie, there isnt any) and always shifts, every time. Theres none of this 'false shifting' you get with mechanical shifters. When you press the buttons it just works.
The only people slating Di2 are the people who are stuck in the past with some magical, mythical fairytale illusion that cable gearing is better simply because its been around longer. Its purely attachment.
Electronic shifting is here now and its better than mechanical, end of.
I have tried it and it's very good, works a treat. Personally, I've never slagged it off.
Have YOU tried DA 9000? Because if not, then maybe you should reserve judgement until you do. It's excellent.
As for price, are cables really going to cost you £1000 plus? No, not really, so the price gap is big, it's there and it's real.
I do not get any 'false' shifting. It just works, and very well. One benefit of mechanical? I will never have to worry/think about a flat battery. I also think the big derailleurs are pig ugly.
When I upgraded from DA7900, I thought long and hard about Di2, and it was a close run thing, but in the end I went 9000, and I'm glad I did - the money saved will get me another set of Mavic Ultimates.
For me, the difference is shift quality between 9000 and Di2 is extremely marginal, and I'd rather spend the cash elsewhere.0 -
^^ what he said.
I would buy cable every time. Yes, maybe electronic shifts marginally better, but cables work well enough and in the long run will be cheaper to run than electronic systems. And no problems with batteries, dodgy connections etc. which will start to occur with the electronic systems once they have been in use for 3 or 4 years.
I can easily afford it by the way, I just don't see the point.0 -
By the title of the post I assume the question is whether a Shimano Electronic Groupset is worth it over a Shimano Mechanical Groupset. Firstly, they are both pig ugly as is all the current Shimano gear. So, best to compare it just on mechanical vs electronic.
I believe some people who are incapable of spotting a cable problem because their brains don't work mechanically and they go to their bike shop for anything and everything to do with their bike could benefit from electronic. If you don't fall into that group the benefits of electronic aren't really there. I didn't see all the people riding mechanical groupsets this season coming in behind all those using electronic. There is no performance advantage (apart from to some people who are not mechanically sympathetic with their front shifting, it can help these people).
So, it helps people who can't maintain bikes and aren't very good at shifting. If you are like that, it might be worth it to you.... and let's face it there are a lot of people that fall into one or both of these groups who could perceivably benefit a little in the ways mentioned.
(as said further up, the TT benefit of having two positions you can shift from are real, BUT are very small, and for the average TT'er will make no real difference for the spend made)0 -
I'm sure Di2 is fantastic but DA mechanical is the pinnacle of years and years of refinement. 95% of riders won't be fast or powerful enough to warrant having anything better than DA mechanical. Ultegra Di2 is comparatively pretty heavy too (if you care about that kind of thing). I would rather DA mechanical over ultegra electronic personally, but it would be a close call. Don't just think about the initial cost of the groupset, think about the cost of replacing a Di2 rear mech if you inevitably crash!0
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Does anyone know where you can find the definitive differences between the shimano groupsets? the tech docs don't give anything away and the shimano site just quotes loads of numbers, just interested in the engineering differences between sora and say dura-ace in mechs, shifter internals etc0
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What is lever throw like when shifting?
I am currently sram red 2012 black edition and considering upgrading to a new bike.
1 thing I hated with previous versions of shimano was the long throw compared to what I have now. I am considering moving to red 22 or ultegra di2 but would consider DA 9000 if the throw was nice and tight.
The other thing I don't like is the trimming on the front downshift. It's not the time I would want to be pressing the lever twice as you are usually under a bit more pressure when downshifting such as hitting a climb or something. Maybe I misunderstand this but it is one of the attractions of di2 or yaw fd on red 22.0 -
I'm currently researching groupsets at the minute and have this dilemna. I don't really need di2 and it's ugly and a hassle to install but On the other hand I really can't have an 11sp group as I was all my wheels to work on the training bike tt bike and race bike.
A couple of ham fisted front shifts cost me dearly this year too so guess it's between 2013 sram red or ultegra di2!0 -
Welsh_sheep wrote:Ultegra Di2 is comparatively pretty heavy too (if you care about that kind of thing).
It is a gut busting 50g heavier than Ultegra mechanical... or about two sips of your drink bottle.Welsh_sheep wrote:I would rather DA mechanical over ultegra electronic personally, but it would be a close call. Don't just think about the initial cost of the groupset, think about the cost of replacing a Di2 rear mech if you inevitably crash!
Two points: First, Di2 has crash protection built in which will avoid any damage in many crash situations. No mechanical system has that. Second, how much is a DA9000 rear mech?
The battery is not a disadvantage. You have a battery level indicator. If you can't recharge a battery that is flashing 50% full at the end of your ride, then your carer should not let you to play with bicycles in the first place.
EPO deliveryman has it. Di2 is the future.Boardman Elite SLR 9.2S
Boardman FS Pro0 -
Bar Shaker wrote:
Two points: First, Di2 has crash protection built in which will avoid any damage in many crash situations. No mechanical system has that. Second, how much is a DA9000 rear mech?
The battery is not a disadvantage. You have a battery level indicator. If you can't recharge a battery that is flashing 50% full at the end of your ride, then your carer should not let you to play with bicycles in the first place.
EPO deliveryman has it. Di2 is the future.
Does a Di2 rear mech have an airbag built in then? Neat! Just what it needs when it's sliding down the road at 30mph with 70kg on top of it.
Price is £455 vs. £140, so quite a chunk of wedge then.
OK so take battery off bike. Bring it inside. Shout to wife ' Have you seen my Di2 charger?' Eventually find said charger, charge battery. Wait. Wait. Jump on bike for next ride. Curse. Go back and get battery. Install it. Go out for ride.
Mechanical = none of the above.
Yes Di2 probably is the future, but let's not get too carried away.......0 -
Ultegra mechanical is relatively heavy so saying Di2 is only a bit heavier isn't that impressive. A mate who was at a control on this years LEL had two requests for a Di2 charger mid ride so clearly there is an issue there at least for some people. I'm sure there are some marginal gains to be had with electronic shifting but for the extra cost, weight and for some people hassle it's not a no brainer.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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Charging and battery life is a pretty insignificant. I haven't charged my di2 battery for 8 or 9 months and I ride and shift a lot due to hilly conditions.
People seem perfectly happy to charge mobile phones every day or two! I'm sure we can deal with a di2 battery every blue moon.tick - tick - tick0 -
2014 Ultegra Di with the internal battery is actually very marginally lighter than the mechanical version, so the weight argument is neither here nor there. It is really a matter of personal preference and cost. I suspect a few years down the line most road bikes over £2500 will have both electronic shifting and disc brakes and we will be wondering what all the fuss was about. Personally I am not quite convinced yet about disc brakes on road bikes, but I have just ordered a new bike with 2014 Di.0
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A quick check online shows weight difference between ultegra di2 and dura ace mechanical to be between 300 and nearly 500 g. Those are the two options the OP is comparing (and are comparable cost wise).
Not ultegra mechanical..
Just sayin'0 -
metronome wrote:Charging and battery life is a pretty insignificant. I haven't charged my di2 battery for 8 or 9 months and I ride and shift a lot due to hilly conditions.
People seem perfectly happy to charge mobile phones every day or two! I'm sure we can deal with a di2 battery every blue moon.
IMHO it would probably be better to have to charge it every couple of rides. Its the having to only charge every few months that means that people will tend to forget all about it...........the night before a big ride.
Its a great TOY, but worth it as a justifiable purchase; probably not.
Buy what YOU want. By all means ask peoples opinions to help decide what ultimately you WANT but the laws of deminishing returns applies here.
Oh and all modern Shimano stuff is butt ugly in mechanical or Di2 and vastily inferior to Campagnolo, obviously Coach H. (Dont ask me for training advice - 'It's not about the bike')0
