Is DI2 worth it?

cycleclinic

I am not sure if electronic shifting is the future lets not get to carried away. Di2 s great if you have the cash to buy in the first place and replace the parts when they go worng. If you don't have that sort of cash then mechanical should be your thing. Also obselence may be a issue in a few year with a lack of replacement parts I mean how long will 7970 parts be available for. Again this is not an issue for some but those people have deeper pockets than I.

Also you can flawless gear shifting with mechanical setups I do. Di2 will suit the fit and forget user who does not like fettling with gears and does not trust the LBS to do it either.

Also it suits the riders who are really gadet addicts, nowt wrong with that it keeps people employed making those gadgets.

Bar Shaker

bernithebiker wrote:

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.

Not quite an airbag but is disconnects internally in an impact so the force of hitting the road/something does not break anything inside.

bernithebiker wrote:

Price is £455 vs. £140, so quite a chunk of wedge then.

A full set of Di2 levers, derailuers, cables, battery, charger etc can be bought for £600. The same kit and cables for mechanical Ultegra isn't much cheaper, mechanical DA9000 ancilliaries are probably more expensive (I haven't looked).

700c wrote:

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).

Almost all of that difference is in the cogs and calipers. I use 2013 SRAM Force cogs (the same as 2012 Red) with my Di2 shifters, this saves almost 300g over Ultegra cogs. If I had selected 2013 Red or DA, the weight would have been comparable with mechanical DA. Weight of the Di2 parts of the groupset is not an issue.

Spudboy

I did a 100 mile sportive on a loan bike with Ultegra Di2. The shifts were excellent but I felt strangely divorced from the whole gear shifting, best way I can describe it is similar to the difference in feeling between a manual and auto car gear change. Also, the guy I was riding with had the same Di2 set up which failed to shift across the cassette mid-ride after hitting a pot hole. None of the mechanics at the feed zones could help but turns out after a return to the LBS a wire to the rear mech came lose.

IMHO there are positives to the elctrical shifing but it's by no means perfect and for me not worth the ££.

Coach H

Grill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Oh and all modern Shimano stuff is butt ugly in mechanical or Di2 and vastily inferior to Campagnolo, obviously

If only your front shifting was as nice as Dura Ace... :P

What Dura Ace shifts better than my Powershift Centaur? Away with you talking sense, you're not welcome here

I noticed you are not challenging the 'butt ugly' comment!!! :P

Grill

Coach H wrote:

Grill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Oh and all modern Shimano stuff is butt ugly in mechanical or Di2 and vastily inferior to Campagnolo, obviously

If only your front shifting was as nice as Dura Ace... :P

What Dura Ace shifts better than my Powershift Centaur? Away with you talking sense, you're not welcome here

I noticed you are not challenging the 'butt ugly' comment!!! :P

No point. There's little point in arguing aesthetics with Campag lovers as the cost of admission includes any rationality you may have left. :P

Bar Shaker

Grill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Grill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Oh and all modern Shimano stuff is butt ugly in mechanical or Di2 and vastily inferior to Campagnolo, obviously

If only your front shifting was as nice as Dura Ace... :P

What Dura Ace shifts better than my Powershift Centaur? Away with you talking sense, you're not welcome here

I noticed you are not challenging the 'butt ugly' comment!!! :P

No point. There's little point in arguing aesthetics with Campag lovers as the cost of admission includes any rationality you may have left. :P

Or you could mention the EPS front mech. Now that really is ugly.

Coach H

Bar Shaker wrote:

Grill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Grill wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Oh and all modern Shimano stuff is butt ugly in mechanical or Di2 and vastily inferior to Campagnolo, obviously

If only your front shifting was as nice as Dura Ace... :P

What Dura Ace shifts better than my Powershift Centaur? Away with you talking sense, you're not welcome here

I noticed you are not challenging the 'butt ugly' comment!!! :P

No point. There's little point in arguing aesthetics with Campag lovers as the cost of admission includes any rationality you may have left. :P

Or you could mention the EPS front mech. Now that really is ugly.

Now you have a valid point here but lets face it the Di2 front mech is hardly pretty

(At some point I may have to admit that my 1st proper groupset was Shimano 600, but that was when Shimano stuff was aesthetically pleasing and no-one could afford Campag)

spankwilder

thecycleclinic wrote:

I am not sure if electronic shifting is the future lets not get to carried away. Di2 s great if you have the cash to buy in the first place and replace the parts when they go worng. If you don't have that sort of cash then mechanical should be your thing. Also obselence may be a issue in a few year with a lack of replacement parts I mean how long will 7970 parts be available for. Again this is not an issue for some but those people have deeper pockets than I.

Also you can flawless gear shifting with mechanical setups I do. Di2 will suit the fit and forget user who does not like fettling with gears and does not trust the LBS to do it either.

Also it suits the riders who are really gadet addicts, nowt wrong with that it keeps people employed making those gadgets.

I think the electronics is going to play a big part of the future. Shimano for one could introduce a Tiagra Di2 to drop the price point further although they'll want to find a way of making it not possible to mix and match components.

Grill

You can mix/match many Di2 components (7970 is the only Di2 gruppo that doesn't use Etube) and it's also firmware updateable. Those who scaremonger around Di2 have no idea what they're on about.