Will Di2 levers/shifters work without being connected to battery?

StillGoing

Tetragrammaton1 wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

Tetragrammaton1 wrote:

You were wrong about what you said though, the Di2 system will leave you in whichever gear you were in when the cable failed, the mechanical one will put you in a different gear, that’s a significant difference, which I thought was well worth pointing out.

In the context of this thread it isn't significant in the slightest. The OP is clearly a bit dim, and Imposter's response was obviously intended to highlight that, not get into the technicalities of how Di2 works.



Your pedantry is not helpful in the slightest.

That depends on your point of view I guess. Maybe the OP is still around, maybe he now knows something new.

He'll have learnt that as well as his rear mech being put out of action, they'll also be in a much harder gear to contend with limping home with. :roll:

keef66

OK, different question:

If a Di2 system packs up mid ride for whatever reason, can you do anything to bodge it into an easier gear?

I've read a few CTC / Bear Grylls survival tips involving limit screws and bits of cable lashed up for mechanical systems, but is it possible to persuade a moribund Di2 rear mech?

Academic interest only at the moment; when (mechanical) stuff breaks on me mid ride I either fix it and continue, bodge it and limp home or phone for a lift. But one day soon I might get the nod for early retirement and the chance to raid my pension, at which point I may be considering a nice new bike with dynamo lighting, hydraulic discs and electronic shifting...

StillGoing

Ask another question; has it ever happened and if so, how often has it happened against the number of units sold. Sensible users check the battery charge before venturing out, but there may be some that take the risk. Its certainly one area where eTap has the advantage over Di2 in being able to switch the front and rear batteries around, but if eTap suffers a brain failure, I'm pretty sure its in the same ball park as Di2 and stuck in the gear it was in when it failed. You could of course just use the chain breaker, remove it from the rear derailleur and run as a single speed to get you home.


Confused why the forum wants to keep changing OF to have in the last sentence?

keef66

Well in 50 years of cycling I've broken one chain, one spoke, and a gear cable. I'm guessing the 'lectric stuff is more reliable than the mechanical. It's unlikely to be a factor in my purchasing decisions, it was more out of curiosity...

veronese68

philthy3 wrote:

Confused why the forum wants to keep changing OF to have in the last sentence?

About as off topic as some other responses so I'll plough on.
Usually when someone uses 'of' after 'could' it is an incorrect spelling of could've or could have. So a grammar pedant in the forum software has forced it to correct every use. Technically, I suppose, your use is slightly incorrect in that it should have commas. So your sentence should read you could, of course, do whatever the hell you please. But that is taking pedantry a bit far.
I added the commas around I suppose as I realised I could have been picked up on the lack of them. That would of been a case of hoisted by my own petard.
Presumably the forum will also correct my deliberate wrong use of 'of' after 'would'.

shirley_basso

I've run out of battery twice as I am useless at keeping it topped up.

First time I lost the FD which was no major bother. Second time the FD then RD went. The real damn is that as the FD is out, you then use the smallest sprocket at the rear to compensate. Then when the system completely dies, you're stuck in the 36x12 cog.

If I lived in the mountains I've have been stuffed unless I was already in the easiest gear. I do wonder if you can use the limit screw to force the RD to move up the block a bit.

To be fair to tetragramatron, if an RD cable snaps on a mechanical system, the RD drops to the smallest cog, regardless. In Di2 when the battery died, I was one up from the bottom cog when it gave up the ghost. If I had been in more rolling terrain, it may have been in an easier gear.

To the OP: What a stupid question.

cougie

From what I've seen electric failure is higher than mechanical.

I've snapped a chain or two in 35 years or so of cycling but never a gear or brake cable.

I don't think it's a high enough failure level to put you off unless you're riding in very isolated locations.

shirley_basso

Depends which brand of shifter. Shimano 9000 and 5800 series do have an issue of chewing cables up inside the shifter body. (No idea re: Ultegra, but I imagine similar). My commuter used to chew up one per year (5000 miles or so)

Agree, no reason to put you off at all.

First.Aspect

Veronese68 wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

Confused why the forum wants to keep changing OF to have in the last sentence?

About as off topic as some other responses so I'll plough on.
Usually when someone uses 'of' after 'could' it is an incorrect spelling of could've or could have. So a grammar pedant in the forum software has forced it to correct every use. Technically, I suppose, your use is slightly incorrect in that it should have commas. So your sentence should read you could, of course, do whatever the hell you please. But that is taking pedantry a bit far.
I added the commas around I suppose as I realised I could have been picked up on the lack of them. That would have been a case of hoisted by my own petard.
Presumably the forum will also correct my deliberate wrong use of 'of' after 'would'.

"could have, of course, used..." would have been correct.

The forum software will literally correct "bollocks" or "bull shit" but it can't manage to correct the grammatical crimes to which they are applied.

londonbairn

I've used DI2 for a few years now since the first DA 7970, I have R80xx DI2 as well as 6870. I use it commuting as well. Generally, better in my experience than mechanical as I have snapped gear cables a few times (I guess terrible weather plus commuting), plus the periodic re-indexing, whereas with Di2 have not had any failures or issues, just index and forget. I did experiment running the battery down to see what would happen for a leg of a commute. Charging isn't an issue, I just charge using a powerbank. It's also so quick and easy to install on a frame.

The downsides is why on earth has Shimano got a separate consumer interface and the separate dealer PCE1, should just be one unit (i bought a PCE1 in case as got one for cheap) and earlier additions of the app wasn't great; for example original firmware EWWU111 updating on the app would fail and you had to update a non conventional way. Also having to buy 7 or so cables @ 13 or so each, the battery should really have bluetooth built in and not having to buy another £60 part etc.