electronic Dura Ace

[ridebikeme]

Ahhh Oakleaf, I remember the old Mavic electronic system... generally worked fairly well as long as the mechanic was patient and simply took their time with it.

AS for the new systems, whether there is chain rub on the front derailleur or not there definitely is still some crosschain wear that will happen. I do think that we'll see Shimano and the Campy systems on more bikes, but until the price has dropped quite a bit... I can't see it being something that we'll see most of the time. But, only time will tell...

Batteries definitely are something that will need to be watched, but I don't think will cause a lot of issues. If you're travelling, then you'll simply need to bring the charger.

Will you see one on my bike(s)? No, I would rather spend the additional money on a new frame, wheels and continue to run CAmpy on all of my bikes... but just a personal preference.

I am glad to hear all of you talking about it though... our shop will run specials on the systems in the spring if interested.


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[redrhodie]

This can help people who can't shift due to arthritis, which is really cool. I read somewhere recently about an older man, I think in his 90s, who put this on his bike for that reason.

I didn't mention in my OP that I initially thought the bike would shift by itself, like an automatic transmission. I rode it around the block, then went back to the shop to tell them I thought it didn't do anything. Doh! I can't believe they let me live that one down.

[Seajay]

Sounds like the car makers aren't the only ones dealing with consumer's "range anxiety"
It will be interesting if the bike industry takes this on as a concern or treats it the same as they have with shifting opposite directions on front and rear. "Get used to it"

With our gas cars and our cell phones we have learned to read the gauge and plan for our intended trip. 1/4 tank? 20 miles no need to fill up. 200 miles? better fill up.
On bikes, do we often head out for a 20 miler and end up doing 200? Not really. It will just take some time to adjust our thinking.

I had not heard of the discharge while not riding issue. Hopefully this is a problem with that particular unit. I can't imagine any company would expect us to deal with a LiIon battery self discharging in only a few weeks.
But the bike industry works in strange ways sometimes.

Ah yes, I remember Mavic ZAP too. Balky stuff but the sexiest crankset ever.

[Dogmama]

Apparently there is a way to check the battery before you ride. Recharge takes 90 minutes and from what I read, if it goes dead, you still have the back derailleurs. Wonder if you can just pop a new one in if you don't have time to recharge before a ride?

[Seajay]

I'll have mine in March. Will do all I can to run the battery dead and report back here.

[nscrbug]

I too, have decided that my next bike will most definitely have Ultegra Di2. My hand strength is awful, so I'm looking forward to effortless shifting.

[sarahkonamojo]

Very cool.
But I am still waiting to afford a new road bike. The electronics would be a much longer wait. Best to let the leading/bleeding edge work out the technological issues.
S

[Dogmama]

Very cool.
But I am still waiting to afford a new road bike. The electronics would be a much longer wait. Best to let the leading/bleeding edge work out the technological issues.
S

I've never been a Shimano fan but the mechanic at the LBS tells me that Shimano works out the bugs before they go public. He went to a workshop on the new electronic shifting & says the Ultegra is actually better than the DuraAce because they've made some improvements and don't have to recoup the R&D costs (thus it's about $2K cheaper). He said the Shimano electronics are head & shoulders above the others - who are basically just rushing to get to market.

He says the battery should last 500 hours. You know when it's getting low (in case you didn't check or haven't recharged in awhile) because the shifting gets slower.

[laura*]

He said the Shimano electronics are head & shoulders above the others - who are basically just rushing to get to market.

What "others"? Right now there's only Campagnolo's just released EPS system. They've supposedly been working on it for 20 years! Also supposedly, Campagnolo had an earlier version in pre-production several years ago, but pulled it because it wasn't perfect.