New Bike - It's here!

[MojoGrrl]

Love the colors!

[indysteel]

Neato, Dogmama! She's gorgeous!

[nscrbug]

What an awesome bike, Dogmama! Please give a review of the Ui2. I just ordered my new custom Ti Seven with Ui2, and I'm very anxious to hear about it. My bike probably won't be ready for at least another 5-6 weeks, so I will live vicariously through you. I decided on the Ui2 because I've been having terrible hand issues (numbing/pain/tingling) over the last 2 years with my standard Ultegra 6700 gruppo. I had contemplated Campy Chorus, but my fitter seemed to think that with my extensive hand issues, that I would benefit much more with the electronic shifting. When I tried it out, I immediately loved it...but that was just playing with it in the shop and not actually riding around using it. Just curious...where did they mount your battery pack? Seven wants to mount mine on the chainstay, but I'm not sure I want it there because that's where my Garmin cadence sensor is located. Is yours mounted on the seattube in the pic? Would it be too much trouble to request a closeup pic of where the battery is mounted? Thanks!

Congrats! Now get out and enjoy that bike!

Linda

[Catrin]

VERY nice and the colors are just awesome!

[eofelis]

Very pretty!

[Penny4]

Congratulations! It is a beautiful bike!

Ummmm, not to sound stupid, but how do electronic shifters work?

[Pax]

Congratulations! It is a beautiful bike!

Ummmm, not to sound stupid, but how do electronic shifters work?

I asked the guy at the LBS that exact same question today, he said "don't ever ride a bike with it unless you're prepared to buy it, you'll never go back to regular shifting again". He said a small computer monitors/controls the shifting process (done by touching a button rather than moving a lever), it's supposed to be insanely cool.

[Dogmama]

Just curious...where did they mount your battery pack? Seven wants to mount mine on the chainstay, but I'm not sure I want it there because that's where my Garmin cadence sensor is located. Is yours mounted on the seattube in the pic? Would it be too much trouble to request a closeup pic of where the battery is mounted? Thanks!
Linda

I tried to get a picture, but my camera battery died. I'll send one. They mounted the battery pack on my bottom bracket. I'm not crazy about that but it looks like the seals are very tight, so we'll see. When I go back for it's 30 day check up, I'm going to quiz the mechanic again. He went to the factory school for the Ui2, so he should know what he's doing. It may be a space issue too. The bike is 50CM, so that doesn't leave a lot of room. Linda, can they mount it on the other chainstay??

Penny, one of the things that is supposed to be neato about electronic shifting is that you no longer have cables that stretch. The shifting is done with electronic wires. So, theoretically, it should always be right on. If you forget the charge the battery (it's supposed to be good for 500 miles, depending on how much you shift) the front derailleur will slow down but you'll still have your rear gears, so your quads won't freak out.

The colors are hard to catch. They are a deep purple and a forest green. Two colors I'd never put together, but DH, my style & color go-to, picked it out online.

AZfiddle - just got your message, hope you're having fun!

For all who are interested, I found this on the web. It's a pretty good story with illustrations on electronic shifting.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/08/10/...o-tech-report/

We're going out for our maiden voyage this morning, so I'll be sending a complete report. But for now, here's something I strongly recommend if/when you get electronic shifting. Here's my disclaimer - I'm NOT mechanically minded at all.

Make certain that the mechanic, or somebody is the shop KNOWS about this technology. The guy who fitted me was good, but unfamiliar & the shop owner & mechanic were gone. When I asked about how to remove the battery, charge & check it, etc. they told me, "Oh, the instructions are in the box. " Nope. You get the standard, circa 2008 manual. I had to go online. Found a U-tube video that showed how to remove the battery & other info on how to check it (it's terribly technical - you slightly depress one of the shifters & a small little box lights up green, blinking green, red or whatever to tell you the amount of charge you have.) I will say that I am a bit miffed - for this money I'd think they'd have somebody who could show me this stuff but I guess I need to pull my head out of the previous century.

More later!

[Owlie]

Is the shifting done with levers, or a button, because you've still got that secondary lever? (Or is that just aesthetics?)

[AppleTree]

Isn't it true that you can ride faster on a pretty bike??

And that IS a pretty bike!!

[nscrbug]

Is the shifting done with levers, or a button, because you've still got that secondary lever? (Or is that just aesthetics?)

Owlie...the second lever is really just for "looks". The "buttons" are located on the sides of the levers. To go into a higher gear, you simply touch the button on the inside lever and to go into a lower gear, you touch the button on the side of the brake lever. It really is cool and I cannot wait until my bike is ready. I played around with Ui2 extensively in my LBS, and I am SO looking forward to never having to worry about a mis-shift or my painful, numb hands not being able to move the levers all the way. My DH and my fitter, think that electronic shifting will be a Godsend for me.

[Penny4]

Sounds a little bit like going from a stick shift car to an automatic....
Enjoy!

[Dogmama]

Owlie...the second lever is really just for "looks". The "buttons" are located on the sides of the levers. To go into a higher gear, you simply touch the button on the inside lever and to go into a lower gear, you touch the button on the side of the brake lever.

NSCR-the one that I "demo'd" was buttons also. But the actual set up is like the Shimano type shifters. The Ultegra has small levers but they push so easily that there might be a 1 inch throw to them, that's all. And the amount you have to push is like if you stroked a cat's ear - just about that amount of pressure.

[Owlie]

Owlie...the second lever is really just for "looks". The "buttons" are located on the sides of the levers. To go into a higher gear, you simply touch the button on the inside lever and to go into a lower gear, you touch the button on the side of the brake lever. It really is cool and I cannot wait until my bike is ready. I played around with Ui2 extensively in my LBS, and I am SO looking forward to never having to worry about a mis-shift or my painful, numb hands not being able to move the levers all the way. My DH and my fitter, think that electronic shifting will be a Godsend for me.

Ah. The levers are there to show that it's not low-end parts!

[Seajay]

Love the color scheme. Is it an H3 frame?
I can't think of an actual moving lever on the DuraAce Di2. Just two buttons for each side. Sounds like the Ultegra is a tad different. Waiting until March for mine to be available...Please let us know how you like it.