Electronic Groupsets.....good idea or utterly pointless for most people ?

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Sadly the Geek shall inherit the earth

Change is inevitable, not always good.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

I'm not saying I want Di2, but would like to try it so I can make an informed decision. I will probably stick with cables, but you never know.

 

[Russell]

There is a second hand, 15 year old cassette for sale on this site for best part of £100 but people are willing to spend daft amounts of cash on old bikes and old bike parts because… y’know, nostalgia!

It’s not the price of modern, latest tech components that baffles me.

Electronic shifting is the future for all the reasons others have given on this thread.

 

[d8mok]

There is a second hand, 15 year old cassette for sale on this site for best part of £100 but people are willing to spend daft amounts of cash on old bikes and old bike parts because… y’know, nostalgia!

It’s not the price of modern, latest tech components that baffles me.

Electronic shifting is the future for all the reasons others have given on this thread.

Your gonna have anarchy with comments like that

 

[pigman]

Electronic gearing sounds great. It probably is great, but cannot comment at first hand, as Ive never used it.

I ride with guys who have electric gearing. For those who are regular, hard core riders, it works great - lovely, smooth and seamless. However, its not idiot proof for those hoping inexperienced wifey can now change gear like a pro. A couple of the guys are fairly new to cycling, they've got the kit, but seem to crunch their electric gears when they shift, esp. when its a desperate, legs-gone shift.

Only yesterday i was pointed to an article where it suggested despite the post-Wiggins popularity of cycling, it seems we are now back to a decline. Now there could be many reasons for this , but one Ineos pro articulately suggested list of reasons/excuses. One of those reasons was the cost being a barrier to entry, seconded by the lack of choice/stocks by the retailers. Currently, there is very little choice when buying a new bike. Websites like Ribble point you to their "Bikebuilder" site where its all modern, high level stuff. Bikeshops now seem to be brand led like car dealership franchises, and only this week, I called into a Trek shop to see one bike at £9k, another at about £5k, then a fairly mediocre road bike for about £1500 and then some sub £1k hybrids for those wanting a cheap road bike. That was it for roadbikes. I didnt look at ebikes, nor mountain bikes, as that's not my sector. So, it seems unless i spend more than i would for a car, i'm not going to get a new bike.

I am a self-confessed technophobe, so will continue to want cable shifting, dont need more than 9 or 10 sprockets and want rim brakes, as it all works cheaply, to my satisfaction and i have the ability to fix it.

Someone above said ...

4, If your mech is that knackered it fails, should have checked before you left. No sympathy.

True, but what if you're on tour and get rammed by a car, slide on diesel, (name any no-fault-of-you-own-incident) where the mech takes a battering.

 

[FluffyChicken]

OK the negatives as I see them....and this is a discussion thread remember so I am not looking to argue or squabble, just light hearted discussion:
1. Very expensive when compared to existing mechanical technology which has been refined and perfected over decades to the point that even entry level mechanical is pretty impressive and slick
2. Manufacturer specific, so you cant mix and match components from different manufacturers and different decades
3. Requires recharging so would not really be suitable for long tours to remote areas
4. Replacement parts availability, so how would you get on replacing a rear changer while on tour in say Mexico, India or even the West Coast of Scotland ?
5. Dependant on Firmware which needs manufacturer support
6. Extra buttons, Auto trim, integration with smartphones etc. seem pretty trivial advantages that dont offset the disadvantages (for me at least)
7. Easy set up is a claimed advantage, but just how hard is it for somebody with even basic mechanical aptitude to get a mechanical system working sweetly ?, a quick twist of a barrel, a tiny tweak of a limit screw....job done

1) So are the other top end groupsets.
2) you cannot mix and match campag, sram and shimano mostly eg shifters different spec., different speed and chainrings from different decades, even wheels now.
3) charging as with anything can go solar, or dynamo or hand chargers etc. Depends how remote you wish to go and that not that common a use for a bike. It is an added faff. It's probably on an eBike anyway, so irrelevant ;-)
4) places will have them ask. Mexico, India and Scotland have shops., as with all the more there is the more there will be in stock. few places have parts you need anyway unless you order them. I popped in for a 26" tyre, they didn't have any.
5) There will no doubt be Open software version at some point, if not already and I think there are Di2 alternatives now.
6) Extra buttons? there are loads of things to alter on an normal mech setup. Just see the pain people have with front mechs, and shifting between cogs for rear mechs. You may be able to do it, loads of people pop it to a shop or ride with it skipping all over the place, or just in small at the back.
I don't know Di2 that much but the new SRAM Transmission seems to make it easy and much stronger to abuse.
7) see 6 above, it is very hard to a lot of people, if not the majority. Even people at Halfords.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

True, but what if you're on tour and get rammed by a car, slide on diesel, (name any no-fault-of-you-own-incident) where the mech takes a battering.

I would say you had bigger problems than the mech breaking imo.

 

[pigman]

There is a second hand, 15 year old cassette for sale on this site for best part of £100 but people are willing to spend daft amounts of cash on old bikes and old bike parts because… y’know, nostalgia!

but youre not forced to buy that to ride. There are £20 cassettes if you want to have a retro bike. Your example is a rich-man's toy.
But, if you want a new bike, your are FORCED to either ride crap if on a budget or spend many £ks

 

[Russell]

but youre not forced to buy that to ride. There are £20 cassettes if you want to have a retro bike. Your example is a rich-man's toy.
But, if you want a new bike, your are FORCED to either ride crap if on a budget or spend many £ks

No, no you are not. There are some incredible modern bikes for sale at prices far below the thousands of pounds oft touted by the OP.

And there are cheaper alternatives to the electronic shifting that ‘Rich men’ buy. Shimano just repositioned its groupsets to create ‘Cues’. There is commitment to support all budgets with quality kit for many many years to come.

 

[dorset boy]

Oh how i suffer riding to work on my downtube shifting 7 speed indexed bike Oh the agony of my 23 year old campy groupset that's still as good as the day i bought it. A mechanical bike should be the future, when everyone is banging on about saving the planet how can you lot condone Lithium and all that goes with it then the production of electricity to charge it etc etc. A bicycle is supposed to be the greenest form of transport but people being people the planet is f#cked anyway. But no doubt many of you will greenwash your own brains. I have got into my trench with helmet on waiting for the incoming .