rpenmanparker 

I do. Their stems and bars are light and excellent. Their top cranks, K-Force Light and SLK Light, are just that: top notch. No reason they could not offer a first class electronic groupset.

JohnJ80

I agree with you except about the eTap shifter. I often shift my FD and RD simultaneously on my Di2 bike, I would miss that on the eTap set up. I also like the certainty of knowing which gear I'm shifting to instead of a toggle. In that sense, to me the FSA system has an advantage in shifting.

I think it makes a lot of sense to get rid of the wires as much as possible between the shifter and the rest of the system. I think getting rid of the extra battery that eTap has to have being completely wireless is a good idea from a reliability perspective. I don't think the wire between the FD and RD is a big deal and dumping the battery is a good tradeoff.

That said, any of the elec systems are great and I think any of the wireless systems are a step forward.

I too am an EE. (FWIW)

J.

dr_lha

Fair enough. My only experience with their stuff was a cheap stem (fine) which I still use on my gravel grinder and the Gossamer Pro crankset that came on my cross bike which I would class as cheap crap.

GlennR

A dead battery means neither will work. The Sram batteries are interchangeable and a space weights only 24g. About the weight of a energy gel.

PepeM

So just bring a spare or two then.

link0

I would never pick FSA WE over eTap, but I'd definitely pick it up over Ultegra Di2, if they were the same price. It's about the same weight as Dura Ace Di2 and is mostly wireless.

High end FSA parts are not bad. It mostly because manufacturers throw on a random low end FSA crank doesn't match the rest of the bike, giving FSA a bad rep.

joejack951

You sound really bitter about international patents, and perhaps patents in general. Why is that so?

dr_lha

I personally would not, but that's mainly to do with the fact that WE remains unproven and unreviewed, whereas Di2 is fairly refined at this point. The benefit of not running wires from the shifters, but having to for the batteries and between the derailleurs is not massively obvious to me, compared to the benefits of a fully wireless system. Still for weight weenies, if this comes in at the weight of Dura Ace for a price competitive with Ultegra or less, that will clearly be a draw.

Yes, I assume this is why they're keen on having a full groupset. Then they can sponsor a team, and try to improve the image of the company from what it currently is: a supplier to cheap parts (rightly or wrongly).