TheKillerPenguin

My question to you guys is, what features would you like it to have? I don't see the point in making shifting digital, but apparantly they're going to give it to us anyway. So...

I'd like e-shifting to come with a cadence sensor, and I'd like it to be programmable so that it automatically shifts whenever you get out of whatever you designate your sweet spot to be.

GuitarWizard

I'd like it to incorporate a Powermeter.

Godwin

32GB of SRAM.

Walleye

I'd like it to pedal the thing for me, fast.

haimtoeg

That, and ensure I still lose weight and enjoy improved fitness.

astrodaimler

LOL!
I'd like to have these features:
Wifi so it'll upload all my stats to my web page in real time
downloadble mp3's
2.5" LCD on top of stem (combination cyclometer, gps, and video music, and vids of the Tour de France whenever I want)
built in jack for my headset
small cameras fore and aft so people can see my ride on my web page
Don't laugh, it'll happen.

the beef

Some way to not run out of batteries.

seriouslysilly

how bout a small electric shock to the necessary leg muscles to have it contract and go faster.
it'll be like a nitrous oxide boost for cars

you know, that thing that bruce lee used for his physique

Uncle Fester

Simply putting a nitrous bottle on the bike with a tube leading to a nasal cannula would be a big help...

aMull

That's actually a very good idea

TheKillerPenguin

I'd put them on my nipples and do this:

Snuffleupagus

The cadence shifting thing would rock.

urbanknight

So you want a perpetual motion machine? No problem, but in that case let's hook it up to the pedals to fullfill the requirements listed above.

recursive

Will it be able to tell if I'm standing or sitting or softpedalling?

No thanks.

rufvelo

As in Formula1 gearboxes, there could be a race among Shimano, Campy and SRAM , to complete shifts in milliseconds!

the beef

You know what'd be cool? A bike with a continuous variable transmission..

Imagine "These shifters are designed to be only used with speed cassettes.."

operator

Something to be said about fixed gear or single speeds.

eippo1

But didn't Mavic try this with the Mektronic and it failed miserably b/c everyone thought it was stupid?

rm -rf

I still think electronic shifting is dumb. But with enough sensors, and computerization, it could help.

If it knows where the cassette ramps are, it could wait to move the derailleur until the ramps are coming around. You could upshift 3 or 4 gears, and it could do one at a time quickly. The next gear wouldn't shift until it was engaged on the one below solidly. This way, the chain wouldn't be stressed so much.

A sensor on the front derailleur could wait for the pins before moving. And you could get automatic trimming, since it knows which gear on the cassette is in use. And it would shift triples correctly.

So you just need a paddle, like a Formula One car, to shift up or down. Even half step gearing would work, where the front and back both have to shift to get the next highest gear.

Or like previous posters said, you could program it to upshift automatically in a sprint. It could wait until you let off the torque just enough to make the shift possible. But it still seems like a paddle switch would be better, and it could be located down in the drops.

Automatics in cars work good now, but I still have a stick shift.

urbanknight

^ Automatic cars work WELL. Good isn't an adverb. Please pass this on to the world, and my 7th grade students if you see them.

Snuffleupagus

https://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/good.html

Pedantic-Man to the rescue.

Long ride, achy knee and a sunburn earlier today combined with noodling around not wanting to respond to the stupid, vapid, poorly written, repetitive, and oh-so-boring discussion board posts for one of my online classes leads to digging up stuff like that...

curveship

pr0n

worked for the internets

urbanknight

Thanks! I bookmarked it to use for later, both on students and ignorant posts. I am pretty sure well is both an adverb and an adjective, though, so they should update that.

Based on recent ipod threads, I can now see the posts in bikeforums by the year 2012:

topic: What kind of pron do you look at while riding?
response: Riding with pron is very dangerous, unless you only have one screen on so you can keep your other eye on the road. Even then, the rider can't see car's turn signals as well and is a danger to us all, just like those rollerbladers on the bike path who are now watching porn and listening to their ipod while taking up the whole patch. rant rant rant.

froze

No it's the next WORST thing, not the next best thing. Think about it, more stuff to go wrong, batteries could die on a ride and leave you shift out of luck, and more difficult and more expensive to repair when it does break. Next thing they'll do after the electronic shifting is computerize it with sensors so if it breaks you have to take to your LBS's technician so he can hook your bike up to a scanner...does all this sound familar to any of you? hmmmmmmmm....oh, that's right, our freakin cars we can't repair ourselves anymore because the manufactures don't want the backyard wrench to fix their own car anymore they want you to take it to the shop so you can spend more money and that money will go back into their economy-just not your economy! It appears the biking industry is slowly learning from the auto industry.

PS: just as I have now converted all my cars over to older cars-pre 80's (that I can fix myself) instead of post 2000's as of last month because of expensive repair hassles, not being able to find a mechanic that knew what they were doing except to replace parts until the problem was corrected, not too mention major depreciation you get hit with on a newer car; thus I will never buy any bike with electronic shifting.

Brian

Anyone recall Shimano AirLines? Or how about a titanium Nuvinci?