Originally Posted by patentcad

Why? Not because it doesn't work. It does. But it's the question nobody asked, and even if they did and this stuff is all that (I hear it is), it's not an answer people are willing to pay a $1000+ premium for. You don't see it too much in the pros. As great as it may work, it just seems to introduce a new pointless complexity to an already complex arrangement. Batteries and electronics on bikes that race in the cold, hot, wet and dusty crashed laced conditions of pro and amateur racing? For huge incremental premium price? All so the shifts can happen 1/50th of a second faster and crisper?

I am the Schwag Junkie Bar None here, and I have no interest in this stuff. What does that tell you?

I have no doubt Shimano didn't R&D this crap to have it sit in bike shop cases. I'm confident the price will drift downwards. I'm confident there will be an Ultegra version soon for less than half that premium. I have to tell you, that even if the price were the same, I'd have a hard time convincing myself I wanted the needless complexity and potential fail factor for what appears to be minimal benefits.

You want to move shifting to the next level? Hubs with lightweight internal gears and wireless electronic shifting. That would confer some real advantages that external gears and derailleurs don't deliver.

I'm sure that ten years from now that's what may be prevalent on pro bikes. I'll be in the 65+ and you will all Rue the Day.