Originally Posted by
embankmentlb
Electronic shifting will evolve like index shifting evolved. People questioned why we needed index shifting in the mid-1980's I can shift fine without index shifting. Index shifting will be a pain in the @$$ to keep working. We all worked through that & lived to tell about it. Suntour didn't & Campagnolo almost didn't but that is another story. Electronic shifting will probably take years to work out all the bugs & find it's own direction....
I still don't need indexed shifting. What has made the difference with Ergo and SIS is not the indexing but the ability to shift while standing. The shifting is right up there on the brake hoods where your hands are when you're up out of the saddle. It is just total fun on the Niagara Escarpment rollers we have around here. Doing a double shift so you don't stall while standing together up a short 12% grade, and knowing it'll work, every time....priceless!
But for a long self-supported tour I'd go back to down-tube friction shifting for total reliability.
As for excitement, the only thing that excites me is that soon it will be spring and Susan and I will be going out riding together again any week now....
