Originally Posted by Debusama

I’m building a bike right now and have gone with mechanical shifting. With any new technology, there is a period of rapidly falling prices and improvements. Now, an HDTV sells for about half the price that what is basically the same thing sold for 5-years ago when HD was the new thing. If the bicycle industry is indeed moving toward electronic shifting the way that TVs moved to HD, 8 – 10 years from now when I decide to replace my bike’s drive train, I am confident that there will be new/improved/lighter versions available at prices that mechanical systems sell for now. I’m perfectly willing to forgo the novelty of being one of the first people to get the new thing in exchange for not having to overpay to be the test guinea pig for a new technology.