Originally Posted by
Marcus_Ti
You should read many of the rants online about electronic shifting. Specifically updating firmware to enable features. It is plain and simply a nightmare, with more exceptions to rules than rules. And to make matters even better, the official documentation from Shimano (I've read it to help a roadie mate with Di2 firmware) is laughably horrendous and unmaintained (the manuals for E-Tube have not been updated since 2012). The software toolset for Di2 for example is written for .Net 3 and no later. To put that in perspective, you need an unpatched un-updated Windows machine from 2008 (IIRC) just to run the Di2 toolset according to Shimano's own instructions.
And to make matters better, Shimano has been through firmware updates bricking people's setups to force them to buy entire new gruppos and not just parts.
Very little downside. My. Foot. After a long while helping the roadie mate figure out how to update his Di2 firmware, I promised myself I'd always stay with mech shifting.
The counterpoint is many with electric shifting don't struggle with your problems and love it. Btw, I am a fan of mechanical shifting. So your argument reminds me of the vast sea of computer users that always get laden down with computer issues whereas others a bit more enlightened or even lucky don't have these issues and the benefit of a PC far exceeds its downside or not having one. Basically your view is somewhat of a luddite which btw has some credence. Technology can be a slippery slope. Keep in mind, electric shifting is in its infancy. Ten years from now it will only get better...just like mechanical index shifting has...and brakes...and wheels....and frames...and saddles...and handlebars....and helmets....everything in fact.
What will be an even more slippery slope will be wireless electric shifting. There is a reason that Sram and Shimano haven't already released it. Not easy to get it just right and will probably take 5 more years after it is released.