Originally Posted by
Litespud
I as reading a thread recently - maybe here or on another site - where the OP was concerned about how he was going to install firmware updates onto his Di2, and the conversation progressed to wireless dongles, operating system compatibility, dragging the bike inside to be beside a computer etc etc. I ride my bike to get away from this crap. The beauty of the bike is, IMO, the mechanical simplicity. I assembled it, I maintain it and I diagnose it if something goes wrong. When the shifting is buttery smooth, that's me, not some software engineer at Shimano or SRAM. I also drive stick shift cars and wear a mechanical watch - that's just how I like it. Are these the most efficient? Probably not, but there's more to life than efficiency
I, on the other hand, am much more comfortable setting up and trouble-shooting an electronic system than a mechanical one. And when your mechanical shifting is buttery smooth, that's just as much the engineers at Shimano or SRAM; they designed the mechanisms and systems and spent untold hours ensuring that they could be set up to shift smoothly.
As for the "more to life than...", it's what we call a thought-terminating cliche. Now, unlike most of those it does have some merit: it is possible for something to have subjective value greater than its objective value. To bring cars back into it, if you want the best speed-for-dollar, you're buying a Corvette. For the same money, lots of people buy slower Porsches. Why? Are they stupid? Well, some may be, but for others it's the car they were dreaming of since they were teenagers and can finally afford. Others may prefer the handling characteristics, the looks, the dealership, their local club, or have some other reason to prefer the slower car. However, when "more to life than..." appears at the end of a paragraph explaining why you don't want something, it's probably going to fall into the TTC category.
Now for me, the reason I don't have Di2 is I'm just too much of a cheapass to pay the premium it's currently going for. Merlin getting the mini-group down to $900 begins to get interesting, but when the time comes to upgrade my S1 to 11-speed, the $260 6800 is probably going to win, at less than a third of the price. And eTap is still WTFBBQ.