Originally Posted by
bbbean
To be fair, given the number of riders using Di2 over the past decade or two, the number of rides, and the number of miles, this is exceedingly rare, and there are indicator lights and pairing with bike computer that you can check to see battery level. While there are certainly reasons to prefer one brand over another, they are both reliable enough that dead battery problems may be assumed to be outliers or user error.
I agree that most battery issues are user error, and actual battery problems occur sometimes. But I feel SRAM gives riders the better opportunity to mitigate those user errors. I'm not saying Di2 is a bad product, it's a pretty reliable system. But when the biggest component manufacturer still uses a wired battery, when the technology is there to produce a very reliable 100% wireless system, makes me think that Shimano doesn't have the confidence to actually produce a completely wireless system. I feel SRAM makes the superior product, where wireless can be simply used used on any bike, without having to take extra steps of figuring out how long wires need to be when initially setting up the drivetrain on a new build.
Have you ever built a bike up with Di2 or AXS? I habe built a few over the years, and I can attest that the simplicity of AXS shines head over heals Di2.
I guess we'll eventually see if Shimano embraces a fully wireless system or not in the future. I hope they eventually do, because that's where the market is currently trending to.