Originally Posted by CdCf

And that's fine for YOU, I bRAD. Nothing prevents you from sticking with purely mechanical stuff. But I know I'll probably be happy once electric shifter setups get down to around current Ultegra price levels. Maybe 5-10 years in the future, but it will happen.

FYI, two of my three bikes are steel. One of them has friction shifting for the FD. My third bike has an alu frame, but is a singlespeed instead. I'm definitely not the all-carbon, highest-level tech geek you might think I am. But, to me, electric shifting seems to be a very useful and practical next level in shifting technology. It will make things simpler, faster, quieter and more predictable.

The extra weight, if any, of an electric shifter setup will probably be on the order of 100 grams or less, at least compared to the level of components I use. While the weight of the battery and electric actuators will add to the total, it will at least in part be offset by the cables and housings you no longer need, as well as the complete absence of any mechanical shifter mechanism in the brifters. A simple and light-weight electronics box would replace it all.

Compare the weight of a pair of Shimano brifters with a pair of plain brake levers (electric brifters would be close to the weight of plain brake levers), and you've got a weight reduction of 250-300 grams right there.

The weight of the cables and housings is probably around 100-120 grams, and that's instantly saved by going electric.

We're talking close to a pound saved before we start adding battery and actuators.

Not having cables and housings running along the frame and catching wind is also aerodynamically beneficial, albeit on a small scale.

Electric shifting could also easily accomodate multiple and duplicate shifter button locations. You could have one set of shifter buttons on the brifters, then another on the tops.