Misprint, fill in the blank........
 

Wish this were true:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/...5d7148.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/...098b29.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/...150244.jpg?v=0

Then all the 7/8/9/10-speed mechanical brifters would be cheap.

The only way I'd be able to go electronic is with a AA battery...... (your answer here)

Keep the context first person, please. I know it's tempting.

What is that long thingamabob lever device? I assume it is a servo of some kind, but where would it fit? What does it do?

-Kurt

The brake lever?
Or that thing that has a wire coming off it? I think that long thing is a tube "tie wrap" thing. It goes just above the bottom bracket on the underside.
Shimano had 'lectronic shifting back in the 70's or early 80's.

They tried it out in the early 1990s too, at the Tour De Georgia. It rained and they wouldn't shift.......

The tie-wrap thing - which I'm guessing, from it's placement, that it is the module (either that, or the battery compartment). Doesn't make much sense - Shimano's fixed module for their electronic Nexus looked far more refined.

You could not get me to put something tie-wrapped onto a $10,000 wonderbike, if I owned one...

-Kurt

The only way I would be able to go electronic is with a generator and alligator clips

I think the $150 is for the front derailluer mounting bolt.

Is that a cable free system?

i don't follow sports that closely, so pls enlighten me: who rode the TdF with this crap?

The only way I would be able to go electronic is with solar panels.

I think, in 10 years, this is what'll happen, just my guess and a theory:
Electronic shifting
Computer with HR, Cadence, speed, map, calorie, etc, etc
Software you can customize that it'll either shift for you or give you a recommend gear to be in depending on the elevation, barometric pressure, elevation, heart rate zone, etc etc
All completely downloadable into a computer and / or someone remotely monitoring it.

So someone in the TDF, will get a relay back to the computer and says something like "your HR is at 90%, your lactic acid count is XXX, you need to get on this gear".

...oh, it'll tell the time too and remind you to bring home some milk and eggs.

So where did you get those images???
It says $2100 here:

http://www.popsci.com/bown/2008/prod...a-ace-7970-di2

Edited to add: I see the first comment on this link mentions the price, so they must have fixed it later.

I believe George Hincapie used the electronic Dura-Ace this year.

Interesting article here (note that you need to click a link at the bottom to go on to the second page):

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscell...008/07/shimano

I *loved* this quote:

"Road-bike aficionados are much like trout: simultaneously enthralled and mortified by anything shiny and new that enters their environment." :roflmao2:

I just figured it out from some other photos I found. That is a rigid bracket that slips in between the downtube and the bottle cage, which locates the battery pack just above the downtube in between the BB and the bottle cage. i.e. the downtube bottle-cage braze-ons support the battery pack.

http://mos.bikeradar.com/images/news...ike-850-65.jpg

You'd think they'd have a more refined way of hiding that battery pack for 2,100 clams.

-Kurt

Yes, for the shifters.
I'd imagine it would only work on Modolo Speedy brakes, since they don't stop much anyway.

Campy's got them, too:
http://mos.bikeradar.com/images/news...ord-798-75.jpg

The only way I'd be able to go electronic is......if someone left a battery on my saddle.

They figured out the FD shifting problem?

-Kurt

They must have, since that pic is of a rack from the TDF Silence-Lotto team.

One of the owners of my LBS was telling about this after seeing it demonstrated at Interbike. The Campy version is wired, and the FD is able to trim itself based on what gears it is in. He said it is really slick - but that doesn't mean I'm rushing out to buy it.

The problem I recall having heard about the Campag system had to do with the amount of power available to run the front derailer servo.

-Kurt

Wow that is awesome. Wonder how fast it can change gears. It won't be long before they come up with traction control, anti-lock brake, and stability control. Oh how about 2 wheels drive.

The only way I would be able to go electronic is with a deep cycle, marine use, 12 volt battery, mounted to the rear rack (or in a cargo trailer), and a solar panel to help keep that lightweight baby charged!

I can hear the boys in the peloton now say: "Look mom, no derailleur cables! Look mom no shifts! Look mom, I'm stuck in high gear climbing a 15% grade!"

why would those dummys keep the brifter design? A little button or analog thumb dial thingy would be lighter and awesomer?

Can you go LiFePo4 on the battery to save weight and increase Ah?

-stick a fork in me....

They do but they keep the EPO in the same place.

This concept at first glance seems good but I can think of many problems with this, what if the battery craps out during a ride and you can't change gears? I spose you could work it off a little generator or alternator type set up.