I know XTR Di2 has been out for a couple of years now and XT Di2 just landed recently but I still hardly see new bikes with Di2 and I've only seen a few out on the trail but they were upgrades by the rider.

Is it just because XTR was so pricey that it never caught on much and XT is too new, or is electronic shifting just not something people are interested in when it comes to mountain biking?

Perhaps I just haven't noticed it as much since I'm not constantly staring at other people's bikes when I'm on the trail as opposed to group rides on the road. It just seems weird that you don't see too many new bikes advertised with the option.

Id rather Dump money into wheels, 1x's saddles etc. Im old tho. lol

$250 for a DI2 RD vs $70 for a regular XT RD is why I didn't even bother looking at DI2 stuff. I just upgraded to my bike to 1x11 XT cheaper than just the DI2 RD costs. I've only broken one RD over the years but I know as soon as I spend that much money on one I'd be breaking them left and right lol. I'll give electric shifting a shot when it gets cheap enough, really rather go with Sram's wireless shifting though if I were going the electric route.

Well - as a non-mechanical guy who can't assemble my own bike from components, I have to say that ... shopping for road bikes with Di2 or Campagnolo Super EPS is relatively easy - I've got 2 bikes with Di2 and one with Campy. When it comes to shopping for mt bikes with those components ... rarer than a hummingbird in Iceland. I've come across one or two in the past few years of online bike shopping.

Why it's not more widely used by manufacturers, no clue.

Does SRAM have electronic MTB groupsets? I wasn't aware of any.

The price doesn't seem bad to me, but maybe that's just because I'm comparing the cost of road stuff. I'm paying $1600 for SRAM eTap front/rear derailleur and shifters for my road bike build. XT would be around half that for rear derailleur, shifter, batteries, digital display, etc. I haven't priced XTR components, but it seems they'd be about on par with higher tier road pricing.

I'm sure with the release of XT it'll start popping up more.

The main advantage of XT Di2 is the sequential front shifting, but since most people are just going to 1x, it's hard to offer much advantage. 1x drivetrains off much of the simplicity with dramatically lower cost.

Some of the cost advantage is reduced with a 2x or 3x system, and cheaper 11-34 cassette. But 1x is still a bit cheaper, and probably better shifting. Long-run costs are heavily in favor of Di2 though (cassette costs).

It seems like the convenience of tapping the button or holding the button to quickly move through the gears would be an advantage of Di2 as well. I'm constantly shifting and usually always in the wrong gear, haha.

I guess electronic shifting has been around longer on road bikes...it just seems so much more prominent on the road than on the trail.

Not yet but I'm sure they will eventually.

I'm holding out for e tap 1x12 version with 500% gear ratio for MTB's. Probably 2 years away. I think wireless makes sense for MTB if they can keep it durable.

In the meantime, I see no problem with my XT 1x11 setup on the geared bike. cheap and effective.

If you are not falling while on the trail then you are not riding hard enough. On an MTB the chances of breaking something is higher than on a road bike. I forget the amount of times I have fallen and that my bike has gotten scraped. It is pretty cheap to upgrade to XT 1x* and it works really well. Also MTB's get really dirty and muddy. Last thing I need is to have a fried electrical device because of the mud/dirt.

Ha, I fall every time I get on a mountain bike, but I don't really have to worry about mud in Phoenix, just dust. I'm sure the electronic groupset can handle that.