Campag4life

I admit, I am not a fan of electrical shifting so I am a bit biased. I prefer Campy mechanical to everything out there. I like Campy hood shape and ergos and the tactile feedback of 'feeling the shift' versus a servo and a button.


That said, anybody take note of two Di2 rear derailleur failures at the end of the stage 9? Could of even cost the race leader Froome some valuable time had they attacked him when switching bikes. I know some pro riders won't ride electric shifting because of perception electric shifting isn't as reliable as cable shifting. I personally believe this is more than just perception.


What do you guys think?

HardyWeinberg

I think they should have attacked Froome. But it does make me wonder if the reason to not attack on a mechanical (or electrical) is not to be gentlemanly but rather not to make the sponsors look bad for gear failures.

CliffordK

Forgot to charge the battery?

Any notes on what happened? All I'm seeing are notes of a "Mechanical Problem".

The video of Froome on Mont du Chat shows him furiously spinning a super low gear, so apparently he downshifted, but couldn't upshift.

I haven't tried Di2 or EPS. Campy has a beautiful integrated EPS brake-shifter for TT bikes which had me thinking....

I would think that a Di2 or EPS shifter could be tuned better than a mechanical shifter, but like you, the mechanical shifters work well for my needs, so there is little need to add another level of complication.

CliffordK

Notes indicate that Aru did attack on the hill climb some, and Froome was apparently displeased with the idea.

Athens80

What were the two failures. Haven't seen the end yet.

MikeOK

Froome said in an interview that his gears hung up, no more details than that. As for me, with about 6 weeks using Di2, I now can't imagine going back to mechanical. Di2 is better in every way, it shifts cleanly and there is zero maintenance. The front derailleur even moves a little when you go through the cassette automatically to eliminate rubbing no matter which cog you're in on the back. It also has a satisfying little rrrrrrp sound when it's changing gears. The front goes rrrrrrp when changing chainwheels and when adjusting for the rear cog position does a teenie rrp.

Stratocaster

Zero maintenance? It uses a battery. Of course there's maintenance.
In fact, it's just not worth it for me. It takes enough of my time making sure I've done the million other things before heading out for a group ride. I have no desire to add "check battery" to that list.

MikeOK

I wouldn't call charging a battery maintenance duh. It's simple to check your battery and it only needs to be charged every 3-4 months. I was a little skeptical at first but after using it for awhile it is hands down better than mechanical.

TCR Rider

If you're including Uran's problem with his rear der that was caused by Martin's foot which kicked it as he was going down after his crash with Porte. Di2 or mechanical either one would have been affected by that. On a separate note how incredible was it that Martin was able to get back on the bike and finish in 10th place on the day.
Personally I'm partial to electronic shifting. Crisp, clean and smooth.

dstrong 

Just watched the replay and noticed that also. Uran started signaling for help right after. That Mavic neutral safety guy appeared to reach down and then hesitate for a second, realizing his fingers were at risk (it was reported the derailleur was ticking off the spokes). After a second or two, he went after the problem. Gutsy.

Athens80

Yeah, Uran's problem was reported as a derailleur hanger bent in the collision Porte>Martin>Uran.

So I'm still wondering what the OP's second Di2 failure was.

HardyWeinberg

My first thought was a trail of fingers although maybe the cassette is not as much of a buzzsaw as the chainrings would have been. Nasty picture of chainring amputations at Sheldon Brown's site.

MikeOK

The second was Froome, he had to switch bikes early on in the climb. He just said it wasn't shifting right, he didn't say it was the Di2.

Marcus_Ti 

Yea...LOL...maybe he should try using a circular chainring before complaining about shifting.

ridingfool

not true depends on how much u ride it can get any where from 80 miles to 2000 mile the more u shift the quicker u lose charge the font derailer uses more power than the rest so if u mainly use the big ring u can get up to the 2000 miles some will ride that in a month or so

Marcus_Ti 

I'd honestly be impressed if you could actually burn a Di2 battery out in 80 miles of normal operation.


IRL usage is about 1000 miles. Which is also about Shimano's official rating.

ridingfool

sorry meant 800 miles

ridingfool

I don't shift much and have 1500 miles and it just started showing half battery left so sure I could get another 500 miles but its best to recharge at the halfway point to prolong battery life at least that's what I have read on it

MikeOK

That is the longest sentence I've ever seen! 2000 miles/month is 500/week. I don't know anyone who rides that much. That's 5 centuries a week. Pros barely do that.

Athens80

I had Froome as the first and only. Who was the other?

MikeOK

I don't remember the guy's name but it was one of the guys in that bad crash I think.

MikeOK

Ive read that on here too but I don't think that's right, I've always been told you want them to run all the way down. I know the old nicads were bad about getting a memory but I've been told the lI-ion batteries do too, just not as bad. I'm not sure about that though.

Athens80

The worst crash involved Porte, Martin and, to a lesser degree still, Uran. None had Di2 issues. The first two had badly damaged bikes and the last had his derailleur hanger bent.

MikeOK

So we had only 1 Di2 failure, if that.

GeneO 

How many mech derailleur failures are there in the Tour. I expect when it happens, the bike is swapped and you don't really notice - this is just gets attention because it is new technology (I am trying to decide whether to get DI2 on my next bike, but I don't race).