Anybody else think the RD looks weird with no cable or wire between it and the frame?

Looks like a bike being built up, with the cables not installed yet. Somehow unfinished. I'm sure I'll get used to it. But looking at bikes for 40 years with some sort of loop between RD and frame it looks odd for now.

As well as 50 people in a room all using their cell phones simultaneously. Do you find other cell phones interfering with yours?

Wasn't aware eTap uses cellular data. What's the monthly cost on this?

Point is wireless technology has gotten pretty good at encryption, and avoiding interference.

I'd be more concerned about the connection just dropping out from some interference, and it not shifting or a shift being delayed, than of someone else shifting for me, which I think is likely a completely unfounded worry.

It looks like its using Blueooth PAN to make the connection. There's no security in it as far as I'm aware and the technology is still new so that may change. The only way to sync a device is by having physical access to it. So yes, my concern would be more about interference.

or being put on hold

the problem isn't the monthly cost, it's the need to ride near cell towers if you want to shift.

haha, guess I'll stay in the inner-city limits then.

Five. One in each shifter, one in each derailleur, and one for the secret pedal-assist motor in the seat tube

These have been tested, for years, in large groups.

They are also virtually impossible to hack and will not pick up any interference.

It's not bluetooth. It is a proprietary network.

A lot of this is available in the programming software for Di2 from Shimano. You can change the functions of the shifters to a number of choices when you program the system.

That was my thought too. I have a Di2 bike and a mech bike. I like the Di2 so much, I had thought about converting the mech frame over but the conversion if it isn't set up for is ugly - ugly enough to not do it. This has me looking at that as a project again.

Agree on the battery issue for sure. The seatpost battery makes it a sleek installation.

J.

It's a proprietary protocol on the Bluetooth/wifi/ANT+ frequency band, and it has 128-bit encryption. So there is security. As for interference, it could happen, but my ANT+ power data is rock steady even in a peloton of 60 other dudes using ANT+ power meters. Obviously, this is not the exact same thing, and use at a mass production scale is pretty much certain to reveal problems that SRAM's detailed but inevitably limited pre-production testing did not find. But I would not be particularly concerned with interference. We'll see, I guess.

For those worried about security:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanc...ption_Standard

"As for now, there are no known practical attacks that would allow anyone to read correctly implemented AES encrypted data."

I work with cryptography some so when they said that "AES 128" was used to encrypt the connection, I knew it would be fine.

Start the RFI hacking challenge .

Let's cut to the chase. It is a phenomenal accomplishment and development. This will give SRAM a huge boost in market share. Wireless is the only sensible appraoch. The DI2 control box and wire connections are a frequent source of malfunction. Managing the multiple batteries will surely turn out to be a non-issue. I'm watching prices.

Props to SRAM. They have done a great job and deserve the credit.

Data throttling is more of an issue IMO. Say you've already shifted 1,000 times this month, your next shifts will be delayed by a half second. heaven forbid you roam.

Completely OT, but it's fun to see a friend's disbelief when her hubby, who is reasonably prominent in cryptography, is given the semi-rock-star treatment at conferences and whatnot. She thinks that it's totally weird that many geeks look up to him.

I really like this. Very F1-style. If I was kitting out a new bike, it would be hard to resist going with this group.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the two most unreliable parts of an electronic system are the interconnect and the batteries. Reducing interconnect and quadrupling the batteries is not going to change the reliability much and will likely make it go the other way because you have a crucial interconnect between the battery and the system (i.e. no power if it fails) besides the inherent low reliability of batteries in general. If it is a reliable as Di2 is with it's mechanical interconnect, it will be doing well. The bar is pretty high.

We just don't know the "job" they've done so far. It's going to take a lot of units in the field to make that point. I do agree that it looks interesting, especially as a retrofit on mech bikes.

I heard somewhere that Shimano had a wireless design too. Be great if they popped that out for competition to help drive prices down. Isn't the FSA system partially wireless- wireless shifters but the FD and RD wired together with a single battery? That might have a more reliable architecture.


J.

meh


I'll wait for the Shimano offering.

My prediction is that the SRAM approach will work fine and drive the entire market to wireless. If FSA makes the mistake of including any wires at all (not entirely clear at this time), they will be bringing up the rear. And that would be a shame. Another viable competitor would be a good thing.

all the numerous batteries will muzzle sales.

Robert, considering my own experiences with SRAM, I'm not betting on its reliability.

FSA has a hybrid, wireless shifters but a wire runs between the mechs.