People seem to be overlooking that you can program the Di2 buttons to do whatever you want using the e-Tube software. I would even expect a good LBS to do this for customers purchasing a new Di2 bike from them. So I don't see this as a criticism at all. The default configuration will be familiar to people who have used mechanical groupsets, but you can always change it if you want.

Different for the sake of being different is not always better. By going to only two shift buttons, they've dumbed the system down and actually made things more cumbersome in some situations. It's just fact that shifting between large/small chain ring and getting the rear cog you want to go with the new chainring selection is going to be slower on eTap than it is on Di2.

interesting, i just learned how fizik is pronounced.

I'm in the process of building up a road bike so I can dedicate my cyclocross bike for dirt only (and bike camping touring) and I had planned to go with campagnolo chorus or even record. But as soon as i saw the wireless SRAM announcement, I totally changed my plans. I will build my bike up with Red and then when the wireless shifters and derailleurs are available I'll buy them and transfer the non wireless stuff to my cross bike (current running campy 10 speed shifters with Shimano 9 speed rear!). Can't wait!

Yet they had it right there in the logo all this time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intern...netic_Alphabet

Wiggins rides eTap? SOLD.

reading is fundamental

you guys argue about the most inconsequential things.
If everyone is so caught up with which lever does what, Di2 does have the climbing and sprint shifters for optimal ergonomics.
Debating how fast double shifting is on eTap is silly until you go out and do it. Unfortunately, none of the reviews I've seen have addressed it.


In the debate of which drivetrain is better- I have not tried eTap yet.
But based on Red vs Shimano Ultegra and DA, Shimano is the better drivetrain.

I'll take a DA chainset over SRAM any day and the ergonomics of Di2 are better, imo.
Shimano just runs flawlessly and is so smooth. I just like that feel better than SRAM.

Wireless is a real advantage, and that's the only real reason to go SRAM.
Shimano went conservative with the wire technology but it's hard to argue with absolute reliability of hardwiring compared to wireless.

As road disc comes to the forefront, Di2/hydro integration and eTap/hydro will be interesting.
Shimano has not released a Dura Ace or Ultegra Di2/Hydro lever/brakeset yet. Maybe that's where wireless will come in?

Neither version will be perfect and I know Di2 can muck up and as SRAM goes on sale, i'm sure it will too.

The one thing I don't like based on what I've seen- eTap battery is held on by a plastic flip-tab.
That looks like it's just waiting to snap off.

It is actually quite easy to argue - there are no cables to get broken or unplugged with wireless

The Di2 Hydraulic STI shifters are out (STR785) and available for sale.

I have heard rumors that Shimano has a wireless system that they have been testing for a long time.

I sort of like the hyrbrid approach that FSA is taking. The FD and RD are wired together and have a single battery. The shifters are wireless to the connected derailleurs. That eliminates one system battery and one radio. The connection between FD and RD is a simple single wire so there is no need for junction boxes or other contacts. Contacts, batteries and radios are often a point of failure in an electronic system and eliminating as many as possible of each is a good thing.

With regards to using it, the SRAM system looks like from the GCN video that it works well in terms of shifting, shifting under load etc... I don't care for the ergonomics with respect to shifting the front derailleur where you need to actuate both shifters and then it toggles between the rings on the front. There have been many times where I have mistaken that I was in one ring or the other in the front and tried to shift and really not needed it to shift. In other words, I want to have certainty on which ring that I want to be on and not have it just toggle back and forth. Also, there are any number of times when I've needed to shift with just one hand on the bars (drinking, signalling etc...) so using two hands, while not a showstopper, would be aggravating.

Undoubtedly, wireless will be a big part of the electrics market. This will make converting an older bike from mech to elec a lot easier and cleaner. Today, with wired systems, it's kind of a mess.


J.

Like I said, no Ultegra or Dura Ace Di2 hydro yet.
When released, I remember Shimano saying they didn't go wireless for various factors but that was a few years ago now and maybe they have overcome them.

It's either Ultegra or DA. Kind of hair splitting just because it doesn't have a name plate. Would have to be at least Ultegra level.

Can't imagine that Shimano doesn't have it working internally. The hard part is the mech and the electro-mech part of the system. They already have the Di2 system talking out on ANT+ and there are any number of chips available to do the two way communication on a coin cell battery from the shifters to the rest of it - relatively simple problem electronically.

J.

Nope

bikeradar:
Another difference is the strategy and presentation. SRAM launched hydraulic road brakes at the top of its food chain with Red 22 (and also the lower, non-series S-700), while Shimano has begun with only a non-series R785 lever that is neither the top-level Dura-Ace or the second-tier Ultegra. Why? Shimano spokesman David Lawrence said that the company isn't yet satisfied with the product, and feels that improvements in performance, weight and finish must be made before it can be branded Dura-Ace.
In fact, this entire system is still a work in progress – the hubs and calipers are XT mountain models, and the rotors are 160mm, to be reduced to 140mm in the full production versions. Shimano has entered other categories in similar fashion before. Its first compact crank was the R700 – not an Ultegra or a Dura-Ace. And its first hydraulic mountain bike brake was an XT – not the top-of-the-line XTR.

Missed that one. Thanks.

A friend of mine has a bike with that on it and a DA drivetrain. He likes it.

J.

i am looking forward for the etap! Had a chance to test it on the Eurobike and it shifting feelt strange at the beginning but nothing you can adapt to!

Where did all my posts go in this thread? All but the previous one are missing from this week's convo...

These???

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...sram-etap.html

Yep, weird

Not weird. There are two threads with the same name.