exmechanic89

This entire post took the words right out of my brain..

TimothyH

Yeah but you never know.

A good part of California could slide into the Pacific any second and then the Mojave be beachfront. Badwater Basin is 250 ft below sea level and then where will you be?

Salt water is very caustic. Why take chances?


-Tim-

BluFalconActual

I do go so San Diego a lot too. Man, I just can't decide. I would love some Dura Ace stuff for the bike bling factor, but just now I was adjusting my front mech and I realized how badly I want to never have to do that again

Beach Bob

I LOVE Dura Ace... but I'd have a tough time justifying the upcharge from Ultegra... Its all so damned good these days. I'd suggest that you need to decide if you want electronic shifting or not.... then go from there. I'd be tempted to still go Ultegra mechanical and bank the rest for a vacation/power meter/etc...

dvdslw

One thing I love about di2 is that you can go into adjustment mode while riding so if you feel your up or down shifts are lacking in either direction you can hold down the little button on the front junction box just until the light illuminates then depress the shifter that needs attention one click at a time to micro adjust the derailleurs on the fly, then long press the button again to exit. I'd say it doesn't happen too often but I've done it after buying a new set of wheels and cassette.

TimothyH

I built my first Di2 bike this spring. You will not regret it.

-Tim-

BluFalconActual

Yeah, I'm leaning heavily on doing it. Getting some of the new Dura-Ace bling would be cool, but not having to re cable my bike would be even cooler. How much of a pain is it to do by yourself? LBS wants like 200 bucks labor to do it and I have to buy the parts through them and their prices aren't the best. My bike has bb30 so I don't think I'd have to pull that out, just the cranks.

Eyedrop

Get the Di2. Low maintenance, perfect shifts every time, and advanced software utilities to customize shift speeds and button mapping. If you get one with a newer battery and firmware, you even get synchro shifting in 6870 Di2. If you got the big bucks, you could get the new Dura Ace Di2 which is LIGHTER than DA mechanical...

Gone are the days of changing cable housings, twiddling with barrel adjusters, and never getting perfect shifting all the time... Even if the most precious metals and carbon are used, if its mechanical, its archaic technology IMO. And in my expeirience, the extra cost of electronic quickly pays for itself with the lack of maintenance and peace of mind.

MikeOK

You can do it yourself, it's not that hard. Just ask here when you get stumped. Plus use YouTube. I'm pretty sure you'll have to pull your bb because there are 3 wires that go to a j-box in there and if you use a seatpost battery it goes up through there. I think you can do it, there are lots of guys here that have done it and are good about helping.

Steve B.

Plan on a seat post battery mounting kit, if you have a SP that is a different size.

As well the connection tool Shimano sells to get the cables into the junction boxes.

Both available on Amazon

Noctilux.95

Get the 9100 now with the option to upgrade to the 9150 later on. I started out with 9100 on both my bikes and upgraded it to the 9150 Di2 kit ($1250) from Merlins in UK.

BluFalconActual

Awesome. Thanks. I still have another month to decide on what I want. Maybe the new Ultegra di2 stuff will be out by then.

BluFalconActual

Ive been stalking their website looking at their prices. How much did duty set you back?

Noctilux.95

Non. Ive purchased two sets of 9100 group sets with 9150 Di2 upgrade kit later on, Campy Bora Ultra wheelset, and numerous other gear through Ribble and Merlin with no duty pay, whatsoever.

BluFalconActual

MikeOK

They actually charge for that little piece of plastic? Mine came with one but I only tried to use it once, I found I could get them to snap in with my fingers.