Shortnsalty44

Buying a new bike this coming year. Not against tech however a little weary of electric shifting (Ultegra DI2) for example. Just more things to go wrong and pricey repairs IMO. Looking for + and - 's. I can not take bike shops opinions for it because where I live they just want to sell you what they want to sell.

rpenmanparker 

Why do you say you are not against tech if you are criticizing the one major technical innovation in bicycles in many years? Tech generally means more complexity and higher maintenance requirements at first. Bye and bye the new technology results in greater reliability and overall lower maintenance.

Bob Ross

I have never heard a single owner of electronic shifting lodge a complaint that would cause me to steer clear of it. For that matter, very few of the owners of electronic shifting seem to lodge any complaints at all! Based on end-user feedback it would appear it's a real game-changer. The only naysayers seem to be people who haven't spent extensive time actually riding on electronic shifting.

rpenmanparker 

There is a big difference between feeling that your mechanical shifting on an existing bike is okay for now or even for the long haul and avoiding electronic on a new ride. I see no point in buying a new bike that is already dated.

JohnJ80

I'm contemplating building a bike in the next month or so that is Ultegra Di2 so I've been looking at this pretty hard. Your experience duplicates mine. The only complaints I've heard from users is that they think it's expensive but then in the next breath say they would do it all over again.

Be interesting to see if there are any counterpoints to this with actual practice/usage behind it.

J.

Nachoman

For me, way less visits to the bike mechanic post-Di2.
Pre-Di2, I always had mechanics working on my bikes, trying to get them to shift perfectly.

Lazyass

So unless you blindly accept anything new with no questions asked you're against new technology?

rpenmanparker 

Brilliant distillation of my point. I couldn't have said it better myself. Especially since that wasn't what I was saying.

BoSoxYacht

Many people say the same thing, but it makes no sense to me.

I built my new 6800 bike up in May, and after a couple of tweaks for cable stretch in the first 500 miles, it's require no adjustments in the following 8500 miles.

If your bike requires frequent adjustments to stay shifting smoothly I suspect worn components(or just a case of SRAM ).

robbyville

Maintenance wise my DI2 has been just as wonderful as my mechanical had been, like BoSox mentioned once cable stretch was adjusted (maybe a quarter turn on the adjuster, cmon not tough), there really is very little maintenance unless a cable snapped.

I love my DI2 and will not go back on my road bike but here's a counter point which is the expense of any replacement. I had an extremely slight bent derailleur hanger that I did not realize, heard a slight clicking while riding in my lowest gear, my own stupidity, instead of making the adjustment electronically to compensate (easy 5 second job) I waited to finish riding the slight incline I was on and threw the derailleur into the rear wheel, ripped the cage of the derailleur in two, snapped the hanger, no other damage thankfully to the wheel. Replacement of a DI2 Dura Ace derailleur is well over $650 vs. a mechanical at half the cost.

To be fair, this could have happened with mechanical as well, but replacement would be cheaper. Also, in this particular example I was able to buy the pieces to replace the cage at a cost of around $200 which are the same pieces whether mechanical or electronic but still you get my point, if the whole item had to be replaced cost is double regardless of model.

I'm still not going back though!

Adrianinkc

Pro: I got about 9,000 miles on my di2 bike and it's been perfect.
Con: I guess the only one I can think of is when I want to go to 11 speeds I will have to buy front and rear DR.

R1lee

Pro for Di2: But if you wanted to go 11spd on mechanical, you would need to buy Shifters to. 6770, 6870 and 9070 shifters all work. The RD is what decides how many speed. Up until recently you were able to mash a group together with a 6770FD and whatever RD you wanted, that's no longer case. But you can still mix and match 11spd RD/FD.

Lazyass

Feel free to explain what you were saying, since you didn't.

bt

x2

and who takes a bike to a shop for an adjustment?

hueyhoolihan

i don't want to ride a bike that requires a battery. shifting has never really been an issue. i prefer manual transmissions in my automobiles too. and yes i've owned a crank start car.

Kindaslow

I have it on my new bike and it is amazing. It is lightning fast and automatically adjusts itself. I think that it is one of the coolest things ever. By the way, I was hesitant to even try it and thought it was stupid, before trying and owning it.

pallen

Electric shifting isn't really new - its like 5yrs old now. Its just really expensive for a marginal gain. I would love to try it, but not for what it sells for right now.

rpenmanparker 

Now I see the problem. I think you will see the humor too. I read OP's post literally, that he was "WEARY" of electronic shifting, meaning to me that he had had enough of the hype without even trying it. So I didn't see him as questioning electronic shifting, but rather panning it. To be sure of my position I went back and reread all the posts, and I just realized he meant "WARY". That makes sense and supports your attitude toward my post. No harm, no foul.

rpenmanparker 

They said the same thing about cameras, and look where that has gone.

Roadbikedude

I have ridden a few bikes with Di2 and would love to add it to my bike but the upgrade costs for my bike makes me just keep my mechanical setup (Ultegra 6700). If you have the option to buy it on a new bike, go for it!!!! Perfect shifting every time is truly a dream come true!

LGHT

Electronic is a huge advantage and hands down much better to me, but I didn't want to drop all that extra $$$ to get it so my next bike for sure.

hueyhoolihan

i say the same thing about cameras.

Dave Cutter

Not every bicycle needs to be the latest greatest. Let alone.... a plastic road bike with battery powered shifters.

But that said.... as much as I also like my real steel vintage bike(s).... I also like a modern bicycle as well. And I would really like to own a plastic electric shifting go-faster.

TCR Rider

I had been saving for several years to buy my dream bike, Dogma F8. It would be my last bike purchase for the foreseeable future so I wasn't going to skimp and wanted technology that wasn't going to be dated in a season or two. I didn't like the external battery placement on electronic systems, seemed too exposed to damage and was not ascetically pleasing IMO. When the next generation was available with the internal battery and 11 speeds I was ready to take the plunge. I have the DA DI 2 9000 and am totally happy with it. The biggest improvement over mechanical is the ability to shift under load, really useful on hills and out of the saddle shifting.
I charge the battery every couple of weeks even though it still has a charge. When I first got it I had to adjust the upper limit setting but since then maintenance free. With mech shifting maintenance included replacing the cables every season I don't anticipate having to do that with the electronic shifting.

rpenmanparker 

Somebody has to be "they".