Shimano Introduces Off-Road Electronic Shifting

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/product-tech/2014/05/30/shimano-announces-xtr-di2-group-offroad-electronic-shifting

On Friday, May 30, 2014 3:05:20 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/product-tech/2014/05/30/shimano-announces-xtr-di2-group-offroad-electronic-shifting

$$$$$$+++++++

pleased you're useful for a change.

is the device use able with an 8 speed ?

if I cannot effectively use a manul system, does the electronic system substitute for skill

How much ?

On Friday, May 30, 2014 9:05:20 PM UTC+2, sms wrote:
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/product-tech/2014/05/30/shimano-announces-xtr-di2-group-offroad-electronic-shifting

I was wondering what kept them so long. If electronic shifting makes any sense somewhere it is off road.

Lou

I was wondering what kept them so long. If electronic shifting makes any sense somewhere it is off road.

///

'bombproof' level op ? impossible. think of the time spent developing the video !

old and slow, lacking time n reflexs for 'bombproof' training and off course due to advanced age having the $$$..itsa winner.

Imagine a cross chian adjustment for the slough !

looking for a road test.

On 5/31/2014 6:25 AM, wrote:
I was wondering what kept them so long. If electronic shifting makes any sense somewhere it is off road.

///

'bombproof' level op ? impossible. think of the time spent developing the video !

old and slow, lacking time n reflexs for 'bombproof' training and off course due to advanced age having the $$$..itsa winner.

Imagine a cross chian adjustment for the slough !

looking for a road test.




Perhaps an off-road test?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

the park is cool.

I doahn need sand n gravely clay to screw up the shifting.

I crash good.

On 5/31/2014 3:03 AM, Lou Holtman wrote:
On Friday, May 30, 2014 9:05:20 PM UTC+2, sms wrote:
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/product-tech/2014/05/30/shimano-announces-xtr-di2-group-offroad-electronic-shifting

I was wondering what kept them so long. If electronic shifting makes any sense somewhere it is off road.

I wonder. I've personally never mangled a derailleur riding on-road,
but I've had it happen off-road - in my case, by snagging a stick. I
was able to bend things back well enough to pedal home, relying on
non-index shifting to keep the bike in gear.

What sort of "limp home" mode would this Shimano system have?

--
- Frank Krygowski

CALL A CAB

On Saturday, May 31, 2014 9:17:14 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/31/2014 3:03 AM, Lou Holtman wrote:

On Friday, May 30, 2014 9:05:20 PM UTC+2, sms wrote:

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/product-tech/2014/05/30/shimano-announces-xtr-di2-group-offroad-electronic-shifting



I was wondering what kept them so long. If electronic shifting makes any sense somewhere it is off road.



I wonder. I've personally never mangled a derailleur riding on-road,

but I've had it happen off-road - in my case, by snagging a stick. I

was able to bend things back well enough to pedal home, relying on

non-index shifting to keep the bike in gear.



What sort of "limp home" mode would this Shimano system have?


If the cable is cut or the battery dies, you get the gear you were in at the time. It's like breaking a cable on a manual shift system, although with Di2, you lose both derailleurs (front first, then rear when the battery runs down).

If you mangle the derailleur, who knows -- I assume you bend it back in to place like any other derailleur and it continues shifting -- poorly. The big difference is the cost of replacement and options on the road. The Di2 bikes I've seen were made for Di2 and don't have cable stops or guides. I don't know if its the same deal on mountain bikes, but if you're at an away game and you rip up your electronic RD, it's not like you can throw on a cheap Deore from the local bike shop. In reality, though, if you rip up your RD, you're probably looking at a munged-up derailleur hanger that needs replacing.(Oh no, now we're going to start talking about the benefits of steel frames).

Anyway, I think an electric FD would be good on a mountain bike. RD maybe not so much -- or not so much of an improvement to justify the initial costs and the higher potential for destruction on a mountain bike. OTOH, the shifting improvement may be so dramatic that its worth paying the money and taking the risk. I don't ride off road enough to make that judgment. My friends with Di2 seem to be very happy.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Friday, May 30, 2014 8:05:20 PM UTC+1, sms wrote:
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/product-tech/2014/05/30/shimano-announces-xtr-di2-group-offroad-electronic-shifting

1. This is not auto-shifting, but electrically-assisted manual shifting.

2. Amazon had a full-auto shift, even accompanied by electronic adaptive suspension front and rear, more than a decade ago. It was also called Di2 but it was aimed at commuters, and was a very sophisticated system. I rode one for a couple of years c2007. It's described in a photo essay he http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGsmover.html

3. This is apparently a development of the manual system with electronic assistance in the Dura-Ace Di2 gruppo. But note that it offers a great deal more, for instance an optimum arrangement between front and rear derailleurs, and, if the text can trusted, it has a mode (it may be the default or the only mode) in which the rider will not be permitted to make a bad decision..

4. The common failure mode for the first series Di2 I have is for the control cable to fall out of its socket. More irritating than actually disabling..

5. Having tasted full auto shifting of hub gears on the first series Di2/Smover, I fail to be enthused about the equivalent of flappy panels on automobiles.

6. I understand however that, as a marketing matter, one must let the punters think they're in control of all the bike's functions, like instant meals where the marketers make a huge song and dance about the housewife boiling and adding hot water to reconstitute the powder to a meal.

Andre Jute
A run-in Rohloff is good enough for me. I ride it on auto-pilot anyway.