Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 108 total)
  • The poll about electric gears
  • Onzadog
    Free Member

    Why not a hydraulic option. Many years ago there was a system of hydraulic hoses that would fit to normal shifters and mechs. I think the time is right for that.

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    Oh no, please! can you imagine it on here, ‘what bleed kit for my gears?’

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    I agree, electronics is daft.

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    Onzadog
    Free Member

    But I think they’d work better than cheeky cables without being as expensive and involved as electronics.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Keep
    It
    Simple
    Stupid

    solution in search of a problem

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    You use cable brakes tj? 🙄

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    pointless bit like SIS 😉
    I dont really see the need tbh bu they have to sell us something with 2 x 10 etc

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Is a battery, motor and wire lighter than a cable? No.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    TJ, I think you’ve either called me stupid, or offered me a kiss. Really not sure which upsets me most!

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    Electronic gears will be excellent (as those that aren’t totally pigheaded about it will know if they’ve tried Di2) because-

    -it’ll be more reliable
    -neater
    -it shifts excellently
    -it’ll need less looking after.

    Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly doesn’t understand it. It’s not lighter, it is better.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    All valid point which would also apply equally as well to hydraulics.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    that’s not what’s under dispute tho Luke.

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    The poll missed out an option: Got a Shimano electrically shifted hub gear bike maybe 10 years ago.

    Have a google for Shimano SE-4S35, electronic shifter unit with push button for up/down plus automatic modes. Mrsmidlife’s mum has had one on a “Real Cycles” hybrid/town bike. Combining it with a roller brake made taking the back wheel out to fix the puncture fun. I put a slime tube in and hopefully I’ll not have to do it again often.

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    Hydraulics will not shift anywhere near as well as electronic. Nowhere near.

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    Because this is just a stepping stone on the way to wireless shifting.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    And you know his how?*

    * “becuase I say so”/”it’s obvious” do not qualify as answers.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Onzadog – no – the concept of electonic shifting is stupid

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    Electronic is incredibly fast and precise, and has the benefit of auto-trim and never needing adjusting because it’s electronic, while hydraulic will have the lag from shifter to mech, just like cables, and will need adjusting manually. Which is no good when you’re trying to grind up a hill in the wrong gear because your gears have just gone out of whack on the last descent.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    If your gears go out of whack on a descent…you need to find a decent mechanic LOL!

    fair enough re other points, tho I think hydraulic would be quicker than cable as spring tension could be lower.

    muppetWrangler
    Free Member

    It was reported when the electronic dura ace came out that shimono had intended it to be wireless but had some reliability issues so stuck with wired rather be beaten to market by campagnolo. I doubt they will have given up on that idea.

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    Electronics to keep my gears shifting quickly and perfectly all the time? yes please. Its like a dropper seat post, heavier, but better. Not sure about hydraulics, if they give people as much grief as (some) cheap hydraulics brakes do then definitely not, plus who wants to bleeding even more hydraulic stuff? Not me.

    Onzadog
    Free Member

    Far less heat and pressure needed for hydraulic shifters than brakes.

    nickwatson
    Free Member

    Surely the problem with electric anything is that at some inconvenient time, the battery will die. What then?

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    TJ you are wrong. Two push buttons, one up, one down, just plain works. Whether it’s your choice because of weight/field servicibility/price/tradition, that’s personal choice. The auto mode on the hybrid isn’t too bad either (on the road, no good off road since it couldn’t react to variations in speed over undulations).

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    Surely the problem with electric anything is that at some inconvenient time, the battery will die. What then?

    I suspected a long time ago, this was the reason for Shimano to get more into dynamo hubs, they’ll do you an XT level one with disc brake mount these days.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    midlife crashes – you miss the point. I know the interface is simple but the mechanics and electronics is not. You needs series of solenoids / stepper motors, a gear train or levers, a battery and a brain to run it. This is where the complexity is.

    Will it be able to compensate for wear in the pivots? How will it cope with mud? water and salt ingress?

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    Oh please God, not this again…

    Electronic is vastly superior. Cabling routing becomes irrelevant, you can route the whole thing internally, it never needs adjusting, never suffers from sticky or rusty cables and it’s quicker to shift. You can also have subsidiary shifter buttons for use when sprinting or climbing to avoid having to reach to the hoods.

    And all this crap about “what if the battery dies?” The battery lasts MONTHS. If it dies mid ride, you’ll have been ignoring the warning light for 500 miles in which case, you’re too stupid to be allowed out unsupervised.

    Edit for TJ: it copes fine with water, mud and salt. Pros have been using it in CX races and in the TdF and numerous other races in shit conditions. Works fine, better than cables.

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    Yes TJ, it’s complex. Some people like complexity inside to give simplicity outside.

    I see you haven’t chosen to send your message this evening by carefully punching holes in a stack of cards and loading them into a PDP11 through a CR11 card reader the size of a fridge. Your PC is more complex than that. Progress.

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    So, If I fancied lectronic shifting on my bike, how much is it gonna cost me, today?

    cheese@4p
    Full Member

    The purists booed Bob Dylan when he went electric but it didn’t do him any harm. I am no early adopter but best keeping an open mind about new stuff IMO

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    so as the pivots wear? the stepper motors and associated gear trains wear?

    Pros get stuff serviced and replaced regularly. we dont

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    I like the idea of improving on gear shifting, especially if it means I don’t have to ‘set-up’ mechs in the present sense.

    My only concern with wireless is what happens during a race on the first lap when you have 300 people all bunched up all using Shimano wireless shifters? I am sure this will be addressed, but we had wireless keyboards and mice at the last place I worked & sometimes halfway through an e-mail, it would all disappear as someone on the opposite desk had pressed delete…..

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    TJ, I can only assume from your position of stating everything as a FACT that you’ve ridden Di2, or similar, extensively.

    You have, haven’t you?

    I put in a lot of miles on Dura Ace Di2 in 2010. It was superb. But then, as you’ve also ridden it, you surely know that, don’t you?

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    How much then? Anyone?

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    CFH – note the use of questions. Not stating facts asking questions Lots of these ????????????

    The only fact is that it is added complexity.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    The system compensates for pivot wear and realistically, how much do pivots wear anyway? When that happens, it’s new mech time regardless. It even learns if you bend the mech in a crash, it resets the shifting automatically. Stepper motors? Seriously? It’s a tiny electric motor driving a spring. Like a watch. Do you worry about that? No, it just works.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Compensates for wear – that is clever. when that happens with a normal mech I just keep on riding. 20 yr old mech on my bike that works fine

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    How much will it cost me though?

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    Statement;

    the concept of electonic shifting is stupid

    Statement:

    solution in search of a problem

    Do you suddenly know more about this than the Shimano boffins? I rather doubt it.

    Have you ever ridden Di2?

    esselgruntfuttock
    Free Member

    Like, will I need to save up?

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 108 total)

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