Koyote

"Worth" is subjective -- it depends on your preferences and your budget. Hence, no one can tell you whether moving to Di2 is "worth it" for you.

For me - and I write this as someone with ample funds and a new-ish Di2 bike -- I would not upgrade an existing bike. While Di2 is nice, and has a few tricks up its sleeve, it doesn't really shift any better than a good, well-maintained mechanical drivetrain.

But let's be honest here: If the OP is asking, he's gonna do the upgrade. He's just looking for enablers.

Seattle Forrest

To anybody facing this decision, or a similar one: Rent a bike with Di2 (or whatever you're considering) for a day, take it for a long ride. Then make up your mind from personal experience, instead of from asking strangers who have different taste than you. Whatever you decide, you'll feel better about your decision. The knowledge is worth the rental fee.

Steve B.

Im surprised you find that Di2 is no better a shifting system than mechanical. As I follow the posts above, everybody (including myself) who has Di2 has stated they will not go back to mechanical. The presumption is that it shifts much better as the reason.

Koyote

If you think that Di2 shifts "much better" than mechanical, then your mechanical drivetrain needs some maintenance.

I also think that Di2 is inferior to mechanical in at least one scenario: shifting both derailleurs simultaneously, as when going from the large to the small chainring and simultaneously shifting to a smaller cog in order to maintain cadence. In a mechanical system, this is pretty seamless, while Di2 is pretty clunky; using Synchro or Semi-Synchro mode only makes it clunkier, contrary to Shimano's intention.

However, I do agree that electronic is the future - I don't see myself buying a new bike without it. It does offer a few little tricks (the auto-trim for the fd, e.g.) and should be forward-compatible with OS updates.

Steve B.

2 completely unanticipated things I like about Di2, the first is my hands are pretty worn out from decades of hard labor and I find not having to swing the big STI levers inwards is much easier as it’s just a button push. 2nd is I like have the gears I’m in showing on my Garmin, no longer needing to glance back at the cassette. That’s a silly one I admit.

Seattle Forrest

I don't think Di2 shifts a lot better than a good mechanical group. Maybe a little. The auto trim is wonderful and works better than manual. There's no maintenance required ever, except charging the battery which takes half a minute on my part. It's easier to use with thick gloves. You can add buttons. Your Garmin can term you what gear you're in and count shifts over a ride. It's overall better.

Shifting more than one cog is faster and more natural with mech. You can't misplace your charger.

Koyote

I really thought that would not matter at all… But I do love it, too. This is why I recommend that, for anyone who gets Di2, the Bluetooth feature is a worthy upgrade. If you’re going to do it, do it all the way.

eduskator

I saw that, what a shame! Better get a 2019 at 20% off then! I hope Giant is not planning on ditching Di2 from its lineups. Me no like SRAM!

Sy Reene

FWIW, for the non-Di2 cyclist, there are apps for this as well. Can't say I've tried this out though:
https://apps.garmin.com/nl-NL/apps/f...f-3f8f94c7d6c3

Rides4Beer

Yup, they went SRAM for electronic for 2020. I wanted di2, so I bought a 2020 Advanced 1 with mech Ultegra and had the shop upgrade it. Two other changes for 2020 on the Defy, 160 rotor up front (previous years are 140 front/rear), and a little more tire clearance, 35mm officially, but I saw where a guy fit 38's on his 2020 Defy. I'm running 28's that measure at 30mm and there is ton of room. Maybe I'll test fit my gravel wheels and see how much room there is, my gravel tires measure at 39mm.


Agreed, properly setup r7/8000 shifts amazingly well, I would say better than di2, at least until the cable starts stretching. lol Def love the autotrim, and the ease of just barely moving a finger to shift is great.

eduskator

The 0 being 1700$ more expensive, I would have also bought a 1 & upgraded it. However, the 1 does not come with a power meter which is unfortunate.

Koyote

Looks like it must use an algorithm (based on speed, cadence, wheel size) to estimate the current gear. There are no reviews for the app, but I can't imagine that it works very well.

Steve B.

I'm thinking it's complete guess work as it's attempting to calculate what gears you are sitting in based on speed. Too many variables. As well if you click on the tiny.url link there's a column of posts from people unable to get this to work.

Sy Reene

Cadence and speed are used together.. in theory it could/should be close; though it may rely on you knowing at least which of the front rings you're in since there could be overlap in gear inches. FYI, Those comments are 2-3 years old, for a long-since replaced editions of the app. That said, and like I said, haven't used it.

August West

This is actually one of my favorite features. I have the gear combo field on my main page and reference it quite often when riding. Seems silly I know but I love it too.

Second the recommendation to get the D-Fly Bluetooth adapter if the bike doesn't come with it. Very handy to access the system using your phone. The only caution is a lot of people recommend against doing firmware updates using bluetooth.

Something I just discovered by accident last week is when adjusting the derailleurs a screen pops up on my Edge 830 showing the adjustment position. This is handy to me since I have two wheelsets that are slightly different and need just a little fine tuning for the rear derailleur when switching between the two. Once I established the best position for each now I can just go straight to that position when I switch wheels.

Seattle Forrest

In the beginning, before the stars and planets formed, Connect IQ had very little real world value. Looks like this needs your wheel size, and uses cadence and speed from the Garmin, you'd think it ought to work pretty well.

I have the D Fly so I can't test it. But it's a cool idea.

I wish my Garmin had the graphical display this one does.

Steve B.

I find this a humorous comment as I've used Ultegra since it was the 600 series, had STI Ultegra in it's 8-9-10 & 11 spd. series, plus 5800 and 7000 105 groups on about 15 bikes I've built up from frames.

Di2 - IN MY OPINION, and for the 80?? (can't remember - 8020 ?, 8050 ?) group I installed 2 years ago, shifts quicker, quietly (well except for the front cheep), and more reliably that any of the Ultegra or 105 mechanical groups. All of which were installed correctly and in the beginning, needed no maintenance. Which seems to be what the majority of users on this thread report as well. It's not about maintenance though I would change my comment to just state "better".

tomato coupe

How does it work? Do you select a wheel set and it automatically makes the adjustments, or do you manually make the adjustments to match the numbers?

Koyote

Ah, yes, the "appeal to authority" fallacy. Even if you do have more experience than me (and we don't know if that's true!), it's still a logical fallacy.

Again, I am not fundamentally disagreeing: I like Di2 and will buy it (or the next iteration) on my next bike, most likely.

Steve B.

In the 2 years I’ve used the system, I haven’t had to readjust, so from memory, you use the shift levers, can’t remember which one, to toggle up or down.

Steve B.

Yeah, I realize my experience is what is called “anecdotal”, and is just my experience. I do think a 105 system is the most bang for the buck currently. I’d really live to put an XT Di2 system on my HT as I find the long lever push to get to larger dogs hard on my aged thumbs. The price though !, and for a 1x system, is just nuts,

Koyote

I think you actually alluded to one of the reasons for choosing Di2: Bluetooth integration with any reasonably current cycling computer. I’m actually thinking of buying a Garmin, just so I can program my shifter top buttons to scroll through the screens...In a gravel race, i’d love to be able to do that without taking my hands off the bar. Add in the other electronic features, and the potential for more (through operating system updates), and there are some distinct advantages over mechanical shifting... Enough advantages that the shifting quality itself becomes almost beside the point.

I still don’t think it is worth replacing a perfectly good mechanical groupset... but on a new bike - sure.

Seattle Forrest

How secure is the wireless communications system? It would be fun if you could shift someone else's bike in a race with your Garmin somehow.

Koyote

No dice. The BT is only for your own Di2 to communicate with your computer and a phone app. Can't shift via BT.

rclouviere

I’m the OP. Thanks for all the responses. One said i was going to convert and was just seeking “enablers.” Not really. i should have gone into more detail. I was having a lot of “rattling” noises that appeared to be coming from the downtube that the LBS couldn’t stop. Frustrating to have such a nice bike and hear that noise going over every bump. Had a local guy, that is amazing, look at it, and he installed dome rubber tubing around the internal cables and stopped the noise! Really quiet now.

A couple of the other posts discussed financial means. I can afford it, but really wasn’t sure if it was worth the extra cost. Most said if i was buying new, to go di2, otherwise, no. I agree. I’m going to stay with mechanical for now.

Others said the bike wasn’t really set up for di2. The mechanic that fixed the noise said this Nike was really set up for fi2 more than mechanical. It does have a spot for the battery under the bottle holder mount.

again, thanks for the responses.