Originally Posted by
unterhausen
The thing about Di2 is that if you crash or otherwise damage one of the cables, it can be a fairly elaborate and expensive repair. I helped my lbs troubleshoot the aftermath of a crash on a Di2 system. I recall it was going to take $400 in cables to fix it, and the diagnostic software didn't pinpoint the issue very quickly. OTOH, I have seen any number of cable driven bikes that were modified into single speeds so the rider could complete their ride. Di2 failures among randonneurs that ride a lot seems to involve not charging the battery in time. Oftentimes the battery is hidden and you can't just swap another one in. It seems like etap wouldn't have this problem as much because you are constantly swapping out batteries. I wanted an etap system for my travel bike, but now they went to 12 speed and I see no reason for that. Maybe shimano will come out with wireless
Some misleading info here. I don’t really know why any Di2 wires would ever have to be replaced; wires don’t really fail. But even if they did need to be replaced, ALL of the wires in a Di2 system don’t come anywhere close to costing $400. Hell, I think you could replace all of the wires
and the junction boxes for less than $400, but I still don’t know how you would wreck them.
You could ride a 1200k brevet on a single charge of a Di2 battery and have plenty of juice left over. So, running out of battery power would require epic stupidity.