Originally Posted by
Koyote
When they break inside the shifter, it's usually not a quick fix. You have to fish out bits of broken wire, which can be fiddly and time-consuming.
And I have several bikes equipped with Shimano mechanical groupsets. The newer ones, with shift cables under the bar tape, are somewhat notorious for this problem.
Di2 is not 100% reliable, all the time. Agreed. My point is that the same is true of a mechanical drivetrain, too.
Yes, Shimano shifters are notorious for this problem. That's crappy engineering. If I had them I'd inspect and replace the cables regularly. In any case, twice in a year seems to me like something is very wrong.
That, and the lack of FD trim are some of the reasons why I bought a bike with SRAM a year and a half ago. Don't get me started on SRAM hydraulics though...