Redbullet

The message behind was that, as long as you don’t see broken brake cables, it is much harder to see broken shifting cables. Because even if shifting cables might have half of the resistance of braking cables, they handle much, much smaller forces.

SoSmellyAir

The converse may be true due to the tight radius bend taken by shifter cables in contemporary (i.e., 11 speed) STI levers. I have heard of several instances of broken shifter cables but never a broken brake cable until this BF thread.

seypat

Shimano moving a step closer. I'm still out of luck. No electronic or 3x yet.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/shima...XVRuKuxnm8d43A

MykGrant

My road bike has Di2 and I absolutely love it! I'd like to convert my MTB over too.

However.... I must be a gadget guy since I also have rear facing radar and love that also. Currently, my Gamin Edge is connected to: 1) heart rate monitor, 2) cadence sensor, 3) Di2, 4) rear facing radar and 5) my phone. Plus, on my phone I"m running Strava. I have a single crank Stages Power meter as well but have not had much luck getting it synced. I feel a bit like a science experiment but as long as I'm having a good time no big deal.

Trakhak

I've had one brake cable fail in use in the 60-ish years I've been riding bikes. Front brake; the cable wires pulled out of the molded-on end. Definitely a freak occurrence, since I'm evidently the only one reporting such a failure.

Maelochs

or Maybe ... <cue dramatic music> ... The Only One Who Survived.

Big Bike and its coverups ... will we ever know the truth?

ummed

My ride today reminded me of my favorite reason for electronic shifting. It's much easier for me when my hands are cold; especially when I can't feel my fingers.

Kimmo

Sure can, it's great fun. But you have to pedal. You don't need to actually put any drive through (although that can help prevent locking up the rear if you're using it), you just need to turn the cranks.

Kimmo

/rolls eyes

Kimmo

Ridiculous is context dependent.

If your favourite way to ride is like a courier through a city, basically going as hard as you can through a moving obstacle course, then it makes perfect sense.

Kimmo

It depends which side your front brake is on.

But it struck me pretty hard after getting used to this move, that it's at least half the point of the swinging brake lever, and vastly unsung.

InvertedMP 

Electronic shifting is better in every single way lol.

This must be the new disk brake debate...

GhostRider62

I used to shift both the chainring and freewheel with my right thumb and index finger while braking with the left hand but then they put the controls up on the bars, too far away to conveniently reach if one hand. In certain terrain, braking and shifting both are certainly better than just shifting the RD. Better is subjective. To me? Much better.

Maelochs

To me threads like this just emphasize one important fact---there is only One Way to properly ride a bicycle ... and none of us have found it yet.

Bah Humbug

New? It definitely preceded disc brakes.

tomato coupe

I have -- I'm just waiting for the rest of the world to figure it out.

Kimmo

As awesome as it is, it can't possibly be better in every way.

The complexity of it is ridiculous from a standpoint of purity and elegance of design.

And the tactile feedback? Lol

ummed

I agree, very rarely is something better in every way than [especially] the popular alternatives. There are are almost always at least technical tradeoffs as well as subjective criteria. Electronic shifting and disc brakes are not immune.

PeteHski

A simple electric motor and microswitch is hardly complex. As a mechanical engineer, I would argue that a mechanical brifter is more complicated.

Elegance of design - seriously? There's nothing elegant to me in a cable operated derailleur, especially a front one. Bike manufacturers went to great lengths to hide unsightly cables, so eliminating them entirely is a better solution. That's my only issue with Shimano Di2 i.e. not being completely wireless.

Tactile feedback! LOL. Electronic shifting still feels quite mechanical, but now you don't have to suffer with floppy brake levers and a completely different feel between upshifts and downshifts.

The only real downside for the moment is the extra cost, but groups like Rival are making that less of an issue. At this point I would honestly choose SRAM Rival over DuraAce mechanical.

Maelochs

Purity and elegance of design.

Okay.

Didn't know they were engineering terms.

An excellent design can be manufactured, installed, and operated for a long time at low cost with complete effective function. I have had an Ultegra shifter destroy itself internally when a cable snapped and the ball end wedged itself into the workings. Not sure of the "purity" of writing a fat check for a replacement.

An electronic shifter is ... a switch. Simple, elegant, almost primitive. The only complex part is the mechanical brake lever. What is "impure" about a simple electric switch? Should we get them sterilized so they will be "pure"?

There is the atavistic attitude of "Whatever was the standard when I started cycling is good enough," but other than a very few C&V types, Everyone likes at least some of the advances in cycling. I don't pass a lot of pennyfarthings ..... Arguments about "elegance" and "purity" are code for "preference without logical foundation".

Nothing wrong with that. If you like steel bikes with downtube shifters or whatever, that is entirely valid. Just don't try to convince the rest of us that what you like is somehow more "pure' and "perfect" just because it is primitive. It is "better" for you because it rings some bells ... like music and personal-activity partners .... if ti makes your thing swing, it does, end of story. But ... it is only "better" for you.

I was watching Paris-Roubaix yesterday .... a race bike with no bags, low seat stays, and the rider laid out long and flat is a thing of beauty--to me. Some folks would see bulky brifters at odd angles and weird-shaped tubes. Some would see the racing bikes of the '60s. '70s, or whatever era as "pure" and "elegant" ..... and then you see a photo of some guy on a single-speed with a tubular wrapped around his chest and a six-ounce metal water bottle with a cork stopper .....

Hawkeye83

Just got my first electronically-shifted bike a few days ago, a used Domane 5.9 with Di2. New to road biking so am going to test that out against a Motobecane titanium-frame bike with SRAM Red components. Preparing for RAGBRAI in approximately 4 months, my first time. Previously just an occasional mountain biker and casual biker. So far I do really like the Di2 shifting, in the little bit I've used it so far. Haven't tried the other bike yet.

Darth Lefty 

I'm really glad you all finally settled this. I was worried you wouldn't get here. Congratulations everyone, good job. The best answer won out in the end

GhostRider62

They can put an audible click if that is what you are missing.

An electronic shifter is infinitely simpler than a mechanical brifter. What is the design spec for purity and elegance. My SRAM Red AXS RD is butt ugly. But it is better in every way compared to past RDs in my stable.

mschwett 

mechanical brifters and the derailleurs that go with them seem incredibly complex to me.

if you discount the incredible industry/progress that went into making integrated circuits ubiquitous, the electronic version seems much, much, much simpler. switch, battery, circuit, motor, arrange and program as desired.

Bob Ross

This is BikeForums.net...^^^that's implicit.