Electronic vs Mechanical shifting
02-06-23, 12:48 PM
#251
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02-06-23, 12:59 PM
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02-06-23, 01:04 PM
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The simple fact remains. Some older tech is just more robust than newer stuff (notice I didn't say more efficient, better, faster, etc...). Forget steam locomotives---go to the example I posted earlier (after you had already quoted me in reply): There are tens of thousands--if not hundreds of thousands--of manual wind pocket watches (mine's a 1911 Hamilton), that are serviceable and operational today. There are virtually no functional examples of the Texas Instruments red LED watches from 1976.
My slide rule is able to do computations that my long-dead solar-powered calculator cannot anymore. And will never, ever stop functioning if properly cared for. My bike will be functioning perfectly long after your plastic bike with electronic parts is nothing but a fond memory in landfill.
My slide rule is able to do computations that my long-dead solar-powered calculator cannot anymore. And will never, ever stop functioning if properly cared for. My bike will be functioning perfectly long after your plastic bike with electronic parts is nothing but a fond memory in landfill.
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02-06-23, 01:16 PM
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So, if Lael needs electric motors to ease her hand fatigue so that she can set a FKT, how is that different than someone else using an electric motor (fancy, dancy new tech) to ease their leg fatigue? Mechanical pedaling certainly gives me leg fatigue and sometimes pain. Is she driving her electric motors from a dynamo hub? If not, seems to me her FKT deserves an asterisk, at least if one cares about such things. Where is the blurry line? Mine is probably different than yours. To be clear, Lael could whip my butt riding a Varsity even if I were riding an electric bike. That isn't the point. The point is that some may choose to use certain gear for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with nostalgia, being anti-tech, or being a mindless, tearful retrogrouch. Hey, if you told me that electronic shifting could be powered by the new high tech dynamo hubs without my being locked into some groupo, I might get interested (at a reasonable cost). Just saying...
The thread is a fun read.
The thread is a fun read.
02-06-23, 01:49 PM
#255
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I don't claim to have no contradictions in what I do. Yes, I use a bike computer and cell phone. However, neither actually aids me in being able to ride between point A and point B in a given time. Alleviating had pain, I'm not saying a bad thing, arguably does aid an endurance cyclist's ability to ride between point A and point B in a FKT. If I cared, and if she had broken my record, I might take exception to her claim. My main point was that each of us makes our decisions for various reasons and the blanket characterizations being made were no less silly than my comparing electronic shifting to electronic pedaling. Electronic shifting in fact does give me pause - it pushes ME past MY blurry line. It is not at all a knee jerk thought. Your line is crisp, mine is not. Admittedly, it has nothing to do with the OP but I'm hardly the first to have strayed.
battery powered things that help riders get from A to B in a given time and as such are very suspect:
- GPS units
- Lights
but i reiterate, electronic shifting is completely different from pedal assist as it does not help with propulsion.
The simple fact remains. Some older tech is just more robust than newer stuff (notice I didn't say more efficient, better, faster, etc...). Forget steam locomotives---go to the example I posted earlier (after you had already quoted me in reply): There are tens of thousands--if not hundreds of thousands--of manual wind pocket watches (mine's a 1911 Hamilton), that are serviceable and operational today. There are virtually no functional examples of the Texas Instruments red LED watches from 1976.
If you compare which is better there's really no comparison. I mean I like mechanical watches but I have no illusions about how they compare to quartz. I need to take my COSC accurate diver to be serviced because it spent too much time in the same drawer as a pair of headphones and is now 30sec/day fast.
Robust is the last word I'd use to describe mechanical watches. Even if they were manual wound pocket watches which share the same technology.
My slide rule is able to do computations that my long-dead solar-powered calculator cannot anymore. And will never, ever stop functioning if properly cared for. My bike will be functioning perfectly long after your plastic bike with electronic parts is nothing but a fond memory in a landfill.
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02-06-23, 02:42 PM
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The way the writer put it: "the structure's aging clock is reset to zero."
02-06-23, 03:49 PM
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I get to work on Di2 bikes, including Sram, now and then and they are quite nice. But like bikes in general they work great until they don't. Most often complaints are from people who don't know how to take care of them...dead battery because they forgot to charge it is the most voiced complaint lol. That is the rider's problem, not the kit. Second is the bike won't shift. Generally it is in "crash mode" ..........
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02-06-23, 03:52 PM
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Did you say muppet? I don't even ride a SS.
02-06-23, 03:55 PM
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02-06-23, 04:05 PM
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pretty sure this was not directed at you.
02-06-23, 04:19 PM
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