Shimano electric shifters break cover

very interesting but why do we need this when cables never fail come rai or shine??
Posted: 27/07/2007 23:58

and it doesn't even have the style of the Campag electronic group.
Posted: 28/07/2007 06:22

Ridiculous! What next, electric powered drive chains?!...."hey, up....it's a motorbike!"
Posted: 28/07/2007 10:34

Err, a motorbike doesn't have electric gear shifting.
Posted: 28/07/2007 10:40

I dont know??,

Will electric be the way forward. Look at STI from the old downtube shifters.

The main thing is will it be any better ???

Lets wait and see.
Posted: 28/07/2007 10:41

I'm not sure why some are so anti this sort of thing?
Posted: 28/07/2007 10:53

The spirit of the bicycle, be it mountain, road bike, etc is surely that it's man-powered. Electrics have no place on a "bike" as I see it (lights & odometers aside). When you're pushing hard and long on a bike even changing gear is part of the overall physical effort. That's the way it should remain....in my opinion. But, each to their own. I'll stick to cables.
Posted: 28/07/2007 11:22

How many of those who carp at the idea of electronic shifting are riding around in toe clips and straps? If it's any good, it will be taken up. If not, it won't. See Mektronic from Mavic...
Posted: 28/07/2007 11:35

I was one of the first to switch to the Look pedals - oooh 20 years back ?

Not going to switch to electronic shifting tho. Never snapped a gear cable in 25 years of cycling.

The only poss advantage I can see is for TTs or triathlon where you can have multiple gear changing switches - so you can change whilst on the tribars, or on the brakes.

Other than that - it makes no sense.
Posted: 04/08/2007 21:59

not while its heavier and uglier will people take it on board. especially not while you have to lug a massive battery around with you. i can think of advantages though. imagine not having to calibrate/replace gear cables because theyve stretched. say, sometime in the future, you could calibrate your gears by computer. id pay for that. but itll only make its way to the top when its as light or lighter than the current stuff.
Posted: 05/08/2007 12:34

If Shimano and Campag both think it's worth looking into then you can bet that it will be the must have thing in a few years. The points about clipless pedals and STI are valid, when we knock things like this , you only have to look at what we ride now compared to what we had 20 years back. You never know it might actually be good to use.
Posted: 06/08/2007 11:38

The worry, certainly at the moment, is about battery life I'd've thought!

Imagine your battery conking out half way up a steep hill... I know cables do snap eventually (I've had a couple go...) but batteries will always wear down.

Sure they'll improve the technology very quickly though - just look at mobiles and mp3 players(for battery life...)
Posted: 06/08/2007 12:02

Shimano's system has a battery life indicator; Campagnolo's battery is said to be good for about 100hrs of regular riding. Unless you are going adventure touring, battery life is probably not going to be a reason to avoid electronic shifting, any more than it is a reason to stick to public payphones instead of getting a mobile.
Posted: 06/08/2007 13:59

100hrs...?? That much! Yeah, that'd be plenty! Cheers Richard.
Posted: 06/08/2007 14:03

Why dont they make a small Solar charger to be on the bars or somewhere else on the bike that trickel charges the battery as you ride.

We all ride in the sun, when its out. This will; keep it topped up.

I dont know why we need a visual display of gear number though. Theres only 3 gears we use.

1. Too Bloody Hard.

2. Just Right.

3. Too Bloody Easy.

:}
Posted: 06/08/2007 14:07

I have used either Record or Chorus for over 30 years. Shifting has always been exact, regardless of occassional cable stretch or chain wear. I am not against new technology or improvements to any system, but I am not sure how campag can improve their shifting capacity. If anything, the electrics will add to the weight of a machine.

I think it will be similar to the Mavic Zapp. They will probably sell a few to the techno freaks, but the majority who already experience the best will simply nod and continue on. It will eventually go away as another research project after making a few euros from those who have too much money and after giving the research engineers something to exercise their brainpower.
Posted: 06/08/2007 23:07

Nah; when it comes out all those people who like to fit and/or ride the latest hot kit will rush out and buy it. And why not? It is bound to be as good as, if not necessarily any better than a cable-operated system.
Posted: 07/08/2007 14:29

100 hours? No, I don't believe that.
Posted: 07/08/2007 16:34

Why not? How many shifts do you make per hour?
Posted: 07/08/2007 17:34

surely that depends entirely on the terrain, Richard.
Posted: 07/08/2007 17:57

Terrain, wind direction, degree of effort (the closer you want to stay to threshold, the more often you are likely to change gear; I might ride for an hour and shift about five times, or shift five times a lap in a one hour crit. The 100 hours figure is probably plucked from average usage by the pros testing the stuff, but since the battery is going to be rechargeable, it shouldn't be too difficult to start any big ride with a full charge, which ought to be enough for anything short of Paris-Brest-Paris.
Posted: 08/08/2007 12:32

Maybe the future could be wireless ???. It seems like the auto industry going from Points and Carbs to Electronic ignition and fuel injection - more and more sensors to drive up the efficiency of the whole machine.

Presumably the cycling endgame will be monitoring heart-rate, cadence and Elevation ahea (via GPS) to setlect the most appropriate gear. The poor rider will just be a monkey on the bike working at or about his peak concentrating on pedalling and steering.
Posted: 13/08/2007 22:33

There's always fixed wheel...
Posted: 14/08/2007 14:01

I was a keen cycling about 20 years ago and have only recently got back into it. I once toured the lakes with the family with a single sprocket bike ...its seems I was ahead of the game - I've never tried fixed wheel though.
Posted: 14/08/2007 20:58

"I dont know why we need a visual display of gear number though. Theres only 3 gears we use.

1. Too Bloody Hard.

2. Just Right.

3. Too Bloody Easy."

Vlad, how right you are. I used to ride a 5-block cassette at the back for many years and only ever used the top 3 rings. I now ride 9sp only and although I use more gears due to the greater range of landscapes I encounter, I still feel 9 is a lot. The new 10s are overkill. So, electric shifting? Please folks-I like the physical experience of racing bikes. Why would I want to carry a battery just for shifters? (It needs recharging-and needs someone to remember it needs this. A battery weighs. A battery takes up headwind and will increase Cw values. A battery can short if you find yourself in a real downpour. And what about when it's reached the end of its life? More toxic waste as well, when cycling was supposed to save the world from dying... ) It just feels wrong. And maybe it is great, but it is equally not for me. 

I used to break brake cables once every few months (strong hands and London traffic with too many nutters), but have never broken a shifter cable. And Io Dupont make cables and housing that are lighter than anything else on the market, with inners out of a non-stretch fiber called Zylon. I have yet to break one of those... so please... take your electric crap somewhere else.

Posted: 09/09/2007 01:01

do they mean automatic electric shifting?

Posted: 09/09/2007 21:24

No, shifting via electronics of the type discussed on this thread will be at the rider's discretion.
Posted: 10/09/2007 15:36