How can you tell if a trend will last or not?

[bpsmith]

Forgive my ignorance, can I ask what sort of batteries these systems use? Can they be swapped over mid-ride? Are they standard cells of any description?

Di2 tends to be within the frame these days. One battery runs the whole system.

eTap has a battery mounted on each mech, which are interchangeable, plus I think they use standard CR2032 coin cells in the shifters.

 

[StuAff]

If you do rides of around 750-1,500 miles perhaps.

That’s a Google search showing the range of mileage I found.

If you were to have eTap, then you’re always carrying a spare battery as there’s one on each mech.

People manage to change their Garmin after every ride, so why would they not charge their batteries on eTap or Di2 every so often?

Exactly. People somehow manage to do some very long rides with electronic shifting....Josh Ibbett won the Transcontinental Race with a Di2 bike.

 

[bpsmith]

Exactly. People somehow manage to do some very long rides with electronic shifting....Josh Ibbett won the Transcontinental Race with a Di2 bike.

Unbelievable how some people are so blinkered by reality, when it doesn’t suit them.

Don’t have Di2 myself, but the battery thing isn’t the reason tbh.

Mileage and battery life is all down to how many shifts are made, I am assuming. Hence the difference in mileage.

Can’t see it going flat mid ride unless not bothered charging tbh.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The rigid mtb is back in fashion again and available everywhere, except now they’re called gravel bikes. Looking at some of these bike they have the same geometry my old rigid mtb had 25 years ago. Sometimes a new trend is just an old trend reintroduced.

Not quite though. The modern "gravel" bikes tend to run 700c wheels, not 26" MTB size. I've got a couple of what may be considered fairly ancient 700c hybrids fitted with stout tyres that are both perfectly capable of doing light off road riding, and do get used for this, but I still prefer an old-school 26" rigid MTB if riding in woods as I find them easier to manoeuvre in a tight space if you need to dodge obstructions. 700c size wheels make a bike feel more cumbersome, even if they do roll a bit better overall.

 

[StuAff]

700C or 650B (most can run both). And no reason why people can't buy two wheelsets, or swap tyres...

 

[screenman]

What does it matter if it will stand the test of time, if you want it and it will bring pleasure but it.

 

[Blue Hills]

Di2 tends to be within the frame these days. One battery runs the whole system.

eTap has a battery mounted on each mech, which are interchangeable, plus I think they use standard CR2032 coin cells in the shifters.

Cripes, not the dreaded cr2032. Powerer of daft lights, the sometime powerer of my kitchen scales - half the time I have to rub the battery to get it to give me 5 secs of power.

 

[Blue Hills]

Unbelievable how some people are so blinkered by reality, when it doesn’t suit them.

Don’t have Di2 myself, but the battery thing isn’t the reason tbh.

Mileage and battery life is all down to how many shifts are made, I am assuming. Hence the difference in mileage.

Can’t see it going flat mid ride unless not bothered charging tbh.

Well rechargeable batteries do degrade of course. So it will at some point unless you are very careful. It's clearly something else to bother about for a machine that should be simple. Would car drivers put up with a system that required them to monitor battery charging?
To clarify, i think them fine for competition use if that's what folk want. Anytning else, forget it.

 

[jowwy]

so long that they'll run out unexpectedly mid ride.

I reckon electric shifting will ultimately be a niche rather than become a lasting trend.

With more electric groupsets coming out and trickling down to the lower end of groupsets, i very much doubt they will become niche.........

 

[swansonj]

Well rechargeable batteries do degrade of course. So it will at some point unless you are very careful. It's clearly something else to bother about for a machine that should be simple. Would car drivers put up with a system that required them to monitor battery charging?
To clarify, i think them fine for competition use if that's what folk want. Anytning else, forget it.

Actually, car drivers do have all sorts of things that need checking and replenishing on either a time basis or a use basis - from windscreen washer fluid through engine oil to cam belts.

 

[Milkfloat]

Well rechargeable batteries do degrade of course. So it will at some point unless you are very careful. It's clearly something else to bother about for a machine that should be simple.
To clarify, i think them fine for competition use if that's what folk want. Anytning else, forget it.

Is that simple like a sticky gear cable, or a frayed cable inside an sti, maybe it is just simple indexing. All these things can actually be quite difficult for a bike novice to solve, but are not a problem with electronic gears. I don't think there is an answer to what is better, they both have positives and negatives (quite literally with batteries).

 

[ianrauk]

How long is it usually between Di2 charges?
I know its an open ended question but there must be a base time/use.

 

[ianrauk]

A friend who has Di2 once said to me. 'it's not essential or needed but it's nice to have'

 

[Blue Hills]

I've noticed that a few fashion victims have started using telephones that require batteries. What madness is this? How do they propose to make emergency calls in the event of a power failure if their batteries run flat? No one will ever be able to remember to charge these devices and the rechargeable batteries will degrade very quickly.

I can't see that they will catch on. Rotary pulse dialling is the only sensible option.

now now. Hardly a parallel. And just because some things use batteries, for a real benefit, it hardly follows that it's a good idea for everything to be battery powered, rechargeable or not.

Or, praps I could pop round your house and recommend a whole host of household objects that should be rechargeable battery powered - then you can monitor their charge level in a spreadsheet app. I am sure if I took your line I could find hundreds of things in your house, many many just in the kitchen.

 

[Blue Hills]

How long is it usually between Di2 charges?
I know its an open ended question but there must be a base time/use.

no idea, but it will surely shrink.

And in respons to points above about recharging garmins, I don't with mine - can happily run it to the bottom on a ride - throw more high capacity compact AAs in. I avoid button cells and built-in batteries of all kinds. Hell I'm old enough to remember Psion introducing a built in battery version of their wonderful organiser hand-held computer. How the hell that was an advance on a AA powered version you could use anywhere I have no idea.