7 ms·

I’ve have/had mech SRAM, mech Shimano, SRAM Red AXS eTap and the new Ultegra Di2. Well maintained (change cables every couple years), mech just works too and ha

I’ve have/had mech SRAM, mech Shimano, SRAM Red AXS eTap and the new Ultegra Di2. Well maintained (change cables every couple years), mech just works too and has crisp shifting. While I love electronic and won’t go back to mech on some of my bikes, mech has its place. It has not left me stranded with a dead battery and it hasn’t entered crash mode during a cross race. Mech also won’t brick a $1000 derailleur after a firmware upgrade (it magically came back to life 2 months later, after I had bought a replacement). I do agree with your first point, I don’t see much revolutionary here.

latchkey 4y ago
> It has not left me stranded Not much different than a mech cable snapping or the derailleur not being adjusted correctly by a tiny set screw and the chain ending up in your spokes. Shit has catastrophic failures... that's never going to stop being a problem.
- sasawpg 4y ago
  Mech cable snapping vs forgetting to charge the battery? Yes, end user error with the battery, but I’ve had exactly 0 cables snap and I put my bikes through hell.
  - latchkey 4y ago
    I've had a cable snap in a race.
    - sasawpg 4y ago
      I just watched a NorCal video where guy had to spend all race in little ring because it snapped at the start line. Ouch!
      - wmitty 4y ago
        As long as you have access to a phillips screwdriver, you aren't stuck in the little ring - you can tighten the high limit screw to pick your one gear (at least from the higher ones).
      - sasawpg 4y ago
        (Replying to wmitty) it happened to him at the start line. His choice was between DNS or little ring.
- skeeter2020 4y ago
  I've never had a rear derailleur cable "snap"; they stretch, fray and may eventually break right at the pinch point but these are either slow delays with obvious warnings or easily fixed on the trail. Compared to a connectivity or battery issue? They don't have nearly as high of likelyhood.
  - sasawpg 4y ago
    I’ve seen cable breaks happen, though not frequently. I’ve also seen chains break a lot more frequently, I know of 5-6 instances where it happened last year alone locally. All of these were a result of complete lack of maintenance as you point out, though I suppose it would be possible for a newer component to not show signs of wear and still fail.
Steltek 4y ago
Electronic shifting is everything I don't want on a bike. - Another battery to recharge - Proprietary battery format making replacements difficult - Needing an app to make simple adjustments. Hopefully it runs and is still compatible after 10+ years of ownership! Bike components are wonders of precision machining and modern materials but conceptually, they have a beautiful simplicity. Not to get too "give up programming for woodworking" but all of that goes flying out the window the moment you add a proprietary wireless protocol and closed hardware in the middle of it.
- sasawpg 4y ago
  Index adjustment on SRAM AXS can be done on the fly from the shifters. Or from the app as you ride without stopping. Try that with cables. The battery replacement is the real issue as technology gets older. Though to be honest, at some stage it gets more difficult to find parts for any system. I started to run into challenges sourcing several replacement parts for a 8-9 year old bike that had 10 speed Shimano group set, so it got sold and replaced. Batteries are not much different really.
  - runamok 4y ago
    Barrel adjusters near the controls are a thing though not all bikes have them. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Jagwire-Inline-Indexed-Tension-Adjusters/dp/B01NAPALH6 https://www.amazon.com/Jagwire-Inline-Indexed-Tension-Adjust...
  - jjav 4y ago
    > I started to run into challenges sourcing several replacement parts for a 8-9 year old bike that had 10 speed Shimano group set I can't say I've had any problems with getting maintenance parts for my 2004 (19 years old) Shimano XTR mountain bike.
- latchkey 4y ago
  I haven't opened the app since I got the bike... about 2 years ago. You don't need the app to make adjustments... I also haven't made any adjustments in 2 years, so there is that too.

latchkey 4y ago

> It has not left me stranded Not much different than a mech cable snapping or the derailleur not being adjusted correctly by a tiny set screw and the chain ending up in your spokes. Shit has catastrophic failures... that's never going to stop being a problem.

sasawpg 4y ago
Mech cable snapping vs forgetting to charge the battery? Yes, end user error with the battery, but I’ve had exactly 0 cables snap and I put my bikes through hell.
- latchkey 4y ago
  I've had a cable snap in a race.
  - sasawpg 4y ago
    I just watched a NorCal video where guy had to spend all race in little ring because it snapped at the start line. Ouch!
    - wmitty 4y ago
      As long as you have access to a phillips screwdriver, you aren't stuck in the little ring - you can tighten the high limit screw to pick your one gear (at least from the higher ones).
    - sasawpg 4y ago
      (Replying to wmitty) it happened to him at the start line. His choice was between DNS or little ring.
skeeter2020 4y ago
I've never had a rear derailleur cable "snap"; they stretch, fray and may eventually break right at the pinch point but these are either slow delays with obvious warnings or easily fixed on the trail. Compared to a connectivity or battery issue? They don't have nearly as high of likelyhood.
- sasawpg 4y ago
  I’ve seen cable breaks happen, though not frequently. I’ve also seen chains break a lot more frequently, I know of 5-6 instances where it happened last year alone locally. All of these were a result of complete lack of maintenance as you point out, though I suppose it would be possible for a newer component to not show signs of wear and still fail.

Steltek 4y ago

Electronic shifting is everything I don't want on a bike. - Another battery to recharge - Proprietary battery format making replacements difficult - Needing an app to make simple adjustments. Hopefully it runs and is still compatible after 10+ years of ownership! Bike components are wonders of precision machining and modern materials but conceptually, they have a beautiful simplicity. Not to get too "give up programming for woodworking" but all of that goes flying out the window the moment you add a proprietary wireless protocol and closed hardware in the middle of it.

sasawpg 4y ago
Index adjustment on SRAM AXS can be done on the fly from the shifters. Or from the app as you ride without stopping. Try that with cables. The battery replacement is the real issue as technology gets older. Though to be honest, at some stage it gets more difficult to find parts for any system. I started to run into challenges sourcing several replacement parts for a 8-9 year old bike that had 10 speed Shimano group set, so it got sold and replaced. Batteries are not much different really.
- runamok 4y ago
  Barrel adjusters near the controls are a thing though not all bikes have them. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Jagwire-Inline-Indexed-Tension-Adjusters/dp/B01NAPALH6 https://www.amazon.com/Jagwire-Inline-Indexed-Tension-Adjust...
- jjav 4y ago
  > I started to run into challenges sourcing several replacement parts for a 8-9 year old bike that had 10 speed Shimano group set I can't say I've had any problems with getting maintenance parts for my 2004 (19 years old) Shimano XTR mountain bike.
latchkey 4y ago
I haven't opened the app since I got the bike... about 2 years ago. You don't need the app to make adjustments... I also haven't made any adjustments in 2 years, so there is that too.