Bicycle Tech/Gear Discussion Thread

Jul 27, 2015 at 01:40 PM

Ian -- Since you've had it for a while, how has it held up long term? I've never really been one to baby my gear, so I've always been a little hard on my equipment. I'm curious how electronic would hold up, and if it actually would be a better match for someone like me over mechanical.

Craig Zolan

Jul 27, 2015 at 01:43 PM

Adam - I've had Di2 ultegra since the spring and I'm a full convert now. I used to think it was purely an indulgence. Now I love it and not happy when I go back to mechanical. I was riding my C'dale with SRAM rival last week, and instead of the precision shifting I've become used to I dealt with a little noise, having to trim the FD, and a bunch of other little things that you don't have to think about with Di2. On my trip to Italy, I took the RD off and brought it with me in my carry on bag (at Jules' suggestion). At my destination, screwed it back on, plugged in the cable, and attached the chain and the shifting was flawless. I haven't had to charge the battery yet but that seems rather easy too and there is a indicator light that you can check to see if you need to or not.

Other than the cost, I haven't found any downside yet. Don't know about how it would hold up in a crash and am not looking to find that out.

Adam Fabian

Jul 27, 2015 at 01:51 PM

Don't know about how it would hold up in a crash and am not looking to find that out.

Good to know otherwise. The question is if it's really worth the extra $$ vs mechanical. I'm also not one to shun the future and have some outdated equipment in the next few years (although I didn't realize the tech has been around for as long as it has been). I'd hate to drop the coin on mechanical, only to have electronic coming in as standard in the next year or two.

Also, I really hate adjusting equipment. Which is to say, I usually don't. I suppose that's another +1 for electronic.

twoyacks

Jul 27, 2015 at 01:55 PM

Marc Bertucco said:

Yacks, how come carbon is okay for your wheels, but not for your bikes?

And how has THAT been working out this year Marc?????

Dan Reiners

Jul 27, 2015 at 02:24 PM

Craig & Ian,

You're making me rethink my disdain for electronic shifting. Eventually I will have to move to 11sp. which will require upgrades of wheels and components, maybe an Ultegra 11 Di2 setup is in my future.

twoyacks

Jul 27, 2015 at 02:57 PM

There are many carbon frames I adore....But they all look like traditional tube-to-tube frames. The Ridley's that Lotto has been riding (not the Noah...the Helium). I like the Giants (not the Propel...the TCR). I can see myself on a carbon bike with electronic shifting and carbon hoops someday. I'm actually becoming a candidate for all that stuff...older rider, with some disposable income who only rides outside on the weekends and who doesn't race much...yeah that's me...I'm a Fred

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019667/uploads/editor/gg/93yaic0m4nhl.png

JohnMalcolmson

Jul 27, 2015 at 03:21 PM

Di2 — I have been caught out with the need for battery charging every three months, it disables just the front der when low, which isn't the end of the world. I set a repeating calendar to combat that. Shimano should have worked that problem better.

Re adjustment, Shimano mechanical I very rarely have to adjust, now it's never. Very cool.

Crash scenario is basically no different from a regular derailleur, if it's bent you're screwed with mech or electric. There's nothing about the design that makes it more prone to failure except if you mangle the wire, that's bad news.

Marc Bertucco

Jul 27, 2015 at 05:00 PM

twoyacks said:

There are many carbon frames I adore....But they all look like traditional tube-to-tube frames. The Ridley's that Lotto has been riding (not the Noah...the Helium). I like the Giants (not the Propel...the TCR). I can see myself on a carbon bike with electronic shifting and carbon hoops someday. I'm actually becoming a candidate for all that stuff...older rider, with some disposable income who only rides outside on the weekends and who doesn't race much...yeah that's me...I'm a Fred

A Fred, with pretty insane FTP numbers...

ian ellis

Jul 27, 2015 at 07:49 PM

@Adam I originally had the 7970 10s Di2 for a good few years. I rode a couple of 5 hour gran fondos in torrential rain and it worked flawlessly. I totally stacked it at high speed in a training ride and the rear derailleur went into it's crash protection mode. I have never run out of battery juice, because I check it every couple of months, and it only needs charging 3 times a year.
I now have 9070 Dura ace on my road bike and shimano 6870 ultegra on my TT and both work perfectly. In fact 6870 is so good it probably is the far better buy than DA.

However it depends what you mean by hard on your equipment. After those wet gran fondos I removed the BB, cleaned and refitted, and I throughly cleaned and re-lubed all the mechanical parts of the bike.
If you are the type of rider who would leave their bike covered in grime, grit, brake dust, and with water penetration into the BB and drivetrain - then shame on you. But actually Di2 is still better for you because you won't suffer as much from poor shifting due to dirty cables.

Adam Fabian

Jul 27, 2015 at 08:08 PM

If you are the type of rider who would leave their bike covered in grime, grit, brake dust, and with water penetration into the BB and drivetrain - then shame on you.

Sadly, this has been me, until I discovered that we have a hose behind our building. Good to know that riding it in less than ideal conditions hasn't caused any issues. Whatever I have will be my primary bike, so it's going to get ridden in rain/snow (but I will be far more diligent about cleaning it). But, as you said, Di2 actually doesn't suffer as much from this terrible behavior.

twoyacks

Jul 27, 2015 at 08:54 PM

I have taken to removing my wheels and washing them in my tub... The rest of the bike I use paper towels and windex or pledge, WD 40 etc.

Adam Fabian

Jul 27, 2015 at 09:43 PM

So, after all of this -- and despite my deep desire to go electronic -- I'm thinking that I might stick with mechanical (Ultregra) for one reason: replacement costs. I'm going to be racing this thing, and if anything happens, the replacement costs seem to go about 2x for Ultegra electronic vs mechanical. Is this logic flawed? I've tried bouncing these things off my wife, but her eyes just kind of glaze over when I do.

mugwump

Jul 28, 2015 at 12:15 AM

makes sense to me. Ultegra 6800 and DA 9000 are so much better than their predecessors, and work so well, the only reason these days I'd choose electronic (if Di2 and mechanical Shimano are the only options) is if the frame the parts are going on has really bad cable routing.

Lighter, too.

Bruce van-Schalkwyk

Jul 28, 2015 at 01:06 AM

1) Stop talking to your wife about bike parts.

Love is only so forgiving. And that's why we're here.

2) Race to win.

(Do not race to crash)

Nothing about what we do is inexpensive. The registration fees this year are proving that. You're talking yourself out of DI2 for the wrong reasons. Yes, it's expensive. Yep, it's going to be double if you smack it onto the ground. I thought SRAM Red would be great. I had to buy new shifters after my crash and didn't have the luxury to wait for them to go on sale. It was expensive. I still like SRAM Red. The shift paddles are perfect for my hands.

However, I won't go electronic.

I think electronic shifting is great. If you don't want to adjust your gears, if you don't ride a lot, if you do ride a lot, it has good advantages with precise shifting. It doesn't weigh that much more, the Ultegra is a reasonable cost, it works, you can race with it, it's a pretty fascinating upgrade at a point when I had no idea what they could upgrade next.

I won't use it because I don't know how to fix it. I can solder, I can program, but I don't want to have to futz with it if it needs repair, and bike stores won't know how, either, so it would need to be shipped back or replaced if something went wrong. I don't like having a bike out of commission.

Mechanical shifting is easy. But I also work on my bikes. A lot. I clean and regrease them before races, if something skips or doesn't sound right, I put it into the bike stand that night. I have grease on every article of clothing I own. I replace my cables, housings, chain every year on both my race bikes. I really enjoy doing this.

I would much rather do really well in a race on cheap wheels than expensive ones. And on a cheap bike instead of expensive. But it's never that cut and dry.

If you want DI2, you should get it. Your parents make you save money, your friends help you spend it. Buy it. But don't not buy it because you might crash. Don't buy it because you can't afford it. If you can afford it, and want it, done.

I agonized over which crank to get for my Trek. For weeks. The newest, the older new one? Wasn't sure. I remember stressing myself out. And do you know which one I got? I have no idea. I can't remember. I just remember not knowing which to get. Bah, not enough time in the day for that kind of stress.
You're still young. You will own DI2 at some point. Will that be now? Buy it. Don't buy it. Be happy.
And keep in mind, when your wife rolls her eyes at you, I'll listen to your dilemma all night, as long as you're buying.

ian ellis

Jul 28, 2015 at 01:21 AM

If your wife is not interested and/or knowledgeable about bikes and components and all that jazz then buy Di2, but tell her you bought the less expensive mechanical version.

Mark Taylor

Jul 28, 2015 at 04:39 PM

My wife doesn't notice a single thing , but my kids always blow my cover

Adam

Jul 28, 2015 at 05:08 PM

I just ordered a new mountain bike with Di2 XTR and am shitting myself with excitement. I can programme it to do what I want and it chooses which front/rear gear combination for me if I want (which I do): just click to change gear and it will decide for you whether to change the front/back or both. Tingly excited!! All the reviews on this group (Shimano's most recent- released earlier this year) say that it is the bomb. Can't wait.

SeanMiles

Jul 28, 2015 at 05:25 PM

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/bik/5136667191.html

anyone have an opinion on this deal?

eloy

Jul 28, 2015 at 05:42 PM

SeanMiles said:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/bik/5136667191.html

anyone have an opinion on this deal?

Sounds like a good deal. Inspect it well, specially the headset and bottom bracket.

Also, a 48 CX C'dale might be a bit more like a 50.

See you at the races!

Adam Fabian

Jul 28, 2015 at 05:44 PM

@SeanMiles You should also check the NYC CX Facebook group -- lots of people are selling full bikes right now that are pretty good deals.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/211715905548876/

twoyacks

Jul 29, 2015 at 02:20 AM

Hey Barfly...the your-product-is-shit-store called...they're running out of you

eloy

Jul 29, 2015 at 02:44 AM

Chris, I'm sorry, but is not them, is you. #cursed.

twoyacks

Jul 29, 2015 at 02:47 AM

Plastics.....just.....plastics

twoyacks

Jul 29, 2015 at 07:18 PM

Yesterday high winds and deep carbon wheels

Today no wind

Jeffrey White

Jul 31, 2015 at 06:51 PM

Anyone have a Park Tool head set installation press they can lend me?

Image: http://www.backcountry.com/images/items/900/PAR/PAR0275/ONECOL.jpg

ian ellis

Jul 31, 2015 at 07:14 PM

I don't have that deluxe model, but I do Park HHP-3. I have used it for pressing 1" headset cups into a steel frame. I also have the bushings to more safely press BB86 bearings.

Marc Bertucco

Aug 01, 2015 at 05:49 PM

Stages users: I'm growing increasingly frustrated with clearly erroneous max power readings. As in way, way higher than I know is possible for me, or for me on this or that ride.

On the one hand, max power is not a terribly valuable number to know, on the other, I would like to know.

Firmware is up to date, auto-zeros, crank torqued to spec. Anyone else have this problem?

eloy

Aug 01, 2015 at 06:32 PM

Marc Bertucco said:

max power is not a terribly valuable number to know, on the other, I would like to know.

Get a better meter and a better computer.

Else, move on, you get what you pay for. And considering what we pay for stages, we get a ton (but maybe a bit inaccurate max)

Adam

Aug 01, 2015 at 06:46 PM

^Eloy nailed this. I concur.

Personally not totally convinced about Stages except on TT bikes (or on any bike for a steady effort). I mean, we all know how it works- an estimate. If anyone is interested, I can post some of my data from my Vector so you can see what L/R power looks like if you have never seen your own. Can appreciate where Stages gets it wrong when you see it from that angle.

twoyacks

Aug 01, 2015 at 07:45 PM

^^^^^^^
To all you Stages haters...suck it...suck it hard. It's good enough to win the Tour...then it's way more than good enough for u weekend Cowgirls. I catch any of you besmirching a team sponsor on these forums again, I'm a put a bottle o sealant in that hole below your nose.