Let's also not forget that this also means that ugly junction box that you strap or hang on the front of your bike goes the way of the dodo birds. I like the idea of Di2 but when it comes to my aero needs, that box is just horrid. I'll take the mechanical setup with is much cleaner in the front end and wait on the wireless option to come along. Hopefully manufacturers (directly or 3rd party) will make silicone plugs for the wire holes in our frames (fingers crossed) to contribute to the all round "cleanliness" of the bike.

Also the idea of swapping FD and RD batteries is great! that would definitely at least save you while on the road. I want to know what the AG2R mechanics think of the system. If it's performing under the pros one has to assume it's getting close to a final product. Teams wouldn't risk failures and losses for the sake of product development would they?

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

I am shocked that you of all people would be ok with a 1/4 of a watt of extra powertrain loss.

Why? I'm ALL about the appropriate compromises...always have been.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I can bring and change batteries on the road with the Di2 setup today.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

The compromise of every couple months charging batteries? Or carrying a spare battery during training?

Edit: Actually here is my killer app, it only charges while pedaling backwards. So if you get a low battery alarm, you just pedal backwards a bunch to charge up the battery. This way there is no power loss if you do not want it, but allows you to recharge a low battery on the fly. For this idea, I also request the same compensation.

Even the ones that mount inside the seat tube? Do you want to mess around with that stuff on the side of the road? I'm envisioning the SRAM FD/RD battery swap to be a "Click, pull, click" literally 3-5 seconds. The external batteries of Di2 would be similarly easy to change I agree. That however, is yet another great point of contention, external batteries are as unappealing as it gets.

It's 2015 people, I shouldn't have to see a single wire on my bike, it should plug into the wall and charge or be able to use my cellphone battery's charge in a pinch. For those who would rather have wires we can leave those products on the market but this should be an option, especially when I'm spending $7-10k on a bike. Call me crazy but, sometimes it seems like the bike world is in such a bubble. They leg behind adopting other technologies we all use in everyday life. I can adjust the tempurature of my home from my desk at work but I can't have a bike without exposed wires?!?! Can somebody in this industry hire a Cisco/NetApp/Google Engineer for god sakes!

/end of rant

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

Regardless of wired/wireless, which isn't a strong selling point for me (the wires are pretty much set it and forget it), I can't think of a worse possible method of shifting. Both paddles in to shift the front derailleur means you won’t be able to shift front and rear simultaneously; one of the big draws of electronic, being able to slam it into any gear without fear of derailment. Or even being able to dump a few gears in the back as you change the front. Shifting with one hand on the bars (eating) becomes cumbersome. If they offer sequential shifting out of the box, it would be something, but I’d still prefer a better method of manually shifting.


And that front derailleur button to execute shifts while doing maintenance sounds seems incredibly kludgy and prone to banging your arm a bunch as you adjusted the derailleurs.


Hope it works out, but I'm not holding my breath.

Well...it also addresses my personal feeling that after initial setup, all actions on a bike should be human powered. Current electronic setups don't meet that goal.

Additionally, the "trickle charge" setup would also allow the batteries themselves to be smaller and lighter than they are currently spec'd.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Fair, the ones in the seat tube would be harder. The ones I have seen at the bottom of the bike would be easy.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Would this really be an issue? Who would go to the trouble? If someone would, why hasn't this been an issue with wireless PMs already?

Sounds to me like it's Mavic who is owed that one free set in perpetuity...

Ummm...no. They didn't have batteries. The idea was combining the Mavic "generator" with the battery charging :-P

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

SRAM, are you listening? I'd be all over this.

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

Yeah, especially seeing how Mavic's Zaptronic components are in such widespread use/demand today.

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I guess you don't understand the differences in the 2 concepts then :-/

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Fixed. Obviously used the wrong font in my last post.

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Look! An update on SRAM wireless that says there are no updates! Just a couple pictures of the shifters taking a bath.

http://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/gear/article/sram-red-wireless-electronic-group-details-discovered-42174/

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

Chatted to a SRAM rep on my ride today. He has wireless on his bike. Asked him when they were going to release it. Answer: "hopefully the beginning of NEXT year".

Curious if anyone knows an updated ETA on this group.

They are testing in with the pros in road, TT and CX (hydrolic+electronic) set-up but SRAM is keeping tight lipped about any potential release date. The most recent update I have seen was from the Tour of California: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCCK6ChUI1s

I've heard official announcement at the Tour de France. I saw a production ready setup on Kristin Armstrong's bike at the Tour of California. Given many of SRAM's misfires when it comes to launching products, I'm sure they want to have all of the bugs worked out. My hunch is that they will have retail availability for CX version this fall with TT to come later.

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com