jpwiki wrote:
kjmcawesome wrote:
Syncro shifting is the most expensive, complex, and poorly designed attempt at 1x ever concocted.
With a 53/39 11-28 setup (11-speed), you get 14 distinct gears. With 10 speed it was only 13.
I would MUCH rather have a 1x12 setup than syncro shifting.
What this launch really convinces me of is how much I want eTap - 1x11 of course.
Except with di2 syncro you will get a greater range than etap 1x can provide
Thank you jpwiki. I would think most people that have gotten to demo the XTR Syncro Shift agree it's pretty cool. I think it makes more sense on a mountain bike where you drop down to one shifter only. It still makes some sense on a TT or road bike, but I would want to keep both shifters. I haven't had a front shifter on a mountain bike in nearly 10 years.
Long story short, Syncro Shift is keeping you in your most efficient gear combo at all times. I used my own setup as an example below. 170mm cranks, rear tire that measures closer to 28mm than 25mm, 52/38 rings and 11-28 SRAM cassette. Gear inches make way more sense to me when discussing gearing.
We know staying in that big ring makes the most amount of sense for the first/largest (gear inches) ~8 cogs. Plus the shift from 52/19 to 52/22 is the biggest jump on the cassette.
IDEALLY (I hope Shimano is reading this)
with Syncro Shift, instead of that inefficient cross chaining and large 15.8% gearing jump, both derailleurs would go to the 38/15 combo (instead of 52/22) and then gradually work up the cassette until getting to the 38/28
for 15 total gear combinations. I don't think we can say for sure yet if Syncro Shift will be 14 or 15. No matter what, it's still a great range with fairly tight shifts. Personally, I just want to shift easier or harder and don't care about the FD as long as it's working properly. The system is designed to keep it in the big ring as long as possible until it becomes the less efficient option. I really, really hope they will open up the programming enough to allow for what I described above.
Yes, there are 22 gears, but with so much overlap in the gearing range, it's really only 15 distinctly different gears with my personal combo above. Climb a hill that's steep enough to get into your lowest gear combo. Descend the other side and get to your highest gear combo. I promise it didn't take 21 shifts to get there.
Still 15 distinctly different gear combos if I use my 11-25 cassette.
Sticking to the same idea of when to shift out of the big ring, it looks like 14 usable gear combos (but more range) with an 11-32 cassette.