What is your intended use for this bike? Only bike? Road racing?

If you just have one bike stay with mechanical because anybody can fix it anywhere (including you). DI2 can and will have issues at some point (so does mechanical), but you can fix mechanical one the road, not as easy with DI2. If this is a second bike then that is a plus for DI2. The biggest advantage is not having to worry about adjustments or cross chaining rub on the FD, the shifting will be more crisp and responsive, but no more crisp than Sram. If you are racing i say stick with mechanical because if it craps out 20 minutes before a road race then you (or most other roadies) can easily re-cable the bike. If its just for training then get the DI2 as you really don't have to adjust the RD/FD at all and that is a really nice feature. I will say the "deal" is not that good because their margin is around 50% on groupsets and they will then take the ultegra and sell it so they will in turn make a decent amount off your upgrade.

I only have one bike, tri bike, and I have the ultegra DI2. Now that I have it, I couldn't imagine not. When I purchase a road bike next year, it will have DI2!

My new road bike has Di2 and I can't imagine life without it. Btw, I had one issue out on the road and was able to quickly solve it and continue riding.

It would help to know what price he is going to charge you for the upgrade. Just saying 'half the cost' doesn't really narrow it down. You can mail order a lot of these parts really cheap, especially the ultegra level (not so much the Dura Ace stuff...).

There was a long thread on Di2 a couple weeks ago with lots of comments on the pros and cons. I have Di2. The only con from my perspective is the price. Once you have it you will love it. I got a deal and ended up with it for the same price I was going to pay for a different bike with mechanical. I would not pay full price just because there are other things I need more. Half price? Maybe . . . . ;-)

Do you even di2 bro?

/pink

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I don't own Di2, but I will give my $.02.

Since it's your road bike. There are better places to put that $$$. Power meter, coaching, ect.

In my eyes, di2 is nice but not a huge upgrade. Now if you hack up a set of TT shifters and put shift buttons under the bar tape at fav spot, that's cool(local shop owner, and cat1 racer did this. Rear shifting placed under tape on drops for sprinting)

I see biggest advantage to di2 in TT setup. Shifting from aero and base bars is a good thing. I'm considering swapping to it myself.

My $.02
Yes for TT/No for road

Take the Di2.

I put Di2 on my TT bike in 2010 and I have NEVER had a single problem with it. I crashed it three times, ridden it in torrential rain, rode it through mud, attached it to roof of my car as I drove for 3 hours in the rain - and it still functioned as good as the first day I bought it. Never ran out of juice and I charge the battery only twice a year.

The only downside, as someone puts it here, is the cost. But since you are getting it at 50% off, then this issue becomes 50% less relevant.

Why don't you PM me the name of the bike shop so I can purchase a Di2 set for 50% off. Seriously!

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At that price I would lean towards a, "yes"

Di2 is a brilliant set up. I road on a DA Di2 loaner bike for a week 2 years ago, and loved it. I can see the attraction and on my next major bike up grade will give it some consideration.

My issue is I keep hearing small stories of issues and problems. Some of these are user error, I am almost for certain, others have been a total mystery - event to experienced mechanics, who know Di2. In several instances, these have taken people out of races - this year, it has happened in two triathlons and the other one, caused a late start for someone at the National ITT Championships!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

My road bike is mechanical Ultegra, my Tri bike is Di2 Ultegra. I am trying to figure out how to upgrade my road bike. Now that I've used Di2 I will spec it on every bike I get going forward. So, my advice is to go with it.

In a couple of years or far sooner, you won't think about the money you spent, you'll be happy with the bike. But, if you don't get it, you will always think about what you could have had and wonder if you should have gotten it (and yes you should have).

The only reason not to is if you plan to look at other electronic systems.

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

Yes, quite extensively. If you have ridden the new Sram 22 the shifting crispness is identical. DI2 is much better in terms of FD shifts and not rubbing but the actual shifting is similar to Sram mechanical .

For normal day to day riding, it is true that Di2 is no better than a well functioning mechanical system (emphasis on well functioning). But, when things get tough, that is when Di2 shines. 95% of the time the difference between a button push or moving a mechanical shifter that extra centimeter does not matter. But when it does, and depending on how hard you ride, at times it really does, the difference is huge. I have it on my road bike and it does really make a difference in hard ride or during critical times in races where you really benefit from precise, quick shifts with minimal fuss or hand movement. And, I have not ridden my Di2 in the winter but I am anticipating that those numb finger shifts late in a 3 hour 35 degree ride are going to be much easier too . . . .

And then there is the whole shifting well under load thing. It is not that often that I want to shift, front or back, while standing up hammering at full power. But, with Di2, I can do that without even thinking twice about it.

Having owned & ridden both, I will admit that cold weather (road bike) riding is tougher with di2. I have trouble telling the buttons apart once my fingers go numb, whereas with Mechanical, there is more "feel" there because of the lever throw, & consequently, less miss shifts.

I'll echo the sentiment that having it on a Road Bike falls squarely inside of "nice to have". The ability to seamlessly add clip-ons with shifters might also be worth it to some.

On a TT Bike, dual shifting is great, but not an absolute necessity - kind of like having a button vs a roll-up window.

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I just read a review of the new XTR mountain bike version of Di2. That sounds like a game changer. It has a "synchro shift" mode which automatically coordinates the front and rear shifting so you get one click sequential shifting up and down the full gear range in gear order. There is another hybrid synchro mode which gives you more control but steps in to automatically avoid bad cross chaining.

Road Di2 just scratches the surface of what electronic shifting is capable of. Roadies just don't really need all that much on a road bike compared to mountain bikes or tri/time trial bikes ;-)

I do not have DI2 on any of my bikes, but since I cannot think of any way it would make me faster, it would be the very last upgrade I make if I still had money burning a hole in my pocket. Wheels and power meter would both be wayyyyyyy higher on my priority list.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
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This new version sounds pretty interesting. Would love to get a wireless version though.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Resurrecting an old post...

A bit off-topic, but I'm in the market for a new road bike and the Altum R is near the top of my list. I was wondering, now that you'd had some time on the bike, what your thoughts/review of it would be? I'm coming off a Spec' Roubaix, so the Altum would be a slightly different animal to me.

The Parlee Altum R is a fantastic machine. I had it for 5 months than decapitated it on my garage while on the roof rack. Now it makes a beautiful blue lamp in my office. It took me about 3 months to get over this. Luckily I had some insurance on it and that all components were OK so I bought a Cervelo R3 with a great Rolf wheelset and couldn't be happier. But to answer your question the Parlee is an amazing ride and I highly suggest purchasing it. Just don't run it into your garage.