I continue to have the same struggles. Just talked to another guy with Di2 at a race Sunday and said the same thing, he LOVES Di2. I asked but did you get any faster
and he said nope, just lighter in the pocket book. :(

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I wonder how Daniela Ryf feels about it after her shifter debacle at Challenge Dubai. Even with a day's warning there were no mechanics who could fix her system before race start.

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

So so true

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I didn't hear about this. She won, so what was the issue? Did her Di2 crap out before the race?

Statistically, Di2 is far less likely to have an issue than mechanical shifting. SHIfT happens.

Cable snapped morning of.

I love it on my road bike as it just works and means I change gear when I should. Particularly the FD in the winter with cold hands, which was always a pain with mechanical.

On a TT bike on a flat course, not so much of a benefit, but once you're on the hoods, the extra switching is a real benefit. I've got an Iron distance race in the Lake District which has over 10K feet of climbing on twisty roads, so I'll fit drop bars to my TT bike with DI2 and fit clip ons and the 671 shifter on the top of the bars. This gives loads of hand positions all able to shift from.

Have some pictures of your setup?

671 shifters on top of bars is interesting. How did you connect all this stuff together since there is not a 7 port box.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

You can plug the 671 shifter into the road bike shifters I believe. There is a port there. That is how you add the "extra" base bare buttons on a 3-port setup.

I would want added to a TT setup. Seems one could run 2 to 1 ones for each 671, and then you have 4 into a 5 port setup.

Would love to see a picture of what you did.

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

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

It's a luxury item, like driving an Acura compared to a Honda. Shifting on the bullhorns, precise shifting, and the COOL factor are what draws most people. Battery, power cables, and frame Di2 compatible are the things to consider. I'm waiting for SRAM Di2 wireless, so I can use my existing frame.

Actually something happened the day before the race that they fixed well enough that she had 3 gears the morning of the race. That fix failed at ~ 60km and she finished the ride in a single gear.

Hugh

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

Yes but I can personally fix pretty much any cable shift problem in short order. Not so much with Di:(

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Genetics load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.

It's particularly good for cyclocross too. Multi-shift is the greatest when going between extreme up/down.

on a TT bike, for me it would be a no-brainer: Ultegra Di2 > DA mechanical (coming from someone using 1st gen DA Di2. would not go back to mechanical there, ever)

on a road bike it's more of an open question

I have both groupsets right now, Ultegra Di2 on race bike I built up, and mech Dura-Ace that was specd on a bro deal bike, which I train and do longer rides on. Last year's race bike also had Ultegra Di2.

Current D-A is hands down the best mechanical set I've ridden. Shifting is nearly flawless*, fantastic brake feel & power, and hoods that are just right. If I was going mechanical, it would be that. *Rear shift cable has issue with fraying and snapping because of the tight turn out of shifter, usually with a warning when shifting gets wonky. That happened to me after about 6k miles of a lot of up and down. Apparently there's a better cable and guide that's resolved it.

However, I'd still choose Ultegra Di2. If you maintain drivetrain, shifting is the same every single time. And it's flawless: shifts under load, cross-chained, runs down multiple cogs and other things you wouldn't really want to do on mechanical. Brake calipers are good but an idea scenario would be swapping D-A.

I had an issue with front der wire not seating correctly in hood port, which caused it to stop shifting in middle of ride. Easy enough to resolve back home but was still an unpleasant surprise. Also, a teammate's battery cable somehow disconnected during a race, leaving him one gear. That said, this past weekend a different buddy snapped a rear der cable (mech) rolling to the start of a stage race and had to ride a support bike for stage 1. So no setup is perfect but from a reliability standpoint, I'd favor Di2.

Got my Di2 bike only 5 days before my first road race. Every thing seems dialed.
Last 5kms was a fast tailwind, then right turn into a hard uphill finish.
My shifters weren't tight enough and coming out of the turn in 53-14 I got out of the saddle and managed to put enough down pressure on the hoods to pop both my shifter wires. I rolled across the finish line in last doing 30rpm. Doh!
I put some extra tape over the wires, tightened them up an no problems since.

No system is perfect, but Di2 is way better than mechanical.

I went to Ultegra Di2 years ago on both my road and TT bikes. I absolutely love the shifting and only having to worry about keep drivetrain clean, charging battery, etc. I recently took my CX bike out this weekend, which has SRAM Force. I was OK with mechanical shifting, but was missing my Di2. There is nothing wrong with mechanical shifting. I think it's just personal preference. At some point, we'll start seeing electronic 105 and on $2K bikes.

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
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Not done it yet, but very straightforward.

5 port front junction
Drop bars with Di2 STI levers (2 ports)
671 shifters plugged into spare STI ports
Clip on TT bars with Di2 shifter (2 ports)

I could go the whole hog and add the sprint shifters which also plug into the STIs, but doubt I'll be sprinting much over the 112 miles.

So you use drop bars and STI levels which have an extra port.

I would have then at the end of TT bars. Brakes. But putting some 671's by the aerobar pads would be cool since when doing a lot of climbing that is where my hands are.

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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

I have never had DA mech but love my Ultegra DI2. It never misses a shift, no chain run. You can drop a whole cassette by holding the button. I also have the brake shifters which is create on climbs. I am constantly shifting up/down keeping my cadence. Charge the battery once a month. Go DI2!

Yea, getting close to pulling the trigger.

Since on the hills my hands are on the AB pads, still wondering if there is a way to use one of the shifter options to mount there and have 3 places to shift.

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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

I had Ultegra 6770 di2 on my road bike last year, and have Dura Ace 9000 mechanical on my road bike this year.

Generally I loved the di2. I'm not much of a mechanic, but I was able to set it up myself and it shifted flawlessly all year - except for a couple of issues:

1. When crossed-chained big to big, it would automatically drop me to the small ring. Had to learn to keep track of what gears I was in to avoid this.

2. The battery (internal seatpost version) leaked and gradually lost power. I gather this can be an issue if riding too often in cold/wet weather. I got stuck in one gear in crits on a couple of occasions. It took awhile to figure out that it was the battery, because when I charged it, I got a green light and the shifting work. I thought it was a loose connection for awhile. Eventually I got the battery replaced on warranty and then it was fine.

In my opinion the weakness of di2 is the battery. It's a single point of failure. If something goes wrong with it (or if one of the connections gets damaged) you're screwed. That's why I'm not excited about wireless electronic. Wireless means that every component will need its own battery, which means there are four points of failure instead of one.

I'm happy with Dura Ace mechanical. Obviously it's a fantastic groupset. But since it's mechanical it needs periodic maintenance, which for me means bringing it into a shop every so often.

In the long run, with the cost of the mechanic's time and the cost of replacing cables and housing, the price difference between mechanical and di2 probably isn't much.

I also have to be more careful about how I shift: when I first went back to mechanical after di2 I dropped a chain in a race, and got dropped from the group as a result. I had gotten into the habit of shifting whenever I like, even uphill under strain. Had to retrain myself.

This is all for a road bike. TT di2 has the obvious advantage of being able to add shifters at the brakes. (Although, on the other hand, you really shouldn't be spending much time out of aero).

So, overall I'm ambivalent about di2. After 10,000 kms on di2 I can't really recommend it one way or the other.

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I have a 2014 SC 9-series w/ Dura Ace Di2....... if I needed to make a change & either keep the mech DA or go w/ Ultegra Di2, I'd go w/ the Ultegra Di2 ALL THE WAY............. w/o a doubt, its not even a question. I run an Ultegra cassette as it is due to better durability. The Di2 shifting is just amazing and the ability to shift between basebar & extensions is fantastic.