Here’s mine: https://forum.slowtwitch.com/...(Felt_IA16)_P6572184

I prefer Di2 for TY bikes and eTap for road bikes.

Great diagrams, thanks for posting. I've had a couple Trek Speed Concepts in the past which were all mechanical, and I've always wanted to switch over to Di2. I've noticed that most Di2 kits comes with the crank and cassette as well; do those need to be swapped out when installing Di2? Or can I just change the required shifters, cables, and obvious derailer components? Thanks!

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Trek Bikes, Brooks Shoes, and Warm Water Please!!

You only need to change the derailleur and shifters to move to Di2. For example, I have a SRAM Red 22 crankset with my Di2, and I already had an 11 speed Ultegra cassette.

Made the switch a year ago, and wonder why I waited! Especially for a tri bike, shifting from the base bar on hills alone is worth it. Far safer than having to reach out on the end of the extensions to change gearing. I went with Di2 and the more I read and talk to others I'm glad I opted for that instead of E-tap. Even though my bike was not routed for electronic, it still was pretty simple to route it with a minimum of drilling. Love it and am contemplating doing the same to my roadie.

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Go eTap for the road bike. It is massively better for that application. I have both and would put eTap on a road bike every time.

My brief experience with eTap wasn’t that good, but curious what makes it better specifically for road applications?

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

It's a culmination of several small things. These are mine in order of significance...

1. I do not like Shimano's two little shift paddle buttons on the road bike shifters. They require more subtle touch to do right, and they are very difficult with full-finger gloves.
2. The overall eTap shifting approach is more intuitive and easier... I love my eTap climber buttons which are much worse with Di2.
   
3. No wires.
4. Micro-adjustments are way easier.
   
5. I like the swap-able battery safety net. I have had Di2 battery drain for no reason (that I could figure out). Plus, I have had two friends with unexpected dead Di2 batteries. If that happens with eTap, just swap the batters and continue

There are things I really love about Di2 on a road bike, and I prefer Di2 on a TT bike much more than eTap. These are a few of my Di2 loves:

• Hidden buttons on the road bike shifters that you can use to switch Garmin screens
• Di2 program-ability is fun to tailor to personal preferences
  
• I can hide Di2 on a TT bike with only 1 wire showing at the cockpit (and Junction A integrated in an extension)
  
• Synchro on a TT bike is lit (I do not like Synchro as much on a road bike)
  

Wow. I guess that's why they make more than one type. I couldn't disagree more about Di2/etap for road.

I've never had trouble shifting Di2, even with Arctic gloves on in temps below 20*F. I don't find etap intuitive at all. Front shifting with etap is like handcuffs -- both hands at once? Are you serious? What if someone attacks and you've got a water bottle in a hand? (With etap, you're dead in the water.) No wires? Once the system is installed, who cares? And as for battery surprises, I reckon both systems CAN have that problem. Two suggestions for Di2: (1) push the button to check battery status now and then. It's very easy to do, and (2) don't lean the bike using one of the shifter buttons as a contact point. If you lean the bike on a shift button, you will discharge the battery. Same with etap.

No etap for me. I sympathize that SRAM had to do something -- and all the really good designs were already patented -- but that's SRAM's problem. No way am I going to a system where I have to use both hands simultaneously to make a shift.

Is it possible to just change the brake/shifters on the base bar to Di2, and leave the extensions as mechanical shifting? Or would I need to change everything all at once? Just curious because that would save me some money. I am primarily interested in Di2 on my Speed Concept for the exact reasons you mentioned; it's nerve racking trying to change gears on the climbs while riding out of the saddle!

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Trek Bikes, Brooks Shoes, and Warm Water Please!!

Umm.....

You only have to use 2 hands when shifting the front derauiller with eTap. How often are you doing this?

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No.

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Do you mean, "how often per mile?" I suppose there are extremely flat places where shifting the front derailleur is not done very often. In that case, I would be very tempted to go with a 1x setup. But in my locale, there are hills. The front derailleur is shifted quite often. For road bikes (the subject of my post), it is extremely common.

I just did an 80 mile Gran Fondo with almost 6,700' climbing on my eTap road bike. In about 4:40 of riding, I shifted my RD 953 times and my FD 53 times. This was on an extremely challenging course with both rolling and really big hills. I spent exactly 50% of my time in each chainring, so it probably is close to an extreme for FD shifting activity on a ride.

By contrast, last month I did a 50 mile ride that was more likely typical for hills (3,900' total climbing) and some slower roads with stops more often. That one I spent 75% of my time in the big CR, and I shifted my FD 36 times.

And for yet one more fun data point, a few weeks ago I did a fast 50 mile ride on my TT bike with Di2 and synchro. That one only had 1,200' of climbing. Shimano's Synchro shifted the FD 65 times and I only spent 69% of my time in the big CR.

I love both systems, and they behave very differently. For a road bike, I prefer absolute control of the FD, because I do not shift it that often. And for rapid and routine shifts of the RD, I prefer eTap's user interface. eTap does road bike shifting as seamlessly as Di2 in Synchro mode on a TT bike.

I know it wasn't directed at me, but what I would do?

Increase my cadence immediately while I put my bottle back, then once I have 2 hands on the bars (should only take a second), shift appropriately. And in most cases, it won't be a FD shift that is made rather popping down the rear cassette a few times. This goes for if I was using etap, di2, or mechanical. It's much more reliable to shift the RD under heavy load and provides a much smoother acceleration process when going uphill.

There are definite situations where going directly to the FD is the right move to respond to an attack, such as if you're cresting over the top of a hill. But if you're taking a drink at that point, it's more of an amateur hour issue than a shifting interface problem.

As I said from the outset, this is why they make more than one kind of groupset. I wouldn't use Di2 in synchro mode under any circumstances. I don't like it for casual rides and, like eTap, I think it would be a hindrance in a competitive situation. (I don't personally know anyone who has tried Di2 synchro shifting who stayed with it.)

But two of you disagree. Hence, my original statement. Reasonable people can disagree.