I have used both and currently have mechanical (SRAM Force) on my road bike.
Mechanical shifts great nowadays and there isn’t a big difference.
I feel mechanical is more purist and traditional and that electronic shifting takes away from that in some way.
Di2 does shift pretty flawless and takes less effort which is important if you have issues with your hands / arms.
My wife has Di2 on her bike and she likes it for that reason because she has Arthritis in her fingers.
But recently she is having problems with it being intermittent and when it stops working you are stuck in one gear.
I believe the problem is a bad connection with the wiring inside the frame and still trying to figure it out.
With mechanical if you carry a spare shift cable it is pretty much bullet proof.
If I was going to go electronic I would probably go with SRAM eTAP wireless since there are no wires inside the frame to go bad.
there are actually quite a few threads here on this topic. It comes up pretty regularly.
You’re going to find a group, like me, who will say they will not go back to mechanical on either road or TT/Tri bike.
And some who say they must have for their TT/Tri bike, but can go either way for road (or don’t want it for road).
And some who say that electronic isn’t worth it for them (for various reasons), period.
It’s going to come down to whether you try it and get hooked or not. I wanna say that most people who have gotten it and used it regularly are pretty much hooked, but maybe that is my own view seeping in.
Put me in the camp who’s unlikely to go back, as long as disc brakes are here to stay.
The mechanical shift / hydraulic brake levers are just too uncomfortable for me.
With mechanical if you carry a spare shift cable it is pretty much bullet proof.
Maybe I was doing it wrong for years, but is this common? Perhaps our at home maintenance schedules are different and I babied my bike more than most (new cables each season at minimum), but I have never, nor have those in my circle, ridden with spare cables.
With mechanical if you carry a spare shift cable it is pretty much bullet proof.
Maybe I was doing it wrong for years, but is this common? Perhaps our at home maintenance schedules are different and I babied my bike more than most (new cables each season at minimum), but I have never, nor have those in my circle, ridden with spare cables.
I can’t speak for others but it is standard procedure for me and prevents you from getting stranded.
It does not weigh anything and fits in a saddle bag easily. Shift cables can break for a variety of reasons.
One time my wife and I were riding our tandem along Big Sur and the bike wasn’t shifting good which was not pleasant and could even be a safety issue.
At our turn around point I discovered that the cable was shredded inside the shifter. It took some doing to get it out.
I replaced it with the new cable and our ride back was back to normal. I hate to think what would have happened if I wasn’t able to change the cable.
I can’t speak for others but it is standard procedure for me and prevents you from getting stranded.
I just replace cables every 6 months, spring and fall. That’s my approach to avoiding getting stranded, but in my area, losing a front or rear derailleur wouldn’t mean I can’t make it home. It just means I’d go slower or suffer a bit more on the hills.
I switched to Di2 when it first came out…what’s that now 10+ years. Personally I’d never go back to mechanical,Di2 for me just ticks all positive boxes and no negative ones. Now on my old road bike, new road bike and gravel bike. I actually test road my new bike which had a mechanical groupset…hated it!
With mechanical if you carry a spare shift cable it is pretty much bullet proof.
Maybe I was doing it wrong for years, but is this common? Perhaps our at home maintenance schedules are different and I babied my bike more than most (new cables each season at minimum), but I have never, nor have those in my circle, ridden with spare cables.
I can’t speak for others but it is standard procedure for me and prevents you from getting stranded.
It does not weigh anything and fits in a saddle bag easily. Shift cables can break for a variety of reasons.
One time my wife and I were riding our tandem along Big Sur and the bike wasn’t shifting good which was not pleasant and could even be a safety issue.
At our turn around point I discovered that the cable was shredded inside the shifter. It took some doing to get it out.
I replaced it with the new cable and our ride back was back to normal. I hate to think what would have happened if I wasn’t able to change the cable.
Well, all that would have happened is that your ride home would have taken longer due to being in a less than optimal gear.
I’ve never broken a cable, knock on wood… it isn’t something that I really need to be prepared for on the road.
With that, I am at a crossroads as to which groupo I would want. Its between DI2 and mechanical Ultegra.
Just to make it more confusing…
Chorus 12 spd is about the same cost as Ultegra 11… I’d definitely go with Chorus: https://www.bikebug.com/product/campagnolo-chorus-12-speed-rim-brake-groupset
Cables NEVER fail or need to be charged. My vote is mechanical all the way
It shifts. IMO that’s the major advantage of Di2. It just works. If you stay on top of keeping the battery charged (so like once every 6 months), then it works great. The only downside might be the feel of the shifters. I haven’t used any of the newer stuff (GRX, etc.), but I do with there was a longer lever throw similar to mechanical.
+1
Di2 is so nice in bad weather. Also in the winter with cold fingers as less force is required.
Cables NEVER fail or need to be charged. My vote is mechanical all the way
Ummm, incorrect. I’ve broken a rear derailleur cable before, and don’t think I’m the only one…
I’m in the camp that caries spare brake / shift cables but hasn’t had to use them. But when commuting I’ve had two snap on me over the years (and about 100,000 miles), in both cases then I got home stuck in one gear. I’ve also been on group rides (two I think, can’t remember a third) where others with DI2 have had issues and been stuck in a gear for part of the ride. Oh, I’ve also had an almost new Ultegra 11 speed mechanical mech snap in half on a ride - both of the parallel plates snapped. And a DA bar end shifter side bolt fell out meaning a 50km ride to get back home with a choice of 39x11 with grinding noise from front mech or 53 x 11 with grinding noise from knees.
So I’d say the odds of a system failure are about the same and extremely rare for mechanical or DI2. Good maintenance (cleaning, charging, lubing) will reduce it, but every now and again, both will go. On a tour, I’d prefer mechanical as I can botch something together from whatever system, make or model that I can find in a rural second hand shop. Even a thumb friction shifter off a kids bike.
What would I do on a new build? Well last year I went mechanical for my new road bike just as I preferred the frame colour that the mechanical came with over the same frame Cannondale supplied the DI2 version. I’ve just ‘upgraded’ a 9 speed bike to 10 speed which was a major mission and cost me a fortune as only tiagra is 10speed, and that needs a special mech as it’s a different ‘throw’ to the old 105/ultegra/DA 10 speed mechs.