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Electronic Dura Ace on a DH Bike

RMboy

Monkey
Dec 1, 2006
879
0
England the Great...
Ive spent a good amount of time working with di2 on road and tt setups and I can say in its current state, a terrible idea for downhill. It's awesome for road bikes and by far the best option for an aero bar shifter, but it would need a re-design for dh or mtb. I think the technology is legitimate and with some changes could work well for dh.

For one, there is less spring tension on the cage than regular DA (probably less work for the battery I would imagine)

You can also only shift one gear at a time (one button click=one shift, both directions) If you want to downshift many gears at once you have to mash the button over and over.

The parallelogram part does not swing freely, you cannot grab the derailleur and move it through gears with your hand. If you force the derailleur to move like this, it will break. This means that if you hit it, the internals will break even if the derailleur itself remains attached and intact.

Last, and most importantly, the derailleur alone is 900 dollars, and if you cut or damage the electric cable, a new wiring harness is nearly 300 dollars

that being said when the price comes way down, and maybe is redesigned for mountain biking, I could see it being pretty good.
Why are you and other people saying at its current state its a terrible idea for DH

Of course it is at the moment!! its for road use... Its not designed for DH!!!

Wait For it to be designed for our specific sport.. No point in putting di2 down as its not for us yet

:D
 

RMboy

Monkey
Dec 1, 2006
879
0
England the Great...
Oh yeah and who said that the Athertons used it and said they did not like it? So it was scraped!!

I really hope they dont get to yes or no to shimano's innovations.. Otherwise we are all in trouble. I think that rep was talking out his ass! Im sure it will be properly tested and given to the consumer to decide. i dont think the Athertons get the choice of if it goes to market.
 

sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
4,976
2,189
not in Whistler anymore :/
Transmitting the power from the battery to the der. (to make the shifts...) would be an issue without a wire. You could most likely have the shifter wireless but it would require more fiddily bits and weight. I'm sure Shimano looked at all the angles when designing this; they aren't exactly a fly-by night operation after all.
i'm aware of the fact that the derailleur needs to be connected to the battery, but i dont see the need for the shifters, make them wireless for more clean looking bikes and i'm in...
 

Banshee Rider

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
1,452
10
The price will have to come down substantially for this to ever be viable on a mainstream level. The same goes for carbon rims. People may want to spend 4 times the price on a derailleur or rim, but when it comes time to open their wallet I doubt many would. It doesn't make sense, the performance gain isn't 4 times better, its marginally better. Dominance in the public by 2015 is a lofty expectation, even in the road market where it already exists. The only bikes I've seen with di2 in person have been demo bikes, and elite pro bikes. The wealthiest customers who don't flinch at dura-ace, red, or super record don't even have di2 in their mindset. The price is that outrageous. I'd love to be proved wrong, because the stuff rides dope, but I dont think I will be. I personally think the R&D dollars would be better spent on quality, light, internally geared hubs, but then there wouldn't be any $900 derailleurs to smash.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,337
5,095
Ottawa, Canada
Honda Gear Box discussion...

Maybe not that simple...
[bunch of photos of a very complex design]
OK, maybe I'm on crack, maybe it was an elaborate joke... but I remember seeing photos one year (I think it was after the program wound down) of the mechanics cracking open the "gear box" and it as simply a cassette with a short cage derailleur inside. Somehow configured so it could idle, but still, the concept was clean, light and simple. But then again, it could have been an elaborate hoax...

And to bring this back on topic, I would think that setup, with electronic shifting, would rock.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,080
5,999
borcester rhymes
Sandwich, are you really supporting this after we just had to cut some sensors off your car to make it pass inspection.

It's neat, and I'm sure some folks will pay loads for it, but I won't be drinking the kool-aid. I'll be rocking my single speed while those jokers look for a wall socket.
a sensor on a mid-90s audi is not nearly the same as a japanese animatronic derailleur on a bike that sees limited use...132k miles in all weather vs. maybe 500mi a year?
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
86,005
24,551
media blackout
Honda Gear Box discussion...



OK, maybe I'm on crack, maybe it was an elaborate joke... but I remember seeing photos one year (I think it was after the program wound down) of the mechanics cracking open the "gear box" and it as simply a cassette with a short cage derailleur inside. Somehow configured so it could idle, but still, the concept was clean, light and simple. But then again, it could have been an elaborate hoax...

And to bring this back on topic, I would think that setup, with electronic shifting, would rock.
just to touch on the Honda topic...

there were indeed two versions of the internals. The first iteration was the complex design shown in the pic. From what I heard there were a number of issues with it (which led to frequent rebuilds) so the second iteration was basically a DiaB (Derailler in a Box).
 

bizutch

Delicate CUSTOM flower
Dec 11, 2001
15,928
24
Over your shoulder whispering
I'm not the most brilliant guy here, but why am I the first to post this:

Di2 internal mounted shifter at the cranks. Stick that sucker inside a Honda style front mounted gearbox. No issues. EVER! :thumb:
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
freecaster used to have a video of Honda's mechanic opening it up and explaining it.
wish i would have saved that video.

i'm aware of the fact that the derailleur needs to be connected to the battery, but i dont see the need for the shifters, make them wireless for more clean looking bikes and i'm in...
Mavic's old system was wireless, but it stunk
 
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JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
The price will have to come down substantially for this to ever be viable on a mainstream level. The same goes for carbon rims. People may want to spend 4 times the price on a derailleur or rim, but when it comes time to open their wallet I doubt many would. It doesn't make sense, the performance gain isn't 4 times better, its marginally better. Dominance in the public by 2015 is a lofty expectation, even in the road market where it already exists. The only bikes I've seen with di2 in person have been demo bikes, and elite pro bikes. The wealthiest customers who don't flinch at dura-ace, red, or super record don't even have di2 in their mindset. The price is that outrageous. I'd love to be proved wrong, because the stuff rides dope, but I dont think I will be. I personally think the R&D dollars would be better spent on quality, light, internally geared hubs, but then there wouldn't be any $900 derailleurs to smash.
I tend to agree. Look at carbon rims- the technology is still developing and getting better, but it's been around for a few years. A carbon Edge mtb rim is what, like $650? More than 4 times as much, even for a really high end alloy rim. Di2 rear mech is $900, so pretty much the same deal there. (Unless the standard for DH is now Super Record 11...in which case, what's another few hundred?) So, yeah, the prices will come down as the technology, processes and manufacturing improve and the need to recoup development costs die down.

But I think electronic stuff and carbon rims are a good example of how the ceiling on the high end keeps rising, but with marginal gains. I.e., bikes aren't more expensive than they were before, but you can spend a lot more money if you want. But like most things, benefit decreases in proportion to cost as you go up.
 

klunky

Turbo Monkey
Oct 17, 2003
1,078
6
Scotland
Sorry if this has already been covered but...
Saracen is a uk brand designed by Madison cycles who also distribute shimano.
This is just marketing to make more (moar?) people look at saracen bikes and perhaps some high end shimano stuff.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Ok here is my take on this particular application


For the guy that had the cash to blow... good for you, your going to be replacing that extremly expensive mech every couple runs, its just not meant for this type of abuse.

As far as the DI2 goes.... Its ****ing flawless with the shifting. You have an initial fine tune and thats it... your done..... You just dont misshift anymore.

To the note of the elcetronc being an easier shift.... Hell yeah it is, its kinda scary how much fatigue is in your hands form shifting over a hundred mile ride on the road, you never realize it till you take the DI2 out for a century..... It will suprise the hell out of you what a difference it makes.

The DI2 is also FAST... I mean it shifts effin fast, its scary how quickly the chain will go from gear to gear.


DI2 wont be going mainstream anytime soon, its just too damned expensive. I mean for a full set your looking three grand easy..... not including a cassette. This **** isnt cheap, but there is a niche of people with assloads of money that are buying it up.


To the note of seeing it trickle down to 105..... least ten years....... not enough interest in the DI2 to begin with to bring the price down
 

stumpjump

Monkey
Sep 14, 2007
673
0
DC
Just imagine how pissed off you are going to get when you knock this thing off...

No spanks, Ill stay with my old technology.
 

Capricorn

Monkey
Jan 9, 2010
425
0
Cape Town, ZA
what's the point of electronics and no automation. That's like having an auto gear box and still asking the driver to paddle shift. oh wait, it's exactly that!
if that thing came with some accelerometers/tilt meters/some device to measure gradient and multiplex that with speed., and added some automation, that electronic shifter would rock.
Someone shouted innovation, but it's only innovation if it brings something genuinely different AND useful to the table. So it shifts electronically? just how much advantage do you really gain over the old mechs?
but add some automatic actuation based on gradient (or whatever) and now we talking real innovation. Might be better for XC, but it would still rock.
 

big-ted

Danced with A, attacked by C, fired by D.
Sep 27, 2005
1,400
47
Vancouver, BC
what's the point of electronics and no automation. That's like having an auto gear box and still asking the driver to paddle shift. oh wait, it's exactly that!
if that thing came with some accelerometers/tilt meters/some device to measure gradient and multiplex that with speed., and added some automation, that electronic shifter would rock.
Someone shouted innovation, but it's only innovation if it brings something genuinely different AND useful to the table. So it shifts electronically? just how much advantage do you really gain over the old mechs?
but add some automatic actuation based on gradient (or whatever) and now we talking real innovation. Might be better for XC, but it would still rock.
Ugh. No thanks. I don't want auto transmission in my car and I sure as hell don't want it on my bike. Electronic, sure, so long as it's not crazy expensive everytime I smash my dérailleur on a rock, but obviously the electronic Dura Ace is intended for an application where that isn't likely.
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
Tried the DI2 on a road bike yesterday. It's the SH*T for real. Shifting is crazy perfect. Maybe not be suited to MTB riding too much but damn, that thing is crazy fast and precise. It makes a cool electronic sound when you shift too. Kinda like if Robocop had a bike!