Electric shifters?
Author
Discussion

pdV6

Original Poster:

16,442 posts

284 months

Wednesday 21st January 2009
quotequote all
Good idea or technology for it's own sake?

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/multime...

ewenm

28,506 posts

268 months

Wednesday 21st January 2009
quotequote all
Some teams on Le Tour las year were using electric shifting. Personally, I'll be a late adopter of this technology I think. I usderstand how cable shifters work, can set them up properly and fettle them when mud and twigs get in the sprockets.

mat205125

17,790 posts

236 months

Wednesday 21st January 2009
quotequote all
Flappy paddles?

It'll start with race machines only.
Effective customer solutions will be developed, however at great cost, and offering little more than a conventional shift.
Technology will advance.
Prices will drop.
The technology will become more accepted for high performance machines.
Some will begin to advocate there is actually an advantage.
Many will begin to be comfortable with the system.
Performance figures will become demonstratably better than a conventional system.
Some will advocate NOT speccing is madness.
Prices will drop further.
Technology improves.
Application options will become exponentially wider.
It will become accepted technology.

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Maybe electronic cycle shifting will be the same.

Exige46

318 posts

259 months

JuniorD

9,013 posts

246 months

Wednesday 21st January 2009
quotequote all
Remember the Mavic Zapp system from waayyyy back in tha day?! That died out pretty promptly.

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

221 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
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JuniorD said:
Remember the Mavic Zapp system from waayyyy back in tha day?! That died out pretty promptly.
That's what they called them - I was going to say this tech has been around for years.

Personally I think it's utterly pointless due to the parasitic weight of the battery and motor. They'll never get them below the weight of a cable and spring.

They'll sell to the "all the gear, no idea" brigade.

Steve McQueen

348 posts

232 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
When i bought my bike from "Kinetic-One" the guy that runs it /builds them/ bike fits you, was working on a system for electric shifting. He had a few of those old Mavic sets around that were being used for initial checks and prototyping,
To be honest it looked overly complicated, but if its lighter then it'll be a flyer!

Edited by Steve McQueen on Thursday 22 January 11:58

lord summerisle

8,167 posts

248 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
i seem to remember back in the mists of the late 90s an air shifter system being designed.

the only problem was the air pressure was stored in, for all intents and purposes, a modified drinks bottle... and only had a limited capacity. so was designed for short races, as when the pressure ran out, you had to stop and pump the bottle back up!

it didnt last long.

pdV6

Original Poster:

16,442 posts

284 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Wasn't that designed primarily for short DH races?

Also seem to remember a freewheel mechanism at the BB rather than rear hub, to allow for shifting without pedalling. Whatever came of that?

Nick_F

10,598 posts

269 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
I thought that the Dura-Ace system came up lighter than the cable equivalent? There's a fair bit of weight in cable shifters which can presumably be done without.

lord summerisle

8,167 posts

248 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
pdV6 said:
Wasn't that designed primarily for short DH races?
i think so, tho i guess it died a death as weight saving doesnt seem to be an issue for the modern DH bike. hehe

pdV6

Original Poster:

16,442 posts

284 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Nick_F said:
I thought that the Dura-Ace system came up lighter than the cable equivalent? There's a fair bit of weight in cable shifters which can presumably be done without.
Think I read it comes in about 70g heavier but the shifting is much cleaner.

rhinochopig

17,932 posts

221 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
pdV6 said:
Nick_F said:
I thought that the Dura-Ace system came up lighter than the cable equivalent? There's a fair bit of weight in cable shifters which can presumably be done without.
Think I read it comes in about 70g heavier but the shifting is much cleaner.
Does anyone have any problems shifting these days. My XTR rear mech and XTR cables offer shifting as good as I would want - and that's using a 10 year old deore lever.

pdV6

Original Poster:

16,442 posts

284 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Well exactly.

The thing that impressed me, though, was the idea that the electronics apparently work out the chainline and trim the mechs so as to get rid of chain rub when you're using silly gear combinations.

Oh, and the fact that the mechs won't initiate the shift until the exact right moment a shift gate is in the right location. I guess that must reduce wear, if only slightly.