I doubt that. This is introduction of new technology' date=' not an gimmicky extra gear. There are real benefits being offered here even though they may be obvious at face value. A faster shift can give a sprinter the 0.1secedge they need to get that extra few cm ahead of their opponent. There is energy saving to be had as well since the rider is not expending energy on moving a paddle lever, the battery does that for you. Also at the price premium It's not positioned to be a volume seller. It is the launch of a new strategy for Shimano on which they will base their future volume groups, Ultegra and 105. Once those go Di2 it will leave Campy inthe dark ages. And we all know about italian electronics... Campag have been playing with electronic drivtain for ages and still can;t get it right. they heard about Di2 and needed to introduce something novel. their solution was to through an extra gear at the problem.. surely theycould have done better?[/quote'] Because the Japanese electronics are working SO well at the moment......... In fact Campag has re-designed it's whole group set and it looks amazing. I saw 2 pics n the latest Pro Cycling. One showing the new Campag and the other showing the new plastic Shimano (like the pics above). Shimano looks like a dog's dinner. Much prefer the previous version. The new Campag levers look amazing and the new groupsets will be priced the same as the previous year's models unlike Shimanos now it exists / now it doesn't carbon crankset which will cost you the same as your house. A friend of mine who has run his own bike shop for 25 years and it probably the most proficient mechanic I have ever me (he has a tool for EVERY job) recently changed to Campag. He said he would never go back to Shimano. He recently saw the new Campag at Colnago's factories..pretty nice apparently. Should be an interesting battle with SRAM also coming out with some nice looking kit. Better for us cyclists is all I can say :-)
