Tiny K Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) I am in a unique position in having the difficult task of choosing between the three*... Di2 is awesome when it works, but if it doesn't, you're stuffed. Perfect shifts day in, day out. It does also have a weight disadvantage. Practically maintenance free apart from charging the battery and lubing the chain. Force22 is light in comparison but settling in will occur and adjustment will be required. Cables and housings will need to be changed every so often. Edit:Athena EPS has emerged as an option now too. Middle ground between the two groupo's and is Electronic... And more importantly, it's Campy. Edited July 25, 2014 by Tiny K
Cippo Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Think with your heart not your brain. What is way cooler? If the SRAM comes with hydraulic rim brakes I would choose those. TALUS 1
Cippo Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) Btw, have you considered Athena EPS? Which frame? Edited July 23, 2014 by Cippo
Tiny K Posted July 23, 2014 Author Posted July 23, 2014 Btw, have you considered Athena EPS? Which frame? OltreXR2... As I said to someone this morning - heart says Di2, Head says Force22, body says just go ride your damn bike...
SwissVan Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 I am in a unique position in having the difficult task of choosing between the two... Di2 is awesome when it works, but if it doesn't, you're stuffed. Perfect shifts day in, day out. It does also have a weight disadvantage. Practically maintenance free apart from charging the battery and lubing the chain. Force22 is light in comparison but settling in will occur and adjustment will be required. Cables and housings will need to be changed every so often. Dont have any experience with Sram but have been using Di2 for the last few months on my Tri bike.Other than initial set up issue (bike shop fault imo) its worked as advertised and after being initialy sceptical I am converted to enthusiastic. In the long term i have a few worries about damage to the wiring due to chaffe and vibration and what will happen when wires start tto "short out" somewhere.... There is a lot of wiring around the handle bar / stem area and hidden internally in the frame. Tiny K 1
Tiny K Posted July 23, 2014 Author Posted July 23, 2014 Dont have any experience with Sram but have been using Di2 for the last few months on my Tri bike.Other than initial set up issue (bike shop fault imo) its worked as advertised and after being initialy sceptical I am converted to enthusiastic. In the long term i have a few worries about damage to the wiring due to chaffe and vibration and what will happen when wires start tto "short out" somewhere.... There is a lot of wiring around the handle bar / stem area and hidden internally in the frame. I have heard from a local dude that he personally knows of guys having issues with deraileurs not changing and stuffing up their race (in which they could have won) - not that I plan to win, but you never know... Two of my cycle buddies have Di2 and love it, but not long enough for any issues to arise. I have read a lot on the topic and issues with the 10spd model, but I am also sceptical of electronic failure.
SwissVan Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 I am also sceptical of electronic failure. I'm dreading washing my bike (its first wash) this week, probably going to just wipe it down with a wet lappie just in case one of the electrical components throws a fit after being washed before IM this weekend, or even worse haywire on the day. In my line of business i've seen plenty of issues related to wiring and electrical component failure, often its due to poor wire routing and insuffcient protection from chaffing...unfortunately i dont think bike shops or bike mechanics take this serious or into account when building up a bike with Di or similar...but thats just a gut feel on my side. By all means it does work damn well. The other thing is its very different to set up compared to normal mechanical systems, so you have to do some homework / schooling to find out how to do it if you ever need to make adjustments for some reason.
WIPEOUT 1000 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Buy with your soul, get Campagnolo, nothing else will look right on a Bianchi jcza, Blackbeard, LOOK695 and 3 others 6
Cippo Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Buy with your soul, get Campagnolo, nothing else will look right on a Bianchi Mechanical Campy gruppo is the right thing to do. Check out on www.bike24.com. They have NOS from 2011,2012 at good prices. You can have it here in a week. Spoke101, Jakkals. and Nimby 3
'Dale Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 A Shimano crankset on a Bianchi - it's a terrible thing... Sram baby yeah... J∆kk∆ls, Cippo and Tiny K 3
Falco Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 (edited) If I had to choose between the two, I would go with the Di2 ~ personal preference only. If, however, I had a third option, it would be Dura Ace 9000 mechanical ~ same price as Di2, lighter, no worries about electronic failure ~ I have been using it for a while, and it is absolutely fantastic. Only had limited testing time on the Ultegra Di2, but I can say with all honesty I prefer the DA 9000 mech. Edited July 23, 2014 by Falco
'Dale Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 More seriously - less hassle, less weight, better aesthethic / sexiness = S R A AA MMM Tiny K 1
r0adrunner Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 Seeing as SRAM is releasing their electronic groupset soon, it is clear that they believe electronic is the way forward... You'd be going backwards by getting a mechanical groupset :whistling: Meezo and Tiny K 2
Spoke101 Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 OltreXR2... As I said to someone this morning - heart says Di2, Head says Force22, body says just go ride your damn bike... That is sacrilege of the highest order only Campagnolo SR may grace that frame. Beg, Borrow, Steel On a serious note. I have been riding Ultegra DI2 for that last 18 months with no issues, the stuff is bomb proof. The on the fly adjust-ability is great and a big plus for me.The only thing to watch out for is if you leave the bike standing for a long period (a month or two) the computer seems to calculate remaining battery level on that rate of use, so you might get caught out on your next ride where it will drop in to small ring and you will only be able to use the rear derailleur. In reply to the guy's who have had it not working and stuffing up there race.If they are sponsored Pro's then I'm not surprised as a large number of them treat there equipment like $h!t as they not paying for it. I have seen It first hand and been the one that has to fix it. It also doesn't help when someone manages to crash in every race and bring down half the bunch. (This might not be the case). On "SwissVan's" point make sure it is wired correctly and nothing is rubbing, catching, pulling, etc. The key is doing the job right the first time. I'm dreading washing my bike (its first wash) this week, probably going to just wipe it down with a wet lappie just in case one of the electrical components throws a fit after being washed before IM this weekend, or even worse haywire on the day. In my line of business i've seen plenty of issues related to wiring and electrical component failure, often its due to poor wire routing and insuffcient protection from chaffing...unfortunately i dont think bike shops or bike mechanics take this serious or into account when building up a bike with Di or similar...but thats just a gut feel on my side. By all means it does work damn well. The other thing is its very different to set up compared to normal mechanical systems, so you have to do some homework / schooling to find out how to do it if you ever need to make adjustments for some reason. As for the washing. I would happily ride mine under water. First ride out the box 80km from home I got caught in one mother of a thunder storm and the "rain" if I can call it that was bucketing down from all directions. After that ride with no problems I was sold. Now when washing I use the hosepipe on full blast and have never had the slightest issue. every few months I do however out some grease on the battery terminals and it's good to go. SwissVan and Tiny K 2
TALUS Posted July 23, 2014 Posted July 23, 2014 I have been through a huge learning curve due to the fact that I was an early adopter and my LBS had to learn with me. I have had all the possible failures that you can think of (several times in races) and STILL I would recommend it. Every time I could trace the problem and it was human error 99% of the time. Di2 all the way. Now it is the sweetest thing- think of changing while hammering out of the saddle on an uphill and having a perfect shift...
udxcob Posted July 24, 2014 Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) Italian bike = Italian groupset oh wait its a chinese frame isnt it, in that case use what you want Edited July 24, 2014 by udxcob
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