XTR Di2

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xyian
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AS US
Edited Date/Time 2/20/2015 6:42am
I'm excited to see that the XTR Di2 is making waves. It certainly has stirred up discussion. I'm all for it personally. What I'm confused about is that Shimano decided just to tap it's resources from the road Di2 groups and apply it for a more rugged usage. I'm a bit disappointed to see that they are not really offering a 1x solution to rival SRAM. More importantly, it appears SRAM is already close to taking wireless live with road groups. They skipped the whole electronic wire portion. I feel that's the more important movement.

What does anyone else think? Beyond thinking there's a need(industries drive need) should we bypass electronic wired groups and go straight to wireless? The protocol can't be too complicated for a programmer. Some sort of secured language would deter hacking(let's face it...what are the odds?) and they've solved the battery failure issues with Di2. Why wouldn't we expect wireless shifting? Less wires!!!
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sspomer
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2/19/2015 4:27pm
wireless does sound intriguing to me, but the wires seem insignificant at this stage. they're easily routed and tucked away unlike bulky housing/cables.

i got to cruise around in a parking lot on the prototype Di2 system last year and the speed and accuracy of the shifting was pretty mind-blowing. the set up w/ 2x also seemed relevant. the front derailleur is designed so there's no drag/noise as it can self-align. there's no need for a front shifter with the system and it can be programmed to optimize use of the FD in the right situations. i understand many riders just don't want the FD anymore, but Di2 makes it seem useful for those who do. not every type of terrain really needs 2x, but there are plenty of zones that make it nice to have. the cost of it all? that's a different discussion haha.

here's the original feature we did. there's audio from shimano about their 2x philosophy, too.
http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/feature/First-Look-2015-Shimano-XTR-900…

brandon just came back from a camp and got to log some serious miles on the system. that feature drops in the near future (not sure exactly when).
xyian
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AS US
2/19/2015 4:42pm
See, that's the funny thing. On other outlets I see strong resistance to the Di2 but it's been on road bikes for quite some time now. We're a funny little clique that is outrageously resistant to some advancements and throwing money at a video with lots of acronyms. I've played around on the DuraAce Di2 and was amazed and wondered when it would be available for mountain bikes. FINALLY they made it but at this point I wonder why not just wireless?

I'd be interested to see how the auto shifting works in regards to both derailleurs but am confused by them having that. Effectively that gives you 13 useful gears(not the place to start a useful gear discussion) which is only 2 more than a 1x drivetrain.

I'm curious to hear more about the whole system even if the price is ludicrous.
Varaxis
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Lake Elsinore, CA US
2/19/2015 4:52pm
I'd rather have wires and have a battery that lasts for weeks, than wireless and a battery that barely lasts 6 hours.
tmano2
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Porto PT
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2/19/2015 5:07pm
and don't forget, wireless on a competition is for someone to hake it and you don't win a race because of that sabotage
xyian
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AS US
2/20/2015 6:41am
I don't believe in the hack aspect of it. There's certainly ways to secure devices. You don't have people hacking into your cell phones on the level that keeps you from using it.

Varaxis brings up a good point though. I haven't seen battery life on the SRAM wireless group but a day vs 4 months is a major difference.

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