Battery powered derailleurs??

[Jeronimo]

Was looking into the Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Expert the other day and was made aware of something I never thought I would see, an electronic derailleur and wireless connection to the shifter. What. In. All. Hell. Is. This?

Anyone used it? I bet it works great, when the battery is charged... The thought of having to worry about ANOTHER battery and making sure its topped off does not enthuse me. I remain curious none-the-less. Link for those curious:

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/components/groupsets/groupset-mountain/sram-gx-eagle-axs-review/

 

[scott43]

Been around a while. Expensive. I was sourcing rear ders and the electric version was about 3x the mech version. They work well but that's some dough I'm not prepared to pay. Like carbon fibre. If you can afford it great. But.. and yes the battery issue can be problematic..

 

[scott43]

The methodology for resetting the system after it goes AWOL is fairly well known now...

 

[Jeronimo]

Yikes. I think I'm going to avoid that version of the Stumpy now. Give me good old mechanical all day any day. This seems really reminiscent of replacing all the buttons in cars with a stupid giant touch screen.

Nobody asked for it.

 

[cantunamunch]

Nobody asked for it.

The problem is everyone wants internal cable routing - for 'aero', for 'clean lines', for 'less damage to paint'. Except internal routing is a complete pain for everyone other than the non-mechanic end-user.

So it makes a certain type of sense to go wireless in a society that charges phones, GPS devices, lights, even bikes on a regular basis anyway. And with the added PITA of remote droppers... again it makes a certain type of sense.

(Spoken as someone who has more fixed and SS miles than derailleur miles )

 

[crosscountry]

That has been around for a while now. I know quite a few people who have it. They mostly like it.

No more cable stretch. The shifting is always crisp. The battery recharging doesn't seem to be an issue. Well, most of avid cyclist clean their bike after ride, pump the tires up before ride, etc. So just add checking battery level to the list. It quickly become second nature.

Some earlier version of the wireless shifting setup had some issues. But I heard most of the kinks had been worked out by now.

Cost is the only thing stopping me, and many others getting it.

 

[crosscountry]

Nobody asked for it.

Nobody asked for camera in a phone either!

Do you prefer a phone without camera over one with?

 

[bbbradley]

A friend of mine had it, he loves it!

 

[BLiP]

Yikes. I think I'm going to avoid that version of the Stumpy now. Give me good old mechanical all day any day. This seems really reminiscent of replacing all the buttons in cars with a stupid giant touch screen.

Agreed. Reminds me of when Ford and all of his hooligans insisted we use horseless carriages. What did they have against horses, anyway? Worked perfectly fine for ages.

 

[wooglin]

Next thing you know they'll put motors on them!

 

[KingGrump]

Next thing you know they'll put motors on them!

Too late.

 

[EricG]

It’s kinda standard now… All my bikes are wireless.. I won’t be going back to a cable operated shifter or dropper post any time soon.

 

[crosscountry]

It’s kinda standard now… All my bikes are wireless.. I won’t be going back to a cable operated shifter or dropper post any time soon.

Some "standard"!

 

[Tom K.]

Nobody asked for camera in a phone either!

Right?! Great example.

I resisted AXS shifting until a team bike just showed up with it.

I think it's great, esp if you happen to have a "skier's thumb" kind of thing going on from the bad old days. And I just did a trip with 14 days of ~3 hours each day with one recharge -- the little light goes from green to orange to red to give plenty of warning.

I've also got a bike with cable-operated Shimano XT which works great, but definitely takes a mightier push.

One of the greatest things about AXS is that if you are strongly against it, you can now buy "manual" XO1 and XX1 gruppos at darn reasonable prices.

 

[Lauren]

I got a bike with AXS this year...I probably have only 30-40 miles ridden with it thus far. Initial impression: so smooth. Mounting the derailleur and adjusting it was amazingly easy compared to dealing with cables.

The battery last quite a while. I've charged mine once at around 25 miles (4 rides) and found that it was maybe 1/2 way depleted. The "paddle" shifter was a bit awkward to get used to, but once I got it dialed in to the position of my hands, it's second nature already.

Yikes. I think I'm going to avoid that version of the Stumpy now. Give me good old mechanical all day any day. This seems really reminiscent of replacing all the buttons in cars with a stupid giant touch screen.

Personally, I would not avoid a bike you want, just because it has electronic shifting. It's not necessarily a game changer, but I have been really enjoying it thus far.

Side rant: I hate the stupid large touch screens in cars...I think they require people to take their eyes off of the road for longer durations. Once you know where the buttons are, you can practically push any button and turn any dial without taking your eyes off of the road.

 

[scott43]

And we're back to square one, works great if you got the cash for it.

 

[Lauren]

And we're back to square one, works great if you got the cash for it.

Or you "know a guy" and can get one for a reasonable cost.

 

[cantunamunch]

And we're back to square one, works great if you got the cash for it.

Or you "know a guy"

Talking of having cash and 'knowing a guy' - any of you remember the details of Netflix' doping docco?

Icarus (2017 film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Let me sum up.

The first year - undoped - he shows up at the Haute Route and feels like he can't keep up, even on a Willier with electronic shifting. But he knows a guy!
The second year - after a full season of beginner level doping - he's running with the top group. Amazing. Incredible.

Until someone forgets to charge his groupset At which point his mental toughness collapses and he can barely, barely muster up the willpower to finish mid-pack.

So...yeh. THAT's one of the details that went into my takeaway.

 

[Tony S]

And we're back to square one, works great if you got the cash for it.

Or you "know a guy" and can get one for a reasonable cost.

Confused. I think Scott IS the guy. Right?

 

[Lauren]

Confused. I think Scott IS the guy. Right?

He's a guy (I think?...don't want to assume anything in this day and age).... He's not my bike-guy though, I've got a local guy for that.