Is di2 worth the investment?

Is it worth 1000$? I don’t think so. Unless your bike costs 10000€, then it probably doesn’t matter :wink:.
But the real world price difference is often not that high.
I am considering to buy a Canyon Ultimate with Di2, Disc and dt swiss arc 1400 wheels. If I choose the version without di2 + disc and buy the dt swiss wheels separately, I save 300€. Disc and Di2 upgrade for only 300€ would be a no brainer for many.
Of course this comparison is not exact science, but these are real world considerations…

I’ve made the decision to stay with mechanical, not only because of budget, but the many times I’ve seen others stranded in a single gear after they’ve forgotten to charge their battery. I race gravel mostly, so the cost of a mistake like that (which I believe I have a high probability of making) would be a total devastation for the day.

That being said, I’d love to see the price come down—for the right situations, I think it sounds great if you can afford it.

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I am wondering how our desires would look like if it would be the other way round and we used electronic shifters for ages and now there is this new mechanical groupset.
Imagine: Finally you don’t need electricity to ride your bike any more. No charging, no batteries, everything just works by a small movement of your hand. Most importantly, it is lighter! Sure, it uses cables, but they are nicely hidden in the frames.
And finally no firmware updates anymore that brick your whole system! And if something brakes, it is easily repairable at a low cost.
The only downside: it costs 1000$ more than the electronic groupset. But all the pros at the tour de france are already using this new mechanical magic. :wink:

Maybe mechanical and electronic groupset are so close to each other, that if the narrative would be the other way round and mechanical would be the shiny new thing, which hefty price tag suggests it must be something valuable, we had cravings for mechanical and not for the di2s and etaps…
Just playing devils advocate…:wink:

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The cost is high. I think that’s the only real valid complaint that can be made against Di2. But everyone holds a different value on “$1000”. I just built a new checkpoint and feel that it is worth the extra cost.

I don’t know what happens when SRAM battery runs down, but Di2 doesn’t work that way unless they blatantly ignore it. I just recently let mine run dead to see what it would do. It disabled the front derailleur, which was in the least optimal ring for getting home. After a few minutes of no shifting, it did let me shift the front 1 more time. For rest of ride I had full use of rear derailleur. So for someone to have gotten to the point of 0 shifting, they had to of ignored warnings in that ride and previous rides. A possibility yes, but you have to force it to that result to get there.

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That’s an interesting thought process. Just wondering if you have ridden Di2?

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And those are the people who don’t take care of their bikes. They never replace their chain, their headsets are corroded, and they are wearing worn out, stinky, see thru bibs.

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I’m guessing they also refuse to use fire detectors too? Because after days of the annoying low battery beep, they don’t work because of dead battery. :man_shrugging:

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Not having read all the threads I would say this. Di2 is worth it if:

  • You don’t really know how to shift using mechanical. Yes. There is an art to it and the lever throws.

  • if you are racing - I think you have to think less about it when you’re on the limit and your brain isn’t working right.

My 2 cents. Good luck!

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Not sure why you would want to change gear at 35mph at night going downhill?

I guess you wish to stay with mechanical and that is your own personal choice, by CAAD 12 will be done this weekend and have Di2 and decent carbon wheels all for under £2k.

Just need to find a way of having my lights charged up at night :slight_smile:

In one word…yes DI2 is worth it. I run 6 bikes, only one (my newest bike, a 2018) has DI2 (Ultegra) and it is been absolutely trouble free over the last 13,000+ kms (I think I’ve charged it once when I got it and three times since). Battery draining has to be a complete user error issue as checking the battery is very simple and if you have a poor connection or grounding issue draining your battery faster than normal or not allowing power to get through, then just fix it!!

I am definitely not against mechanical shifting however as my other five bikes all have mechanical Shimano setups from cheap Tiagra to Dura Ace… but not having to deal with cable stretch, cable breakage, cable friction/binding and other wear and tear issues is so nice!!

Just my opinion of course but the ease of use and simple maintenance makes it an easy decision in my books for my next . A lot of other good points made above though…if I had to choose between DI2 and nice carbon wheels on a fast road bike, for me the carbon aero wheels are a better choice…faster at same power and that is always nice!! I would do both though as there are lots of worse things to waste our bike $$'s on.

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I know this is super old, but, got a chuckle and had to respond to the use of the word, “investment.”

Riding an expensive bike with the latest tech is really nice, but, not a huge benefit (unless you’re racing and your mortgage depends on winning). It’s like the difference between driving a Tesla or an ICE (internal combustion engine). Both get you from A to B, just a little differently.

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The definition of investment is the use of capital for profit or material results. I still like the use of “investment” here :slight_smile:

I know we’re being tongue in cheek here, but, you’d be hard pressed to convince me of any profit or material results gained from electronic over mechanical. :grin:

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I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, I’m just another Fred on the internet asking questions :slight_smile:

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Disclaimer: I’m a Tesla owner and have two AXS equipped bikes and won’t go back, but, also recognize that electric cars and electric shifting are not “investments” :grin:

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Posted before on this thread with an update. Had my Tarmac di2 comp for about 2 months now and really enjoying it.

I purchased the climbing shifter and the wireless unit for it to connect to my Garmin and nice additions. It is great to see what gear I am in while riding, change screens and battery levels. Full synchro shift is on which has worked well for me. Do like how you barely touch the shifter and it shifts or holding it down.

Overall it has been my first experience with di2 and when/if/ever I get a mtn or gravel bike it will be di2 as well. You can live w/o it but really great to have.

As far as putting on my emonda with mechanical I personally am not but my buddy was going to upgrade his bike to di2 as he justifies the expense is less than buying a new bike.

I think my solution to Di2 charging would be to get in the habit of charging Di2 every time I remove the chain to wax it.

The di2 battery is lasting forever. I get forgetting about if you don’t log onto the computer of have the wireless unit but that would be a long time.

There are failures which has 0 to do with charging of course.

I finally after almost 2 years ran out of battery in a ride. The FD shifted down to the small chainring. My RD still shifted fine. You’re not gonna be stuck in a 53-11 if anyone is worried about that.

“Investment”? No bike is an investment but I will say that buying a nice bike with nice components can be an investment in your work you put in.

Di2? Absolutely! I can’t ever go back. Those who want to say it makes no difference clearly haven’t ridden it. I just bought a gravel bike with mechanical GRX and I regret every second not buying the Di2 version and now it’s gonna cost more to upgrade. And yes the upgrade even now will still be worth it.

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