Electronic shift

[Tigerrr]

I have noticed loads of the fancy bikes down here in Spain sporting electronic shifters. Was reflecting that these mint make sense on a recumbent, given the complicated cable runs etc.
But then recumbent gearing is often a mix of wide ratios and road with MTB stuff, so would it work at all?

[PaulF]

Shimano have (or will have soon) electronic shift for MTBs as well so shouldn't be a problem. Admittedly I know nothing about the issues on recumbents...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The Things OTP have some experience with Di2 and wide range gears and the associated limitations. Currently Shimano doesn't allow mixing of road and MTB Di2 with the hybrid system simply refusing to operate.

[henshaw11]

Irrespective of compatibility issues I think the sticking point would be that newer road stuff uses doubles, compact or otherwise, whilst the newer mtb stuff is 2x or 1x.

But mebbe getting rid of the long and sometimes finnicky rear run could be worth doing, much as I hate the idea of relying on high-tech to do a low-tech job  (ie it goes wrong and I can't immediately fix it).

[Tigerrr]

I was prompted in this by a roadie who came alongside as I was grinding uphill, who was fascinated by the bike.  He assumed I had electro shift, and was singing its praises for instant faultless smooth changes.
the idea of smooth effective changing is something of a novelty in my recumbent experience, as I have never been able to get perfect silent gearing.
I can see that triple, long reach and an 11/28 10 spd cassette  might not be roadie spec though.

[ElyDave]

I was prompted in this by a roadie who came alongside as I was grinding uphill, who was fascinated by the bike.  He assumed I had electro shift, and was singing its praises for instant faultless smooth changes.
the idea of smooth effective changing is something of a novelty in my recumbent experience, as I have never been able to get perfect silent gearing.
I can see that triple, long reach and an 11/28 10 spd cassette  might not be roadie spec though.

The thing I like about Di2 is the ability to trim it on the fly, to eliminate those "not quite in the right gear" rattles

As for roadies and triples, I just changed the crankset on my runaround, stuck with a triple but upgraded to Ultegra, and swapped the rear from 8sp to 10sp 105 at the same time. I don't own a compact, and the triple is 52/42/30 on the front, last time I used the granny ring was going up an alpine climb of about 10% for 10km

[henshaw11]

Actually, I just checked, xtr triple di2 was announced last year...200+ quid for a front mech and 300+ for a rear Dont hold yer breathe for 105/xt, I suspect there wouldnt be that much of a price difference.
Dunno if there's a chain width difference on road/mtb 11s, the mtb block is wider I think.

Triples have been dropped from ultegra, still in 105 I think.

[Quint]

Actually, I just checked, xtr triple di2 was announced last year...200+ quid for a front mech and 300+ for a rear Dont hold yer breathe for 105/xt, I suspect there wouldnt be that much of a price difference.
Dunno if there's a chain width difference on road/mtb 11s, the mtb block is wider I think.

Triples have been dropped from ultegra, still in 105 I think.

          No problem with conventional twistgrip shift (apart from freezing once or twice in a bad winter a couple of years back) I run 11/34 rear and 50/40/26 front, if there was an electronic shift for the rear 9 speed I might think about it for the (evident) ability to shift under pressure but I don't reckon they will retro to a 9speed rear (or will they), I don't want to go 10 or 11 on the back on possible extra chain wear.

                                                                                                         

[henshaw11]

No problem with conventional twistgrip shift (apart from freezing once or twice in a bad winter a couple of years back) I run 11/34 rear and 50/40/26 front, if there was an electronic shift for the rear 9 speed I might think about it for the (evident) ability to shift under pressure but I don't reckon they will retro to a 9speed rear (or will they), I don't want to go 10 or 11 on the back on possible extra chain wear.

                                                                                                         

It's been running ok for a long time now after new cables and careful tweaking of the stops, but I've had a few cases of the bar-end shifters/xt mech being a bit fussy re adjustment (uss speedmachine), I think Kim's had some similar faffing with her uss streetmachine. I'm talking to David at Laidback about a new Fujin at the mo', I had the impression that the internal cable runs can possibly be a source of poor shifting .
(The basic Elan build is 2x10 sram, I'll get David to swap for 3x10 and see how I get on re durability..)

[recumbentim]

Thinking of the xtr cassette as a 1 by 11 for the CA2 as my next move but won't be the electric.

[mrcharly-YHT]

The thing I like about Di2 is the ability to trim it on the fly, to eliminate those "not quite in the right gear" rattles

I had a system that did that. I think it was called FrIctI0n

[ElyDave]

The thing I like about Di2 is the ability to trim it on the fly, to eliminate those "not quite in the right gear" rattles

I had a system that did that. I think it was called FrIctI0n

So true and no batteries to go flat either