There’s no shortage of electronic shifting options for mountain bike drivetrains, from big brands like Shimano and SRAM and smaller ones like Classified and Archer. With such widespread availability, we’re curious to know what you’re currently running.
If you answered no and aren’t interested in electronic shifting, tell us why in the comments below.
I’m honestly yet to see any actual advantage of electronic shifting besides ease of install and tidy cabling, yet there are many more downsides. And personally, I’m just terrible with batteries.
I’m still very much in the NOT interested camp.
Hey Sam, whaddya say we add drama to a mountain bike??
Frankly, I’m with you since reliability is job one. Not to mention the absurd cost. I’d rather bury the cash in a custom frame.
When choosing components I’m interested in durability, reliability, easy home/trailside repair, and price, probably more or less in that order, all before performance. To be fair I don’t know a ton about them, but I really can’t see electronic shifters offering any advantages I’m interested in. I still prefer cable brakes to hydraulics. Hell, I’d have gone with RIM brakes on my most recent commuter if I could’ve found a quality new bike that had them.
I have Di2 on one mtb bike and a standard mech on the other mtb.
I think a lot of my admiration for the Di2 system has to do with the terrain I ride, lots of short, very steep hills (drumlins?) where I’m constantly dumping or adding a lot of cogs. I -LOVE- the Di2’s ability to both add and dump cogs in an instant -and- under torque without complaining, something my standard XTR will moan and yelp about. I think if I rode flatter terrain or terrain where the hills announced themselves, the Di2 would be less relevant.
Not certain why folks worry about the batteries; I’ve had my Di2 bike 6 years, and I still only charge it twice a season. The batteries have been a complete non-issue.