November 2024

Electronic shifting - for whom?

30/11/24 22:18 Filed in: Gear

We've come a looooong way from the first two forays into electronic shifting: Mavic Zap and Mektronic systems - they seemed to not work more often than they worked. I'm over a year into riding Red AXS on a daily basis and a Flight Attendant equipped MTB with AXS gearing regularly, and they are essentially faultless.

Shimano has their Di2 option (now with fewer wires - I love the description I saw online of wiredless) and Campagnolo the Super Record EPS wireless for the non-SRAM consumer. These are fundamentally the same. An electronic switch tells the computer to shift the gears for you. A servo-motor moves the derailleur. The chain shifts.

They aren't faster than cable activated. But they are digital where cables are analogue - my XO1 Eagle equipped bike I ride most weekends also shifts almost perfectly, but it is up to my thumb just how perfectly. Push a little too far and get a 2-gear downshift instead of the desired single gear (upshifts are a single shift per push so you can only have one at a time), or a 3-gear downshift instead of the desired two. The digital shift button is pushed or not pushed. The derailleur then shifts.

I've seen women with small hands who struggle with the mechanical front derailleur shift to the big ring because the lever needs to be moved a certain distance to effect a shift and small hands can fail to move it quite far enough. The same hands get a perfect shift with a digital button - every time. Even the rear derailleur shift governed by the thumb (on a MTB) can be a struggle for a small thumb. One tiny tap on the digital button effects a perfect shift. For my large (size 12) hands, I can shift on the road bike with a knuckle. Just tap the button with my index finger knuckle and knock off perfect shifts.

Both Shimano and SRAM (have never played with EPS so I can't comment) permit a sequential shifting mode as well. Instead of governing the front and rear derailleurs separately, the up and down shifts are requested from the lever and the computer decides if a front derailleur shift is required. This is great for an inexperienced cyclist who might not know when is the best time to shift the front derailleur. It is also great for people who have a shift-inhibiting issue with one hand as all shifting can be accomplished from one lever with Di2 though AXS requires right and left button presses to achieve up and down shifts (the default is both buttons for a front derailleur change, in sequential mode the both-sides push can be ignored or used to control a Reverb AXS post - or with new E1 Red there are auxiliary buttons on the lever that I believe can put all the shifting on one lever for the first time in SRAM gear).

I use what they call compensating mode. Every front derailleur shift is accompanied by an automatic shift the other way at the rear derailleur, if possible. When I go from small to big ring, it shifts into one lower sprocket at the same time, and vice versa. It can't if I am already in the largest (or smallest) sprocket. And AXS won't permit the small to small selection in any circumstance. I wouldn't use compensating mode in a race, but it is handy during commuting.

Bowden cable activated shifting can leave you stuck in high gear when the rear derailleur cable or any of its supporting hardware breaks - I've had this happen when the cable housing stop on the frame broke off in a race. Break the front derailleur cable and most front derailleurs will leave you in the small ring. When the shift cable breaks off inside the shift lever, it can be incredibly difficult to extract the stub end left behind with frayed cable ends poking everywhere. Housings wear out with routine use. Ratchet mechanisms that do the shifting wear, get dirty, can jam, can break.
While I am sure digital derailleurs have a lifespan, the main issue is forgetting to charge your battery and being left stuck in a gear (not high or low gear like a broken cable, but whatever gear you were in at the time). (The Shimano batteries are large and last months between charges so unlikely to fail mid-ride if you pay attention to the charged state of the battery at all regularly, and SRAM/Campag batteries are small so a spare one can be purchased and carried around for emergencies).

Installation is also super easy as there are no cables to run anywhere unless you chose Di2, in which case there are thin wires to run from the main battery to each derailleur. In an aero bike like my Madone, running the cables was a several hours long job that could (and should) be avoided by using wireless.

So who is electronic shifting for? Small hands, big hands, lazy mechanics, aero bikes, bikes without capability to run cables, small thumbs, weak thumbs, hand strength or coordination issues, those seeking perfection in shifting, novices, people not afraid of spending money and people who desire perfect shifting behaviour. I think that covers almost everyone. (which is why there are numerous frames without capacity to take cables...)

Cleat position matters

22/11/24 19:22 Filed in: Gear

I recently retired a pair of shoes. This took my newest shoes out of the "pain cave" and onto the road. I had ridden them several times on the trainer and found them to be fine. But as soon as I got them outside, they felt weird.
I double checked the cleat position against all the old shoes I've got with cleats still mounted - and they looked identical. But it felt unstable out of the saddle.
I took the time to slide the cleat approximately 1 mm further rearward on the shoe, and the difference was remarkable. There is no discernible difference when seated, but standing feels correct again.

One test I try when I put new shoes into action is to ride one new shoe with one old shoe (both combos) on the trainer against a load to ensure they're correct. And these shoes passed that. I'll have to throw in a standing sprint effort for future checking.

The bottom line is that differences between shoes means that even perfect replication of position doesn't mean that the position is perfect! To be perfect requires a bit of testing.

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Electronic shifting - for whom?

Cleat position matters