Cannondale SuperSix Evo kids bike

Just buy the Merlin £299 bike then sell it on when the CAnnondale is fixed

the minidisc of gears

I don't know why people always slate MDs. They were much better than CDs and held back by the music industry. They also came out before most think they did (early '90s) and until the iPod in the early '00s mp3s were actually pretty shit and tended not to be a great deal smaller for the tracks they could hold. IMO 10yrs is actually a decent amount of time for tech to stay around for nowadays.

IMO a better eg is blueray DVDs / similar which barely anyone but the manufactures want and will have been made redundant much faster than MDs ever were.

/rant over

LOL

Most importantly if you were a media yuppie in 1998 you needed a Sony MD, Evisu denim and Nike Huaraches. It wasn't optional.

Have you considered a Talbot?

I wasn't using MD's as a example of poor tech, quite the contrary! My mother works in radio production, and her company was quick to move to Minidiscs. I spent most of my childhood with a minidisc player.

Minidiscs, a lot like wired electronics, represents a great leap above the respective industry standards they superseded. Lighter, less prone to breaking, more consistent and easier to use. They're were both adopted quickly and with praise by individual users and larger companies. However, they were still hindered by the many of the problems of the previous models (skipping / wires), as well as introducing their own (increased storage & fragility / junction boxes attached to a stem. come on, what kind of ridiculous afterthought was that?).

Minidisc, much like Di2 and EPS, was a great improvement, and a necessary stepping stone in technology and development. But you'd have to search pretty hard to find an individual or a company who relies on minidisc rather than digital storage now. I get the impression that in 7-10 years time, as Shimano and Campy move to wireless shifting and it trickles down to the affordable groups, you'll be similarly hard pressed to find someone who would prefer wires.

That's why I can't really enthuse about buying a CAAD10 with 10 speed Di2 and 19mm wheels. It's already been superseded by 11-Speed, and with the advent of SRAM wireless on the horizon, I don't really see much point in investing. That would be like someone seeing a iPod and saying '1000 songs? no thanks, I'd prefer to cart a backpack of minidiscs about'.

I'm not sure where Mavic Zap fits in to this comparison, but I bet there is a parallel somewhere.

The Ribble is probably a Boots own-brand Personal Stereo.

By the time SRAM release the new wireless shifter, you've already gone through several derailleur hangers on the CAAD10.

I would have thought a super6 With ultegra Di2 was near Perfect. While in a vain attempt not to build my NeXT road bike like a' buyer', I came to the conclusion that these are ultimate 'riders' groupset, and frameset personnally. But then cannondale made stuff difficult by not making a universal frameset (mechanical frameset only, or a Complete Di2 bike? very helpful).

Westbrookcycles have some bonkers offers on With Di2.

http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/frames-c6/road-bike-c112#m739:m12

I was going to get the foil. But faffed and missed out on the XS.
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-foil-hmx-team-issue-di2-frameset-with-11-speed-ultegra-6870-electric-pack-2013-p213652

I always wanted one of these too.
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/scott-addict-team-issue-replica-hmx-frame-set-with-11-speed-ultegra-6870-electric-pack-2014-p241072

You could reuse a load of stuff from the crashed bike.

I'd get 11 speed Di2. Life will be loads easier than 10 speed.

For the above minidisc related reasons, I don't really want to buy in to Di2. I agree with you that, at the moment, 11p Ultegra Di2 is probably the best groupset for people who want to ride a bunch at present, but I just can't get behind it. I think it's poorly implemented.

In a perfect world, I'd have a mechanical Supersix* for summer riding and a mechanical Ti custom frame for winter miles. I'd almost sold on the CAAD10 Di2, to use and then recycle the parts when I get my hands on a Ti winter roadie, but the important bits (group, wheels) are already outdated.

*until I get a custom Parlee with SRAM Wireless and a powermeter to replace it... but that's a good few years off.

Scotts are too long for me, even in the tiny sizes.

The group is so not outdated .. its e-tube unlike 7970 which means all the latest stuff works so you are safe at least till Shimano releases next Di2 offering maybe in 2016. You can even 'upgrade' to 11 speed by just buying the RD; everything works the same way.

But thanks to #buyer thinking like that I compiled a 6770 gearset for £250 its a bit 'sell sell sell' atm

Westbrook Cycles really are going balls out at the moment. I'm looking at the BMC Teammachine on a daily basis, just to check that it sells so I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Fit me lovely.

Had Finances been different. I'd build a 5.5kg climbing bike out of the Addict.

I think Shimano have nailed it With 6870. I've never liked Shimano. Not visually, not functionally, not ergonomically.

But 6870 looks very sleek. Removing the mechanics from the levers really sorted them out.

It simply Works. But also, you can play around With the set up loads. Adding extra shifters, moving bits of it about. Swaping bars With relative ease.

Again, mainly Down to removing the mechanics from the levers. But they are now very Nice to hold.

Thats just me I Guess.

I dont see the point of Wireless. My bars are physically Attached to my mechs anyway. I dont need to operate the mechs remotely from distance.

With a little work you can hide all signs of Di2, and its getting easier all the time. Bars With rear cut-outs, used With stems With Junction compartments etc.

If I'm honest I never saw the point in cabled Electronic shifting either. So I'm ready to change my mind.

I am only able to sleep at night because they dont have my size in the team machine.

Would an Argon18 fit?

A lot of gallium pros were on offer when I was looking, and the weird headset thing would allow you to adjust stack as Your back progressed.....

Unfortunately, with the right top-tube, even the highest-stack weird-headset thing is about 5mm lower than the Supersix.

I never said it was outdated, I said it was a poorly implemented intermediary step before proper wireless shifting comes to market.

WIll you be happy with first gen wireless or 3rd/4th gen wired?

I won't be able to afford First Gen wireless, even at SRAM prices, so it's a bit of a moot point. When wireless trickles down to Force, it'll be affordable.

I've ridden Ultegra and DA Di2. It works excellently, and would be a good investment. I'm just struggling to be excited by it.

I get excited by it every day. I wake up bleary eyed and stare across the room at those beautiful shifters and think "I've made it", and well up...

Each to their own though...

Have you rigged the wires up to your ballsack?

That's the idea right?

I'm just struggling to be excited by it.

Camouflage it.

U bin Scobled!