Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

Have you ever spoken to owners of shiny new electronic bikes?

I don't think I've ever even seen one being ridden to be honest

Now let's make an open system and see how it all works out shall we?

Good point. An open source thing would be great, you could have a bunch of people making just derailleurs and/or shifters without having to produce an entire groupset at once. I'm sure all the other manufacturers (FSA, WolfTooth, SunTour, MicroShift, Praxis Works, all the electronics companies doing dynamo hubs and power meters, etc.) would be all over it. I am just surprised that it hasn't happened yet. Maybe in a few years.

Have you ever spoken to owners of shiny new electronic bikes? Not savvy bike users.

Goddamnest if that's not the gospel truth.

Had a customer with the old 10 speed Di2, he claim he doesn't need updating, but we need to run diagnostic to ensure the system is working in full capacity.

Turn out, it took 45 minutes cause it need a complete reboot after learning it never been updated since it been put together.

Good point. An open source thing would be great, you could have a bunch of people making just derailleurs and/or shifters without having to produce an entire groupset at once.

It's mind numbingly complicated and expensive to do so, moreso reliably.

Sarcasm.gif

You're also missing the point. Electronic isn't mainstream for your average user, so Shimano et al doesn't make as much money out of it as your standard cable pull. Why would they make it open source, and thus...lose profit?

Like @edscoble It's expensive. The R&D alone would make smaller companies balk. I worked with a guy who was doing his electronics something or the other MA. He ripped an etube system apart and hated it. Said it was a fucking nightmare to work with, no bleepy bloop and hey presto. It was multiple signal request/receive handshakes with every iteration. From clicking the button, to derailleur confirming shift sequence.

If you're good at making/doing something, why do it for free? more so, why risk a colossal warranty clusterfuck by putting it in the hands of idiots who can barely remember which way a set of batteries go in?

This is what I meant about not wanting to get into it

This is my XL set up for me, I am 186cm tall

Ultimately need to ride one to be certain

@Chak do you have any quick links to people trying to hack it? Am intrigued by this now, always thought di2 was just CAN bus (as used in cars) and so thought it wouldn't be too bad.

I can imagine the failed kickstarter now: openEShi(f)t

Get them remote controlled plane geeks on it, they love tiny servos.

I MEAN, HOW HARD COULD IT BE?

So update for anyone that's interested on the WTB Resolutes that I've got on some hunt 650bs...

Fit: Basically a pain in the backside. Three rolls of tape, removing the value core and holding the tyre on to get the airflow going and we finally got it seated with the aid of the local bike shop. Once on, however, seems fine.

Road: Rolls reasonably well, but nowhere near as well as a G-one and feels noticeably slower. Yet to test on any 'proper' gravel roads.

Off-Road/Byways/Mudfest: So it's been raining. Quite a lot. The limits of the tyre are basically muddy, muddy singletrack in which it doesn't really grip. When it did find something vaguely solid to grip onto (e.g the gravel under the mud) it was fairly awesome. It's a nice size for mud clearance and I'm pretty sure in anything but these absolutely horrid conditions it'd be fine. For reference also tried some less horrid byways and canal paths and it rocked. The tread is pretty similar to the cross boss which I also understand struggles in deep, clay like mud. Anything but an explicit mud tyre (e.g. mud king) would likely struggle I guess!

Durability: No real sense yet, but got a thorn or two in it whilst riding which orange seal sorted in about three seconds so no major issues yet.

That's interesting, I have the same tyres and wheels and setting up tubeless was the easiest I've experienced yet with no issues at all.

It's true that they do roll slower on roads than my g-ones but on the loose surfaces they really are much better. I have the pressure at 30 psi front, 35 rear and they are great.

In fairness, one went straight up and the other was a right pain. Might just be bad luck! I'm looking forward to some drier weather so they can really get going..

Just got this in the mail today, love it

Only potential issue is the reversed brakes (left back / right front). Totally not used to it setup like that at all. Any quick fix or is it new hoses, re-cabling etc?

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Hydro brakes? If so it's a reroute of the hoses.

If it's your only roadie, you'll probably adjust in short order. Having two bikes with opposite levers sure is distracting though. I think you'd need a new hose to replace the shorter one, plus a bleed kit (syringes & fluid).

It’s my third bike, other two are the other way around unfortunately.

Thx gents

It could be as simple as removing bar tape and hoods and swap the hoses and rebleed.
I’d try that.
Some systems might not even need a rebleed if you’re very careful.

My Arkose came with connectormajigs on the hose run at the bars to facilitate easy swaps

Nice guys! I’m just wondering - Howard - as Yemble says - wouldn’t I need to switch the short hose to a longer one for the back end tho?

Also I’m not entirely sure my ham-fists can handle the job. May need to bring it to LBS

Ooh, convenient. Didn't even know that was a thing - I've only done self-installs with full length hosing.

Probably doesn’t even need a rebleed, have done this so many time when building bike up.

Is it just a simple switch of hoses though Ed? Surely the short one needs switching to a long one...no?

If there are the easy hose joint connectors near the bars a simple swap may be possible.

Just disconnect at the levers and reconnect to opposite sides. Should be sufficient slack on both sides to cross over neatly.

Nice one guys, will look more into it. Have not a clue how hydro cables connect/disconnect at the lever though...but perhaps the inner-webs can be of some help. How hard can it be, heheh

have you considered swapping the cables around?