Electronic & Hydraulic Shifting (Di2, Ui2, customisations)

No experience with steerer mounted options. And yes that is the connector.

SRAM? Don't know enough about it to dismiss it totally but I already have plenty of experience with Di2 and know it works well, have existing parts for Di2 and I don't need to be carrying MORE spare batteries for a ride and their charging dock. I feel dirty enough just using one of their cassettes...

What's the price difference?
2x shifters
2x tt shifters
2x deraillers
di2 cables/juncs (does sram need anything else?)

I much prefer eTap to Di2, it works a treat and is so easy to setup. Only had one battery mishap so far, when I rode the bike for the first time in over a month and the front derailleur battery was flat. Have been running it for nearly two years now and still haven’t had to change the shifter batteries.

Di2 works well and is easy to setup too. I've run batteries flat on Di2 (literally this morning, in fact) but just plug them into external battery or dynamo USB on the move and charge. How big is the SRAM charger? They reckon the deraillers get 1000k which means quite a bit more charging than my Di2 setup during ultras. CW said shifting was slow - did they fix this with a firmware update or something? Do they do TT shifters? How much did you pay for yours?

The charger isn’t very big at all, probably 6 cm x 2.5 cm x 2 cm deep.

Shifting is quick enough for me, never felt it was too slow. They do satellite buttons that you can put on TT bars.

I bought the shifting system only version, so shifters, front and rear derailleurs and charger, which, with discount, was just over £1k.

The problem with eTap for TT is the enormous, ugly "blip box" junction thing.

I should add that I’m about to convert my cross bike to Di2. I considered eTap but the cost of replacing a rear derailleur put me off.

These problems from a glowing review. Doesn't sound too bad but I'd have to try the shifting to see if I could deal with the changes. I don't like the idea of having to charge one thing after the other - that ain't gonna happen if I'm asleep in a hotel with 3hrs to spare. Is there any way to charge them in situ?

"Front shifting is the slowest of the big three electronic groups, and not as forceful/clean as Di2 or EPS, especially with third-party chainrings. Two: Single-handed shifting is difficult, given the left/right paddle shift action we’re such big fans of. We’ve been used to eating with our left hand, and being able to go up/down the rear cassette with our right with other groups. And finally, the included battery charger affords a single cradle for the eTap system’s two power units, requiring the user to swap batteries for a full charge. A more convenient setup would be a dual-cradle charger."

Do the satellite buttons take the same batteries as the shifters? CR2032?

£1k is a bit more spendy than Di2 (£700-800?):
https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-ultegra-6870-di2-gear-kit-74063.html
https://www.vanillabikes.com/products/shimano-ultegra-8050-di2-upgrade-kit

Ah shit, will my old 7800 brake calipers work with new lever (SRAM or Shimano) cable pull ratios? I'm sure they changed for 7900 calipers.

dafuq is that?!

Wires?

But isn’t this the real comparison?
https://www.merlincycles.com/dura-ace-9150-di2-gear-kit-101034.html

Is there cheaper eTap? If not, then no, because functionally DA and Ui2 are basically the same.

That raises another compatibility issue though - will the new inline derailler/hanger shit (what do they call it? Shadow RD?) work with standard hangers?

yeah it will work - to use it with a direct mount frame you remove the extra hanger bit from the deraileur

Direct Mount, they were the two words I was looking for. Ta

where's the best place to buy eTap? seems spotty when you search for it online

was going to upgrade to R9150 with the upgrade kit but just realised my frameset is not di2 ready

Probably been asked 1000 times before, but can you use older Dura Ace 9070 derailleurs with the new 9150 shifters?

Thinking of doing DI2 on the (relative) cheap, with a used 9070 gearset and then getting some 9150 hydro shifters as I hated the bulky feel of the old ones

Should work no problem. If doing cheap could get the new r8070 shifters

Lovely stuff, cheers!

I'm building up a Di2 bike and want aero bars with shifting buttons.

It looks like the barend junction boxes only have 3 ports - is there a way I can still have neat internal wiring with 5 ports or do I need to use the 5 port external junction box?

yeah - you can use jc41 "dumb" internal junction box(s) to connect things up. You will still need 1 regular junction box - but it can be 3,5 or the bar end junction box/charger port.

Cool thanks. The Shimano docs say the jc41 can be put inside frames - think it will fit in a handlebar?

I have one inside my TT extensions, so yes it will likely fit in a handlebar.

Perfect, thanks!

@hippy etap is noticeably slower than di2. I've built enough of both now to know.

I'd also say your sworks would be convertible. Just need to be creative.