-
Aye, absolutely no chance they have recycling on thier minds. Greedy money grabbing bastards.
Don't meant to sound like I'm preaching either. It's a corporation making money just like it should be. -
Isn’t it all just cosplay..?
-
They do. There's a very active worldwide community of security researchers who are looking for exploits and loopholes that allow them to get into devices. Some have noble aims but others are looking to profit from this.
At a previous employer, who made gps sports devices, we were contacted by a security researcher from Portugal to say he'd found an exploit which allowed him to access data on the device. We fixed the problem, he presented his work at an academic conference.
-
There's a very active worldwide community of security researchers who are looking for exploits and loopholes that allow them to get into devices.
This!
But I suppose as said earlier loaded folk who can throw 3k at a groupset are unlikely to go out of their way to avoid paying more to get the PM activated.
I've also maybe misunderstood the way in which it would be activated. Was thinking more along the lines of plugging a cable into it! I now realise thats probably unlikely and communicating with it would be done wirelessly.
So maybe couldn't happen as easily as I'd thought.Theres a child genius with mad hacking skillz and a keen interest in cycling out there somewhere!
-
Supposedly, SRAM employed a group of hackers and put them in the neutral service cars during the last few editions of the Tour of California trying to hack the system, unsuccessfully.
Again, not sure what can be gained by hacking some shifters as they shouldn’t contain any sensible information as a GPS device does.
Or do they? -
"Utilizing 128-bit encryption, eTap shift signals are transmitted and received in accordance with SRAM’s proprietary wireless protocol known as AIREA. Each time an eTap groupset is paired, a new encryption code is generated and assigned to the components in this group to ensure complete shifting security."
I want some SRAM now, just to see if I can fuck with it.
-
SRAM employed a group of hackers
Thought you were taking the piss there but above links make it seem like it's pretty much the unfuckable
-
Someone's gonna crack it or come up with an open source alternative any day. Shimano and SRAM are going to cry when people get crappy old derailleurs working with 12+ speed for £50.
the simpleton's version would be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYgaulRbll0
tell it what derailleur you've got (whereupon it looks up pull ratio in a database) and what speed cassette (whereupon it sets the sprocket pitch). Just like a Rohbox.
-
Obviously totally doable if you like craft and dodgy hacks, it’s a derailleur we are talking about, not an MRI scanner.
But why would you?
Isn’t an electronic system with sealed motor the reason we don’t want cable actuated systems anymore?
Even worst the cable is pulled by a motor that requires a power source not compatible with the rest of the system. -
But why would you?
The advantage to my eyes is that you could do 8-speed electronic, or upgrade your 11-speed stuff to 12-speed with just a new cassette and chain, or replace your derailleur for £20 instead of £100, or whatever.
If you've got 10-speed Di2 and want to switch to 11-speed you have to buy a whole new bunch of parts. IMO that is because of planned obsolescence and greed and nothing else; I'm 99% sure that they could have upgraded them to 11-speed through firmware alone. In fact they used to work on 11-speed before Shimano disabled it. How likely is it that current 11-speed eTap is going to work with 12-speed stuff? Not a chance in hell.
-
Sweet as.
I still can't afford it :'(
-
The advantage to my eyes is that you could do 8-speed electronic
Who would want to? The kind of retrogrouches who want 8-speed are the same ones who still want their mechanical gear shifters (non-indexed, obvs.) on the down tube. I'm guessing well over half the people buying bikes with electric gears wouldn't even be able to change their own chain, so the nuances of backwards compatibility are unlikely to be their highest priority. Most of them are not weirdos like us, they are cycling enthusiasts rather than bike enthusiasts - the machine is a means, not an end, something for other people to fix and to be replaced frequently.
-
Granted, that was a silly example. The point is you can do any speed within reason, which sets you up for 11-, 12- and 13-speed (which is also on the way), as long as you have a derailleur with the a suitable parallelogram and cage length*, and allows you to upgrade bits as and when you see fit. If I buy Shimano 11-speed Di2 now I am committing future me to throw the whole lot out next time I want to upgrade (or sell it on eBay).
I just think it's going to work out cheaper and more versatile by far in the long run, once someone does it.
* folks are going to be on 11-30something doubles for a while I think, so there should be plenty of derailleurs around for that
Edit: anyway I'll quit banging on about this now. Maybe I should build one myself and keep my mouth shut until then
-
it's going to work out cheaper and more versatile by far in the long run
Clearly the kind of consumers buying Di2/eTap are not interested in cheaper, more versatile, or the long run.
-
Campagnolo's first experiments with electric shifting were electrically actuated Bowden cables.
A proper digital hack would allow any cog spacing, SRAM/Campagnolo/Shimano and 7 to 12 speed cassettes.
The only difference is how far the motor moves the jockey wheel.
I am surprised some hacker has not cracked these systems yet.
TotalShanner
andyp
Dogs
zmjones_
GoatandTricycle
PhilDAS
Breso
frankenbike
Sumo
gbj_tester
davidual-
Post a reply
About
Electronic & Hydraulic Shifting (Di2, Ui2, customisations)
Posted by
@hippy
I reckon that there's about 4 people in the world who are willing/able to spend £3300 on a groupset but simultaneously balk at an extra couple of hundred for a power meter. If you're a serious enough cyclist to be dropping that much cash on your groupset you're definitely going to be riding with a power meter.