More likely that there is collusion on pricing to prevent price reductions. There are only 2 large group set manufacturers. The rest are small
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There isnāt any collusionā¦.quite honestly, the industry isnāt smart enough for that. It is, however, paranoid as hell and companies loathe their competitors getting their information.
When I was the Director of Product for one of the largest suppliers, I walked around Interbike with a messenger back stuffed with our catalog. Walked into almost every other booth and said āIāll show you mine if you show me yoursā¦.we all know weāll all get each others catalogs eventually.ā Maybe 2 companies exchanged catalogs with me. 
That isnāt an industry culture that lets collusion occurā¦.not to mention SRAM and Shimano hate each other. Now, could there be parallel thinking re: not wanting to lower pricing? Perhapsā¦but one of the truisms from my time in the industry is that everyone was always looking for ways to offer more for less.
For what itās worth, Iāve been running Campagnolo 12 speed SR mechanical through my Ridley Noah Fastās integrated bar/frame system for the past 3 years. I havenāt had a single issue.
There is explicit collision and the probably more dangerous one, silent collusion.
Yes I know that economic theory tell us that lower prices will sell more. But what if there are only two major competitors. A duolopy if you willā¦ They donāt need to do anything. They can keep prices high knowing their position of power. They donāt need to like each other, they know no one can touch them. There is no incentive to lower prices.
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Tacit collusion is clearly operating in the bike space. 2 companies, SRAM and Shimano control most of the components. Price leadership is often set by one of the 2 on a group set with various technologies. The others simply adjust around the price.
Iām sorry but youāre telling me wireless servos is such a new thing it costs 5k to put it in a bike? With electronic components as cheap as they are, Iām highly skeptical.
This is why the entry of Chinese groupsets is welcomed IMO. Sensah and others creating similar groupsets with technologies with cutthroat pricing. Weāre seeing the entry of actual competition in this space after years of nothing.
In a perfectly competitive market, more consumers consume and welfare of society improves. Firms do not want competition as they want to maximize profits; they want to set the price where Marginal Revenue is equal to Marginal Cost. This is never the case in a perfectly competitive market hence why firms collude and do other actions to monopolize markets so they can increase marginal revenues and lower marginal costs.
It is best think of markets as a competition space between companies and consumers. They are supposed to be in direct conflict with each other in order to provide the best welfare for society.
A goodās value is not derived by its COGS.
Itās interesting that the cost of Campagnolo groups took a giant leap in price with the introduction of disc brakes. Who knew they cost so much to produce on road bikes. Why are they so cheap on mountain bikes?
Itās kind of funny to compare Shimano XT di2 12 speed parts to Record or Chorus mechanical disc parts. 12 speed di2 on a mountain bike is so much cheaper.
To level the discussion a little here - my front SRAM Red eTap (2x11) derailleur recently bit the dust and you canāt replace them or mix and match with other eTap and AXS systems.
I went to Force AXS 2x12 and that single generation upgrade requires replacing all your wheel (and trainer) hub bodies, your crankset, bottom bracket, chains, and cassettes.
This despite the fact that all I needed was a front derailleur that did exactly what Force AXS does mechanically - it just needed to be able to talk to the previous generation eTap rear derailleur.
Campy is not the only groupset maker which does really stupid things.
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Campy should just stick to what they know.
Electronics is clearly outside of their wheelhouse. Stick to making bike jewelry, downsize the company as needed, and stay alive for the next 100 years.
Desperation moves like these never end well. I wonder how much money they blew on the R&D for this? Iād be surprised if this group were even as good as the latest SRAM Rival.
Sureā¦no doubt lots of people have successfully done the same. I wasnāt trying to make a blanket statement.
But there are also a lot of people who have struggled to get theirās setup properly or to stay in tune or just never got it to work.
A lot will depend on the design of the integrated system (as well as the size of the bike).
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Their electronic groupset won the Tour de France in 2020/2021, so I think their ability to design an electronic groupset on par to their competition was beyond doubt (as they had just that), but clearly their jump to wireless was off the mark. Hopefully these early, less than stellar reviews gives them the push they need to revamp this thing into something worthy of their name (or, minimum, the price tag).
Shimano turns to SRAM: āWe are really putting the thumb screws to our cash cow customers, donāt we? Who thought we could get away with raising prices of 105 (Di2) to where you could almost get a Red mechanical groupset.ā
Campag to both: āHold my glass of chianti.ā
Why do we need electronic groupsets?
Yesterday on a longer ride (6h30) one of my batteries went from āfullā (I check before every longer ride) to āempty any minuteā. Why is it possible for my bike to stop shifting while Iām stuck in the mountains? This doesnāt go into my head. This scenario happens around three times a year, once a year a battery goes dead.
Yes, itās nice etc., I bought into all of it when I got the bike, but my next bike is probably going to be mechanical.
I charge all my batteries regularly. But those batteries are hard to charge in correct timing (once a month may be enough or not, depending on bike usage).
Iām a beginner so excuse my my lack of experience.
Precise shifting every time. Mechanical cables wear out and that affects shifting performance. When there were smaller cassettes, 5-10 cogs, there is more leeway in shifting tolerances. However, with 11-13 speed cassettes, the tolerances are extremely tight and being off by a bit means shifting performance can degrade.
Mechanical is good but with more modern, high count cassette group sets electronic makes a lot of sense
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They have a lot of advantages:
- Shifts require no skill. Especially shifting up on the front requires skill and sometimes force.
- Shifts can be executed with your little finger and they are 100 % accurate. Thatās particularly important for dropbar bikes in my experience where now I can reliably shift with my ring fingers.
- You can micro adjust while riding. Thatās a huge advantage that I didnāt think about when I first got my new bike with electronic groupset.
- Charging your batteries is easier and faster than changing cables.
Electronic shifters are nice-to-haves, thatās for sure. But they are really nice to have.
Do you have a SRAM or a Shimano groupset? If you have a SRAM groupset, the solution is quite simple: get a spare battery.
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This isnāt a problem of electronic Groupset. Itās a wireless (potential) downside.
I donāt see any meaningful benefit to wireless. I have 9100 Di2 with one big battery in my seatpost that lasts ~6 months (I donāt know for sure, Iāve never run out in ~6 years). That one battery runs the shifters and derailleurs. Installation was incredibly easy and there are no visible wires (ok, thereās 1.5cm visible running into the RD). My Wahoo warns me when Iāve got ~1,000km of charge left.
Doesnāt wireless just mean (a lot) more charging?
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Nobody needs electronic groupsets.
Any reasonably well set up and maintained mechanical groupset will do pretty much everything pretty much any rider needs. Races have been won at the very highest level even in recent years on cabled groupsets.
That said, I think they provide a meaningful advantage in time trialling, where you can shift from the base bars (where the brakes are located), and anyone who has ridden a full season of cx will tell you at great length how much maintenance time they save you. Blips provide a real comfort advantage on very long rides too.
Moreover, the substantial majority of users really like electronic groupsets, for the reasons outlined in previous posts, and most donāt really want to go back.
Of course, there is always the possibility of a flat (or faulty) battery, and for some users and applications (bikepacking springs to mind) the perceived risk may not justify the reward.
For most road riders, I think range anxiety is massively overblown. Even if you only got 500km between charges, even very high mileage riders are only charging the system weekly, and it takes a few hours at most, probably less. Check the battery level on a Sunday night, if needs be stick it on charge when you go to bed, by Monday morning youāre all set. In real terms, most riders are doing this fortnightly at most. How often do you charge your phone?
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Charging my bike every week would drive me nuts. Then having to do it across multiple bikes would be even worse. Is 500km really the range of wireless?
Thatās my experience too: I have a mechanical Ultegra groupset and have absolutely no problems. Even the lengthening of cables didnāt happen yet (only 2.5 years old). It does feel nice while shifting (my opinion).
My cheap microshift groupset doesnāt shift optimally and needs adjustment here and there - I can see that.
I mean it does shift nicer, I canāt argue with that. 
The range of a charge is far enough, itās period is just weird and/or my garmin warns me too late. I feel like 150-200km shouldnāt be a problem when it still shows as āfullā at the start.
I have two Sram batteries and the bike can switch them (converts the bike to 1x), this reduces the problem a bit.
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