Battery life will degrade over time for sure, but the remainder of the components for di2 seem to be long lasting from a hardware standpoint. On the CT podcast, they mentioned a rider having OG di2 bits that only needed replacement because the physical mech pivots got wallered out from lots of use.
Do you have any evidence for that?
1 Like
The question is, who will make the batteries once Shimano exit the di11 batteries business?
Cables?
Joint boxes?
Donât think soâŚ.the new stuff uses a new, thinner wire and youâd need an adapter that Shimano has not mentioned. There is one for 11 spd ti shifters to go to 12 speed, but youâd need the reverse.
In the CyclingTips pod w/ Shimano they pretty much confirmed that they could have made 11 speed shifters compatible with the 12 speed stuff but purposely chose not toâŚwhich is not a surprise.
So I just realized today that the crank combo that has dominated the industry for 20+ years is now officially deadâŚâŚRIP 53/39 chainrings.
6 Likes
Actually, Shimano did mention the adapter of the CT podcast. Thatâs how the Tri/TT shifters can plug into the new 12speed system
RightâŚ.but that is for a thick wire (old) to a thin wire (new)âŚ.to use the new brifters with 11 spd stuff, youâd need a thin to thick adapter and there is no such thing.
1 Like
Plus a firmware updateâŚ
Longevity - I have had two Di2 7970 groups in service for +/- ten years. Primary road bike and TT bike. The only real weakness with 7970 is the front mech. The chrome was crap on the cage for a while and the motors can die for some reason. A few folks living near salt water had connector issues. But to be fair, salt water environments kills mechanical too.
Donât see any reason other than wanting a change why the 7970 stuff wonât go along fine for many more years.
2 Likes
Even if they are properly maintained, if they are used regularly, they will wear out over time, it is just a fact of life. Of course, wear will differ if you use your road bike once a week outdoors in nice weather as opposed to a mountain bike that has seen a lot of dirt and grime, and is used regularly in the rain. So I am fine with my drivetrain nearing its end-of-life, because the entire bike is.
With average use I wouldnât expect any bike components to last >10 years, and it is ok for component manufacturers to design components with this life span. Or rather, I donât expect maintenance to make financial sense after that. To give an example, my brother has a 9-speed XT drive train on his even older mountain bike, and just getting a cassette and chain rings for it was hard. We converted it to a 1x, because that made the most sense. All 9-speed Shimano cassettes were bottom of the barrel (Alivio-level, I think) and good luck finding original chain rings. For my 10-speed drive train I can âonlyâ get SLX cassettes â which are great.
Will it be easier to put together a mechanical retro bike in 20 years using a mechanical groupset than an electronic groupset? Probably. Is that terribly relevant to most customers? I donât think so.
Not sure that directionality matters - itâs just a cable connector. Havenât played with the 12s yet (obviously), but with 11s as long as it is all connected, it doesnât matter what order.
The question is whether the existing 11s firmware will recognize the new 12s shifters??
But Iâm not sure why you would want to upgrade just the shifters on di2. You need the RD for the wireless connection - and the new battery as well I think. At which point you are looking at most of a groupset anyway.
There is only one cable port on the batteryâŚ.so youâd need an adapter with two small ports coming in, one large one coming out and Shimano doesnât make that.
EW-JC304 will bring 2 (actually 3) small wires into 1 small outgoing wire. Connect the adaptor to the outgoing wire then to junction A.
But I still donât know why you would want to connect new 12s brifters to an existing 11s system??? The smarts in di2 live in the derailleurs, not the brifters.
2 Likes
Is it just me, or do the Ultegra cranks look nicer than the Dura-Ace ones? Maybe less fussy?
Having said that, the fit of the chainrings looks bloody awful and the colour matching isnât great:
Mike
1 Like
It doesnât matter anyway. Itâs easy to get sucked into the marketing hype but the reality is another gear (12spd) and/or a 15k bike doesnât come with a podium!
So my wife just told me how much we are paying this year for my daughterâs LAX programâŚâŚthe value of these groups on a per use / annual basis is starting to look a helluva lot better. Suffice to say I could buy the Ultegra group and get WAY more than a yearâs use out of it vs LAX.
2 Likes
I was thinking the opposite⌠the grey and bulgy look of the Ultegra makes it already feel old, compared to the new Dura Ace, but also SRAMs alternatives.
Almost like there is too much matte going onâŚ
Its of course highly subjective, but I always feel that SRAM looks good on all bikes, regardless of Rival or RED. Whereas Shimano always look a bit MEH⌠unless its Dura Ace
While I agree with you on the looks part, it is not that important to me unless I really hate the looks. The new DuraAce and Ultegra cranks do not look markedly different than my Ultegra 6800 crank in overall style. It looks like a face lift, because that is what it is.
This is not a complaint from me, though. You donât need to change a design just to make it look new if there isnât an advantage to the new design.
1 Like
Iâve always been a fan of the 7800 crankset. Best looking Shimano crank in my opinion and they donât fall to bitsâŚ
Mike
3 Likes
True, but that sounds like an engineer speaking 
Marketing and designers will have a different view on it.
If every iteration of something was just a facelift, people wouldnât buy it. Sometimes one needs to do a complete overhaul.
1 Like