On Mon, Feb 27, 2017 at 7:55 PM, Brewster Fong <bfd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Patrick, if you really want to know more, why are you asking the ibob list > where most people are probably still using friction shifters or at least > that's the reputation?! Why not read a few cycling review and then go test > it yourself. I'm sure trhere's a Trek/Spec/C'dale has a shop near you?! > Well, some listers certainly have opinions on the thing! > > Anyways, take a look at a few articles like this one: > > http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/product-news/six- > reasons-electronic-groupsets-better-mechanical-224550 > > Hey even your buddies at retrogrouch addressed this issue: > > http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/2016/05/electronic-vs-mechanical- > shifting.html > > So whether its cosmetic or actual interest in faster shifting, e-shifting > is here to stay. The question is whether you are open enough to investigate > it for yourself without being influence by others. > > btw, I've tried it and like it. I don't have it, but can see myself > getting it on a future bike. Why not? Cycling is suppose to be fun! Good > Luck! > I'm not interested in it, except academically, like in the exotica you hear about in strange, ancient cultures; or, on the other end of the time continuum, as with twitter or satellite radio -- strange things that get other people excited. I'd happily try it if someone handed me a bike; I have tried it in the stand, and it was rather fun, though it seemed slow (this was the Dura Ace of several years ago). But it could come and go and leave my world utterly unaffected. No, the real question is, why was it developed? The theoretical answer seems to be that it works better for the pros; and I suppose it's the pros who could answer the question definitively. To be perfectly frank, I rather think it was developed to sell more stuff, and that its advantages for the pros are incidental; these advantages in racing may even be real, though, real or not, I daresay they excite the pros less than those who like to imitate the pros. I do think that, if properly developed, it's real value might be for city bikes: better durability and greater ease of use; a sort of black box transmission that could be fully enclosed, like an oil bath chaincase. Jan suggested that electric shifting might allow seamless and sequential half-stepping. But of course, you couldn't charge what you charge for "pro level" equipment, unless (and here's an idea!) you get the pros to ride city bikes. (Why not?) One disadvantage is that it would be rendered useless by a nuclear blast, thus rendering your bike useless for the post-apocalyptic world. Patrick Moore, who gets his fun shifting 10 (mismatched) cogs with Suntour Power Ratchet BES. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
