electronic Dura Ace Di2

group priced at $3000 usd plus.....

...and the question is what?

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Electronic gearing reminds of this Simpsons gag:

"Lisa Simpson: Springfield's answer to the question nobody asked"

isn't it a bit expensive ?

Relative to what? A pack of cigarettes? A Rolex watch?
In any case, you don't have to buy it if you don't want to.

Otherwise, all of that high-end cycling stuff is overpriced from the point of view of profit margins. The price is set to what people are willing to pay, and plenty of people are willing to pay A LOT of money for these things.

In my view it's way too expensive for what you get(function)compared to what you get with other groups.

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I have been riding it and it's so much better than a mechanical group that price becomes a technicality.

Few can afford it at the moment but as the technology trickles down we are all going to be wanting electronic shifting.

Campagnolo make 11 speed not because we are asking for it but because it's possible and it's better. Shimano created Di2 not because we need it but because of the huge improvement in performance.

Give it a test ride before you shoot it down.

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How can it be "so much better", when most mechanical groups are close to perfection anyway? You don't even neeed to go to the top-end mechanical groups to find one that really doesn't leave anything to be desired. What is it that Di does better than, say DA 7800, or even Ultegra (let alone Campy Chorus and above... )? My current group shifts perfectly, up, down, multiple gears, with load and without. It'll never run out of battery, too... What more could I want?

"Performance"? What in the world could that mean? Certainly, that group will not make you any faster. So what kind of performance are you talking about?

I understand your comments because I own 2 bikes with 10 speed Campy Record, 1 with 10 speed Campy Chorus, 1 with 11 speed Campy Chorus and have had 7900 and SRAM RED and Force bikes we well. I have known and ridden perfect mechanical bikes. Never a complaint and could not have wanted more.

Until I rode Di2. Once you ride it you know the possiabilitys are greater.

I find the amount of shifts I do on Di2 about twice as many and with no mental or physical effort. When riding a gutter or chasing a group I "surf" the cassette without thinking about it. When I go back to my other bikes I find myself wanting the ease and power of electronic.

Don't limit yourself.

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I don't feel limited, as a matter of fact, I know I'm not. Well, not by my group anyway; my fitness, now that's another matter...

Anyway, you are talking to a guy who has been riding downtube shifters on a steel bike for many, many years past the time everybody else had STI/Ergo-whatever. When I switched to one of those carbon wonderbikes, the main difference I saw is that I used to get a lot more respect on my old bike, because people naively assumed it was holding me back. Now they can assume, with some relief, I imagine, that I drop them because I have a great bike. Which is nonsense, of course. What groupset you ride makes about as much of a difference to how fast you can ride as the color of your jersey...

On the other hand, don't get me wrong, I understand very well why you might like your Di2 a lot, love it even, feel that it is a quantum leap beyond anything else, etc., etc. Hey, when Campy rolls out their electronic group, knowing myself, I will probably give it some serious consideration, too. But let's just not fool ourselves, or anybody else for that matter, into thinking it's going to make us faster, because it won't.

The mental and physical effort of shifting the "old" way must be really taxing. I bet during a long ride shifting might hog 5 -10 calories over the whole ride.

I shift a lot. A lot. It doesn't seem to take any mental or physical effort at all. Differences in speed of shifts is inconsequential.

It'd be nice to have fewer infomercials about Di2 and more facts and objectivity, as well as a lot fewer grandiose adjectives and adverbs.

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+1 to Dietmar's next comments (yes, I can see the future.). I'm in no way limited by gruppo. Far from it. It works so well that I don't even think about the group during the ride.

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That is a beautiful looking bike!

I didn't know there was such a thing as electric shifters, I guess it won't be too long before power steering and power brakes are offered too.

My newer bike (26 years old) has those fancy index shifters and I will admit that I like them a lot. I don't think they make me ride any better, or shift more or less often, than the plain Campy shifters on my old bike.

I just kinda like those index shifters, they're fun to use.

When you get a chance ride it. Your point is well taken, I have been a campy guy for the last 10 years. Before that Shimano and when I raced in the 80's was a Suntour die hard. Trust that I know the difference and have seen the evolution. Electronic shifting is the future.

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Trust? No, thanks. Opinions aren't eligible for trust, especially on internet forums.

It might be the future for you.

__________________
Sex is horrid
Pain is Fun
I cut my fingers off
One by one