Saturday 18 June 2016

Electronic Shifting: Di2 Road Bike Build

Finally, I've decided to take the plunge and build myself a road bike with Di2. Why? Three reasons:
  • Easier. I acquired a frameset last year which I think will be easier to hook up with electronic shifting rather than cables. Furthermore, I cannot find suitable cable guides for both the drive side chainstay and the BB shell - which looks like this:
  • Cheaper. I've worked out that I can do it for a few hundred quid less than it would cost to buy a ready made Di2 bike of equivalent quality. That's partly because Shimano Ultegra 6870 Di2 groupsets can be found for ca. £860 these days. 
  • Curiosity! What's the fuss all about? What are they like and how do they perform over time? 
As you can see, none of these reasons are to do with any disillusionment with standard cable operated gears. 

Hopefully, I'll do a better job than the chap who put this bike together:


So, watch this space, as I gather all the bits and undertake the project this summer.