Always on—the plight of the humble gear cable

There will always be some who like draw a line at an arbitrary point in time and say 'this represents perfection for me, I want no more technology, no more developments'. They will then pour a lot of energy into justifying why they're right.

It's the same with cameras, cars, hi-fi, music, art...........

For me, it's easier to be flexible and accept technology I want/can afford for some of the time and leave the wooden rims, toe clips and woolen jerseys for special occasions.

Useful, reliable technology will tend to endure and other developments will not stand the test of time. Thankfully, Mavic's alloy rims replaced wood and endured otherwise 'Muckoff' would be producing linseed oil

The Glendevon road is okay but it's nothing next to the road up and over to Dunning, if my memory is correct. That downhill to Dunning runs for about 3 hours!

This has the potential to free me and all the other reluctant roadside (pub side) mechanics from the infuriating drudgery of having to adjust the gears on the bikes of other people who do not properly maintain their steeds. You know the ones, the ones who are far too busy with work to drop their bike off at the shop and get it sorted, the ones who bitch and moan about not being able to keep up because of gear issues, the ones who buy the most recent and expensive kit but never learn how it works. Thank you for this marvellous invention that means when the batteries go flat the must have show off's will have no other option than to wait roadside for their grumpy wives to rescue them while the real men, get on with the business of riding and drinking! Real men do not need electronic gear shifting, hip hip hoooo *ucking ray.

personally i dont see electronic shifting ever completely replacing mechanical shifting just like cd's/mp3 hasn't completely replaced vinyl records

some people will just always prefer mechanical shifting

now i run shimano di2 on both my road bikes and i dont think id ever go back to mechanical shifting on a roadbike (my only other geared bike is a 1992 hardrock mtb)

di2 has no fuss, once its set up thats it, works in all weather (-10 and snowing to pissing with rain and being submerged in deep puddles)

as for the argument that what if i forget to charge the battery

1. the front mech will stop working first, the rear will carry on going for quite a few more shifts (like 50+)

2. the control box has a battery indicator, hold down the shift button for two secs and it displays the battery power, easy thing to check when you do your pre ride bike check/get your gear ready for your ride, a full charge is good for over 1500 miles so u only need to charge 2-3 times a year

3. if you are a complete tool/muppet and manage to fully flatten the battery then the drivetrain will just stay in the pre selected gear, so you can ride it home quite easily (campag u can disengage the mech and select the gear u want)

4.the battery only takes 1.5 hours to fully charge and if your that worried buy a spare for under £50

i commute around 5k a year using di2 plus i do another 2-3k on my nice di2 bike

ive been using di2 since 2012 so im very experienced with the system and i love it!

i have run the system down fully to see what would happen and even then when it wont shift if u dont try to shift for 5 mins you get limited shift back for around 4-5 shifts allowing u to select a better gear to get back home

the whole "if the battery runs out im stranded" argument is a pretty poor one in my eyes

hoping to upgrade to super record eps soon so will have a good play with that system too!

Several years ago my bike computer stopped working

I've never got around to replacing it, and I now just enjoy the freedom of the road and buzzing of my hub as I swish down the hills.

I feel back in touch with myself, I'm not stressing about average speed, heart rates or anything else, just enjoying the effort and sensations as the scenery rushes past.

Cycling is an amazing way to get around

My carbon road bike, I installed Di2 on there. It's great. I was always adjusting my ultegra gears, and sometimes they'd let me down on a gear change; not what you want sprinting away from the lights ahead of cars!
I have a boardman MTB with SRAM X0 group set. No issues there. When there was chaos on the roads due to snow, I quickly changed the tyres to the fattest I had, and had great fun passing the stuck traffic, got to my important appointment and back on time.
I like Di2 because it allows me to be efficient and consistent. I don't need that for messing around in the park with the kids.
I've always liked bikes, and things always change. It's all good. However If I decided to cycle around the world, I wouldn't do if on a di2 equipped bike. Just common sense really.

I think the Government should cancel all new road building and transfer the money saved to the 'road maintenance' budget, specifically that allocated to local councils rather than to centrally-funded trunk roads. Our minor roads - those best for cycling - are a disgrace and certainly reduce the pleasure of cycling. Nobody wants to commute with the bump-bump-bump of many of our roads. Why should they?

And for Government to every now and then announce a new allocation for 'fixing potholes' is hardly a strategic road maintenance programme (how many potholes does it take to make a road?). Let's get back to the continental standard of road building and maybe enjoy their level of cycle usage.

Of course, separate cycle lanes (properly surfaced) are much better but not always possible.