The DARK SIDE of Electronic Shifting No One Talks About

hey there everybody it's 2023 2024 is around the corner and we are living in the future AI is threatening to replace us all and the bike industry has finally perfected shifting with electronic shifting is there still any reason in this day and age to not make the switch and if there isn't are you just being some kind of hipster hipster in this video I thought that once and for all I would answer and give you guys a reason why I don't think I'll switch to electronic shifting personally and the reason might not be uh why you think hipster these are my opinions you can do whatever you like you can have your own opinions I don't begrudge anyone you know choosing electronic shifting for themselves but it's just not for me personally and this is why I believe one truth in all the product reviews that I've done and that is there is no perfect product for all people at all times period And if there's someone that tells you otherwise I would be highly suspect of them what works for someone who races probably doesn't work for someone that's carrying kids on a cargo bike or is commuting for the first time or is going fully loaded bike touring across the country even my beloved Uno shifter that we worked with Mary sales with I don't think it's for everyone and I say that multiple times in the video so whenever I hear someone say that this is the best ever and that everyone should switch I'm a little skeptical and I always ask best for whom and under what circumstances I think often times there is an parent bias for things that we like or dislike uh depending on what discipline of cycling we're coming from and and that's not pointing fingers that is just an observation I certainly have my own biases coming into cycling from commuting rather than the sports end okay so what are the reason or reasons that I will personally never switch to electronic shifting is it the price I'd say price was initially an issue but the prices have come down although they're still not uh affordable in my perspective but I would say even if I was making that baller gcn money and could afford it and afford to replace things as they broke I still wouldn't make the switch is it the batteries and the need to charge while it's definitely a nuisance it's not the ultimate reason why I wouldn't shift to electronic shifting see what I did there so what is it then we'll work our way from functional to philosophical uh first thing is the brakes and we're talking curly bar electronic shifting here not flat bar electronic shifting is Inseparable from hydraulic brakes like if you want the latest electronic shifting you just got to go hydros there's very little space for that as someone who has just move to another continent with very minimal tools and and space I want a bike that I can work and service on with basically a multi-tool and some cable Cutters I I just prefer mechanical brakes they're easy for me to work I think the constant need for adjustment is a way overstated I like them because I can see them I can understand them you know I don't have to prevent something as invisible and all over the place as air getting into the hose lines it's it's just simpler to me the second reason is gearing let's face it electronic shifting is already targeted towards already pretty fit enthusiasts that probably don't do dumb stuff like carry 20 lbs of fishing gear or painting gear up and over mountains or try to run a cargo bike based business the gearing in my opinion assumes a mostly unladen bike uh something that you're going to ride on the weekend fast group ride you know your gravel event but that's not the only way to ride a bike and these all these other ways I think require lower gearing so sure samam is going to boast you know their 500% gear range with eagle which sounds impressive within a vacuum but when you consider that an old three by that used to come on a '90s mountain bike would easily have 62% gear range 5 520 doesn't seem that impressive my janky wide range double easily does 605 or 610 per in its sleep so I think if all you want to do is unloaded uh day riding you know gravel events then you're probably well served gearing wise with electronic shifting but again if you do weird things on your bike or or you like to carry loads of of crap over mountains then your options are pretty limited this leads me to probably the biggest functional SL philosophical reason why I'm never going to switch to electronic shifting personally once you go electronic you're in an ecosystem permanently you're in a box they own you pretty much sham Shimano campy whatever it doesn't matter you're you're only going to be able to use the products from that ecosystem don't like what they offer too bad one to Mi a match can't do that in short it's kind of the application of bike components here's the thing humans are complex there are certain aspects of my life where you know I'll go for that Simplicity for example video editing I'm an app Apple Fanboy all day long I just want things to work and in that instance I'm willing to give up you know certain levels of customization and control but there are also aspects of my life where I do want that control that level of customization so I can make things mine and bikes are one of those things one way to look at it is that pre-index shifting when everything was just friction shifting everything was an open protocol every shifter would work with every derailer Road Mountain campy Shimano what ever everything just worked once index shifting came in you can think of cable pull as the first somewhat closed protocol between the shifter and derailers however in the early days let's say 6 7even 8 and N9 Speed Most shifters and derailers used the same protocol if you will the Shimano 2 to1 which was like a 1.7 cable pull and even early sham spoke the same protocol as Shimano campy was over there doing campy things and it seemed that somehow after nine-speed the component manufacturers realize hey you know if we made things less compatible we could make more money and this this is the beginning of when rad and Shimano group sets no longer spoke to each other no longer use the same cable pole AKA you know the protocol and to me this was a pure money grab there is no physical or engineering reason why Road and Mountain couldn't still coexist with the same protocol this has been confirmed recently uh when you look at what ratio did with the Ram rear derailers they proved that by simply changing the shape of the cable fin you could get a drop bar shifter to talk to a mountain bike rear derailer which ironically stram further confirmed with their new Explorer group set where they basically did that same thing again there's no reason why Road shifters and mountain bike rear derailers should have ever had any incompatibility all that to say that it seems to me that there's a history of man manufacturers Building in incompatibility Just Just for profit which is fine I get it their businesses they have to grab that bag but but it is at the constant confusion and frustration of the end user that that's a big reason we worked with Mary sales on the Uno shifter I wanted one shifter that would work with literally all derailers on the market and we achieved it from six to 13-speed Road or Mountain the Uno will shift at all but it's not for everybody watch my videos on it and find out why so back to electronic shifting once you go electronic and you enter that walled electronic fence uh there's no going back they own you there are no hacks uh you know electronic shifting is a far more secure wall Garden if you will compared to you know cable shifting at least there is always the common thread of cable that you could work with but with electronic shifting there is no workaround and to me that feels really claustrophobic and I just don't like it another thing that's also bothered me as electronic group sets have added more cost hogs in the back why didn't they just add that extra shift via firmware to me that would have been the biggest selling point of electronic shifting you're not limited to the mechanical gears in the shifter itself where there's a physically engineered limit I mean we're talking software here your your 11-speed electronic group set should theoretically be updated to 12 or 13 and Beyond with a couple lines of code on the flip side now that everything is you know kind of app driven who to say that you know features can't be taken away we've seen Shimano revoke some access to their group set with other Hardware we've seen overly smart bikes turned into bricks there was a story in our Discord where someone bought a bike with a built-in cork power meter and it was less expensive for them to install a brand new power meter than to pay for the firmware to be unlocked so they could use the one that that's already literally on their bike this is the Banana's future that we're marching towards but it's so convenient in easy to shift until it isn't for me this is the biggest reason I won't make that shift I don't expect everyone to be on board to agree to share my perspective but philosophically it bothers me that these machines which for me represent a kind of Freedom aren't really free anymore it seems to me that the component manufacturers aren't releasing products because they're truly innovating they're more like magazines on a publication schedule where they have to publish a new bit of Hardware to keep the business moving along which I totally get I don't feel comfortable going that road or having a channel and not kind of calling it out as I see it so there you go the philosophical SL existential ontological reasons why I won't go electronic shifting and kudos to you if you have made it this far in the video I know this is kind of a a long ranty video we just moved to Catalonia and are still getting the studio set up hence um hence this very sparse and bikeless background and if you like this video please consider joining us on patreon where you get access to discounts as well as more personal updates about this move or better yet pick up some stickers at the merch store our cap should be in stock soon that's what allows us to keep making videos and as always keep this uple side down hipster

Channel: Path Less Pedaled

Views: 89,615

Keywords: bicycle touring, bikepacking, bicycle, travel, tourism, ride, adventure cycling, pathlesspedaled, the path less pedaled, bike touring, bikepacking gear, bike gearing, roadslikethese, gravelspecific, partypace, gravel bike

Id: lbMxzruQiug

Length: 10min 15sec (615 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 21 2023