.jpg)
You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / Electric Shifters
Electric Shifters
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/...
This has to do with roadbikes..but still interesting. Self adjusting front derailures so they dont rub..press button gear shifting..
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
Tags
I saw proto-type of electronic shifters at a bike expo at Canterbury Race Course in about 1999 (showing my age) and I think they were Mavic's.
They didn't think they would ever work on mountain bikes because mud and dirt interfer with the receptors.
It'll happen in due time. A way of preventing crap getting in there will be found. Also it'll need to be more robust to deal with the hard time off road gear receives. Yet it will happen and my hit prediction is that it will feature on the next generation of XTR. Possibly 2010.
I'd rather the manufacturers stick to perfecting internal gears. Either something mounted around the cranks or in the rear hub.
Of course G-boxx has been around for a while, as can be seen from this article from 2004:
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/article2106.html
And Rohloff 14 speed hubs maybe as long?... cue Morgan
Hey, now imagine something like a Rohloff hub but half the weight and using sequential electronic/pneumatic actuation - listen up Shimano/SRAM - it's what the people want!
I completely agree. Internal is a better way however in the interim I believe electric shifting on a conventional setup is what will happen.
I understand that a complete Rohloff kit is of a competitive weight to a derailleur system. I think that at present the real hiccup is cost. The average punter won't fork out for a Rohloff kit. Even I'm not thrilled about it and I'm all for getting into technology just for the sake of it.
Plus the industry struggles to cooperate on compatability as it is. It'll be sometime before a gearbox becomes mainstream.