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Re:Lachlan Morton completes 5,510km Alt Tour, beating peloto... by lonelyasacloud on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @10:59AM (#27821806)
Not so much in this case.

So as long as it's not off-road and it's properly charged, then electronic shifting is very, very reliable and standard kit for many ultra-distance riders, see, e.g. https://www.redbull.com/nz-en/trans-continental-race-kit-gui... and the late, great Mike Hall's bike https://road.cc/content/tech-news/219030-bike-check-mike-hal...

Benefits from an ultra-distance pov include quicker/cleaner shifting holds momentum better. Reduced chain rub and gear maintenance requirements. Less force is required to change gear which decreases the risk of repetitive strain injury. And the ability to add satellite shifters (aka "blips") to aero bars and the tops, which makes it easier to hold a riding position. Oh, and they can also be set up to be more intuitive to use than trying to remember how to juggle front and the rear mech's when completely and utterly spent :-)

All incremental at normal scale, but I can definitely see why it'd worth it to him at the scale of Lachlan's rides.

Re:Lachlan Morton completes 5,510km Alt Tour, beating peloto... by boringg on Tuesday July 13, 2021 @11:06AM (#27821892)
Keyword - properly charged. Thats the risk - the rest of it makes a lot of sense -- but the charging component is the issue. And if it goes dead your locked in.

Surprising choice for a long race based on durability thats all. A guess it is a trade off decision -- work vs reliability.