Can you explain what cross-compatibility we had? When I was cycling, there wasn't any compatibility between Shimano and Campagnolo (SRAM wasn't a player in road yet). Heck, Dura-Ace (Shimano's top of the line road component group) previously wasn't compatible with other, lesser Shimano groups.

Maybe you're referring to mountain or the cheaper 8-speed stuff?

This isn't remotely true at all. For probably two decades people have been swapping Shimano components around, even stuff like putting dura-ace jockey wheels on lower derailleurs because the DA jockey wheels had better bearings and lasted longer.

Manufactures shipped bikes all the time with higher group shifters than a derailleur or brakes (manufacturers love to cheap out on brakes and front derailleurs in particular.)

BTW, Hammerhead is really important in the market because along with Wahoo they were the first serious challenge to Garmin's effective monopoly on bike computers. Frankly, they used to suck - little to no change between models. Wahoo and Hammerhead forced them to actually innovate. Amusingly enough, the first "new and competition-improved" Garmin head units were terrible - the Edge 500/1000 were buggy and tended to crash a lot. It took at least another product cycle or two for Garmin to get their act together.

A similar thing is happening in the GPS sport watch market. Some new competitors have shown up, and all of the sudden Garmin's lower-end sport watch lines are seeing massive expansion of their features which would normally only be found on much more expensive models.

https://sheldonbrown.com/dura-ace.html

I may just be showing my age though.

  There are competing bottom bracket standards now?

Winter has finally come and the bottom bracket standards are everywhere.

Threaded external (Sram GXP)

BB30 (plus a few offset/asylum variants)

PF30 (Bb30 but bearing is in a plastic carrier instead of pressed directly into frame)

SRAM DUB

And most have 2-3 widths (road, mountain, e-bike/DH bike/fat bike)

But to your main point, that there's a handful of modern standards, yep. There seems to be a good reason for each to exist, at least.

On the plus side, at least Shimano has, so far, mostly stuck with a single spindle. Where SRAM has produced GXP, BB30, and Dub at overlapping points in time and within the same group of components.

And whoever invented BB30 (Cannondale?) needs a kick in the shin. I’ve never been happy with a BB30 frame - they’re all destined to squeak and creak and pop at some point. Maybe a good standard for a race bike that gets torn down frequently, but just terrible for a consumer bike.

You know these companies are looking for a way to monetise the gear shift data somehow.

...ok, now I'm officially a curmudgeon.

It’s wonderful.

Once set up it works faultlessly and doesn’t require the readjustment or cable servicing that’s required with a cable operated drivetrain[1].

On top of that the front derailleur constantly trims itself to never chain rub and semi-automatic[2] shifting is surprisingly useful.

Also Di2 let’s you add multiple shift buttons. So you could have shifting at every hand position if you wanted.

Finally the thing that sold it to me. I did a multi-day ride on my old bike. After the first 4 days I got cramp in my hand everytime I shifted. Told myself I’d try di2. Every gear change is now as soft as a mouse click.

All that and the only real downside side is you have to change it every 6 months.

It’s a very well thought through system. I know lots of people with Di2 in my bike club. I don’t think anyone dislikes it.

1. Bowden cables don’t “stretch” as such, what actually happens in mechanical systems is that the ferrel ends settle over time or the linings of the cable outers wear and flake causing friction.

2. The semi-automatic mode means single buttons for higher or lower shifts. The front derailleur shifts as appropriate to give you the next ratio.

You can repeat that on each hand or on the top hood position. So for example, if you want to change gears as you indicate left or right, now you can.

With Di2 I haven’t dropped a chain and it shifts instantly, just whzz and it’s ready, with the automatic down shift at the back too. The auto-trim feature is great too, no rubbing at all.

Honestly I don’t have a bad thing to say about Di2 at all, I’m far from a competent mechanic and between my group set arriving through the door and taking it for a first ride it took me about two hours to install everything. Just to change the cables previously would take me an hour of fiddling around with magnets to try and get them routed through the frame.

I get that with even friction shifting. It's bombproof.

>With Di2 I haven’t dropped a chain

That has to do with your limit screws. I haven't dropped a chain in decades probably, minus some kind of dramatic mountain bike wreck.

That really helps with both dropped chains and chain slap. Neither really happens any more not matter what surface I ride on (road, gravel, cobbles or light single track).

You can set that on the mechanical version too.

Electronic shifting systems even add reliability vs. mechanical ones by allowing a knock to temporarily displace the derailleur, which the motor will then fix nearly instantly, rather than breaking/bending while futility trying to resist a high force.

He effectively had to limp his bike home because he was stuck in the gear he had riding uphill. Took him half a day or so rather than an hour.

I’m certainly not a Luddite but this doesn’t seem to be a worthwhile trade off for me.

This would be like someone running out of fuel in a car. A known limitation which is completely avoidable.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 735XT watch and it needs charging every 15 days, which is better than any "true" smartwatch out there. At some point in the distant-but-not-so-much future the battery will flat out die and there will be no replacement part. The experience from my mechanical watch is entirely different: it keeps on ticking as I move around, and the thing will probably end up surviving me.

Going from zero to non-zero - whatever the value of non-zero is - is non-negligible mental weight. Zero is a freeing experience.

I really, really like it. I know I paid way too much for that bike but it is amazing and I can really feel the difference in a way I never could before.

I have seen some randonneuring bikes with a dynamo with USB charging for topping up the bike computer and the like. Commuting and utility bikes tend to just use the dynamo for lights.

I’m honestly surprised that there’s no super-low-power hub dynamo for this segment, but if it’s all people using bicycles for planned trips, they can take charging into account when planning trips.

Sram is fully wireless, and has batteries on each component.

Both systems have their set of pros: less batteries and central charging vs less installation effort due to no cables.

That being said, it's really easy to avoid the battery getting that low. It lasts months under normal conditions. And your head unit will tell you when the battery gets low. Except Hammerhead units won't get that warning anymore? #thanksshimano.

I think all in my bike has around 11 devices on it with updatable firmware… And I might even be missing a few.

Both pedals, front and rear derailers, Di2 battery, Di2 Bluetooth adapter, Di2 Hub, both shift levers, Garmin computer, front wheel speed sensor.

And I often wear a Garmin heart rate strap, so that’s another.

I assume it would have been easier to reverse engineering than sign a contract as there would be no annoying term.

Aha-ha-haa! Tell me again how many different bottom bracket "standards" do we have, and why? (Just to pick an example)

It’s like you’ve been using AirPods with your Android phone for ages with no issue, then Google releases some wireless earbuds and Apple decides AirPods no longer work with Android phones at all.