This article is part of a series called ‘A love letter to…’, where Cycling Weekly writers pour praise on their favourite aspects of cycling. The below content is unfiltered, authentic and has not been paid for.
Love it or loathe it, the bike industry is built on selling us new ideas. And let’s be honest, we lap them up; our hunger for fresh kit is driven by desire as much as need. Often those innovations deliver genuine gains, however small; just as often, they serve the brands’ pursuit of efficiency and margin. Electronic shifting is a prime example. For manufacturers, removing cables simplifies set-up and frame production.
For riders, it means higher prices and performance benefits that are, at best, marginal. So before we turn our backs on good old mechanical shifting, perhaps we should pause and ask: what exactly are we gaining – and what might we be giving up?
Everything in modern life seems to need charging, but our mechanical bikes are beautifully free from needy lithium. You can just jump on and go – no charge levels to check. Mechanical shifting comes with the satisfaction of haptic feedback, a satisfying click as you feel the gear engage, the direct connection between man and machine. And if you do have a problem, all you need is a multitool to get you home again.
The mechanical sympathy required to actuate a perfect shift is part of the art – that gentle and perfectly timed easing off at the pedals for a split-second, coaxing the chain silently onto the next sprocket. The perfect shift marks years of good road craft, a symbiosis between rider and machine. No motorised squeak, no clatter, no charging anxiety, no firmware updates, no dodgy connections and crash modes; in other words, no worries.
Adjustments to mechanical shifting are needed but aren’t a hassle, they’re simple, easy to do, and part and parcel of a greater understanding and connection with your bike. A tweak here and there, a pride in a well-set-up bike, is not just necessary, it is a skillset that we should all covet and maintain. There’s a comfort in knowing how to keep your drivetrain silent, and learning the empowering skills needed isn’t beyond anyone.
The first impression of electronic shifting is usually that it’s almost miraculously good and, once set up, it never needs indexing – a huge selling point for many people. But that doesn’t mean electronic shifting never goes wrong, and thanks to fewer moving or self serviceable parts, and plenty of concealed ones, faults tend to take a longer time to show themselves, and can be more catastrophic when they do.
In fact, in one representative comparison, the mechanical set-up tipped the scales at 3,026g versus 2,991g for the Di2 equivalent – the difference of carrying an extra energy gel in your pocket. In other words, the biggest thing you’ll lighten by going electronic is your wallet.
If you think mechanical shifts are slowing you down, think again. They’re not. Sure, there’s a luxury to the effortless way in which a chain moves electronically, but if you’ve saved upwards of £1,000 by sticking with cables, there’s plenty of other way more fun ‘go-faster’ parts that will make a far bigger difference.
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