The Rohloff thread may be drifting off topic so time for  a new thread.

Jacinto experimented with electronic shifting with his ill fated Alfine and Jacquie has ordered a new bike with electronic shifting.

Some advantages are no cable stretch to worry about and no sticky cables.

What are the down sides apart from the cost?

Mike

Hi Mike - I don't have E-shifting on my touring bike, but do on my road bike and have loved it the last three years. So far the only downside I have seen is remembering to recharge the battery every 1500 miles or so, otherwise you lose your front ring shifting and then the rear if the battery starts to die on you out on the road. That's more "pilot error" than it is a failure of the machinery. Probably the best recommendation I can give about e-shifting is my wife's reaction when she opted for Di2 on her new bike two years ago. She's VERY much a traditionalist and grudgingly decided to go electronic. But, man, she's almost like an E-shifting missionary now .. she can't tell enough people to jump on board. She loves it.

I've actually had my new bike for over a year now.  I have Shimano GRX Di2 on it and I love it, so much that if it weren't so expensive, I'd upgrade my other bikes to Di2.  I've always found shifting with brifters a bit difficult when using the bigger lever to go to a larger cog or chainring; such a big swing with effort is required.  Just touching a button is so easy!  My bike has an "XTR external display with charge port" so the battery level is visible whenever I shift.  Once it gets to two bars I plug in, though theoretically it still has 40% charge.  It goes a long way on a charge.

Al opted for Sram Red eTap on his gravel/light touring bike (ordered and delivered in 2018) because he liked the wireless concept and the individual batteries on each derailleur.  Instead of plugging his bike in, he removes the batteries and puts them on a little wall charger.  The problem lies with the front derailleur.  There's very little clearance to the tire and it (the front derailleur) limits the size of tire he can put on his bike to 700 x 35.  Not so great when we are thinking of doing some bikepacking.  And, to add insult to injury, the little tab that holds the removable battery in place has a tendency to break, requiring a new battery ($80 CDN plus tax).  This has happened twice, both times the front derailleur.  No joy from Sram.  Other than the front derailleur issues, he's happy with it, I think.  I think there's a new version or model of FD out now but, sadly, I don't think it's compatible with the rest of his drivetrain.

Thanks Jacquie.

It seems a bit dearer than a Rohloff but if I ever went back to a derailleur bike that would be the way to go.

Mike

Hi Mike,

I put Di2 electronic shifters when I bought a gravel/touring bike a few years ago. I'm getting a bit of arthritis in my left hand and the Di2s make shifting so much easier and smoother.  I love them.  I did have one mishap early on -  a problem with the charging system, detailed here. Luckily I was in Bordeaux and found a great bike shop that tracked down the problem to a pinched wire that was interfering in transmitting the signal to the rear derailleur. The problem was easily fixed by attaching the wire to the chain stay with a little electric tape and a small zip tie. Haven't had any issues since. 

I love the Di2 so much I tried to put them on my road bike, but unfortunately that required a new wheel set. So, I threw frugality to the wind and recently bought a new road bike with both disc brakes and electronic shifters.  No regrets!