Going electronic...any advice

letape

I have a genesis equilibrium 725 frame that’s can be used with electronic or mechanical gearing.

It’s fitted with current 11 speed Campag chorus mechanical parts but I’m considering swapping the parts out for electronic Campag. I was wondering if many people have gone down this road (with either shimano Di2 or Campag EPS) themselves with one of these frame or similar and how tricky it is.

Idleater

I converted to electric, but sram etap. Fitting was a breeze.



Not answering the question asked: 0 points

letape

Idleater wrote: »

I converted to electric, but sram etap. Fitting was a breeze.



Not answering the question asked: 0 points

Sram etap would certainly be a breeze!

koutoubia

surely it will have to be V3 of EPS.

doozerie

koutoubia wrote: »

surely it will have to be V3 of EPS.

Only Record and Super Record are V3, Chorus and below are V2. I've used neither but V3 sounds more appealing on paper not least because you can "program" it via an app so it offers some more flexibility. Of course, that appeal comes at a hefty price premium though.

letape

Record and super record derailleurs and levers haven’t changed between v1 and v3, as far as I know.

I’ll prob go with v1/v2 battery, interface and charger at the moment as v3 is very very expensive new and not available second hand. In time one can upgrade to these as the parts are compatible with all versions.

koutoubia

There was a shop in my Facebook feed selling a full Athena gruppo for a grand if you wanted to go to the bottom of the range.
But having said that Shimano Ui2 I think can be git for about 600-700 quid I think.

doozerie

letape wrote: »

Record and super record derailleurs and levers haven’t changed between v1 and v3, as far as I know.

I’ll prob go with v1/v2 battery, interface and charger at the moment as v3 is very very expensive new and not available second hand. In time one can upgrade to these as the parts are compatible with all versions.

I believe that they haven't changed between v1 and v3, yes.

Note though, from what I understand v1 requires a larger hole in the frame (for the cluster of 3 wires that exit the combined controller plus charging unit) than v3, so not all frames may be compatible with v1.

letape

Interesting re frame compatibility. I suspect most frames designed to work with shimano di2 and not necessarily Campag eps. I’ll see what I can find out about v2 eps. Much neater install than v1 and cheaper option than v3.

doozerie

You may be aware of this but if you go V2 then I believe you are tying yourself to Chorus or Athena shifters and derailleurs, from what I've read you can't mix Record/Super Record EPS parts with V2.

timmyjimmy

Would be very interested to see this build, I have a Genesis Equilibrium 725 myself!

letape

doozerie wrote: »

You may be aware of this but if you go V2 then I believe you are tying yourself to Chorus or Athena shifters and derailleurs, from what I've read you can't mix Record/Super Record EPS parts with V2.

My understanding was that record and super record derailleurs and levers were compatible with v1, v2 and v3 - these parts haven’t changed since first introduced. Only the the battery, interface and charger have been upgraded.

A big incentive for me is that I can upgrade those parts in the future. I could be wrong though!

doozerie

letape wrote: »

My understanding was that record and super record derailleurs and levers were compatible with v1, v2 and v3 - these parts haven’t changed since first introduced. Only the the battery, interface and charger have been upgraded.

You are probably right, the more I read about this the more I think I misinterpreted some of the stuff I read before. So from reading a bit further my understanding (which could (still) be wrong), is that:

* V3 is for Record and Super Record only, so you can't use any Chorus/Athena components in a V3 setup.

* V1/2 will also work with Record and Super Record components, one of the big differences is the location of the power unit (internal versus external, ...).

* You can mix and match some V1 components (power unit, interface, ...) but there are some combinations that either won't work or lead to poor shifting particularly on the front mech (LINK).

koutoubia

I stand corrected.

After reading that link that doozer put up ....etap is the way forward imo

doozerie

koutoubia wrote: »

....etap is the way forward imo

The age-old religious wars are as nothing compared to the groupset manufacturer wars. Everyone now has their finger hovering over their own "big red button"!

Mine's a Campagnolo button 'cos i know it'll work very well today and it'll still work in 10 years time without requiring any replacements in the meantime. :pac: (...admittedly it is a mechanical button though as I haven't made the switch to electronic, yet...)

koutoubia

doozerie wrote: »

The age-old religious wars are as nothing compared to the groupset manufacturer wars. Everyone now has their finger hovering over their own "big red button"!

Mine's a Campagnolo button 'cos i know it'll work very well today and it'll still work in 10 years time without requiring any replacements in the meantime. :pac: (...admittedly it is a mechanical button though as I haven't made the switch to electronic, yet...)

oh I am with ya.
I am Campag since I first cycled but their annoying knack of making as little as possible interchangeable has made my eye start to ramble to the others.
There was a great qoute which I will see if i can dig it up which sums it up.........
GAH! Cant find it now but it went something along the lines of 'Campagnolo chainset designers were given the task of designing as many types of cranksets as possible with zero interchangablility'




...plus i actually like the look of etap.

joey100

No experience of campag electronic, but the etap is very good. I've had Di2 as well and I'd choose etap over it. Very clean, easy to use and very easy to install. Battery life is very good and I like the set up of the shifters with the left making the gearing easier and the right harder, pressing together moves the front derailleur.

letape

No doubt all manufacturers will be wireless in a couple of years. Definitely the way forward.

doozerie

koutoubia wrote: »

I am Campag since I first cycled but their annoying knack of making as little as possible interchangeable has made my eye start to ramble to the others.

I agree, it is very annoying. The incompatibility between Chorus/Athena and SR/Record is one of several things that definitely doesn't endear them to people.

One of the other notable ones being the incompatibility of their pre-2015 mechanical shifters and mechs with post-2015 versions. That's going to hit my pocket very hard if I ever have to replace shifters or a mech on my pre-2015 race bike - replace one, replace all, unless I can find some old stock pre-2015 stuff

I persist with Campag both because I prefer the way it operates (I don't get on with SRAM at all, and while I like Shimano I still prefer Campag), and because over its (usually longer) lifespan I consider it better value for money than Shimano. But that latter rule particularly starts to fail badly when they introduce incompatibilities where none previously existed.

doozerie

letape wrote: »

No doubt all manufacturers will be wireless in a couple of years. Definitely the way forward.

It'll be interesting to see how things pan out over time. There are many people that are well and truly committed to mechanical and for whom electronic just isn't necessarily a good or feasible option at all - audax'ers are one group that have valid concerns about the prospect of issues with electronics in the middle of a (ridiculously long) ride, tourers are another.

Someone told me a few years ago that he'd spoken to a Campag rep at a major bicycle show and the rep claimed at the time that Campag were betting their future on electronic. If true then you'd certainly assume that they'll drop support for mechanical in the not too distant future. But that was quite a few years ago now and there are still 9-speed Campag mechanical components available to buy today (I'm still using an 18yr old Chorus 9sp groupset myself) so I'd be amazed, shocked even, if 10sp and 11sp Campag mechanical components started to disappear any time soon.

baz69

Have just gone chorus eps with super record chainset on a bianchi,am loving the eps,first time with campag love the thumb buttons it shifts effortlessly,v2 battery hidden in frame tube,I sold all the potenza that came with bike and sourced the eps mostly from merlin and ribble,got the super record chainset from Derek in humphreys in finglas ,he fitted everything,he is an authorised campag technician very knowledgeable give him a ring for advice he should be able to help you .

koutoubia

letape wrote: »

No doubt all manufacturers will be wireless in a couple of years. Definitely the way forward.

I often thought this but wonder about patents and SRAM.

I would be more interested to see if etap trickles down to force or rival.

Luxxis

Maybe off point, but I put together a full Shimano Di2 6770 for 370 euro from second hand components on e-bay. I noticed recently the 6870 component prices are dropping as well.

Nice introduction to e-shifting. And you will never go back. Its fantastic