After wearing out two SW-E6000 switches used for shifting my Shimano Di2 rear derailleur I decided to dump the Di2 and go back to a cable. I have barely 6,000 miles on my ICE Sprint FS E8000. There are other reasons for getting rid of the Di2 but the switch problem was the final motivating factor in making the change. The switch used for shifting gets a lot of use.
Rather than trying to figure out how to mount other types of Shimano switches I instead removed the Shimano XT Di2 derailleur and went back to a cable actuated derailleur connected to an indexed bar end shifter.
Once again I'm enjoying the tactile experience of shifting with a cable. The Di2 is a push of a button and cluck the chain moves to another cog at a predetermined speed. The speed of the shift can be adjusted but not while riding. I like to be able to subtlety adjust the speed of a shift depending on how I'm riding.
It's hard to avoid a loud sloppy gear change while the E8000 is in the Boost mode. The Boost mode puts a lot of pressure on the chain while climbing and you need to be really focused on pedal pressure and the timing of the gear change to avoid the awful gear crunching sound. It's difficult to truly know how much pressure you're putting on the chain while shifting in the Boost mode making it hard to "feel" the gear change using the Di2. The bar end shifter and cable allows me to adjust the timing of the shift more precisely.
Also there is peace of mind knowing that I can still shift gears if there is a complete failure of the electronics on the E8000. In addition if a cable breaks I can easily replace it while on the road. If the Di2 wire fails I'm out of luck.
It seems to me that the Di2 system works best on a bike or trike without an electric pedal assist.
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| SW-E6000 Switch used by ICE for the E8000 assist and for the Di2 rear derailleur. |
BEFORE
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| Top switch used to adjust boost level, lower switch used to change gears. |
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| The before view looking into the cockpit. |
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| Shimano Di2 XT Long Cage |
AFTER
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| Only the boost switch now. |
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| New view into the cockpit. Boost switch on right and a MicroShift indexed bar end shifter on the left handlebar. I prefer a Sram bar end shifter but I've only seen them sold as a pair for rear and front derailleurs. But MicroShift as upped there game since the last time I used one of their indexed bar end shifters so I'm happy with it. |
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| New Shimano XT Long Cage cable version. |