 Most people are going to say go mechanical if you're riding ultra long-distance races because you can fix it on the flight Everyone's going to have a gear cable. Not many people are mechanically minded I think the question you've got to ask yourself is if you're using the Groupset, are you confident enough to be able to fix it yourself? If you're not If it's tuned well, then you never have any dramas. You have to worry about it You know worry about the battery being wet when you wake up in the morning or Things like that. So yeah, it'd be interesting to ride one, but just love the reliability love the cables Far and away mechanical. Yeah, definitely. Oh, I think this is something not a bit nice about springs and cables and how easy that It's had its struggles. It's had its struggles. I found the EPS. It's gone flat a lot faster mode like And I mean if you want to replace it batteries are pretty expensive compared to cables So that's the reason why I'm on my mechanical at the moment Probably mechanical mechanical. Yeah. Why mechanical? Because nothing like if something goes wrong with mechanical easily It's super electronic. It's a lot harder sometimes. I like electronic better It's just so much smoother when you change your gears it changes so much quicker. So that's the fair that is a lot better Yeah, I've ridden both and I reckon electronics better just in the sprint It's a lot easier to change gears in a sprint and save you a few few wins a few embarrassments Electronic as less that can go wrong as long as you remember to charge it. Yeah, okay That's easy to shift. Yeah, okay. It trims the gears for you. It's fantastic. Electronic. Electronic. I'm a convert You didn't think I would be but I am. Why? Great for racing. It's electronic all the way. Much smoother Yeah, I've only recently transitioned over and I can't believe the difference Like you don't have the use of your hands after a couple of weeks 15 20 hours on the bike You can barely change your punk a puncture. So shifting you're like lobster clawing gear changes Now it's just a simple touch of the button. You're shifting All right, so I'm back on Hampton Street Just at the front of my local bike shop Hampton Cycles and in today's video. We're gonna go round to of a video I did hear a few weeks ago Shimano 105 versus Ultegra versus due race with Darcy and Darcy works at Hampton Cycles He builds bikes used to race bikes and If you miss that video, I'll link to it in the below description area But if you've just landed on this channel, this is where I do cycling videos both inspirational and entertaining And I do love a deep dive cycling product review, which is pretty much what we're going to do today So in that previous video I had a lot of comments in the comment section saying okay What about mechanical versus electronic group sets and I myself? I've ridden electronic and mechanical and I was a bit of a late adopter to electronic and when I got there I was like wow this stuff's amazing and then I've gone back to mechanical I'm like, what's all the fuss about and then I recently reviewed a Venge I'll link to that video below the description area too and that had di2 and I'm like wow, this is amazing So I'm super confused myself Even though I've ridden them all so what I wanted to do is we're gonna have a chat with Darcy And he's going to explain to us the differences between mechanical and electronic group sets Alright, so I'm back with Darcy and Daymo is in the back there by popular demand Just turning the bikes in the back there And today we're going to talk about the differences between mechanical and electronic group sets And Darcy's got an Ultegra bike here, so we're going to focus on the Ultegra 8000 series And we're going to talk about the advantages mechanical has over Electronic and vice versa the advantages electronic has over mechanical But quickly on price, so there's about 8000 no, sorry, $1,000 difference between Ultegra 8000 and Ultegra 8,050 di2 and in terms of weight savings you get about a 10 gram weight saving with electronic So outside of those two factors What advantages does electronic have over mechanical Darcy? Yeah, so probably your biggest advantage from mechanic Perspective would be the cable stretch The time building it You know all those kinds of things so this this has no cables. So this has got cables So you can see the cables down in here It's it's wise and not cables or such but that connects everything. So there's little looms and stuff all over all over the bike up in here Your batteries in seatpost and things like that The junction box on the rear here. Yeah, so the new vange that's in there. So And the cables up here as well Yeah, and there's cables that connect all into the shifters and and run into different junction boxes and that kind of thing They don't stretch like mechanical So say if you were to have your mechanical bike in for servicing at your local bike shop And you know, they put new gear cables through your bike and brake cables, etc You'll probably experience over the the coming weeks two to three weeks roughly Your cables will stretch Monately just as they settle back into their housings and back into their their home in place So most mechanics will say bring your bike back within two to three weeks If you notice your gears go out of tune and it'll be a quick little tweak on the spot, which is cool And then it's generally set after that Unless, you know, they're not fully stretched or you know that kind of thing Di2 or electronic group sets they eliminate that issue So by them not having cables connecting and and pull ratios and all that kind of thing with shifters You don't get any of that cable stretch So the only time that you should ever really experience your gears going out of tune Is if you're at the cafe your bike falls over or you're in the garage and you knock it coming out You know to go to the bunch ride or In a race and someone hits your rear derailleur or something like that You'll probably experience your gears will go out of tune a bit And that could be more to do with the hanger that's actually bolted on to the frame And then the derailleur is actually bolted on to the hanger So that's pretty straightforward fix and tweak So more reliability with electronic shifting? Yeah, correct. Yeah, so you'll have a longer tune life with your di2 versions or electronic versions Over your mechanical versions for sure What about the shifting in general? Is it snap here? Is it faster or? Shifting in general so with oltegro you can really program this one So you can actually speed shifting up you can put it to medium you can put it to slow Exactly. So if you want somebody who's all out sprinter and he wants super quick shifting You can set your rear derailleur to high So that'll give you really snappy shifting Most people will generally stay on the medium setting Some will even stay on the slow but medium is generally where it's at and it's most comfortable going down It's still quick. It's still very quick So yeah, there's plenty of programmability with with di versions And you're showing me something before on the back here how you can program up and So the derailleur shifts and it stays with longevity of the chain. Yeah, correct. So Basically what this this little guy here does he's your main sort of control unit apart from your shifters So with this you can actually put the new di2 Into different tuning modes that can quite often be here kind of yeah So on other bikes, they'll have the little the little loom or junction box up in your handlebar here Or even down here. I've seen yeah, some are down here. I think the pinarello's and stuff. I've got them down in here I think some of the willies as well But the ventures this one's here my understanding like how The pros the the mechanics hang out of the car And they like want to play and tinker with stuff and this is easy access. Yeah, it's it is It's an easier access point It's also easier for charging because all your charging is done in through here. So it's your little charging port Etc, but probably to do more so with the gears you can program this guy So you can click this button twice and that'll put you into semi-synchro So semi-synchro basically allows you to To stay into your big chain ring and allow you to come up almost to the top and then it'll drop down You can go into full synchro, which is another Double tap and that goes into full synchro So what that'll do is it'll virtually you want to go into your big chain ring before it'll allow you to go into your big chain ring It'll drop down three or four And then it'll go into your big chain ring What that does is it eliminates cross chaining So you will get longevity out of your chain your cassette Your chain rings and pulley wheels and stuff like that So a lot of people they would generally just go for the semi which is the first setting in there And then people that have raced for years, they'll always stay on On full full manual mode. I guess you could call it. So yeah That's that's what they're trying to to get across with Their electronic systems is that it is more programmable. It's more user friendly And they're trying to make it more user friendly even from I think it was nine or 10 years ago from the old one That was virtually just click the button your derailers work This one you can really program it all and and do a lot more with it Like anything it it all progresses over the years. So yeah, so they're probably the main main ones and so this versus Mechanical so what advantages would a mechanical group set have over this electronic one? Yeah, okay? So say if you're price is one. Yeah price is one Um Probably your biggest advantages and disadvantages is if you're out riding back a burk say your batteries go flat You're kind of stuck you'll be pushing the dogs around Whereas if you're out the At the back burk again and your cable snaps in your shifter In your mechanical version You can actually adjust your stops with a screwdriver Most people if you're going on long rides and that kind of thing you'll you'll carry a little toolkit So you can adjust your your derailer stops up so you can put it back up into the the middle cogs, etc So there's a few things and also with mechanical as well your local I think there's a couple up in around The burk area. Yeah the burk area They've generally got lawn mowers and Bicycle mechanics and tyres and that kind of thing, but they'll generally have a cable on hand that they can replace it and put in so Yeah, but some people just forget to charge their batteries as well. Yeah, and that's the other thing as well. So They're trying to eliminate it more with You know little bluetooth modules that you can put into your into your wiring with your DI's and all that kind of stuff. Yeah And then that will speak to your head unit and your galmin or your wahoo or whatever it may be Yeah So there's they're starting to do that as well. So we'll actually show battery life if you're your group set on on your computer So they're starting to minimize it more and more that it's not a likelihood that it's going to happen probably the other disadvantage Over your DI is if yeah, you you get a little nick in your cable You're going to have to take it to a bike shop or if you're handing on the tools you can do it yourself But you're going to have to run you a new wire through there once it's cut. It's it's done like a mechanical Cable, so Yeah, there's disadvantages, but there's probably more gains. I would say I'm going to an electronic group set for sure So I think after hearing all that Mechanical still is a very good group set But if you can afford it if you're on the fence and you've got the money, there's a lot of value in DI too You're going to get more reliability assuming you charge your batteries You're going to get more durability And it's going to give you a bit more flexibility, but for me, I'd be happy with either I'll catch you in the next video