Coach's Corner — Are Electronic Shifters Worth It?

Our Coach’s Corner series is your chance to have your biggest cycling questions answered — right from the master, Coach Darryl MacKenzie. In these short Q&As, Coach Darryl speaks from his 35+ years of cycling and coaching experience to help you become a stronger, smarter cyclist.

Curious Cyclist: 

Coach, I’m buying a new bike and considering electronic shifting. Is it worth the upgrade?

Coach Darryl:

First, let’s clear up a common misconception: Electronic shifting is not like going from a manual transmission to an automatic transmission in your car. With most electronic shifting systems, you still decide when you want to shift and which direction you want to go.

The difference is in how the shift happens. Instead of using a mechanical cable to move the derailleur, you press a button and the electronic system does the work. That makes shifting remarkably quick, precise, and consistent.

I got my first electronic-shifting bike, a Trek Domane equipped with Shimano Di2, in January 2013. I’m now working on bikes four and five with electronic shifting, and I’ve put more than 50,000 miles on these systems. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Precision is the biggest advantage

Over all those miles, I can’t remember missing a shift. I’ve never dropped the chain from the front chainring while shifting, and the systems have required very little adjustment.

That consistency has impressed me even in situations where manual shifters tend to struggle. Electronic shifting has handled major shifts reliably while I’m climbing, where any experienced rider has likely experienced the difficulty of shifting to the large chainring on a steep grade with heavy pressure on the pedals.

That doesn’t mean you should intentionally shift under maximum load. But when you do need to change gears on a climb, I’ve found electronic shifting remarkably consistent.

Shifting multiple gear positions is easy, too. On my Di2 system, I can simply hold the shift button to move through several gears in the rear cassette.

Easy shifting adds up on long rides

You might wonder how much difference pushing a button instead of moving a mechanical lever can really make. Let’s put it this way: After one 100-mile century, my bike computer told me I had shifted 101 times in the front and 2,090 times in the rear. That’s a lot of lever-pushing on a manual shifter!

For more than 10 years, I coached cyclists on Saturdays as they trained to complete a century. During much of that time, I owned bikes with both mechanical and electronic shifting. Once our training rides started getting beyond 70 miles, I found myself choosing the electronic bike more and more often. Shifting was just easier and more comfortable as the miles added up.

That can be even more important for riders with limited hand strength or mobility. I’ve ridden with cyclists who struggled to operate mechanical shifters because of small hands, limited strength, or arthritis. Electronic shifting allowed them to shift with much less effort, making their rides much more enjoyable.

You can make the system work for you

Electronic shifting also opens up possibilities you don’t get from a traditional mechanical system. My Di2 system, for example, is configured so that when I shift between the front chainrings, the rear derailleur automatically makes a compensating shift. That helps smooth out the change in gearing.

Depending on your system and setup, you may also be able to customize how your controls operate, monitor battery levels, and even see data about your shifting after a ride.

The bottom line? If you enjoy tinkering with mechanical components, you may still prefer mechanical shifting. If you enjoy configuring technology to work the way you want it to, electronic shifting offers plenty to explore.

A great upgrade with one important caveat

For me, the precision, consistency, and ease of electronic shifting have made it an upgrade I choose again and again. But there is one tradeoff you can’t ignore:

Electronic shifting needs electricity.

As with any technological upgrade to your bike, that means developing another habit. Check your battery level regularly — preferably after a ride — and charge it when necessary. Don’t wait until you’re getting ready for your next ride to discover that your battery is low.

Ultimately, there’s no denying that electronic shifting can make changing gears easier than ever. As long as you remember that the bike can’t charge itself, you can enjoy the benefits ride after ride.

Photo by RDNE Stock project via Pexels