I get where you're coming from in terms of the attraction of the "simplicity" of a bicycle as a fully mechanical device, but there are few of us who ride for sport who don't use bike computers, power meters, lights, etc. Electric gears are no different.flying wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:57 amI don't think greater physical is relevant but simple as in KISS is
I mean the bicycle is/was an amazing piece of transportation in its simple almost foolproof configuration
So lets add electronic micro switches, servo's, batteries, wires, remote switches & for what?
To simplify an utterly simple process of shifting?
About greater physical interaction....I mean after all we are supposedly exercising
We could ride a couch & get even less physical than electronic but in any case..
About the snapping several? rear mech cables I am really amazed
in 35+ years of riding I have snapped zero rear derailleur cables...zero brakes cables ...& just one front derailleur cable...
which was totally my own fault as I had frayed it when doing a tension adjust & never replaced it
In terms of physicality - I don't know about you, but I don't ride my bike to execercise my fingers and I find the process of having to do that conflicts with, rather than compliments, the physicality of riding. Albeit in a very minor way of course.
I've snapped several rear mech cables over the years - I've never been able to find out why this happens to some people and not others, but it keeps happening to me. I've never snapped a brake cable because the design of brake cables is different, for saftey reasons (they are thicker and woven in a different way). It always starts with fraying inside the lever or (less often) at the BB adaptor. This has happened to me on different bikes with different ergo levers, and not with ancient cables that haven't been maintained. I do change gears a lot when I'm riding, maybe that explains it, or maybe it's climate, or rear mech spring tension.. who knows?
Mechanical gears foolproof, electric otherwise? In what sense? Electric are agruably easier to fit and require less maintenance and ongoing adjustment. OK, the electronics themselves may be complex, but doubtless the process of manufacturing wires and weaving cables is too. Neither of these is something the user has to concern themselves with.