[ubermonkey]

If you're only adjusting your cable-pull drivetrains annually, you're getting off easy!

Once you ride electronic shifting, it's hard to go back. It's really nice, really stable, and on the whole I've had much fewer issues with eTap than I had with mechanical Ultegra.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

> on the whole I've had much fewer issues with eTap than I had with mechanical Ultegra.

Which might say more about Ultegra than the overall question of cable-driven vs. electronic shifting.

[ubermonkey]

It absolutely does.

It says that cable-pull systems require more (and more intense) maintenance than electronic systems do.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

I dunno. Maybe this is true for off-road bikes, but I have basically never done any maintainance on my (numerous) cable-pull systems after they get through the cable stretch phase.

[ubermonkey]

All of mine are road.

My old 9-speed bike is rock solid, but I ride it rarely (utility purposes, basically).

My 11-speed mechanical bike needed adjustment probably 3-4 times a year (and on one of those occasions it'd be time to swap out the cables). Until I upgraded the shifters would eventually "eat" cables (well, on the right side anyway) and strand me in the lowest cog (Ultegra 6800), which was a huge hassle.

My 11-speed eTap bike asks only that I charge the batteries periodically. In the 2 years I've had eTap on that bike, I've spent MUCH less time futzing with the drivetrain than I did when it was mechanical Red, or than I did when I rode the Ultegra bike full time.