bicycle tech

I have an 11 speed manual Dura Ace 9000 series, an 8000 series Ultegra Di2 and two Di2 11 speed Dura Ace bikes. I also had a 10 speed Campy Record manual shifting bike.

As I have noted before, the 10 speed has more speeds than necessary and a 9 speed was probably too many as well. I find it hard to believe that even pros can use this many speeds and myself I spend a great deal of time shifting through the gears in the hills to get to the 4 or 5 speeds I actually use.

On the flats I also only use 4 or 5 speeds and these overlap a bit.

The one advantage of the 11 speed is that the chain is more flexible than those on the older 10 speed chain and so there is less cross chain noise if you manage to do that (usually on the high speed flats then hitting a roller.)

The latest Shimano patent is for what appears to be a wireless 12 or 13 speed Di2. SRAM has been killing them in the racing marketplace because you don't have to run wires which makes service and rebuilding easy. The other day when I had a flat and had to remove the rear wheel it accidently pulled the rear derailleur wire out and I had to stop after getting under way to plug it in again. So there are a lot of advantages to wireless. But 13 Speeds? Or maybe even 14 speeds? Wireless setups really have no limit to the speeds. You just have a rear derailleur that is designed for a specific number of speeds. I think that this would be the perfect time for Shimano to backwalk a little and allow you to set-up the thing for any number of speeds that you would like. I wouldn't mind returning to 9 speeds which is a good 8 speed setup with one additional climbing gear added. This was Armstrong's original idea and it sold like hotcakes. But now the manufacturers are stuck in a rut and think that they have to increase the numbers of speeds to sell new groups. That is already backfiring on them since fewer and fewer people are buying groups. They, like the top of the line carbon fiber bikes are simply too expensive and wear out just too fast. My 11 speed 105 chain wore out in 500 miles though the new middle range KMC seems like new after twice that.

Any comments about the increasing numbers of speeds, any advantage of them and if Shimano should take advantage to make a "forever" group that would shift any number of speeds, self adjusting to the spacing and width of the cogsets?