Now that I’ve knocked down the big sources of noise, I can hear the smaller ones. Given the unexplained offset in the derailleur adjustment, it should come as no surprise that I was now contending with derailleur noise.
At long last, I’m riding a complete installation that meets at least a portion of my original goals. It’s been a rocky journey but now I can tick off “fast, precise, and reliable shifting that is impervious to freezing” and “high quality, ergonomic shifter” from my list. Here are the gory details of the recent build that got me here. Once I’ve had time for evaluation and to refill my coffers, I’ll embark on Phase II—Dynamo Lighting and Hydraulic Brakes and Phase III—Schlumpf. Stay tuned. Continue reading
Contrary to my previous post, I am actually relieved to be dumping the Alfine. Who knows if I’ll ever wind up selling the thing—there seems to be a glut of under-priced (gray market?) hubs out there– but at least I now have a high confidence path forward. Here is that path, with very few question marks remaining.
I’ve now got enough data on Alfine Di2 to jump to some conclusions about Di2 battery life in general. Some of what follows is still conjecture, hence the jump, but seems reasonable based on the data I’ve got so far. Update: Click here to cut to the chase; a running report of my real-world battery life since January 2015.
Here are some more details on this increasingly interesting alternative to Alfine.
A Seasonal Commute 