Shimano's new Dura-Ace Di2 electronic group
Photo ©: James Huang
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The Di2 Dual Control lever
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In practice, the Di2 lever actually feels rather similar
Photo ©: James Huang
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The Di2 lever doesn't just look smaller than 7900;
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The shift buttons felt somewhat small in use
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Di2's carbon lever blades are wider and flatter
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Shimano fitted Di2 with a reach-adjustable lever like on 7900…
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…although the Di2 version looks far cleaner
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The button throws are fantastically short
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This will be a more common sight
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The compact battery is supposedly good for 500 charge cycles
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Shimano has managed to integrate the battery mount
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A lever pulls the battery in tight
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Shimano claims a dead battery can be fully recharged
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Shimano said this tangle of wires
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All things considered, this doesn't look as bad
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This setup strikes us as a bit jury-rigged
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The main wire runs the full length of the down tube
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…but these little adhesive wire guides will surely stick out
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This little widget replaces the standard bottom bracket cable guide
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The 'JCT-A' will carry signals from the two Dual Control levers
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The small LEDs display battery life and are used during the initial setup.
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Shimano abandoned the auto-adjust feature of earlier prototypes
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In fact, the two rear derailleurs look strikingly similar
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The standard Dura-Ace rear derailleur
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All of the wire connections are tightly sealed with o-rings
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As with the mechanical version, the 7970 rear derailleur
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The front derailleur is arguably the most radical looking bit
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The bulky plastic housing contains both the stepper motor
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The additional hardware on the electronic version
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Like with the rear derailleur
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Handy tags identify what wire is supposed to go where.
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The wire connections are actually so tightly sealed
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And yes, Di2 does seem to work in the wet.
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The old Shimano AX group was billed as a more aerodynamic package
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Shimano made a lot of effort back then
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Ironically, the center-pull AX brake
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Shimano's AX group was perhaps ahead of its time;
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The Shimano "Suzuka" Road event
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Keep in mind that we're not just talking about 10,000 people;
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The legendary Suzuka paddocks
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The multitude of races and categories
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Shimano "Suzuka" Road draws a diverse range of riders
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This racer clearly had a rough time on the rain-soaked course
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