Gear Re-vu: Shimano's DIWhy

A mystery, wrapped in an enigma, covered in secret sauce, Shimano latest effort was to be unveiled at Interbike 2012. Some people think they have connections, like those publishing reviews in archaic printed format. But we are scooping it for you, our loyal SpaCx readers, first. How? Well, it's kinda like we say at the alley next to the loading dock, "I gotta guy..."

Imagine, if you will, your happy place, 
where the meadow is not on fire...

...that special sub-neural scenic overlook in your mind's-eye that allows you to make it through just one more day. One more day of having to deal with a MANUAL single speed system. Until now. Now, that southoftheborderofthemind can be reality as SpaCx got their grubby little mitts on the new Shimano DI2 single speed gruppo.

Pedro sez: "the fewer men, the greater share of honor"

In that dork-royale race category that lives the Henry V credo on a weekly basis, these self-proclaimed hardcore cycling aesthetes now have Shimano's Jobs-ian option to push the limits of minimalism and technology. 

We found the installation and set-up time of this group to be as fast if not faster than other non-integrated single speed groups. The gear indexing was right on, battery life was phenomenal and it appears to be the lightest of all of the Di2 systems.  The beautiful brake levers were reminiscent of races past, clean, thin, unobstructed. Kinda like fashion modeling before silicone, collagen and bee stings. Overall, the drive-train appeared to be exceedingly efficient, no excess, or as Robby Naish coined: HiHo- hook-in and hold-on.

I know, I know, classic bend (wanna send me some?)

Short of a drive shaft, where does one go from here? Well, next we will be reviewing Spacely Sprockets and comparing the coefficient of static friction to that of Cogswell Cogs. Stay tuned... rut-ro