Shimano Di2 D-Fly Wireless Transmitter Unit worth it?

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tranzformer
Posts: 846
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:36 pm

by tranzformer

Curious to hear from owners of the D-Fly wireless unit. Do you find it worth it? I like the idea of new tech and data, but is it basically just battery level and current gear information that it gives you? Anything else?

by Weenie


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goodboyr
Posts: 1483
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

If you have dura ace levers 9070, you can also remote control your garmin via the hidden buttons at the top of the shifter hoods. For me, thats the best feature.

tranzformer
Posts: 846
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:36 pm

by tranzformer

No, just 6770 right now. Probably get 6870 to put on another bike one day.

spdntrxi
Posts: 5782
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:11 pm

by spdntrxi

goodboyr wrote:If you have dura ace levers 9070, you can also remote control your garmin via the hidden buttons at the top of the shifter hoods. For me, thats the best feature.


for this alone its worth it... nice to check battery % too
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2old4this
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by 2old4this

I find the checking the battery level manually to be not that great (you know, the LED being green.) One day the d-fly reported 30% while the LED was green. I started carrying a spare battery (just to see when the battery dies.) 2-3 weeks later, even at 20% it was green! I gave up and charged the battery.

coppercook62
Posts: 382
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:58 am

by coppercook62

i like mine it isn't a necessity but its cool to look at data. You can program your garmin and it tells you the gear ratio you are in. It also tells you how many shifts you do at end of ride. I like the fact it tells you incoming texts and phone calls.

spdntrxi
Posts: 5782
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 6:11 pm

by spdntrxi

^ don't think you need it for the texts and phone calls.. that's a garmin/smartphone thing
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coppercook62
Posts: 382
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:58 am

by coppercook62

oh your right thanks

goodboyr
Posts: 1483
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

Right. Nothing to do with texts, etc. Only for di2 stuff.

Timmif
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:51 am

by Timmif

I like knowing the gears. The d-fly with the Magellan Cyclo 505, beeps at me loudly if I cross chain. It keeps beeping until I change gear.

I've yet to try it, but there's a site you can load your di2 fit file and see the gears you were in, overlaid with other stats like power, speed and gradient. I think it's di2stats.com it is free.

droid1973
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:35 pm

by droid1973

Personally I like it
I am a data geek

mr4fox
Posts: 276
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 2:01 pm

by mr4fox

I like being able to change screens on tge garmin head unit. Sometimes I can't get the screen to swipe from page to page when it's wet but the hidden buttons on top of the hoods work every time. And I don't have to take a hand off yhe hoods and away from the brakes while racing in a bunch....for me this makes it worth it.

It drains the di2 battery much much faster though.
Shortly after I first installed it I left for a ride with only 20% charge in the di2 battery which without dfly installed would be enough for many hours of riding. Anyway, my di2 battery dropped to 5% (front mech stops working) after 2hours. Thankfully it happened at the top of an HC climb and i didn't really need the big ring on the way home as I could just roll back to where I was staying.
Seems the first 80% of the battery life is much more reasonable (haven't actually timed it)...but I get worried when it gets down to 30% now.
Now I charge every couple weeks. Before I charged once every maybe 6 weeks or so.

goodboyr
Posts: 1483
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

I've found that the new shimano di2 firmware that came out in the last month helped the battery a bit.

by Weenie


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