Interbike New Product Preview – MTB Gearing with Di2!

“Ki2”?

LOW MTB CLIMBING GEARING FOR Di2

“Ki2”?  What’s that, you ask?  Well, as many of you already know, and as reviewed elsewhere on our website, the Shimano Di2 electronic shifting system is great a product, offering very fast, smooth, precise, and practically seamless shifting.  Shimano has now released its Ultegra level Di2 system, to widespread praise as well.  Unfortunately, Di2 , Dura Ace or Ultegra, suffers from a limitation common to Shimano’s road components –  the rear derailleur is limited to a maximum cog size of 28 teeth.  Because of this,  Shimano’s road shifters will not work with their mountain bike derailleurs.  SRAM, on the other hand, has no such limitation and, as a result, we have sold numerous SRAM kits, using SRAM road shifters, in combination with SRAM mountain bike rear derailleurs and 11-36 or 11-32 cogsets.  You cannot do this with stock Shimano road components, whether cable-actuated or Di2 electronic.

Since Shimano released Di2, various enterprising companies have been looking at the package, modifying it for various other purposes and one such company is K-Edge.  You may be familiar with K-Edge as the manufacturer of chain catchers, those simply, ingenious, and very handy devices that hang from the front derailleur, preventing  the chain from jumping off on the inside.  K-Edge has announced that it has adapted the Di2 shifting system for use on mountain bikes.  These adaptations include modifying the rear derailleur cage to allow for use of the Di2 derailleur with larger mountain bike cassettes, dubbing the system “Ki2”.  For road riders, this means that very low gearing is now available with Shimano Di2, up to a largest rear cog of 34 teeth.  Those seeking the ultimate in shifting performance, yet also seeking very low climbing gearing, can now get the gearing they want with the K-Edge modified rear derailleur.  This opens up a great alternative to what was previously the exclusive province of SRAM.   Imagine climbing the nastiest of Vermont’s gaps or the whole Fit Werx sponsored BUMPS hill climbs, with full electronic shifting.  For those of us who are not featherweights, and/or who lack high V02 max numbers, this is great news indeed!

For more info, visit http://ki2bike.com/

Jim
Service Manager
Fit Werx, VT