Innovation: Shimano's Bicycle Parts Get Smart

Japanese bike parts giant Shimano makes a bid for pro cyclists and amateurs alike with an electronic derailleur that uses computer chips to shift gears more smoothly

By Kenji Hall

PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images

Last April, a team of Japanese engineers from Shimano flew to France to test a prototype derailleur (an electronic gear shifter for a bicycle) on an important focus group: professional cyclists. The venue was the Paris-Roubaix race, among the most bruising in Europe. The 161-mile course includes 28 stretches of jaw-rattling cobblestone roads as it winds through villages in the French countryside. In previous years, Shimano's battery-powered derailleur prototypes hadn't been up to the task. Some had shifted at the wrong time, others simply conked out. But the engineers were hoping that the latest version would be glitch-free. "One of main goals was to make the derailleurs tough enough to be used for the Paris-Roubaix race," says Kazuhiro Fujii, who led the Shimano engineering team.

They got their wish. Shimano now sells the derailleurs in the U.S. as the Dura-Ace 7970 Di2. Released in January, the Di2 looks like a traditional shifter. But instead of using steel cables, its rubber-coated wires send signals to computer chips in the derailleurs that guide the chain from one gear to the next. The Japanese bike parts maker says the system is faster and weighs 67 grams, or about 3%, less than the old Dura-Ace system (the chips, micromotors, and battery make it 68 grams heavier than the latest Dura-Ace mechanical parts). The company also says the shifting is so precise that chain derailments rarely occur, and that the system needs no tuning up.

The Di2 is an attempt by Shimano to maintain buzz around the brand even as the global economy hits the skids. Analysts say the market for road bikes has been resilient in recent years thanks to a boom fueled by American Lance Armstrong's record-breaking seven victories in the Tour de France. In the bike market, the $250 million company is a powerhouse: There are no reliable market statistics, but analysts estimate that Shimano makes the gears, derailleurs, cranks, and other components for 70% of the world's bikes. (Bike parts make up nearly 80% of Shimano's revenues; fishing, golf, and camping gear account for the rest.) Those kinds of numbers made it a favorite with investors: Its share price zoomed to an all-time high of 5,450 yen last July in Osaka trading, but the economic crisis has since erased 44% of the stock's value. (The TOPIX Transportation Equipment stock index has also lost about 44%.)

Pricey

The Di2 is not for everyone: Not many will likely shell out $5,500 for bike parts. Shimano's strategy is to have pros use it in races as a way of building confidence in electronic derailleurs for road bikes. That could eventually pay off when Shimano begins offering a less pricey mass-market version in coming years. The Di2 also sets Shimano apart from rivals Campagnolo of Italy and Chicago-based upstart SRAM, whose top-of-the-line bike components are lighter and have chipped away at Shimano's lead.

The mechanics of gear shifting haven't changed for decades. The front derailleur, which is shaped like the blade of a vegetable peeler, guides the chain between the gears attached to the pedals. A rear derailleur moves the chain along the smaller gears attached to the back wheel. When changing gears on a mechanical system, the rider is doing two things: pushing down on the pedals while twisting the shifting paddles on the handlebars.

Shimano's engineers felt the Di2 should shift automatically to let the rider focus on pedaling. Their solution was to install chips, software, and tiny motors in the front and rear derailleurs, and to design both sections to work together.