Yesterday, Shimano announced a product that is part of a disturbing trend in bicycle manufacturing. Starting in January, Shimano will begin selling an electronic shifting system for high end racing bikes. This follows Campagnolo’s move to sell shifting systems with 11 gears (insert Spinal Tap joke here) in their new Record and Chorus component groups.

Now, this arms race at the top end of performance gear is mildly entertaining in the same way that the razor companies keep adding blades. How does this relate austinbikeblog’s focus on bikes for transportation?

Well, it turns out that the expensive technology developed for high end users has a tendency to trickle down to the lower end user over time. I’m not saying your going to be able to buy a Trek hybrid with electronic shifting next year, but in 5 years, maybe.

This move toward complexity and battery power flies in the face of everything I love about cycling. I love being able to work on and repair about everything on my bike without taking it to the shop. I love that from the pedal stoke to the gear shift, there is a physical connection to making the bike work. The simplicity and elegance of the design is hard to match.

Why screw this up with more gears than we need and shifters that if I forget to plug in I’m in for a hard ride home suck in one gear? I already have enough stuff that plugs in, perpetuating our addiction to more and more energy. And as a parent of small children, I have to go out of my way to find toys that don’t have a battery operated something or other. (I dare you to go to ToysRUs and find a toy other than Legos that doesn’t have a battery.)

I cycle to get away from this mindset and remember more electronics is not the answer to every problem.