11/19/22 6:58 PM

I'm giving this thing a try. A Bluetooth remote on the handlebars, a shifter box mounted on seatstay or chainstay. So far, I kind of like it. Anyone else had any experience with this unit?

The cool thing (for me) is that it should work with any reasonably adequate derailer. You use an app to tell the system how many gears you have, and then you dial them in, individual gear by individual gear. The handlebar remote just commands the rear box to "shift up," or "shift down," and a motor pulls or releases a short length of cable to do it.

This could be addictive.

11/19/22 7:28 PM

Seems like chain stay mounted with a short straight cable to the RD is a solid design idea. Get rid of the under tape housing and cable bends and some stops etc...

Last edited by Sparky on 11/19/22 8:41 PM; edited 1 time in total

11/19/22 7:45 PM

I'm of the "shorter cable is better" school--one of the reasons I really liked DT shifters. So far, this is strictly a 1x system (rear derailer only) but it looks like it has possibilities.

11/20/22 1:20 AM

Looking at the price of the Archer kit, it seems that I could buy a SRAM GX Eagle AXS RD and shifter for a bit less money if I wanted 1x electronic shifting. My wife has been running the SRAM X01 Eagle AXS setup on one of her bikes for several years, and it's been flawless.

11/20/22 2:37 AM

Looking at prices, I think they’re actually pretty close (I paid just under U$400). I don’t know the SRAM specs, but the Archer will (in theory) work with ANY mechanical derailer and ANY cassette, and can shift up to 20 (!) cogs.

11/20/22 9:31 AM

I recall seeing it a while back and the price scared me off.

Plus all my Di2 acquisitions were gradual on stupid sales and grabbing nice used or NIB dregs. Probably avg 50 cent/dollar for setups. Expcept the Boone R8000 STi and hydo caliper setup i needed fast. New pulls 645.00 shipped.

I bought 3 ST-6870 NIB with brake cables/housings @ 116.00 ea shipped for example. Last NOS/NIB was 300.00 for st-r785 full set, calipers Di2 STis hoses, fluid etc etc.

If i saw that do hicky for 250.00 I'd probably buy to try it out.

11/28/22 12:54 PM

It's a nice system. But it's not $400 nicer than a $25 shifter pod, so it's going back. One of the main flaws (from my perspective) is that it's built for a mountain bike with rectangular-section tubes. Properly securing it to a bike with round tubes, let alone skinny round tubes, is difficult at best. Also, the current version requires that the use power up two separate devices (the shifter itself and the remote), which is not really difficult, but annoying.

It's a pretty cool device, but given the money, rather impractical for my application.

11/28/22 8:24 PM

Thanx 4 update...