Review: Shimano’s (Upgraded) E-Tube Project App
(2021) There I was enjoying my nitro coffee and enjoying staring at my bike while at Fieldstone Coffee in Ottsville. This was the final ride of an enjoyable long weekend and there was no better way to end it than a ride for some thick black stuff while seated outside. There couldn’t possibly be an obstacle to my day. That is, until I remounted the bike and the derailleurs went nuts.
Rolling around the parking lot using only push power, I tried going through the gears to pick the chain back up. As far as I was concerned nothing was succeeding. In a few moments I would learn the situation was a bit more perplexing, but for now I was happy I finally got the chain to remount the front ring. Making haste out onto the busy road of 412 in search of a safe road, a new situation presented itself - a completely unresponsive rear derailleur and a chain stuck in the eleven tooth. Even more mystifying was the head unit displaying a charged Di2 platform, so it’s not like the battery had died.
Shimano’s new E-Tube Project app is confidence building and extremely useful.
What was weird is I had the ability to shift from the big ring to small ring and vice-versa. This is where I knew something was off beyond the standard hiccups. When in the small ring, the Di2 automatically adjusts to prevent crossover. It is not possible for the front derailleur to allow the bike to be in the front small ring while in the eleven tooth in the back. However, in these few miles, it was. Furthering the mystery was the limiter beeping indicating the Di2 thought the bike was shifting but wasn’t. Busy road, headwinds, malfunctioning gears, all encouraged me to stand on the pedals to clear off the road and figure this out. Taking advantage of a steep downhill I rolled into the parking lot of another coffee shop to reset, of all things, the cycling computer. Shortly after this I magically regained my gears, but they were clattering in protest. Something needed to be done.
Once returning to the Service Course, I took a leap of faith. For those who have read the previous experience with Shimano’s E-Tube Project app, I worried the bike would go dormant again and the battery would have to be fished out, unplugged, wait fifteen seconds, replugged, and the seat post re-installed. Moving a safe distance from the bike the app was accessed on the phone and, sure enough, there was a Firmware update. The old clunky app was now attractive. It even encouraged me to move on to the next step of this process - performing maintenance.
Putting the bike into the stand the app was paired with the junction box and all sorts of enjoyable things came to life. First the front derailleur was adjusted. Shimano’s app allows for several degrees of setting. Meanwhile the center setting is clear as day. Then came the wild part. Having the app opened, and ordered to spin the pedals, the app began shifting the bike for us, showing each gear’s alignment. The old confusing app pairing system was swapped out for an enjoyable and easy-to-use app. Repaired, the bike was taken out of the stand, ridden around with satisfaction, and parked. Done and done.
It had been a while since the bike was paired to the application. There were hints something was a bit off in the last few rides as the bike shifted itself. While it felt necessary to access the Shimano app of old, there was the concern of a repeat from the last experience. I was glad to have updated the Firmware. Test ride out of the way, the bike rides like new again sans ignorant derailleurs. Perhaps today’s departure from the coffee shop could have gone a different way. It could have been all uphill back home. In that case the team car would have been pressed into service.
