Amazon is full of spare non-original cables for all my other electronic devices but trying to do a Di2 setup and the only cables I can find are originals from Shimano at a minimum of £22 each. Anyone know why?
All the cables are is a bit of wire and rubber coating, so there is no way they cost that much.
Is it that Shimano have patents and are very good at enforcing them? Is it that not enough are sold that it isn’t worth cloning them? I’d have thought if someone sold them at £15 then people would buy them and compared to cost price it should still make money.
@digininja I know that the higher end Shimano cables are polymer coated and the ferrules also have small gaskets to keep out dirt and water and the housing has a special lubrication to reduce friction. Better cables mean quicker shifting and if it is a small difference I would suggest spending the extra money.
The Di2 cables are electric cables so no lubrication needed.
I can understand them being high quality, but really they aren’t much more than a USB cable with water resistant connectors on the end. It is the type of thing that I’d bet Anker could knock out fairly easily if they tried.
For the price difference, I need seven of these cables to wire up the rig, at £25 average, that is £175. I would quite take the risk on a non-Shimano brand that had good reviews to get the price down on that.
I bought a set of EW-SD50 on AliExpress for 20 euro’s and 4 euro shipping. Works very well.
Can’t see any going that cheap at the moment, how long ago did you get them?
Right - reading comprehension is off today. Good luck!
I’ve already spent the cash, just wondering why it is an untapped market, just seems odd.
About six months ago
I can still find them
€ 13,35 20％ Off | Shimano EW-SD50 Di2 Draad Dura Ace Ultegra R8050 R8060 6870 R9150 R9160 9070 Road Shimano SD50 Kabel
I’d missed those, too late now though.
Still originals, no clones.
I know this is slightly off-topic, but I think it is relevant to Di2 users. I tried the aftermarket USB to Di2 charge cord from AliExpress. It does NOT work, at least not with my Shimano XTR Di-2 Display. The green LED on the charge cord lights, but when plugged into the SC M800 the LED turns red. The Display goes dark.
