Ultegra Rear Derailleur: R8000 (Mechanical) vs R8050 (Electronic)

Here is another component comparison! I love doing side by side comparisons as it is interesting to spot the differences and try to understand why they are designed differently.

This comparison is between two Ultegra derailleurs of the same 11 speed generation. R8000 is the mechanical 11 speed rear derailleur, while R8050 is the Di2 11 speed electronic rear derailleur.

For this generation of Ultegra components, they are designed so that the mechanical and Di2 versions look similar, with the same design language. Other than the functional and dimensional differences, the visuals will be kept similar.

R8050 Di2 rear derailleur was removed from the Dahon MuSP, when it was modified from Ultegra Di2 11 speed to Sora 1x9 speed.

R8000 was newly purchased, as I wanted to cannibalize the cage set to be used for Ultegra Di2 12 speed RD-R8150 rear derailleur.

R8000 on the left with visible cable adjust bolt. R8050 on the right with the servo motor.

Ultegra Di2 Shifters: ST-R8050 (Mechanical) vs ST-R8070 (Hydraulic)

Shimano makes so many different types of road shifters that it is often hard to tell which model is for which kind of drivetrain. For braking, there are mechanical rim brakes and hydraulic disc brakes, while for shifting, there is mechanical shifting or electronic shifting.

In the previous generation of 11 speed drivetrain, there are 4 types of Ultegra shifters.

ST-R8000: Mechanical shifting, mechanical braking

ST-R8020: Mechanical shifting, hydraulic braking

ST-R8050: Electronic shifting, mechanical braking

ST-R8070: Electronic shifting, hydraulic braking

Today, I will compare R8050 and R8070, which are both electronic Di2 shifters, but with different  types of braking. I have this chance to do a direct comparison because of some related bike projects.

Some time ago, I converted the Focus Paralane all-weather road bike from 11 speed to 12 speed, thus the ST-R8070 shifters were removed from the bike.

Then, the Dahon MuSP was downgraded from Ultegra Di2 11 speed to a mechanical Sora 1x9 speed drivetrain. The ST-R8050 shifters were removed from the Dahon MuSP.

With these two shifters in hand, I can do a direct comparison before selling them away.

Can you guess which is which? For this generation of shifters, all 4 models were designed to look and feel similar.

Folding Bike 3-way Component Swap

This was a relatively complex bike modification project, as it involved 3 different bikes with many different components. Main reason for all these swapping is to upgrade to the latest components, and sell away the older and more basic components.

Flowchart showing the bikes before the component swap.

After the component swap

Fnhon Ultegra Di2 12 Speed: Geometry Comparison with Aethos

With the Fnhon Ultegra Di2 12 speed folding bike completed, I will now compare it with the Specialized Aethos. Reason for this comparison is to show the differences in geometry between an standard full-sized road bike and a folding bike with drop bars.

Before comparing bike geometry, align the bottom bracket, as this is the datum for all other bike measurements.

Both the saddles are adjusted to my height, but the Fnhon saddle is taller, as the bottom bracket is higher from the ground.