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.
From the side, it is hard to tell the differences, as the Di2 buttons are the same, as well as the hood shape.
Difference is only obvious when you pull the brake lever. R8050 has a hole for the mechanical brake cable, while R8070 does not.
R8070 on the right has a port for the hydraulic hose, as well as the visible piston under the clamp band.
R8070 on the right has a bolt at the back of the lever for adjusting the lever reach. Otherwise the Di2 buttons look to be identical.
R8050 weighs just 152 grams, since it does not have any hydraulic components.
R8070 weighs a bit more at 183 grams, with hydraulic components inside.
Still, both models of shifters are lightweight, compared to those mechanical shifting models, which has the relatively heavy shifting mechanism with lots of metal parts.
The ergonomics of these two shifters feel almost the same, as the bracket size, hood shape and lever shape are similar as per design intention.
For the comparison of other shifters, check out these posts.
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