Archer Components D1x wireless shifter first look and weights

Archer Components' D1x is a wireless electronic rear shifter that's compatible with any cassette and any brand of drivetrain.

Archer Components D1x features

Works with any Shimano or SRAM drivetrain
Smartphone app to pick gears and shift points
2 Li-ion AA for shifter, 1 AAA for remote (included) batteries
Claimed 1,000s of shifts per charge (dependent on rear derailleur)
70g remote; 181g shifter (including batteries) — actual weights

The package included the shifter box, remote, cable, housing, attaching straps, three rechargeable batteries, a battery charger and fasteners - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

Archer's D1x black box attaches to the rear of the bike, either on the chainstay or seatstay. A small length of shift cable and housing connects it to the rear derailleur.

The two-button remote mounts via a SRAM clamp and features three positioning holes for fine tuning the exact placement.

An app for versatile set up

Perhaps Archer knows something I don't, or more likely is future proofing its system, but the D1x has gear options from 1-speed up to 20-speeds. Keep in mind this is only for the rear derailleur.

The app lets you choose between one and 20 gears - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

After choosing how many gears you have, you can shift through each gear and dial in the exact cable pull with large and small adjustments.

Promise of exact shifting

Fine tuning each gear can be done in micro and macro adjustments - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

Through the smartphone app, the derailleur can be trimmed in small and big amounts. This means each gear can be lined up exactly.

Archer claims the shifting is fast, smooth and, since it's electronically controlled, the precision is always repeated.

Options galore

Like other electronic shifters from SRAM and Shimano, the buttons can be configured to your personal preference.

Quick shift lets a user pick between one and five gears with a single button push and hold. Even the button press delay can be programmed between short and long.

The options list has a few interesting features, such as a programmable multiple shift - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

There's a 'get me home gear' that can be programmed to a specific gear, which the D1x shifter will default to if it senses a low battery.

Finally, there's even some metrics that show the number of shifts, current voltage, and the last reset voltage.

Weight versus the competition

The D1x remote with battery weighs 70g. The shifter with batteries, attachment straps, cable and housing weighs 193g for a total of 263g.

According to Archer, this is the shifter. With two AA batteries, attachment straps, cable and housing it's 193g - Russell Eich / Immediate Media

For comparison, an 11-speed XX1 trigger with cable hits the scales at around 110g and XX1 Eagle with cable comes in at 124g. Shimano's M8000 XT shifter weighs 144g, an M9000 XTR trigger tickles the scales at 118g.

In comparison to electronic shifters, Shimano XT Di2 comes in at 93g, while an XTR Di2 rear shifter weighs 63g. Of course, Shimano mounts its battery separate from the actual components.

Archer Components D1x pricing and availability

The D1x system is available now from Archer's site and retails for $389 / international pricing TBD.