Shimano Q’Auto brings battery-free automatic shifting to your bike 

Last week, Shimano introduced Q’Auto, a self-powered automatic shifting system that integrates with Shimano Cues and eliminates the need for a seperate battery. Here’s what you need to know, in brief:

• The Q’Auto system utilises the FH-U6060 rear freehub, which has a dynamo to generate power that it can store for over a year.
• The system employs “over 6,500” pre-set algorithms to automatically adjust gears. It learns from manual gear selections made by the rider to personalise shifting.
• Shimano said: “Q’Auto brings together the joy and simplicity of riding non-ebikes with the automatic shifting technologies that were limited to ebikes.”
• Initially designed for urban, trekking and gravel bikes, the Q’Auto system is compatible with all of Shimano’s Di2 shifters. So we could see it appear on Shimano’s road, gravel and mountain bike groupsets.
• The Q’Auto system launched at the same time as the long-awaited Shimano XTR MTB groupset, which lacks wow factor. 
• Ashley Quinlan said Q’Auto is the daring product XTR should have been: “Technological innovations, such as Q’Auto, are part of the formula for cycling’s wider uptake. While not a silver bullet, its refinement (and application across non-assisted and electric bikes alike) could help make cycling more appealing.”