A pioneer of automatic transmission on bicycles, Shimano continues to evolve its system. After the essential DI2 launched in the summer of 2023, the Japanese accessories manufacturer is planning another new product ahead of the Eurobike 2025 show: Q'Auto: an automatic derailleur, without a battery and compatible with a very large number of bikes, whether urban, trekking, and even gravel. Because despite its many qualities, Shimano's automatic transmission, the DI2, relies on a battery and therefore needs to be recharged regularly.
The principle of the Q'Auto is very similar to the DI2 designed for electric mountain bikes, and for good reason: it takes a good part of the technical specifications of this automatic transmission to make it more compact and, above all, to make it work without a "battery" or cables. How? By using the principle of the dynamo. In concrete terms, the Q'Auto derailleur uses the kinetic energy produced by each pedal stroke to operate. What's next? three sensors (speed, cadence and gradient) are responsible for collecting data in real time and changing the gear according to the cyclist's needs.
For the rest, the promise of such a system is the same as for all transmissions DI2, that is to say a promise of simplicity in pedaling, without the need to manage the gears since the system takes care of proposing the best gear according to the situation. Finally, the ability to change gears without pedaling is an undeniable plus. Above all, Q'Auto promises to improve over time since it would be able to learn the cyclist's habits to adapt to their way of pedaling.
An automatic transmission for a maximum of bikes
Although it is launched at the same time as the Shimano Cues FH-U6060 Freehub and Cues RD-U8050-SGS/GS systems, it is compatible with the entire range of DI2 shifters and switches. Officially made today, the Q'Auto system should be unveiled at Eurobike which begins on June 25, before equipping many bike models this year. Of course, we can't wait to test the system and tell you more about this little touch of technology that could make a big difference to your bike.
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