Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

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liamb
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Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby liamb » Thu Nov 14, 2013 11:54 am

Hi All

I am doing a bucket list thing and building a new bike from scratch. I have a De Rosa Avant frame (Italian Colours) and I am wanting to fit Ultegra Di2 to the frame. The frame is not set up for internal wiring.
Is there an idiots guide for buying and fitting this Grupo to a frame. I am asking myself dumb questions and I assume others have asked and possibly know the answers.

ie when I buy the Grupo what battery mount do I buy, long or short? is there 1 specific for external?
can I fit a seatpost battery with external wiring?
can you conceal the wiring in tubes/covers on the frame?
can I make my frame internal??
Are there any common things to look out for??

Cheers

Bill
TdF 2011: as Cadel Evans crosses the finish at Alpe-d’Huez: "I reckon tonight in hindsight he may have won the Tour de France tomorrow." The man Phil Ligget !!!

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Duck!
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Duck! » Thu Nov 14, 2013 1:53 pm

- when I buy the Grupo what battery mount do I buy, long or short? is there 1 specific for external?
You'll need the long mount, which will attach via the bottle mounts on the down tube. The short mount is for Di2-ready frames that have a dedicated mount, typically under the left chainstay.


- can I fit a seatpost battery with external wiring?
No.

- can you conceal the wiring in tubes/covers on the frame?
Yes, there are stick-on cable covers available.

- can I make my frame internal??
Not without drilling holes, which is not recommended practice.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

Causidicus
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Postby Causidicus » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:08 pm

Duck! wrote:- can I fit a seatpost battery with external wiring?
No.
Yes.

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Ross
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Ross » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:29 pm

If you aren't 100% sure of what bits you need I would recommend you buy a complete external cable Di2 groupset (or Di2 upgrade if you already have crankset and brakes), that way you definitely get all the bits you need, rather than buying bits from here and there and possibly getting wrong bits or not enough bits.

The external wiring runs on the underside of the downtube and also on the chainstay, there are sticky covers (sort of like very thick duct tape) available in a few different colours (part of the "kit" but available to buy seperately). My bike is black and luckily black is one of the available colours, as is white. Not sure what other colours are available.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shimano-E-Tu ... 554wt_1161" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Shimano-E-Tu ... 554wt_1161" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A quick look on the internet shows the going price for Ult 6770 Di2 group is around $1300 - $1600 (from o/s so factor in freight/GST and maybe duty), 11spd Ult Di2 6870 is about $1900. DA Di2 9070 upgrade is around $2K and complete group is around $3300.

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liamb
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby liamb » Thu Nov 14, 2013 3:50 pm

cheers Ross

I will be buying a total kit. On the Merlin Cycles site there are a few options and I just wanted to get the right options. I am keen to try to get a battery into the seat post with the external wiring, but will need to find a good example of a retro fit..

Bill
TdF 2011: as Cadel Evans crosses the finish at Alpe-d’Huez: "I reckon tonight in hindsight he may have won the Tour de France tomorrow." The man Phil Ligget !!!

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Ross
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Ross » Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:50 am

I asked the question about converting from external battery to seatpost battery the other day; I don't think there is an off-the-shelf solution but it can be done if you want to custom make stuff - viewtopic.php?f=34&t=69562" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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liamb
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby liamb » Fri Nov 15, 2013 10:44 am

I did a bit of Google work last night and found a few examples of people drilling holes in the frame and running the total cable set internally. On the face of it it seems relatively easy but there was not a huge amount of detail, ie exactly were to drill the holes around the bottom bracket, some examples had wires running in the top tube and others ran the wires down the down tube. I am keen to try this but need some more detailed descriptions.

Bill
TdF 2011: as Cadel Evans crosses the finish at Alpe-d’Huez: "I reckon tonight in hindsight he may have won the Tour de France tomorrow." The man Phil Ligget !!!

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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby blk077 » Fri Nov 15, 2013 5:50 pm

I found this manual helpful

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techd ... 773882.pdf

But from the questions you are posting I would suggest a few things
-Stick to the di2 "external cable" kit - except others might criticise how 'ugly' it looks.
-> this way I think you can route your planned internal battery to pop out somewhere at the bottom bracket hole.

What frame do you have?

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liamb
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby liamb » Sat Nov 16, 2013 9:54 pm

cheers for the instruction guide.

The frame is a De Rosa Avant.
I have never been someone to think looks matter but I am keen to try to make an internal install work in a samll way to make it "preeetttyyy" but more so to keep the wires in place.
I rode with a bloke today who had an external fit to a Giant and as we were making our way down a fast downhill the cable cover on his down tube came un stuck. I cant comment on the quality of the install but it was not a good look or thing to happen 50km from home. I was only by chance that i had zip ties in my saddle bag other wise he was riding 50km home with loose wires possibly pulling out of the front plug assembly.

My plan at this stage is to try to track down a busted carbon frame and trial drilling holes in the carbon and cutting holes in the bottom bracket hub assembly prior to the real fit. I am thinking of doing a full picture written description "how to" guide by the "know nothing idiot" of how to convert an external to internal. I know there are companies doing it already but I am on a budget and I don't really want the paint redone and the gear cable mounts removed. The frame was dirt cheap as it already have scratches on it.

Bill
TdF 2011: as Cadel Evans crosses the finish at Alpe-d’Huez: "I reckon tonight in hindsight he may have won the Tour de France tomorrow." The man Phil Ligget !!!

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Carrots
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Carrots » Fri May 09, 2014 8:50 pm

Bill, how'd you end up with the retrofit of the internal cables? Interested to see how it went as might do one myself.

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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby ACT SC600 » Sun May 11, 2014 9:46 pm

Bill I have done two of these - on the Giant I run the external mount Di2 BB junction box and on the Madone I run the internal mount - with the shimano external covers (like Ross pointed out) makes the install nice.... Drill into the carbon at your own will - just check where the major stresses are on a frame
Image
This is the internal externally mounted
Image
Image

Enjoy and have fun
Image

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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Kronos » Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:41 am

blk077 wrote:Stick to the di2 "external cable" kit - except others might criticise how 'ugly' it looks.
I'm debating this at the moment with what to do with my 10 speed Ultegra bike (better grave dig an old thread than start a new one). The way I see it is you can drill a few holes, and possibly create structural issues in your frame. Or alternatively, you can run 6800 mechanical gear (or whatever your groupset supports). The other option is to run SRAM Red eTAP with wireless shifting which will fit on any frame type (internal or external). In my case on a 2007 bike this seems excessive.

I'm leaning towards drilling holes in my frame, but I know this shocks a lot of people :shock: The other problem with drilling holes in a bike frame not meant for internal cabling though is that you still have the cable guides. Unless you were planning on deleting the cable guides and respraying your bike your going to have cable guides regardless. On an old bike frame its sort of like having downtube shifter lugs. You can blank them if you want but they'll still be there and that won't make a bike look pretty.

Mariner
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Mariner » Wed Apr 04, 2018 9:26 pm

Ren Cycles website has the gory details of how to retro fit for internal wiring.
https://www.ticycles.com/retrofit-di2-eps/
Time to get the angle grinder and spray can out.

hamishm
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby hamishm » Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:25 pm

Duck! wrote:- when I buy the Grupo what battery mount do I buy, long or short? is there 1 specific for external?
You'll need the long mount, which will attach via the bottle mounts on the down tube. The short mount is for Di2-ready frames that have a dedicated mount, typically under the left chainstay.
Wow, I didn't know this is available. My Giant TCR Advanced Zero (from 2012 or 2013) has the battery under there, and the clip is a bit broken and likely to fall off sooner or later. I'd assumed this was a Giant-specific mount and I was in trouble, but is it actually the standard Shimano part?

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Duck!
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby Duck! » Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:48 pm

All Di2 parts are supplied by Shimano. The battery mount includes some of the essential circuitry and programming.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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geoffs
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Re: Ultegra Di2 external Idiots Guide

Postby geoffs » Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:12 pm

presuming you have a carbon frame, I'd be taking the frame to someone like the Carbonbikedr and getting a professional to drill the holes so they won't crack

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