Convert Giant propel to TT bike

[Fatrobo]

Afternoon all,

Recently got very lucky with an incident on my bike, in that I survived and got a new bike off insurance AND got to keep the old propel. The old bike was a Propel Advanced 1 2014 (Di2).

With the bike still mostly in good working order I am investigating what it would take to convert it to a TT bike (not just clip on bars). I would have thought with a full TT cockpit the Di2 would be able to just "plug and play" with new ultegra time trial break leaver/shifters and TT bar end shifters. Especially given I believe there are extra ports for the satellite sprint shifters.

Apparently the LBS doesn't seem to agree and I can't see why. Anyone else have any ideas?

[Duck!]

What part have they said won't work?

Include in the shifter conversion a new upper junction box; you need the 5-port version of the EW90 box to plug the four shifters in & keep it all tidy. There are two options of aerobar shifters; Ultegra have two buttons on each unit so you have full front & rear shifting capability from the aero extensions, while Dura-Ace only has a single button on each shifter, so you can only shift the rear derailleur from the aeros - front shifting must be done from the bullhorns. There is no capacity to plug extra "sprint" shifters in with a TT setup unless you insert additional junction boxes in-line somewhere, which then turns the wiring into a bit of a bird's nest.

You may need to do a firmware update to ensure the derailleurs are speaking the same version as the shifters, but otherwise it should all plug straight together & go.

[princessbumblebee]

I've definitely seen Propels around with full aero/TT headsets resembling TT bikes. I'm not sure about cabling etc (although I can't see the issue), I imagine the geometry would be slightly different but this would just be like a roadie with clip-ons

[softy]

So many good bikes around, does it have to be a giant?

[m@]

So many good bikes around, does it have to be a giant?

Huh? The OP is talking about converting a bike he already has...

[Carrots]

Little happy snap from back in the Team Blanco days (ex Rabo come Belkin come Lotto Jumbo).

Pretty easy conversion - get the bars you want with the right shifter options. 5 port junction and away you go.