Weight Weenies

I have a Scott Foil Di2 frame designed for external battery (the frame has drilled holes for short SM-BMR2 holder and for connection cable)
Initially I has thinking of having the battery internal mostly because I considered it looks more clean, but then I realized that it might be too less to move it internally.
So, I made a list of advantages and disadvantages:

Internal battery:
(+) It hides the battery, cockpit might look more clean
(+) Slightly weight advantage (58 g vs 71 g)
(-) 3 holes that need to be somehow covered
(-) Finding a proper place to place it (without to rattle,
(-) Harder to charge it

External battery:
(+) Frame was designed for it, why not to use this
(+) Easier to charge it
(-) A little heavier
(-) It's visible

I don't know if I missed something, I suspect that both have the same capacity so should least the same.
Considering the above, what would you prefer, internal or external ?

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The external battery has more capacity for sure but I disagree that it's easier to charge the external battery. They're both easy enough, maybe inernal might have the slight edge there as you don't have to remove anything. Internal is the way to go IMO on weight alone.

rmerka wrote:The external battery has more capacity for sure but I disagree that it's easier to charge the external battery. They're both easy enough, maybe inernal might have the slight edge there as you don't have to remove anything. Internal is the way to go IMO on weight alone.

From what I know to charge the internal battery you do it through SM-EW90-A/B box so you need to have the bike around an power outet/laptop. To charge the external battery you just remove it and charge it anywhere.

Take internal. Despite less capacity it looks much more clean and better. It's not more difficult to charge as muntos says.

Here's a thought-I used the external battery boss to mount the junction-it hidden from the wind, and cleans up the stem area nicely, as I now have a wire running from shifter to shifter, and then just one into the frame (taped to the brake cable until it splits off to the frame entrance) down to the internal junction. Front end is much cleaner now. Just drilled the standard shimano mount, although there are plenty of aftermarket ones on shapeways etc.

As to the original question, the only advantage I see to the external battery is the ability to easily swap in a charged spare. It does look much cleaner internal.

My S3 is external from the factory. I thought i would convert it to internal but between the hassle of putting the battery inside the seat tube (doesn't fit in the aero seat post) and the cost for no tangible benefit I don't think i'll bother. The battery itself sits so close to the bottom bracket it's practically hidden behind the chainrings anyway.

If building new I'd go internal.

So the vaste majority is for internal!
Now, what could I use to nicely cover the drilled hole for the wire (for the holder I can use 2xM4 screws, is easy)?

muntos wrote:So the vaste majority is for internal!
Now, what could I use to nicely cover the drilled hole for the wire (for the holder I can use 2xM4 screws, is easy)?

Get a little bit of sugru and use it to fill in the hole. It will dry nice and hard and you won't have to worry about water ingress.

What is sugru... ? I'm not quite the diy type, I would prefer to find something that I just need to buy and use...

muntos wrote:What is sugru... ? I'm not quite the diy type, I would prefer to find something that I just need to buy and use...

Oh, it's a simple play-do type stuff that you mold where you want it and it dries hard. Trust me, it's simple to use.

https://sugru.com/

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... ords=sugru

My battery is external. Sits below the bottle cage on the downtube. I never even notice it so whether its external or internal is unimportant. If you could hide all the wires in the frame easily, that would be nice. I have colored tape holding my wires to the frame. Charging is not an issue. I only charge my battery once a year in the winter. And then its just a maintenance issue, not because it needs charging. The battery would likely last 2 or 3 years between charges. As for the external battery being hidden behind the chainrings. My 53 ring only hides the bottom 1/2 inch of the battery. You would need to run 93 tooth rings to hide the battery. The external battery is clearly visible on the downtube.

BdaGhisallo wrote:

muntos wrote:What is sugru... ? I'm not quite the diy type, I would prefer to find something that I just need to buy and use...

Oh, it's a simple play-do type stuff that you mold where you want it and it dries hard. Trust me, it's simple to use.

https://sugru.com/

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... ords=sugru

Cool, such interesting material, didn't know of it until now. Thanks !

muntos wrote:So the vaste majority is for internal!
Now, what could I use to nicely cover the drilled hole for the wire (for the holder I can use 2xM4 screws, is easy)?

I used clear frame protection stickers to cover all unused holes.


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jorisee01 wrote:
I used clear frame protection stickers to cover all unused holes.

Me too. Takes 1 minute to apply. And is easy to remove. It's nice to have in your toolbox, since you'll need it for frame protection from cables in the future.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3M-4-Polyuretha ... xy0zhTMjSs

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I think Internal cabling is more neat and nice shape.