Di2 on mechanical frame

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Multebear
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by Multebear

Has anyone done this succesfully? And by that I mean in a way that looks good/clean and doesn't cause any trouble? The frame has external cable routing and I wont drill any holes into it. Everything needs to hang and be mounted on the outside.

And no, I'm not moving to Sram, and no, I'm not selling the frame and buying a di2 specific frame. Just looking for pics of a succesful build. If it hasn't been done, I'm gonna stick with mechanical.

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pdlpsher1
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by pdlpsher1

Di2 is really designed to be internally routed. Why won’t you drill any holes? You probably already have a minimum of four holes already (water bottle bosses). I have converted a mechanical frame to a Di2 frame by drilling holes. Where the Di2 cable enters the frame you use a Shimano cable grommet. The install is very clean. External routing is possible but it will be ugly.


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Kimmoth
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by Kimmoth

There's a Shimano part for that; a long adhesive backed bit of plastic with a rib in it that sticks under the downtube.

kode54
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by kode54

i agree. the drilled holes are very small...and you really only need 2 i think. one for FD and the other for top of the down tube where the main cable attaches to junction B near BB. 2 grommets and you're done.

the Shimano external cable guide will look pretty bad...no matter how clean you install it.
pdlpsher1 wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:11 pm
Di2 is really designed to be internally routed. Why won’t you drill any holes? You probably already have a minimum of four holes already (water bottle bosses). I have converted a mechanical frame to a Di2 frame by drilling holes. Where the Di2 cable enters the frame you use a Shimano cable grommet. The install is very clean. External routing is possible but it will be ugly.


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Jere
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by Jere

Hi

I’ve done a few installs on non Di2 frames which one do you have ?
Some are easier than other for looks.
JB

RussellS
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by RussellS

I just used colored electrical tape to tape the wires underneath the downtube and chainstay and up the seattube. Frame is white and red. Used white and red electrical tape. Looks good enough. Especially when there is mud/grease on the frame. The tape on the bottom of the downtube is starting to peel off a little. Need to put another piece of tape down there. I have the external battery below the water bottle cage on the downtube. So that adds something else to look at. Not too concerned by that either. Biggest eyesore might be the unused cable guides at the top of the downtube by the headtube. They are metal and stick out half inch from the frame.

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Kimmoth
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by Kimmoth

Yep, I would forget the aesthetics given the unused cable stops.

L3X
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by L3X

The cleanest install I've seen by far is by a local guy who cut up the wires, ran them through the cable stops and then soldered + shrink wrapped them back together. He also used linked outer cables (somethink like nokon/jagwires) from the shifters to the stops + stops to rear derailleur.

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IrrelevantD
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by IrrelevantD

Multebear wrote:
Mon Jun 04, 2018 12:49 pm
Has anyone done this succesfully? And by that I mean in a way that looks good/clean and doesn't cause any trouble? The frame has external cable routing and I wont drill any holes into it. Everything needs to hang and be mounted on the outside.

And no, I'm not moving to Sram, and no, I'm not selling the frame and buying a di2 specific frame. Just looking for pics of a succesful build. If it hasn't been done, I'm gonna stick with mechanical.
I've done it on my Allez Sprint. I had to cut two e-tube cables to the derailleurs to run them into cable stops at the bottom of the downtube. Pulled the cut ends out the bottom of the head tube and then re-soldered the ends back on. I did have to pick up some parts for other frames to make it work, seat tube battery mount from a Venge ViAS, some Di2 ports from a Roubaix, but it came out really clean. I did use some of the Shimano e-Tube tape that others mentioned above This stuff... to run the cable through the mechanical routing to the front and rear deraileurs. I bought my frame in October, it's probably got about 3,500 miles on it, everything is still holding up really well.
L3X wrote:
Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:05 am
The cleanest install I've seen by far is by a local guy who cut up the wires, ran them through the cable stops and then soldered + shrink wrapped them back together. He also used linked outer cables (somethink like nokon/jagwires) from the shifters to the stops + stops to rear derailleur.
This is very similar to what I did, minus the linked outer cables. That actually does sound very clean and a bit stealth.
* There is a 70% chance that what you have just read has a peppering of cynicism or sarcasm and generally should not be taken seriously.
I'll leave it up to you to figure out the other 30%. If you are in any way offended, that's on you.

Multebear
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by Multebear

IrrelevantD wrote:
Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:17 pm

I've done it on my Allez Sprint.
Sounds like the build I'm looking for.

Do you have pics? Or did you post a topic about it?

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IrrelevantD
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by IrrelevantD

Multebear wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:56 pm

Sounds like the build I'm looking for.

Do you have pics? Or did you post a topic about it?
I got some pics and what not on here, but I threw this together on imgur a little while back just in case anyone asked.
* There is a 70% chance that what you have just read has a peppering of cynicism or sarcasm and generally should not be taken seriously.
I'll leave it up to you to figure out the other 30%. If you are in any way offended, that's on you.

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naylor343
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by naylor343

What fame are you using?

Multebear
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Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 10:11 pm

by Multebear

Looks very good and clean @IrrelevantD, thanks for the pics. This will be good for inspiriation.

It's a custom frame.

markdjr
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by markdjr

IrrelevantD wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:48 pm
Multebear wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:56 pm

Sounds like the build I'm looking for.

Do you have pics? Or did you post a topic about it?
I got some pics and what not on here, but I threw this together on imgur a little while back just in case anyone asked.
Well done! What is the homemade sprint button?

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IrrelevantD
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by IrrelevantD

markdjr wrote:
Fri Aug 03, 2018 5:58 pm
IrrelevantD wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 9:48 pm
Multebear wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 7:56 pm

Sounds like the build I'm looking for.

Do you have pics? Or did you post a topic about it?
I got some pics and what not on here, but I threw this together on imgur a little while back just in case anyone asked.
Well done! What is the homemade sprint button?
The sprint buttons are just some tiny momentary switches. I picked up pack of 10 or so at Fry's for a few bucks. Cut a etube cable in half and soldered the two wires in the cable to the button. Works just like the Shimano ones, but smaller and a fraction of the cost. I have over 6,000 miles with them including in the rain and cold, and I've never had an issue.
* There is a 70% chance that what you have just read has a peppering of cynicism or sarcasm and generally should not be taken seriously.
I'll leave it up to you to figure out the other 30%. If you are in any way offended, that's on you.

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