# Di2 upgrade build thread



## JhnBssll (7 Jul 2018)

Thought I'd put some info together on my Di2 build as the parts are all starting to come together 

As I've mentioned before the grand plan is to upgrade all 3 road bikes by cascading the groupsets down. The Bianchi will be getting Dura Ace R9170 Di2, the Roubaix will be getting the Ultegra R8020 and the Plug will be getting the Rival 22. I've already promised most of the Claris bits to a friend for the princely sum of twenty quid  I think I will end up with a spare set of wheels but thats about it (standard ones off a 2016 Charge Plug 2 if anyone wants them!).

Of course it's not quite that simple for various reasons - component sizes and fitments differ between frames etc, so I'm sure there will be bits that pop up that I haven't thought of along the way, but I'm aiming to get the Bianchi converted to electronic shifting next weekend if possible and go from there with the other two  I'm away with work monday to wednesday and then away again thursday and friday for the Goodwood festival of speed but should get time on Saturday and Sunday to spin some spanners!

So far I've got a nice little pile of bits building up in the garage; R9170 hydraulic STI levers, R9150 front and rear mechs, latest battery, junction boxes and wireless unit have all arrived safely 






The first thing that struck me was how light it all is  I've also noticed that the STI's are significantly smaller than the Ultegra R8020's which will be a great improvement in terms of both comfort and looks  I do wonder though how much more we have to pay to get the Dura Ace stuff in shiny sleeved posh boxes compared to the plastic bag the Ultegra front mech I ordered came in 

First job was to mock up the wire routes - I used garden twine for this as I had it laying around in the garage  I had a few options for wiring routes but have decided to try and keep most of it hidden by using the bar end style junction box A. This has introduced a problem in that although advertised as being Di2 compatible my bars do not have an internal accessible route to the ends  It seems the bar end junction box was released after the bars were designed and nobody pre-empted the need for it. My options are a) buy new carbon aero bars or b) drill the current bars. I initially ruled out drilling a structural carbon part for very obvious reasons but the more I thought about it the more I started to change my mind... I've come up with the plan of running the wire externally until it's about 50mm from the end of the bar and drilling a small hole here on the underside to gain access to the rear of the junction box. I'll use some epoxy to dress the edges of the hole to try and prevent cracks propagating but I'm pretty comfortable that there's next to no load in this region so they'll be fine.

I've nearly convinced myself 

Anyway here's the bianchi draped in garden twine that is nearly Celeste in colour by pure coincidence 






The route I've settled on for now is:

- bar end junction box to the RH STI
- RH STI across to the LH STI
- LH STI to D-Fly wireless inline module
- D-Fly module to junction box B by bottom bracket and then 3 wires radiating out to battery, front and rear mechs.

I _think_ this should work but once the cables arrive I'll connect it up on the desk for a dry run before I start taking anything to pieces just in case  I should point out this is my first foray in to the world of Di2 so please let me know if I've done or am planning to do something dim


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## Pumpkin the robot (7 Jul 2018)

You should be fine drilling the bars, but make sure the hole is chamfered nicely, no stress raisers (teaching you to suck eggs I know) I think that would make more of a difference than using epoxy to neaten it up.
I like di2, but I hate the look of the new Ultegra and Dura Ace groupsets. I will be sticking with the 9070.


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## JhnBssll (8 Jul 2018)

I woke up this morning to a knock on the door - postie was there with all my etube wires! I wasn't expecting them to arrive until early next week while I'm in Budapest so that was a result!

This of course meant my days plans were immediately scrapped in favour of fitting shiny bits to bicycles  I even streamed the football on my Zwift screen while I worked  Super successful day overall but with a really irritating finish - we'll come to that later 

First things first here are the remaining bits that arrived this morning; band clamp adapter for the front mech, wires and an Ultegra chainset for the Roubaix - I decided to stick with the existing Ultegra chainset on the Oltre for the time being to minimise costs. It also gives me something to upgrade later 





I decided to start by stripping the bar tape off and test fitting the bar end junction box. I then drilled a small hole for the wire and opened it up with a dremel until it was the desired size and shape...










Next it was off with the old shifters and on with the new. At this point I also stripped all the mechanical frame fittings off and swapped them for the Di2 specific bits that came in a little bag with the bike.





I used some black electrical tape to secure the wire that runs between the RH shifter and the bar end junction box






The junction box came with a strip of 'fake' cable which I taped to the LH side to mimic the cable on the right so both drops feel the same - neat touch I thought!










At this point I started watching football and forgot to take photo's as I went  Suffice to say by dinner time I had all of the drivetrain reassembled and working. I was quite surprised just how easy it was to set up to be honest...






Since then I've fully bled the brakes which are now working wonderfully and retaped the bars. My first effort at bar tape, not perfect but not bad either  I've also tucked a bit more of the cable in the image above into the frame so it's a little less prone to snagging.










I then hung the bike up for the night and locked it, lights off and in to the house to think about where to ride out to tomorrow morning. And then I realise I don't know how much charge I have in the battery and as yet I have no charger  No problem, I'll download the app and check my battery level - genius solution! So I pop back in to the garage, the phone connects to the Di2 bluetooth with no issues. Immediately starts updating the firmware, crashes 10% in and bricks the system  No lights, no shifting, no nothing 

I'll investigate further in the morning  I read the reviews of the app afterwards and they all report the same problem  At least I'm not the only one thats done it  Apparently I can disconnect the battery for a short time and reset it? I should probably investigate a charger and wired PC connection...


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## JhnBssll (8 Jul 2018)

Had another play this morning with no luck, I've disconnected and reconnected everything I can get to but there's still no signs of life. I'll just have to wait for the charger/PC link doodah to arrive while I'm away and have another play with it later in the week. On the plus side at least I hadn't start stripping the Roubaix down otherwise both nice road bikes would be out of action


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## goldenspokeCraig (10 Jul 2018)

Unfortunately this issue has been well documented.. assuming it is the same, you experienced the dreaded app firmware update failure for the internal battery. Once it quits without completing and you disconnect the Bluetooth connection, the entire system is dead until you revive your battery. The only way to do that is using the hardwired PCE1 advanced programming tool (not the charger link) available at some dealerships (few unfortunately) or by purchase($$$). Even if you own the tool, it takes a bit of experience with the problem to not cause the same result. I’ve helped a few in Phx (I’m a LBS) and would be happy to “unbrick” a battery if help is needed. Since this is a Shimano App issue, there should be no charge if you find someone with the tool. Seems impossible you couldn’t find someone on the east coast but if not, PM me for my shop info and you can send it to me and I’ll fix it up. Good luck.. cp


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## JhnBssll (12 Jul 2018)

Cheers, much appreciated  I've spoken to Shimano and they've told me to take it to a shimano service centre for them to sort. I've found one not far from here so have arranged to drop it in on saturday - not sure when I'll be able to collect as I'm now off to Stuttgart on Tuesday  I only just got back from a last minute trip to Budapest so another business trip isn't wholly appreciated  With work and other commitments I haven't been out on a bike for nearly 2 weeks now


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## JhnBssll (14 Jul 2018)

My BCR2 charger/PC link arrived while I was away so I figured I'd have one last go at sorting it myself. It connected up fine and recognised all the units, even telling me there was something wrong with the WU111 firmware and that it needed restoring. Unfortunately it also told me it was unable to do so and I'd need to connect via bluetooth to update it  I tried pushing the button to get it into bluetooth mode but still no signs of life so I left it charging and drove up to the service centre this morning. No parking outside so I left the car half a mile away and rode in. As the shop loomed in to sight I was playing with the shifters and realised that my clicks were being followed by clunks... It had started working again. The threat of a Shimano service centre was enough to scare it back in to life  Since I was there I went in anyway and explained the now embarassing story... They were keen to make sure it was all fully functional before I went away again and since the lights were now happily flashing away again we reconnected the phone. It knew there was still a problem with the firmware but this time was able to restore and update it, followed by an update of 5 other components. It's now all up to date and fully functional again 

So it seems the process for fixing bricked WU111 firmware is:

Connect BCR2 to PC and wait for it to recognise faulty WU111 firmware
Try and fail to get the thing into bluetooth connection mode
Give up but leave the charger connected to top the battery up
Wait 2 days for it all to randomly start working again 
Reconnect phone app and restore WU111 firmware
Update all other firmware

Most peculiar  I think I crossed my fingers a few times during the process but I can't remember where - I hope they're not critical steps


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## JhnBssll (20 Jul 2018)

The Roubaix was dropped off at the lbs this afternoon to swap out the bottom bracket. It came with FSA Gossamer cranks and a BB30 bottom bracket with bb386 adapters, no good for the 24mm spindle of the Ultegra hollowtech II cranks 

I've also ordered a new bb386 bottom bracket for the Plug so I can fit the Gossamer cranks when the time comes. It took a decent amount of research to get back up to speed, everything was still square taper cartridge type when I last changed one 

Once I get it back I think I'm ready to swap everything else over


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## roger44 (11 Aug 2018)

It looks like your frame is already drilled for DI2 installation.
Have you had to drill any of the carbon frame to get cables through?
I ma doing exactly what you are doing an an older Intenso, but I cant get the cable out to the rear mech or the front mech without drilling.
bit worrying that


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## jowwy (11 Aug 2018)

roger44 said:


> It looks like your frame is already drilled for DI2 installation.
> Have you had to drill any of the carbon frame to get cables through?
> I ma doing exactly what you are doing an an older Intenso, but I cant get the cable out to the rear mech or the front mech without drilling.
> bit worrying that


Rather than drilling the actual frame. I would brade the di2 cables and run them along the original routing. It would just look like normal cabling then.

You can get the braiding off ebay pretty cheaply too


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## accountantpete (11 Aug 2018)

roger44 said:


> It looks like your frame is already drilled for DI2 installation.
> Have you had to drill any of the carbon frame to get cables through?
> I ma doing exactly what you are doing an an older Intenso, but I cant get the cable out to the rear mech or the front mech without drilling.
> bit worrying that



My bike was OK in this regards but I needed to get two wires through one hole for the front mech and external battery and the thickness of the E-tube ends prevented this. The solution was to cut the cable and feed that though and then re-join it by soldering and then finishing it with heat-shrink tubing.

Even if you have to drill you would only need a much smaller hole.


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## JhnBssll (11 Aug 2018)

roger44 said:


> It looks like your frame is already drilled for DI2 installation.
> Have you had to drill any of the carbon frame to get cables through?
> I ma doing exactly what you are doing an an older Intenso, but I cant get the cable out to the rear mech or the front mech without drilling.
> bit worrying that



To be honest if I was installing on a frame without internal routing I'd go down the route that Jowwy suggested and run them externally with some protection. I've drilled carbon parts on a number of occasions but never where it's under load; every time I have drilled it, small microfractures have appeared around the hole and started creeping out. There's no way I'd consider drilling an expensive carbon frame. Probably not what you wanted to hear, sorry 

If you're really set on internal routing you could speak to a carbon repair specialist who could probably add the features you need but it wouldn't be cheap and would likely need a respray... Also bear in mind often they use packing material inside hollow sections so you could potentially drill a hole only to find your chainstays are blocked which would be a bit of a downer...

Run them externally, it'll still be ace


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## JhnBssll (11 Aug 2018)

Just a thought, but is the cable lug at the rear underside of the chainstay removable? Mine was held on with a tiny alan bolt which, when removed, allowed the lug to come off leaving a hole. The bike came with a conversion kit with a little metal plate that bolted on in its place with a hole for a Di2 cable grommet... Worth checking.


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## montezumeflex (5 Jun 2020)

Hi JhnBssll,

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I hope you are still active at the forum. I am thinking about upgrading my Bianchi Aria disc bik to Ultegra Di2. I've been trying to find information about the conversion and your story looks a lot like what im trying to do. I basically have 2 big question marks before I start my attempt:

1) Did you remove the bottom bracket, or where you able to keep it there and put the junction box and cables through the cable cover under the BB.
2) Where did you fit the internal battery? I assume its in the seat post, but since its an aero one, how did you make sure it doesn't fall out?

Hope you can help me out!

Regards,
Martijn


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## JhnBssll (6 Jun 2020)

montezumeflex said:


> Hi JhnBssll,
> 
> Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I hope you are still active at the forum. I am thinking about upgrading my Bianchi Aria disc bik to Ultegra Di2. I've been trying to find information about the conversion and your story looks a lot like what im trying to do. I basically have 2 big question marks before I start my attempt:
> 
> ...



Hey Martijn,

I have owned an Aria disc, lovely bike 

You'll need the BB out I think, I've removed it on all the Di2 installs I've done to date.

The battery is indeed in the seatpost. Here's a photo of the battery in my latest install - I believe the seatposts are identical between Aria and Oltre XR3/4 






Its just held in place with a rubber bung, I can't remember which brand this one is but I used a ritchey one in my XR3 build. I had to trim it down a bit in places but its pretty easy just with scissors or side cutters 

I think you'll also find the seat clamp cover from a Giant TCR 2016 will fit and cover the bolt... It does on the Oltre and I understand the clamp and seatpost are shared...






If you want to give it a try the Giant part number is 1724-SPSHIM-602, they are not expensive. They look too small when it arrives, you have to stretch it over the seatpost 

Let me know if you have any more questions 😊


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## montezumeflex (9 Jun 2020)

Hi JhnBssll,

I'm sorry for my late reply! I am a new user and assumed I would get an email when you would post a reply. Since I didn't get one I wasn't aware you already replied. Thank you very much for your detailled reply with the pictures!

I'm happy to see you can fit the battery in the seat post. it is quite weird that the Bianchi technical documents don't specifically say the seat post is Di2 compatible. The aria one is a little bit different (the Oltre is smaller/more aero) but since yours fits im sure it will work on the aria seat post as well. Very neat trick with the Giant Seat Clamp Cover, im defenatly going to check my local giant store to see if they can get me one. I suppose you did it to weather proof the seat, ill mainly get one since I like the refined look of it!

To bad you had to tap the bottom bracket out. The Aria has quite a big bottom bracket cover, but the tension of the shift cables keep it in place so I can't have a look inside. I guess Ill just have to find out if I'm able to slide it trough there if I get to do the install. It is really to bad that Bianchi doesn't supply more detailled information about their frame and Di2 spare parts needed for the conversion.

How do you like the Di2 so far? Would you recommend the upgrade or was the difference not really worth the hassle in the end?

Regards,

Martijn


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