Drilling carbon frame for Di2

[StuAff]

I am upgrading a Bianchi Intenso for DI2 and need to drill cable access for the RD and FD.
I assume I can open out the existing hole for the FD wire to get the FD ewire through from the inside, but to get the ewire through to the RD, I will have to drill the chain stay somewhere along its length.

The is a tiny breather hole in the end, near the drop out, that might be able to get opened out, otherwise I will have to drill and grommet about half way along the chain stay.

Anyone any experience of doing this?

ugly alternative would be to run the ewires along the outside and cable tie them.

Extremely bad idea. Get the external cables or go for eTap instead.

 

[Salty seadog]

@TVC used to extol the virtues of duck tape .

 

[Salty seadog]

@TVC used to extol the virtues of duck tape .

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[twentysix by twentyfive]

Duck, Duct Sticky tape would be my advice. Or cable ties. But best of all don't go the Di2 route

 

[Syd]

It depends.

I drilled a carbon bike to fit Di2 three years ago and it’s done many thousands of miles with no ill effect on the frame.

In my case what I was drilling out were metal inserts in the frame that formed the mechanical cable holes and not the actual carbon itself.

My intenso must be a newer frame than yours as it came fitted with Di2 and a kit to convert the holes back for mechanical if it was desired in the future.

 

[nickyboy]

Duct tape was the original. The name has been mispronounced and bastardised, and then reused itself over the decades. That's what I once read in The Beano.

I used to work for an adhesive tape manufacturer many years ago. Absolutely under no circumstances could you then call it "duck tape". It was strictly "duct tape"
And don't get me started on "polythene tape" which I was told at that company should always be called "polyethylene tape", "polythene" being a brand name

 

[dantheman]

I was kidding. Of course Duck Tape doesn't dissolve carbon. Duck tape breathes life into everything it touches.

Except for verrucas - it kills those better than bazuka apparently, so even the things it doesn't "breathe life I to" it's still useful for, technically by "sucking the life out of".

 

[simongt]

And don't get me started on "polythene tape" which I was told at that company should always be called "polyethylene tape", "polythene" being a brand name

Well, I didn't know that - ! I'll check with the GLW who is an analytical chemist - !

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I was kidding. Of course Duck Tape doesn't dissolve carbon. Duck tape breathes life into everything it touches.

I've just ordered a huge roll to cover my entire body - thanks for the tip.

 

[simongt]

Just to muddy the waters, this tape was developed during WW2 by Johnson & Johnson for the American military, who needed a strong waterproof tape to seal ammunition cases with. The backing cloth they used was cotton duck, a very strong cotton canvas much loved by we older members when used for saddlebags & panniers. So thus it should be called 'duck' tape, as it was referred to by G.I.s. Why 'duct' tape - ? mishearing, mispronunciation, who knows - ?
Then there's gaffer tape; similar thing used in the entertainment industry for holding down lengths of lighting etc. cables on stages. But, gaffer tape is designed not to leave any sticky residue behind, so the difference is subtle but it's there. Depends how pedantic you want to be.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

You won't regret it.

Until you try to remove it

 

[Levo-Lon]

Wouldn't bother me, drilling my frame for a wire, both of mine have several.
Obviously not a great big one tho.

Not like it needs to be rust proofed

 

[mcshroom]

I used to work for an adhesive tape manufacturer many years ago. Absolutely under no circumstances could you then call it "duck tape". It was strictly "duct tape"
And don't get me started on "polythene tape" which I was told at that company should always be called "polyethylene tape", "polythene" being a brand name

Polythene is not a brand name.

Ethylene was the old name for C2H4, but the current IUPAC name is ethene. Therefore the polymer would be poly-ethene which gets shortened to polythene. poly(ethylene) still exists in IUPAC, mainly because a lot of people still use the old name