Taking my Di2 Internal, and the trip to Colorado, FINISHED!

[pritchet74]

Looks like you had a nice trip to Colorado, nice outfit you're wearing there

What's so special about it? Have seen this kit a couple of times here on pictures...

It's a kit I got from LJ a couple of years ago. A few of the guys around here have it I think. Those winter long bibs & the regular bibs are my favorites. Giordana stuff is my favorite.

[pritchet74]

OK, so it's all done. I should have went to bed a couple of hours ago as I have meetings early tomorrow morning, but I just HAD to finish. I spent nearly the entire day working on getting this project finished. Now that I am done, there are things that I would have done differently. I learned a LOT during this project & if I was to do it again it would go much faster and it'd be a bit cleaner. The things you learn, eh?

And before anyone says anything about the opaque colored zip ties on the handlebar it's all that I have at my house in that size. The black ones are at my office & will get put on tomorrow morning. I just wanted to get these final pics up tonight.

So on tap for today was just 2 wires - the one to the FD & the one to the shifters. The FD was pretty straight forward & went rather quick. The existing holes for a FD cable were sized perfectly for everything to fit nicely. I will be adding silicone to the hole the cable drops into just to prevent any water from getting on there.

Here's a pic of the cable for the FD.


Then this is where the magic happens.....
Time to start with the pilot hole.


I didn't expect it to be so thick in the spot where I drilled, but it's exactly where the guy at Cervelo told me to do it, so I should have expected it!


Finished product for the shifter cable. Very clean. I will probably zip-tie the cable to the stem, but perhaps not. I like the control box placed on the backside of the handlebar. I haven't seen anyone else place it there, but I like it. It's out of the wind & I can see the lights to tell me when the battery gets low. I can easily push the button too if I need a shifting adjustment with different wheels.



Finished product at the BB.


And for those of you who haven't seen the Victoria thread, here she is (with no rear brake) and loaner red Keo pedals.

[...]

Excellent

[Ypsylon]

That's really a brilliant bike. It just all makes sense together. It's so fresh, clean and aero... the SRM... pretty damn close to being perfect.

[coloclimber]

Great work!

Post some of those tips and tricks you learned- like using braided wires, soldering the wires together, heat shrink tubing, etc.

[pritchet74]

Ya, my first attempt of re-wiring the RD cable I just grabbed wire from Radio Shack & it was solid wire cable - not braided. That didn't work out too well. You have to go with braided. Also, when soldering, use FLUX. Rosin core solder just isn't the same. Put a drop of flux on the wires & then just touching the wet solder gun to it makes the solder just absorb into the connection like a sponge. Flux is King.

The other thing (and this only applies if you are modifying an external wiring kit like I did: really take some time to consider where you are going to split the wiring harness for each connection. At my BB there are 2 of the wires that have the heat shrink showing at the BB. It would look cleaner if those could have been shoved back into the bike.

Also, be sure to disconnect the battery from the bike before doing any of the connections! Last night I forgot to do that & when I was doing stripping some of the wires & had the positive & negative wires (connected directly to the battery) touch & start to smoke. Luckily I was paying attention & was able to pull them apart quickly & get the battery disconnected. I think it pulled some juice outa the battery though.

The other thing is that using old school wire strippers (not gauge specific) is way easier than the other ones I was trying to use.

Crap, I am late for work. Gotta go!

[dunlinii]

Sweet dude. Now you need to think of something else apart from drilling to do to Victoria.

[pritchet74]

[BMANX]

Why all this drilling and such. If you were really smart you would have figured out how to go wireless and save weight. That is what we need.

[pritchet74]

I ain't that smart.

Besides, with all the wires and battery hidden, who needs wireless?

I am absolutely thrilled with how this has turned out. A HUGE thanks to Coloclimber & Madcow for their help & guidance with this project.

[BMANX]

It is pretty cool but think of all the time you could have saved with a wireless system. I bet Madcow has one hidden away that he is not allowed to discuss and for some crazy reason it will show up on XC build or something like a town bike build.

[pritchet74]

So the system was put to the test on Saturday. I did a 40 mile ride in the rain. Not a little rain - like constant rain for the entire ride. I was soaked (except for under my awesome rain jacket. I couldn't feel my feet at the end of the ride, but Di2 worked flawlessly the entire time. Lots of rolling hills & LOTS of shifting.

I put some clear silicone around the wire going thru the top tube to prevent any water from going down the hole. I am glad I did. I also did that for the FD cable too.

[coloclimber]

Clean up after a wet ride is easier with the internal battery and wires set up as well. I'm glad its working well and your new wheels are ordered.

[colorchange]

Pritchet,

Great job! I have an SLC-Sl and am planning to go internal as well. I can get the rear chainstay wire in fine. It looks easy to get the FD cable through the hole there too.

Cervelo didn't give me a recommendation for the wire to the front harness and I really don't want to go though one of the shifter cable holes. They told you to drill right behind the headset? Did you drill large enough to get the harness through without any splicing? I am also considering hiding the battery in the seat post like you did. Any other recommendations or suggestions?

TIA

Tim

[pritchet74]

I was told a hole no bigger than 5mm within 10mm of the back of the headset. I drilled mine just big enough to fit the wire that I was going to splice. Of course, I was working with an external wiring kit. I believe my hole was around 3mm tops though. I am pretty sure than at 5mm the internal kit works without having to splice it.