bkirkwd52@gmail

Wanted to go to Ultegra Di2 6870. Did not want to run cables externally due to 1)aesthetics, 2)another place to accumulate dirt, and 3)aerodynamics. Looked around the web for ideas and came up with the following:


Drilled 6mm hole in rear top of right chainstay for rear derailleur wire. I purchased a 6mm brad point drill bit on Amazon for the purpose. This type of drill will not wander when entering the carbon. Note that you must use a drill stop or wrap several wraps of masking tape about 10mm from the tip of the bit. If you don't, when the bit breaks through it will pierce the opposite side of the tube!


Drilled 6mm hole in upper right of down tube for junction box 1 wire. So these are the only 2 holes I had to drill in the carbon.


The existing hole for the wired front derailleur was the exact needed 6mm. Note: the white stuff on the frame is wax that I had not yet wiped off after drying.


Bottom bracket shell was solid aluminum. Using flexible Dremel tool attachment and grinding bit, cut three holes. One in back for rear derailleur wire, one in top for seatpost battery wire, one in front (much larger) for wire from junction A and wire from front derailleur. The carbon shell is much larger than the internal aluminum shell so wires fit over top of aluminum shell with room to spare. Pulled all wires into the shell (forgot to take photo) and connected them to junction B. Pushed junction B into the larger front aluminum shell hole. An indispensable tool is the Park internal Cable Routing Kit (IR-1).


The finished wiring is shown above. Shimano makes grommets made for this purpose. The are split on one side to all the cable to be placed into the grommet. There is a shoulder on the grommet that holds it in the frame.


Finished!
Di2 is wonderful! It works beautifully! Paraphrasing Eddie Murphy from Trading Places, once you go Di2, you never go back!

springs

Nice job. What size is that RS?

andr0id

Very professional conversion. Looks like it left the factory that way.

bkirkwd52@gmail

58. Looks like a larger frame because head tube is long, 200mm

natedg200202

Thanks so much for posting this! I have an RS and would love to do this conversion, so your documentation is invaluable.

A few questions:

How did you come up with the location for drilling the downtube? How has it held up?

For the RD cable, would it be possible to run the wire straight out the end of the chainstay? I know there is material there but I don't know what it is.

Are the cutouts in the BB shell required? I had envisioned all the routing could happen in a space above the aluminum shell, but is this solid carbon fiber?

Thanks, so much!

blakcloud

Nicely done. Having step by step with photos will help many cyclists with their conversions. Thanks for sharing this.

oldbobcat

You voided the warranty on the frame, but it was nicely done. I've read that's what the pro team mechanics were doing before Di2 routed frames were readily available.