Ultegra electronic shifters question.
#1
Yo
Thread Starter
Ultegra electronic shifters question.
Well my new bike arrived from bikesdirect and I already have a couple questions (stupid questions)
-there is a wire coming out of the seat tube part of the frame How do I get the seat tube in without messing up that wire?
-there are two wires coming from the bars and only one wire coming from the front frame. What do I connect the two and how do I connect them? All the wires have identical plugs on the ends, I can't figure out how to connect them.
Thanks
-there is a wire coming out of the seat tube part of the frame How do I get the seat tube in without messing up that wire?
-there are two wires coming from the bars and only one wire coming from the front frame. What do I connect the two and how do I connect them? All the wires have identical plugs on the ends, I can't figure out how to connect them.
Thanks
#3
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I'd strongly suggest just going to YouTube and watching tutorial videos.
And buy the E-Tube tool if you weren't provided it. Also the charger.
And buy the E-Tube tool if you weren't provided it. Also the charger.
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Well my new bike arrived from bikesdirect and I already have a couple questions (stupid questions)
-there is a wire coming out of the seat tube part of the frame How do I get the seat tube in without messing up that wire?
-there are two wires coming from the bars and only one wire coming from the front frame. What do I connect the two and how do I connect them? All the wires have identical plugs on the ends, I can't figure out how to connect them.
Thanks
-there is a wire coming out of the seat tube part of the frame How do I get the seat tube in without messing up that wire?
-there are two wires coming from the bars and only one wire coming from the front frame. What do I connect the two and how do I connect them? All the wires have identical plugs on the ends, I can't figure out how to connect them.
Thanks
The 2 shift cables are supposed to connect to a 3 or 5 way junction box that mounts under the stem, usually with zip ties, etc.., that junction box also connects to a single wire coming out of the downtube. That DT wire itself connects to a junction box inside the bottom of the downtube, usually right near the b-bracket. That internal junction box connects the shifters to the battery, the F derailer and the R derailer.
At this point I'd be doing a Google for information as to how Di2 systems go together. Probably lots of tips and tricks on You Tube as well, as you are going to need to do an initial setup.
Did not Bikes Directs send any instructions?
#5
Yo
Thread Starter
I discovered the j box from a you tube video so that solves the two wires coming from the bars.
Now I still have that one lead coming out of the tube on the frame that the seat post slides down into. I assumer it comes from the battery. But you can't get the seat post in because of that wire being there. Is it supposed to go up into the seat post? Then where would it go from there?
Now I still have that one lead coming out of the tube on the frame that the seat post slides down into. I assumer it comes from the battery. But you can't get the seat post in because of that wire being there. Is it supposed to go up into the seat post? Then where would it go from there?
#6
Yo
Thread Starter
The seat tube wire connects to the battery. The battery (assuming an internal unit) mounts inside the seatpost. Did they send you a mounting kit for the battery ?, if not you can search on Amazon, find out what seat post size you have. You install the battery, connect the cable and let any excess lengths drop into the seat tube. Buy the Shimano E-tube tool at the same time as it's the only good way to get thencables to seat into the junction box. Yes and a charger. You are dead in the water in short order without a battery charger.
The 2 shift cables are supposed to connect to a 3 or 5 way junction box that mounts under the stem, usually with zip ties, etc.., that junction box also connects to a single wire coming out of the downtube. That DT wire itself connects to a junction box inside the bottom of the downtube, usually right near the b-bracket. That internal junction box connects the shifters to the battery, the F derailer and the R derailer.
At this point I'd be doing a Google for information as to how Di2 systems go together. Probably lots of tips and tricks on You Tube as well, as you are going to need to do an initial setup.
Did not Bikes Directs send any instructions?
The 2 shift cables are supposed to connect to a 3 or 5 way junction box that mounts under the stem, usually with zip ties, etc.., that junction box also connects to a single wire coming out of the downtube. That DT wire itself connects to a junction box inside the bottom of the downtube, usually right near the b-bracket. That internal junction box connects the shifters to the battery, the F derailer and the R derailer.
At this point I'd be doing a Google for information as to how Di2 systems go together. Probably lots of tips and tricks on You Tube as well, as you are going to need to do an initial setup.
Did not Bikes Directs send any instructions?
#7
Yo
Thread Starter
The seatpost has a plastic piece inserted into it, I assume they shipped it with the battery already in the post. I got one of the special tools but can't for the life of me figure out how to attach it.
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I hate to be short and rude...but this is the most bare bones basic stuff of Di2 that has been publicly documented on the internet for 5 years. All of us were Di2 newbs once, but at a glance you don't appear to have done any homework at all before spending big bucks on this project.
#9
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I expected it to be more assembled. I got it figured out. My main problem was the front j box wasn't in the same package as the other parts. I had to dig around and finally found it in the bottom of the box. YouTube to the rescue again.
#10
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Thread Starter
Well I got it all put together and the battery was dead. At first I thought I had wired it wrong but after an hour on the charger and it had enough juice to light the battery indicator. It shifted too. The instructions that came with it had such small text that my 54 yo eyes couldn't read it. It was a bit of a pain to get it all together but I think it will be sweet after charging it overnight. I also made the mistake of cutting the packing material with a knife and I accidentally cut the left wire that goes to the shifter. I soldered it back together for a short time fix but I'll replace that with a new one. I've built several bikes from the ground up and rarely have I had a challenge like this. When I first started I didn't even know where the battery went lol.
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And nowhere in any Shimano lit I have read (some times 50+ pages of it) does it say that any
female connection is that same as any other, it doesn't matter which female socket you use
when assembling, the internal intelligence sorts things out. If a female socket is left unused
and is exposed best to use one of Shimanos dummy plugs to protect it.
female connection is that same as any other, it doesn't matter which female socket you use
when assembling, the internal intelligence sorts things out. If a female socket is left unused
and is exposed best to use one of Shimanos dummy plugs to protect it.
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Well I got it all put together and the battery was dead. At first I thought I had wired it wrong but after an hour on the charger and it had enough juice to light the battery indicator. It shifted too. The instructions that came with it had such small text that my 54 yo eyes couldn't read it. It was a bit of a pain to get it all together but I think it will be sweet after charging it overnight. I also made the mistake of cutting the packing material with a knife and I accidentally cut the left wire that goes to the shifter. I soldered it back together for a short time fix but I'll replace that with a new one. I've built several bikes from the ground up and rarely have I had a challenge like this. When I first started I didn't even know where the battery went lol.
#13
Family, Health, Cycling
The good news is the reading glasses are cheap and come in multi packs at a lot of stores.
My wife had me buy one nice pair of Foster Grant reading glasses to meet and please her aesthetics.
Other than the need to do that, the cheap ones work fine.
#14
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Thread Starter
Probably but it is ugly so I went ahead and ordered one. Cheapest place I found it was $18 for a little wire! I contacted bikesdirect thinking they would score me one for free but they wanted $28. For a 14" wire, man I thought Jeep parts were expensive.
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That wire probably only cost 5 cents to make, and you could have easily fixed it and made it pretty with 20 cent heat shrink tubing from the hardware store.
But then again, I'm a "usefulness over prettiness" type of person. My fastest bike is also one of the ugliest.
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The problem with kludge fixes...Di2 is very sensitive to (bad) grounding and it can result in battery drains and missed shifts. You're right to buy a new cable.
#17
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People bring Boxed bikes to bike shops to have someone trained to do so, assemble them, for a fee..
#18
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Probably. But when part of the sales pitch is "90% assembled, anyone can assemble in 30 minutes" I expect exactly that. I've built several bikes from the bare frame up, but this is my first experience with Di2. After doing one I could probably do another in an hour or so but it definitely took me more than 30 minutes to put this thing together.
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I feel your pain there, I'm also 54. These days I keep a pair of 1.25x, or 1.5x, reading glasses in almost every room of the house. In the garage I keep a pair of 2.0x for working on some of the tiny allen screws in dark places that lurk around some spots on the bike.
The good news is the reading glasses are cheap and come in multi packs at a lot of stores.
My wife had me buy one nice pair of Foster Grant reading glasses to meet and please her aesthetics.
Other than the need to do that, the cheap ones work fine.
The good news is the reading glasses are cheap and come in multi packs at a lot of stores.
My wife had me buy one nice pair of Foster Grant reading glasses to meet and please her aesthetics.
Other than the need to do that, the cheap ones work fine.
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Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can.
Life is too short not to ride the best bike you have, as much as you can.
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Probably. But when part of the sales pitch is "90% assembled, anyone can assemble in 30 minutes" I expect exactly that. I've built several bikes from the bare frame up, but this is my first experience with Di2. After doing one I could probably do another in an hour or so but it definitely took me more than 30 minutes to put this thing together.
I've built up 20 or so bikes over the years and when I contemplated a Di2 group, I did a huge amount of reading and YouTube watching so as to understand what all is involved. I ended up not going electronic but still and seemingly have a better grasp of what's involved.
But best of luck with it.
#21
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That's exactly the problem. I expected it to be more assembled. This was kind of a last minute purchase. My first choice was the Ti bike with mechanical but they were out of my size so I bought this as my second choice.
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Glad you got everything worked out.
#24
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#25
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My replacement wire finally arrived today. Ive been riding this thing with only the rear gears with the front in granny. I wasn't necessarily looking to buy Di2 when I was first in the market but now I'm glad I got it. Very smooth and crisp shifting. No cables to have to mess around with all the time. I probably wouldn't spring for this as an upgrade since I heard it was $1800. I just paid $2,000 for the whole bike.