It's the off season: the perfect time for bike upgrades!

This year Nat has signed up for her first 70.3 triathlon so her TT bike will become the weapon of choice for training and racing with a long course focus. She is currently getting around on this Cannondale Slice Women's specific. It is the XS size with the 650c wheels which suits as Nat stands 156cm (5'2")

It was bought second hand and has served her well for a couple of seasons but it has fairly entry level specs:

  • 105 mechanical shift
  • Semi internal cabling
  • Basic aluminium cockpit
  • Conventional stem
  • Standard Tekro brakes
  • Ok 30mm deep aero wheels

 


So starts the project we will Blog about over the next month or so.




Wednesday 8 July 2015

Di2 INSTALLATION PART 1 - INTERNAL CABLES AND BATTERY

The Di2 components have arrived so now the fun begins!  I will let the pictures do the talking now that the planning is out of the way and I’m getting my hands dirty.

NEW PARTS HAVE ARRIVED
First I strip the bike down to a bare frame and fork.  I fit the new stem to stop the fork sliding out and to allow me to locate the A-module later and finalise the front wire location.

PREPARE FRAME FOR INTERNAL CABLING

I still need to do a bit more preparation for the internal cabling

As shown in a previous post I had already drilled a 7mm hole to provide cable access from the seat tube to the bottom bracket cavity.



To prepare for the rear derailleur cable I remove the mechanical cable stopper from the underside of the drive side rear stay.
DRILL RIVETS OUT OF CABLE STOP
PRY CABLE STOP AWAY FROM FRAME
 I enlarge one of the holes to 5.5mm enough to feed the 5mm head of the SD50 cable through.
ENLARGE ON RIVET HOLE TO 5.5mm

To prepare for the front derailleur cable I first remove the old plastic cable guide
REMOVE THE OLD CABLE GUIDE
Drill a 5.5mm hole to allow the cable to pass from the bottom of the existing cable guide into the bottom bracket cavity as shown.
DRILL INTO BOTTOM BRACKET CAVITY
I could pass that cable outside of the frame this is neater and keeps the B junction more securely inside the frame.  The small guide tube that was drilled was very thin and not structural.

The existing downtube cable entry had an aluminium cable stopper which only allows the inner cable to pass into the frame.  I used the 5.5mm drill again to ream the insert all the way through so the SD50 Di2 plug could pass into the downtube.
DOWNTUBE CABLE ENTRY
INSTALL INTERNAL CABLES
Once the frame is prepared the internal cables can be installed.  I used old shifter cables to feed through as trace wires and then attached the trace wire to the SD50 Di2 Cables with tape and draw them through.
A few tips for drawing the cables through:
  • Masking tape holds better than electrical tape
  • Tape the trace wire in line with the plug so it fits through the 5.5mm holes
  • Only wrap tape once around the 5mm plug, any more will get stuck in the 5.5mm holes
  • Wrap plenty of tape on the trace wire to get a good grip on it
  • Plug cables it into the B junction straight away while you work on the others
  • Make sure you have the proper Di2 plug tool
Get all the cables through and connected at the B Junction
REAR DERAILLEUR CABLE
BATTERY CABLE
A-JUNCTION CABLE
B-JUNCTION AND FRONT DERAILLEUR CABLE

I fit up the derailleurs and A junction and plug them in then push any excess cable length back into the frame and slide the B Junction inside the bottom bracket cavity.

I allow some length for the rear derailleur cable to move across all 10 gears and check that the fork can turn through full range without pulling on the cables.

Finally use the Shimano SM-EWC2 cable tape to secure the cables to the frame around the front derailleur and stem.  This keeps them out of the way and reduces the risk of damage.

SECURE CABLE NEAR HEADTUBE
SECURE CABLES NEAR FRONT DERAILLEUR

 INSTALL INTERNAL BATTERY
The Battery needs to go in the seat tube and there are a few options.  Most Di2 specific bikes have a grommet and clip retainer available to secure the battery in the seat tube.  I couldn’t find such a thing so I am going to use a flexible Polyurethane adhesive to bond the battery in place.

READY TO BOND BATTERY INSIDE SEAT POST
I spread the adhesive on both sides of the battery, inserted it against the front side of the seat tube with slight pressure to spread the Sika.  I then used a pop stick and hacksaw blade to smooth out the back side and form a fillet join between the battery and either side of the seat tube.
ADD TWO BEADS OF ADHESIVE TO THE BATTERY
INSERT BATTERY AND SMOOTH OUT ADHESIVE




















I used is Sikaflex 227 which I is used by coachbuilders for fibreglass panels.  It is flexible, dampens vibration, won’t harm the epoxy resin.  It can be sliced with a utility knife and prised or scraped loose to remove the battery.

The result is very secure.  I installed my SHIV TT battery two years ago and have ridden 10,000km with no hassles.


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