Di2 on a Ritchey Breakaway

[snicko]

Hi Folks -

Thinking of getting a (used) breakaway frame, either one of the Ti+carbon ones or the steel + carbon fork ones.

Curious if anyone has retrofitted Di2 onto one of these?

Ideally I'd like to run internal cabling but not sure about drilling holes a couple of strategic spots in the downtube and seatpost to route cabling / in out, but I suppose I can run an external battery setup . .

I'm not a huge fan of Sram and E-Tap in general and quite frankly, I've got just about all of the Di2 parts needed which is why I'm looking in this direction vs E-Tap...

[Keith A]

Moved to the General Discussion area.

[mass_biker]

I built up my breakaway with left over SRAM parts (Force/Rival). Worked fine.
I rebuilt it with eTap when I scored a reasonably cheap shifter/der set. That worked even better as far as speed of breakdown/build up is concerned. The only cable splitter I have is for the rear brake.

I'm not sure if I'll leave this set up this though. I don't travel with it as much as I originally thought - and the eTap could be used on one of my other bike builds where it would get more use.

I have considered setting this up as a 1x11 or singlespeed. The latter would make travel breakdown/setup even more simple.

[R3awak3n]

I built up my breakaway with left over SRAM parts (Force/Rival). Worked fine.
I rebuilt it with eTap when I scored a reasonably cheap shifter/der set. That worked even better as far as speed of breakdown/build up is concerned. The only cable splitter I have is for the rear brake.

I'm not sure if I'll leave this set up this though. I don't travel with it as much as I originally thought - and the eTap could be used on one of my other bike builds where it would get more use.

I have considered setting this up as a 1x11 or singlespeed. The latter would make travel breakdown/setup even more simple.

its true but in my experience its not so bad leaving the FD on. I don't have an S S but travel with my etap bike and its actually funny how much easier it is to pack and unpack over my old S S bike which was kind of a pain in the ass. Etap is just perfect for travel bikes.

That said, OP wants DI2 which I think is fine as well, easy to just disconnect a couple of cables. Bike is steel so it would be very easy to just drill some holes.

[snicko]

its true but in my experience its not so bad leaving the FD on. I don't have an S S but travel with my etap bike and its actually funny how much easier it is to pack and unpack over my old S S bike which was kind of a pain in the ass. Etap is just perfect for travel bikes.

That said, OP wants DI2 which I think is fine as well, easy to just disconnect a couple of cables. Bike is steel so it would be very easy to just drill some holes.


I was thinking of drilling. I saw the article on the one guy with a CX version that he drilled. The major concern I've got is with the butted tubes and whether its a good idea to drill into the thinner walls of the middle of the tube?

[snicko]

I built up my breakaway with left over SRAM parts (Force/Rival). Worked fine.
I rebuilt it with eTap when I scored a reasonably cheap shifter/der set. That worked even better as far as speed of breakdown/build up is concerned. The only cable splitter I have is for the rear brake.

I'm not sure if I'll leave this set up this though. I don't travel with it as much as I originally thought - and the eTap could be used on one of my other bike builds where it would get more use.

I have considered setting this up as a 1x11 or singlespeed. The latter would make travel breakdown/setup even more simple.

1x11 might be an option.. Just one cable to disconnect.

HOw's E-Tap been for you? I'm curious if I can mix a shimano crankset with E-Tap if i went down the E-Tap route.

[eddief]

I have Etap 11 Red on my coupled Curtlo with a Praxis Zyanta compact double crankset. Runs perfectly.

[oldpotatoe]

I was thinking of drilling. I saw the article on the one guy with a CX version that he drilled. The major concern I've got is with the butted tubes and whether its a good idea to drill into the thinner walls of the middle of the tube?

I'd contact Ritchey and ask about tube thickness..maybe a frame builder here, ask once armed with those numbers..I drilled my MXLeader(it was kinda knackERed, some dents already, ok?) in early 2014 for EPS and have been riding it ever since w/o any issue or problem..external battery...

[snicko]

I'd contact Ritchey and ask about tube thickness..maybe a frame builder here, ask once armed with those numbers..I drilled my MXLeader(it was kinda knackERed, some dents already, ok?) in early 2014 for EPS and have been riding it ever since w/o any issue or problem..external battery...


Ended up buidling it up with mech 11spd Ultegra and promptly reminded myself why I like Di2 so much :) I can never seem to get mech RDs to shift smoothly and quietly..

I'll give Ritchey a call next week and see what htey say about frame thickness and possibility of drilling into the frame.

[R3awak3n]

Ended up buidling it up with mech 11spd Ultegra and promptly reminded myself why I like Di2 so much :) I can never seem to get mech RDs to shift smoothly and quietly..

I'll give Ritchey a call next week and see what htey say about frame thickness and possibility of drilling into the frame.

if in one place electric is better is on travel bikes. Seriously consider etap. You can run the shimano crank on etap, it is just SO good for travel bikes.

[alterergo]

You have seen this article, right?

Featured Bike: JOM’s Ritchey Breakaway (https://gravelcyclist.com/bicycle-tech/featured-bike-joms-ritchey-breakaway-gravel-cx-rig/)

it is my inspiration when I get time to modify my Raleigh breakaway bike. I'd going with internal battery, should fit perfectly in the downtube.

[muz]

I don't get it. I have two S&S coupled bikes. One is fixed gear, just front brake. The other is a regular all-road type frame. The fixed gear takes maybe 5 minutes shorter to pack and un-pack, that's all. I mean, how long does it take to undo 3 cable couplers? I have never had to adjust anything after assembly. :confused:

[mistermo]

You have seen this article, right?

Featured Bike: JOM’s Ritchey Breakaway (https://gravelcyclist.com/bicycle-tech/featured-bike-joms-ritchey-breakaway-gravel-cx-rig/)

it is my inspiration when I get time to modify my Raleigh breakaway bike. I'd going with internal battery, should fit perfectly in the downtube.

I can't speak with any experience about Di2, but you see he's changed out the Di2 bike for one with eTap? Ive used eTap on my breakaway and also the system with cables. I have XL frame, and remove derailleur when packing bike. This is considerably easier with no derailleur cable and allows me to store it anywhere in the case that's got open space. And with a cross bike, with canti brakes up front and the proper style of stradle cable, , it's possible to remove handlebars entirely, without limitations of cables connected to brakes on the fork.

My complaint with the old fashioned, non-electronic, derailleur system is that on a system like these, the cable gets fidgety more than a set and forget bike. I was always having derailleur adjustment issues. The easier it is to pack and build, the more likely it is you'll use it. I think I've built a pretty good system. Also really nice are Ritchey wheels where the cassetted can be removed without a tool. That, too, can be stored elsewhere in the case and permits the wheels to be layered in a much more compact way.

[Clean39T]

I can't speak with any experience about Di2, but you see he's changed out the Di2 bike for one with eTap? Ive used eTap on my breakaway and also the system with cables. I have XL frame, and remove derailleur when packing bike. This is considerably easier with no derailleur cable and allows me to store it anywhere in the case that's got open space. And with a cross bike, with canti brakes up front and the proper style of stradle cable, , it's possible to remove handlebars entirely, without limitations of cables connected to brakes on the fork.



My complaint with the old fashioned, non-electronic, derailleur system is that on a system like these, the cable gets fidgety more than a set and forget bike. I was always having derailleur adjustment issues. The easier it is to pack and build, the more likely it is you'll use it. I think I've built a pretty good system. Also really nice are Ritchey wheels where the cassetted can be removed without a tool. That, too, can be stored elsewhere in the case and permits the wheels to be layered in a much more compact way.Do you find you can get a good fit on the XL? I'd love to see a side shot with your saddle height and saddle-to-bars measurement...

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[Neil]

Another vote for eTap on a Breakaway style bike, the two seem made for one another.

[Look585]

I soldered up a custom wiring harness for my Steel Di2 BreakAway:

One hole drilled up at the DT/HT junction. Unscientifically located (I guessed) below the heat affected zone of the DT/HT TIG weld and above the tube butt transition.

Two splices take the place of the 4-port junction such that the only connection is an eTube JC200 2-port junction located at the DT coupler. The splices were done with heat shrink butt connectors and sealed with adhesive heat shrink tubing. They seem pretty water resistant; however I would not take them swimming.

By utilizing the BB drain hole and dropout vent, I was able to reduce the frame modifications to a single 3mm drilling near the HT.

Here's a crude drawing:

[mistermo]

Do you find you can get a good fit on the XL? I'd love to see a side shot with your saddle height and saddle-to-bars measurement...

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I'm out of town for the next two weeks and can send a photo when I get back. The Outback has a very low stack, lower actually, than the BA Road. I'm now running a 0 rise stem and a set of those funky Specialized Hover bars with a +15mm lift to them. It works pretty well. My saddle height is 80cm and I've got only a modest amount of drop to bars.

Oh, and I snagged that ti Cross you to which you alerted me. It'll likely replace the BA Outback, in time, with eTap, of course.

[Clean39T]

I'm out of town for the next two weeks and can send a photo when I get back. The Outback has a very low stack, lower actually, than the BA Road. I'm now running a 0 rise stem and a set of those funky Specialized Hover bars with a +15mm lift to them. It works pretty well. My saddle height is 80cm and I've got only a modest amount of drop to bars.



Oh, and I snagged that ti Cross you to which you alerted me. It'll likely replace the BA Outback, in time, with eTap, of course.Nice! Was wondering about that when I saw it gone.... Maybe I'll be interested in your BA outback then [emoji6]

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