Drilling a Ti Frame for Di2?

[jmeloy]

Hi all, can you give me some thoughts on doing this? Who can do it, is it advisable?
Thanks!


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[eddief]

my guess is there will not be room for the wires to get past the bottom bracket coming from the front of the bike.

the perfect situation for ETAP. try it, you'll like it.

[kppolich]

Hi all, can you give me some thoughts on doing this? Who can do it, is it advisable?
Thanks!


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Thoughts? eTap

[Clean39T]

my guess is there will not be room for the wires to get past the bottom bracket coming from the front of the bike.

the perfect situation for ETAP. try it, you'll like it.

Unless you're running a 30mm spindle in a BSA 68mm shell, there will be plenty of room for the wires to go past the BB spindle.

You need three holes, one for the FD wire, one for the RD wire, and one for the entry point.

Litespeed has the best solution, IMHO. See the pic below where the headtube cable stops can be removed to open a port for the Di2 wire. If I were drilling a hole up front, that's how I would do it.

In the back, you could probably just have the wires exit the bottom of the BB shell where the cable guide screws in - tape the rear one under the chainstay to run it out the back and the front one just tucks up behind the seat-tube. Or have the RD cable stop shaved off and a hole drilled there so you can feed the wire down the inside of the chainstay and out that hole.

Good luck!

https://www.slowtwitch.com/articles/images/8/132568-largest_Litespeed2015new2.jpg

[eddief]

!

Unless you're running a 30mm spindle in a BSA 68mm shell, there will be plenty of room for the wires to go past the BB spindle.

You need three holes, one for the FD wire, one for the RD wire, and one for the entry point.

Litespeed has the best solution, IMHO. See the pic below where the headtube cable stops can be removed to open a port for the Di2 wire. If I were drilling a hole up front, that's how I would do it.

In the back, you could probably just have the wires exit the bottom of the BB shell where the cable guide screws in - tape the rear one under the chainstay to run it out the back and the front one just tucks up behind the seat-tube. Or have the RD cable stop shaved off and a hole drilled there so you can feed the wire down the inside of the chainstay and out that hole.

Good luck!

https://www.slowtwitch.com/articles/images/8/132568-largest_Litespeed2015new2.jpg

[Clean39T]

As for "who can do it" - try TiCycles: https://www.ticycles.com/services#retrofit

They list Di2 retrofit as a service, and Dave Levy (the guy behind it all) has been working on titanium longer than most.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/576db62a725e2552c362fdba/1483657244373-YKZ364RML60Y27J3GZP8/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kL3VKmwKI3leYB51VJjLFB8UqsxRUq qbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIII bLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKcgK5SGg9Ovb1yloBBOHcruw _mYLfAhRzzgArFCB07Dw0L8n4JypuoE5Tg6Wg5Oyvs/services-di2-retrofit-titanium3.JPG?format=1000w

That frame is an interesting one -- I think it's a Litespeed Vortex front end with some retrofitted monostay in the back.. Or else Ti Cycles got ahold of the same tubes that Litespeed was using in the years before the T1SL came out.

[jmeloy]

Good stuff gang. I have a good set of Di2 I could use.



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[oldpotatoe]

my guess is there will not be room for the wires to get past the bottom bracket coming from the front of the bike.

the perfect situation for ETAP. try it, you'll like it.

Depends on the frame. My EPS wires had no problem getting by/under my BB on my Merckx.

And, just for info..not titanium but I think more forgiving..I drilled the holes for EXTERNAL battery EPS into my knackered Merckx MXLeader..Been riding it since Feb 2014..no issues.

[echappist]

As for "who can do it" - try TiCycles: https://www.ticycles.com/services#retrofit

They list Di2 retrofit as a service, and Dave Levy (the guy behind it all) has been working on titanium longer than most.


Yep. He is the person I contacted for my retrofit. The prices are quite reasonable as well.

[shoota]

Good stuff gang. I have a good set of Di2 I could use.



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Anybody with the correct drill bit can do it. My buddy drilled his Ti Warbird for Di2 and it worked perfectly.

[Butch]

When you go through the bb shell make sure there is room where the drive side bb cup threads in and the vent hole. Also the grommits the Di2 comes with are for thicker material than a ti tube, they work but are loose fitting. Jagwire makes ones for thinner tubing and I believe they use a different drilled hole diameter.

[Cat3roadracer]

If you choose to do this tonight, perhaps after a few 7&7's, please post pictures.

[notsew]

People are so precious about stuff. I can't imagine how this could possibly be problematic.

Buy a nice new carbide bit for it.

[roguedog]

If you choose to do this tonight, perhaps after a few 7&7's, please post pictures.

This made me chuckle!

DRILL! DRILL! oops...

1697990448

[Jere]

This made me chuckle!

DRILL! DRILL! oops...

1697990448

They forgot the head tube and handle bars Ha Ha
Back on subject
I’m a long time Sram hater but this year I had my last Mechanical bike break a shifter.
All my bikes are Electronic now except my fixed gear, Old Grumpy hands.
Out of my 15,000 miles I put 3000 miles on a Sram WiFi and it worked faultless.
Shimano components and Sram Red chain

[David Kirk]

Where will you stuff the cable junction box?

dave

[eddief]

in the shell under the bb and stuff the box at the bottom of the downtube...or is the opening there too small?

Where will you stuff the cable junction box?

dave

[David Kirk]

in the shell under the bb and stuff the box at the bottom of the downtube...or is the opening there too small?

Due to the shape/size of the box and the way the wires plug in to the end of it I can't picture how it could fit within the BB shell while the bearing unit is in there. They typically need to be pushed up into the down tube and on most tigged metal bikes the hole from the BB into the down tube will not be near large enough to allow the box with wires plugged in to fit through.

dave

[tv_vt]

Yep. He is the person I contacted for my retrofit. The prices are quite reasonable as well.

And they were who I thought of immediately when I saw the OP's question. Ti Cycles built a ti quill stem for me. It came out perfectly. Good shop.

[P K]

Due to the shape/size of the box and the way the wires plug in to the end of it I can't picture how it could fit within the BB shell while the bearing unit is in there. They typically need to be pushed up into the down tube and on most tigged metal bikes the hole from the BB into the down tube will not be near large enough to allow the box with wires plugged in to fit through.

dave

You could put the B-junction in the seat tube.

[echappist]

You could put the B-junction in the seat tube.

or the down tube, for that matter

[David Kirk]

You could put the B-junction in the seat tube.

That could work.....you'd need to use really long wires from the other areas so that they could all be long enough to come out of the seat tube to get clicked into the B-box but that should work.

I'd for sure want to secure the post-battery wire very well to the B-box so it can't come unclicked if you pull the post out. It would suck to have that wire mess stuffed down into the lower seat tube and not be able to get it out!

dave

[Gummee]

I would have a tendency to bet that one of Shimano's new new things here in the next year is going to be wireless Di2 so unless you HAVE to have that bike Di2 RIGHT NOW, hold off for a bit.

No, I don't have any insider info, but I DO have a hunch

M

[FriarQuade]

People are so precious about stuff. I can't imagine how this could possibly be problematic.

Buy a nice new carbide bit for it.

Carbide in hand tools is asking for trouble. It's a great material for cutting tools but if everything isn't locked down it's pretty unforgiving and you'll be snapping your $50 drill bit in the blink of an eye. Titanium doesn't require carbide by any means, especially for just a couple holes. A center drill is perfect for holes in round tubes.

[tomato coupe]

Carbide in hand tools is asking for trouble. It's a great material for cutting tools but if everything isn't locked down it's pretty unforgiving and you'll be snapping your $50 drill bit in the blink of an eye. Titanium doesn't require carbide by any means, especially for just a couple holes. A center drill is perfect for holes in round tubes.

Yep, I'd go with cobalt (M42). Titanium work hardens, so try not to let the drill dwell.

[morrisericd]

Just an FYI...

This thread made me think about drilling my new(ish) to me Routt RSL. I called Moots and:

1. They will do it for a reasonable price. I think it was $100.
2. They told me their dropouts are a maze and that I would never (unless I was really lucky) be able to drill in the right spots to connect the top of the stay to the back of the dropout.

I've decided to hold off for now as I'm making my current setup work, and while the drilling part is inexpensive, when you add in a refinish (required, I believe) and shipping it's around $500.

[oldpotatoe]

I would have a tendency to bet that one of Shimano's new new things here in the next year is going to be wireless Di2 so unless you HAVE to have that bike Di2 RIGHT NOW, hold off for a bit.

No, I don't have any insider info, but I DO have a hunch

M

Like no threadless headsets and until fairly recently, no BB30 cranks, I doubt it.
shimano does it their own way.
I think they are going to be all in on 12s, with a 'smart' front der ala XTR, but still wired(maybe only 1 shifter)..at least the ders..'maybe' wireless shifters talking to ders but still hardwired ders to battery..

[eippo1]

Anybody with the correct drill bit can do it. My buddy drilled his Ti Warbird for Di2 and it worked perfectly.I have a Ti Warbird and was thinking about using the new water cage mount for the internal battery. Really slick looking and could be used as a b-junction as well. Already have cables along the top tube so I'll just run the wire along, drop down and then around for the rear derailleur.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/shimano-sm-btc1-di2-bottle-cage-battery-mount


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[C40_guy]

Out of my 15,000 miles I put 3000 miles on a Sram WiFi and it worked faultless.
Shimano components and Sram Red chain

SRAM WiFi? Where do you stash the router?

:)