Removing rear wheel on Di2 equipped bike

Livewire

Hello,

What is the correct way to remove the rear wheel if your bike is fitted with Di2? I assume you are not supposed to grab the derailleur and pull it forwards to get the chain off of the cassette?

Asking as I don't want to cause any damage.

Thanks

sh3p

I just remove the wheel as i normally would, never considered it would be any different, if the rear mech needs pulling back then thats what i do, try to ensure Im in the small ring at the front to relieve some tension on the mech but do that on the mechanical gear set..removed it more times than i can think of without issue.

StillGoing

With the new Di2 its a pain and virtually impossible without pulling the RD backwards as it won't do inner ring and smallest sprockets on the cassette.

bbrap

I just put the chain on the smallest gear on the cassette and drop the wheel out (I never bother with small chainring). The cassette will move the derailleur back slightly as it passes the jockey wheel portion. That movement is just against the spring tension so will not cause any problems. Putting it back is easier if you pull the mech back slightly with a spare finger whilst locating the wheel in the dropouts.

StillGoing

bbrap wrote:

I just put the chain on the smallest gear on the cassette and drop the wheel out (I never bother with small chainring). The cassette will move the derailleur back slightly as it passes the jockey wheel portion.

Try it with Ultegra R8050, simply won't have it.

bbrap

philthy3 wrote:

bbrap wrote:

I just put the chain on the smallest gear on the cassette and drop the wheel out (I never bother with small chainring). The cassette will move the derailleur back slightly as it passes the jockey wheel portion.

Try it with Ultegra R8050, simply won't have it.

Are you saying that on R8050 the jockey wheel portion does not pivot under spring tension? Because that would be a quite radical departure from all the other Di2 setups that i have worked on. Which bit on 8050 does not move?

StillGoing

bbrap wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

bbrap wrote:

I just put the chain on the smallest gear on the cassette and drop the wheel out (I never bother with small chainring). The cassette will move the derailleur back slightly as it passes the jockey wheel portion.

Try it with Ultegra R8050, simply won't have it.

Are you saying that on R8050 the jockey wheel portion does not pivot under spring tension? Because that would be a quite radical departure from all the other Di2 setups that i have worked on. Which bit on 8050 does not move?

No, I'm saying outer ring on the front and smallest gear that you can get on the cassette, isn't enough to get the rear wheel out without pulling back on the derailleur. With a BB mounted rear brake, it is even worse. Modern Di2s restriction on being able to go small small with the chain line, has made rear wheel removal a problem for many.

drexel1975

I removed my back wheel today without any problem. Small ring at the front and the rear as low as it would go which was the third sprocket. Had to pull the derailleur back to put the wheel back on but this is normal.

StillGoing

drexel1975 wrote:

I removed my back wheel today without any problem. Small ring at the front and the rear as low as it would go which was the third sprocket. Had to pull the derailleur back to put the wheel back on but this is normal.

With R8050 or old Di2? New Di2 won't let you go small/small.

Shimano have decided that small/small is incompatible with the new Ultegra and Dura Ace Di2, so restrict movement to about the 3rd or 4th smallest sprocket on the cassette when in the inner chain ring. The reason is because of the rear derailleur design. For those that size the chain length bu going small/small, this would virtually wrench the rear derailleur off when in the big ring and going for the bigger sprockets of the cassette. You can fool it by using the ETube program and altering your gearing and downloading a file, but what a lot of messing around to remove your rear wheel, especially if out on the road.

drexel1975

With the new 8050 Di2. As I explained I wasn't in small/small but in small/3rd small. Bike is new and has the original chain on it so I don't know which method was used to size the chain but it was no more difficult than the old 6800 I had on my other bike. I only had to gently ease the derailleur to relieve the spring tension and get the wheel back on.

svetty

If you pull the mech back too much you just increase the chain tension which makes it harder to remove the wheel. Easing the mech back is all you need.