Shimano r7000 to di2

jpower

Hi,

Want to see if I can convert my current shimano r7000 (hydralic disc) groupset to di2?

Would I be able to just change the levers, front and rear derauiler plus battery and di2 cables?
Rather then current series could I buy older revision?

Any direction would be great.

Oh and my frame is di2 compatible.

whyamihere

Yes. The current crankset, cassette and chain will all be compatible, and as long as you select 11 speed components, older revisions will work. I believe (though would advise checking specific part compatibility) that all 11 speed stuff is cross-compatible, so you could choose current generation shifters/brakes with older generation derailleurs for example.

jpower

No need to change the r7000 hydraulic disc, connections would be same to either 6870 or 8070 levers?

pilot_pete

You will be able to use the brake calipers. Just connect your existing hoses to the new shifters. Don’t forget you will need Junction A and B connectors.

There are various options for Junction A out there, 3 or 5 port depending on if you want sprint/ climber shifters as well, or the newer bar end junction A. Then you either need the Y cable to join between bar end and your shifters, or extra individual cables.

If your bar isn’t hollow all the way through it is more difficult to use the bar end junction box as you will have to drill holes in it to route the cable.

Regarding the battery, if you are going for the internal cylindrical battery to house in the seatpost, depending on the shape of your seatpost you may need an additional fitting kit, or home made improvisation to make it stay in the seatpost and not rattle it’s way out and down your seat tube.

I would go for the later updated internal battery. This supports the use of the internal blue tooth sender unit, which merely plugs inline somewhere in your setup. With this you can pair your di2 to for example, a Garmin head unit. You can then have a rear cassette display on the head unit showing which cog is selected (which I find very useful on my ‘base’ page). It also allows you to use the hidden buttons on the shifters to page between Garmin head unit pages, which saves you having to swipe the touchscreen, particularly useful in winter with thick gloves on).

If you do go for the Bluetooth sender you will need an additional cable to put it into the system, so work out suitable lengths to incorporate it. You can just go for long cables and hide them all inside the frame, but I like to get at least close to the actual lengths required as it is a bit neater. If you go for the older style junction A which you attach to the underside of your stem, you want to get the right length cables to go from it to the shifters as you don’t want excess cable bundled up under your bar tape.

Take a look at the Dealer Manual for the di2 groupset items you buy, it shows how to route the junction A to shifter cables as they need a little ‘S’ bend by the shifter to allow for a little movement, so the cable will need to be long enough to allow for this.

If you go for the under stem Junction A, it comes with an ugly rubber strap to wrap around the stem. Obviously it will work with this, but a neater solution is to glue the Junction A mount bracket to the underside of your stem. The Junction A box clips into and out of this mount.

Depending on setup choice and where the di2 cable enters your frame, you may end up with quite a length of cable dangling free from say the Junction A box to the frame entry point. If you work out the routing for this before hand, you may be able to pair it up with your rear disc brake pipe. If you put a length of heat shrink over the two before you connect them up, you can trim it and then heat shrink them together once the final run is decided. Alternatively, I have used spiral cable wrap to hold them together neatly and to protect the brake hose from the underside of my k-edge Garmin mount which the brake hose was going to rub against constantly.

Hope this helps.

PP

jpower

PP thanks for the detailed write up, my +1 is di2 so that all makes sense to me.

I was adding up the costs and sadly think i'm gonna have to leave the r7000 alone, but time will tell, at least I know theie is a way.

BetterShifting_Terry

jpower said:

No need to change the r7000 hydraulic disc, connections would be same to either 6870 or 8070 levers?

If you do decide to make the jump, be aware that 6870 is a rim brake group ;-)

jpower

Got it thank you. Every few days I keep looking and stop saying it's too much, I will fall one day.