the r-910 di2 bar end

hi folks, looking to crossgrade my bike to r8000 ultegra Di2, and am thinking about the bar end junction, but because my bars are carbon i'm not sure about drilling them. what did you do if you fitted this?

Comments

  • In the end I sold my carbon bars and bought the di2 pro vibe ones in Alu. Still haven't got round to actually getting the bar end switch sorted....

    Ultimately you only need to drill a tiny hole about 1 inch in from the tip, which makes little to no difference to their structural integrity (plus you rarely put pressure there anyway).

    Does impact resale value.

    The other trick is to drill them right by the shifters, but I wouldn't want to do that myself regardless of the type of bar.
  • Well... it depends on the bars you have. If they have holes on the inside (stem side) next to the shifters then you do not need to drill a hole at all and you can run everything through the bars.

    This is what I did (all through the bars):





    I run BetterShifting.com - Di2 help / tips / guides
  • As mentioned, the alu Pro Vibe bars have a slot at the ends of the bar. You effectively pop the wire out of this slot from the control unit and route it up on the outside of your bar to the shifter. Sounds horrid, but it's actually fine- you barely feel the wire under the bar tape, and forget it's even there....


  • This is what I did (all through the bars):



    Is that the D-Fly unit in the left hand side? Weird- I always thought it had to be in series? Interesting. Mine's in-line somewhere in the downtube....

  • As mentioned, the alu Pro Vibe bars have a slot at the ends of the bar. You effectively pop the wire out of this slot from the control unit and route it up on the outside of your bar to the shifter. Sounds horrid, but it's actually fine- you barely feel the wire under the bar tape, and forget it's even there....

    That makes sense. I wasn't sure if the bars were drilled by the levers as well.

    All this to me says you may as well just drill your carbon bars as it really makes so little difference to anything.

    See the videos on YouTube.


  • This is what I did (all through the bars):



    Is that the D-Fly unit in the left hand side? Weird- I always thought it had to be in series? Interesting. Mine's in-line somewhere in the downtube....

    Nope! It's fine if you just connect one end of it. The only thing Shimano say is that it should not be inside the frame or handlebars (but it's fine in 99% of the cases).

    I run BetterShifting.com - Di2 help / tips / guides
  • phil485
    phil485 Posts: 364
    Yup D-fly can be anywhere in the system and connected only on one end. I have 2 in seatposts and they seem to work ok. Not advised by Shimano though.

    Similarly I have drilled a set of bars for a bar end jct box and not had any issues. So much nicer looking than under the stem. again it won't he recommended by your bar manufacturer but I was prepared to take the risk in my case
  • Never knew that about the D-Fly. Ah well, mine can stay down in the depths of the downtube. Similarly, never had an issue with it being inside the frame other than a bit of rattling (even with the usual mini zip-tie fix). I've taken to stuffing small cell bubble wrap down the downtube these days lol. Works a treat.