Having built numerous Di2 bikes, we as a shop have become very comfortable with the new electronic shifting from Shimano. Up until now we have built up frames that are “factory” built for the new electronic group, or in come cases custom drilled like our Lynskey Road Bike we built. So what does factory built mean exacltly? Basically that means there are holes made large enough for the wiring required to hook up the Di2 Groupo. Here is an example:
We have also built up numerous Di2 bikes that have not been factory “set-up” but this usually involves running many wires outside the bike. This doesn’t seem to bother most cyclists, but there are some, that like going “all the way.” We were hesitant to do anything like this because we didn’t want to void the warranty on a customers bike who just spent thousands of dollars on; but worry no more! We talked with Cervelo and not only are they totally cool with the idea of drilling into frames (in the right places) but they have told us it will NOT void your warranty- this is when Project Cervelo P3 was started. We had two individuals with Cervelo P3′s that wanted to put Di2 on their bikes, so one very long night later we have two of the most impressive time trial bikes to leave the shop. Below an explanation of how we went about this project will be explained, but for those of you who like instant gratification here is a couple of the finished project:
To the naked eye this bike looks pretty similar to any other Cervelo P3, but the suble details are what makes the big difference. Now into the details: first, we had to get the cable from the front shifters to the main junction box in the rear. The existing hole for the rear derailleur was too small to accomodate the wiring so a small amount of drilling was done. We didn’t open up the hole too large so that conventional cable and housing couldn’t be put back on the bike. Here is the finished result.
In order to run the cable through the hole (pictured above) we had to cut off the head of the wire and do some good old fashion soldering. Here is a picture of this portion of the project:
After getting the wire run from the shifters to the wiring harness we now had to run a wire from the wiring harness to the rear derailleur. No drilling was required for this particular part but we did have to do more soldering.
After a little finish work here and there the bike is basically done. The only wires actually showing are the ones coming out from the shifters to the front wiring harness to the frame and then the small amount of cable from the battery and front derailleur to the rear wiring harness. Here is the final result:
