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My First Bike Build pt2 : Di Wires Fit

macrophotofly

Maximum Pace
Aug 27, 2012
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Well the parts have all turned up (okay apart from the wheels which are stuck in customs for some reason....and one GP4000s tyre*) so I spent an hour or three on Sunday afternoon fitting the Di cables** inside the frame.
I bought the SM-JC41 Internal wire routing set which comprised of a tiny junction box (think match box but 50% smaller in all dimensions), Battery holder with long bracket (you can't get the set with a short bracket so I had planned cutting the long bracket after the two closest holes however on closer inspection it would mean slightly reaming out the first of these to sink the screw beneath the surface or it would interfere with the battery)...
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....and four wires (1200mm, 750mm,650mm and 300mm). The internal wires have plastic cable-tie-like attachments every 10cm to stop the wires rattling around inside the frame. The wires have to be inserted the right way into the frame to make the most of these.
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I quickly established the 1200mm wire was overkill for my medium sized bike and that the 300mm wire would work for either the battery or the FD given both items were in close proximity to the BB where the junction box is housed. I decided to run round to Y's in Shinjuku to get another 300mm wire and while I was there inquired about the short battery holder. Turns out they sell the short bracket as a spare :) (simple unscrew long bracket from battery holder and screw in the short bracket - far better solution than my cutting/reaming plan).

The basic wiring approach is this -
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With a GXP BB the wires can be left as above - they would have been shielded from the rotating crankshaft. With a BB30 there is no shield so the wires have to be routed between the metal BB and the carbon frame. You can just see that in the picture below.
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Note, that I decided to place my junction box in the bottom of the seat tube (above BB) to give the battery wire a little more length. This was because of a problem caused by the location of the battery holder mounts on the frame.
Boardman mount them on the top of the left stay, whereas other manufacturers, if mounting on the left stay mount it underneath. Boardman may have thought they were being clever by doing this (less mud/water thrown up), but the battery holder has a gate that must be opened to take the battery out. If you fit the battery holder with the wire end closest to the frame wire hole then the gate opens... ..into the wheel:eek:. Open to ideas here, if anyone has them, but I ended up mounting it with the wire to the rear and a longer wire run to the frame, to avoid that problem
p1523611832-2.jpg

Here's that gate opening from above (see how it would have interfered with the wheel if it had been the other way round) -
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Final items were the grommets that make the fit look far more professional -
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Next up is fitting the BB30......


**(thanks to Owen for pointing out I needed to fit them before the BB30)

NOOB Mistakes so far
1. *Ordered only one tyre - forgot to change the quantity from one to two before hitting the order button :rolleyes:
2. Rather than measuring the frame seat tube diameter, I read it off the plastic transit bung:oops: (its obvious to me, now, that it is flexible enough to fit all seat post diameters, but wasn't at the time). An apology to Tim later, and at the weekend I picked up the right size seat post from GSA
3. Di Wire set is too large - I now have a spare 1200mm wire if anyone needs one! Instead I could have ordered the wires, junction box and short battery holder each independantly. The best wire lengths for a similar Medium frame would have been 850mm, 700mm, 350mm, 350mm
 
The frame was shown here.

 
Note, that I decided to place my junction box in the bottom of the seat tube (above BB) to give the battery wire a little more length. This was because of a problem caused by the location of the battery holder mounts on the frame.
Boardman mount them on the top of the left stay, whereas other manufacturers, if mounting on the left stay mount it underneath. Boardman may have thought they were being clever by doing this (less mud/water thrown up), but the battery holder has a gate that must be opened to take the battery out. If you fit the battery holder with the wire end closest to the frame wire hole then the gate opens... ..into the wheel:eek:. Open to ideas here, if anyone has them, but I ended up mounting it with the wire to the rear and a longer wire run to the frame, to avoid that problem
p1523611832-2.jpg

Here's that gate opening from above (see how it would have interfered with the wheel if it had been the other way round)

Hmm. I would have mounted it as intended. The battery is not something you need to charge every ride, and as long as the opening gate thing is not hitting the wheel as it spins round, I reckon you would be fine.
 
I do not know how long they are supposed to keep a charge, but I road a Felt Z4 a year ago with Di2 and asked the owner how often he has to charge it... his answer surprised me with less than 2 times a year.
If that is true, then I would not care about the clearance. When you charge the battery, clean the bike with the wheels off?
 
Good to see another Boardman!
I hope Boardman have sorted their internal cable routing. (Air 9.8)
Mine went back under warrantee! New frame seems to have a different FD cable outlet than before.
 
What wheels did you get?
Shimano D-A9000 C24's - ....and there's got to be some irony that the japanese wheels have got stuck, in customs, coming "back into" the country
Hmm. I would have mounted it as intended. The battery is not something you need to charge every ride, and as long as the opening gate thing is not hitting the wheel as it spins round, I reckon you would be fine.
I did wonder about that, but by my calculations the gate was going to hit the wheel and not just the spokes. As soon as I have the wheels I'll check. It will be pretty easy to reverse the battery and hide the wire in the frame if it turns out you are right.
I agree with bloaker that I won't need to charge it very often, but taking a wheel off to access battery feels a bit naff. For the new D-A battery (which I could change to later and requires buying the PC interface to upgrade the software version), they've put it inside the seat post (it's pencil shaped). You then have two choices for charging - a USB port mounted on a new stem-mounted junction box or taking the seat out
Good to see another Boardman!
I hope Boardman have sorted their internal cable routing. (Air 9.8)
Mine went back under warrantee! New frame seems to have a different FD cable outlet than before.
You could say they've sorted it out.... they've removed it! This new di2 frame (they'll be selling alongside the non-di version is my understanding) removes all but the top tube back brake internal routing to save a tiny bit more weight. Just the 6x8mm holes for the wires in the frame. The fact its so new is causing me some of the aforementioned challenges as there are no physical examples of the Di2 Boardman's in Japan yet and even photos of the 9.0s and 9.2s are hard to come by other than the one on the Boardman website. I'm not even sure when the official release date is of the di2 9.8 - I know one dealer built one up in the Uk, because it was on the company facebook page, but he's since removed it
Great to catch up with another Boardman rider! - very interested to see how much more mine will weigh than yours by the time I finish
 
I have just had one thought - Boardman are a UK brand and given everything that isn't secured usually gets stolen in five-seconds-flat in London, maybe they deliberately aligned the battery gate with the wheel rim? That way you can't remove the battery without a spanner, reducing its steal-ability. I might drop them a note to find out if that was in fact the case....
 
For the new D-A battery (which I could change to later and requires buying the PC interface to upgrade the software version), they've put it inside the seat post (it's pencil shaped). You then have two choices for charging - a USB port mounted on a new stem-mounted junction box or taking the seat out

Actually, that is incorrect, I had the same notion until I bought the internal battery for myself.
The port in the front junction is not a USB port, it's a non-standard port, which means you have to buy the charger made for the internal battery. The charger on the otherhand is powered via a USB port. While this might seem stupid, the upside is that you can preform software upgrades and change the settings just by connecting the charger to a computer, no need to buy the PC interface. (The charger is way cheaper!)
Also, you can only charge the battery this way, removing the battery from the seatpost wont do you any good since it wont fit in the old charger. You need the front junction (or the Alfine display junction with the same charging port) to be able to charge it.

Just thought I let you know in case you where thinking of going down that route (which I definitely recommend btw)
 
Saibot - Thanks for the info. Think I'll stay with my battery version in that case. Bike lives in the secure garage and I don't fancy having to lug the whole bike upstairs just to plug into a charger! (even if it is twice a year). Still if I was back in London having the battery hidden inside would be worth it to reduce pilfering and my garage has power so different ball game there!
 
That's a fair argument, no doubt!

Awesome SLR btw, my friend back home swears by his SLR9.8 (mechanical). He's taking it into elite competition this year too. Great choice.
Good luck with the build. And as an owner of 9000 c24, I have to say, your build is not gonna disappoint!
 
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