Upgrade Di2 with wireless, is it worth it?

Allabaah

Looking at upgrading my existing Ultegra Di2 with a Shimano EW-WU111 Bluetooth wireless unit which apparently requires a new battery type (BT-DN110).

Has anyone upgraded via this approach and is it worth it?

BTW I'm only a Joe with an active interest in electronics!

brownian

If it ain't broke.... If you already have Di2, I can't see the point. I've had both eTap and Di2, and TBH prefer the Di2....

Allabaah

brownian wrote: »

If it ain't broke.... If you already have Di2, I can't see the point. I've had both eTap and Di2, and TBH prefer the Di2....

Battery ran out on me on the weekend as it must have been depleted majorly during the week i.e. leaning against another bike and shifters depressed :mad:

Anyway other than having the battery level shown on my Garmin, looking for other "gems" to spend money

CrowdedHouse

If you just want battery/gears etc displayed on the Garmin you could try to find the old EWW01 (maybe ebay etc - they are around the same price as the newer type though)

at1withmyself

Allabaah wrote: »

Battery ran out on me on the weekend as it must have been depleted majorly during the week i.e. leaning against another bike and shifters depressed :mad:

Anyway other than having the battery level shown on my Garmin, looking for other "gems" to spend money

I have it and wired it into the frame downtube which works well and looks neat. However the wireless function in near pointless in my opinion as you can do everything from a laptop instead of your phone at home. Never have I thought I need to adjust the gear set-up out on the road, has anyone?

For me the selling point was displaying gear info on my garmin, displays what gear your in and shows battery level. That and the fact that I upgraded my frame so seemed the right time to do it.

Nice gadget but Shimano should have this function built in as standard on Di2 on one of the shifters or the junction box. Just be aware as you'll have to buy extra Di2 wires so factor them costs in too.

fat bloke

brownian wrote: »

If it ain't broke.... If you already have Di2, I can't see the point. I've had both eTap and Di2, and TBH prefer the Di2....

Be interested to hear why. I don't have either but in theoretical shopping land I walk past the di2 aisle and head straight for the sram stuff.

Luxman

I did a bit of sniffing around on this idea too, but I would have to upgrade my battery, buy the yoke and the extra cable, was going towards 200 Euro!! To see my battery level and gears??!! Don't think so. Firmware updates via a PC, I can 'feel' my cadence and adjust accordingly and sure if I get stuck in a 52/18 (due to battery dying), so what?

Allabaah

at1withmyself wrote: »

I have it and wired it into the frame downtube which works well and looks neat. However the wireless function in near pointless in my opinion as you can do everything from a laptop instead of your phone at home. Never have I thought I need to adjust the gear set-up out on the road, has anyone?

For me the selling point was displaying gear info on my garmin, displays what gear your in and shows battery level. That and the fact that I upgraded my frame so seemed the right time to do it.

Nice gadget but Shimano should have this function built in as standard on Di2 on one of the shifters or the junction box. Just be aware as you'll have to buy extra Di2 wires so factor them costs in too.

Agree that it should be standard and noted on the additional cable.

Allabaah

Luxman wrote: »

I did a bit of sniffing around on this idea too, but I would have to upgrade my battery, buy the yoke and the extra cable, was going towards 200 Euro!! To see my battery level and gears??!! Don't think so. Firmware updates via a PC, I can 'feel' my cadence and adjust accordingly and sure if I get stuck in a 52/18 (due to battery dying), so what?

Yea, all told its around the €200 mark for battery, new cable & wireless unit .....

Was looking for motivation to spend some cash but I'm not convinced its worth it!

CrowdedHouse

Lads - again if you just want the display on the Garmin you do not need a new battery, but you will have to source an EWW01. The newer wireless units will not work with the older battery.

The biggest advantage of the new battery is that it gives Synchro shifting and phone/tablet access for programming.

Allabaah

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Lads - again if you just want the display on the Garmin you do not need a new battery, but you will have to source an EWW01. The newer wireless units will not work with the older battery.

The biggest advantage of the new battery is that it gives Synchro shifting and phone/tablet access for programming.

Ah get ya now .... a bit slow!!

Found a video on the installation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DNXvXzEpLA

However they are not that widely available!

jamesd

Allabaah wrote: »

Ah get ya now .... a bit slow!!

Found a video on the installation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DNXvXzEpLA

However they are not that widely available!

https://www.bike24.com/p2164034.html

Does say this though -
Attention: The new integrated BT-DN110 battery or the external battery mount (BM-DN100) is strictly required.

2 Wheels Good

brownian wrote: »

If it ain't broke.... If you already have Di2, I can't see the point. I've had both eTap and Di2, and TBH prefer the Di2....

What do you prefer with the Di2 over eTap?

Amprodude

Waste of time. Anything electrical on a bike in this country WILL give trouble at some point. Can't beat the manual gear shifting. Pretty neat and you can depend on it. I had di2 before and it was nothing but trouble. I wouldn't touch it.