Hi everyone,
I’m still rocking a 2011 Felt B14 and I love this bike. I also tried electronic shifting and love that too. So, I’m reaching out to the ST brain trust for advice on retrofitting electronic shifting to this bike, e.g., is it possible and, if so, any recommendations on brand/model, and how difficult will this be?
I’ve looked around online and become quickly confused on what exactly would be needed. The wireless route seems more appealing if it can be done.
Thanks, as always!
The hardest part of di2 will be fitting and mounting the battery, although some sort of adapter may be available for the seatpost. Etap would be the most straightforward, assuming you don’t want to hide the blipbox.
Thanks - yeah, the skinny seat post is tricky. I’m looking more and more at the etap. Cheers!
I had the 11 speed etap setup on my Felt B16 (circa 2014) frame. No issues.
IIRC the B14 frame from that period was supposed to be di2 ready, but might require some compromises - ie an externally mounted switch box, etc depending on the aerobar setup.
But in general I’d go etap if I was you. You can hide the blipbox in a DarkSpeedWorks top tube bag or similiar.
That’s great to hear! I think I’m sold on etap - great idea on using a tube top bag for the blip box.
Thank you so much!
Having the same frame but labeled as B10 (which came with the first gen Di2)
In that case the cables was internal from the top tube to the BB, there the junction underneath with one cable goin on the chainstay to the derailleur and the battery mounted under the chainstay of the non driving side. Upper junction under the stem.
Doin it afterwards I would go etap
Tim DeBoom won the Norseman, a few years ago, with a Di2 set up on that frame type; then installation is certainly possible
.
Love that bike. Still have one myself.
You still rocking 10 speed? That’s my biggest concern going forward. It’s getting harder and harder to find 10 speed parts. Thinking about converting to 11 speed (+Di2?) and knowing what all is involved.
Love that bike. Still have one myself.
You still rocking 10 speed? That’s my biggest concern going forward. It’s getting harder and harder to find 10 speed parts. Thinking about converting to 11 speed (+Di2?) and knowing what all is involved.
Thanks everyone – this is all great feedback.
wcb: Yeah, still a 10 speed and I agree on converting to 11-speed. I think I just need the etap shifters/derailleurs. I have an 11-spd chain and an 11-speed cassette/freehub on another wheelset (for my road bike). Please let me know if I am missing anything.
Cheers!
Consider the Zipp VukaShift AXS extensions as well. They’re super clean, and mean you won’t need to hide a blip box.
Photo attached of my 2016 Felt B14 with eTap AXS. Biggest issue was having to buy a new rear wheel with the XDR free hub.
I retrofit my 2007 P2C this year with Shimano di2. I wanted to keep it simple, so I used a climbing shifter and put the battery in a top tube pack. I initially just taped the wire to the outside of the tubes, but before my recent race, I drilled the shift hole and ran the wire through the downtube and taped it to the chainstay. The whole think cost maybe $200 by buying stuff used and now it shifts … well, like electronic shifting and is great for racing.
It is definitely worth it for an old bike you like.
Consider the Zipp VukaShift AXS extensions as well. They’re super clean, and mean you won’t need to hide a blip box.
Photo attached of my 2016 Felt B14 with eTap AXS. Biggest issue was having to buy a new rear wheel with the XDR free hub.
Looks great!
Hi everyone,
I’m still rocking a 2011 Felt B14 and I love this bike. I also tried electronic shifting and love that too. So, I’m reaching out to the ST brain trust for advice on retrofitting electronic shifting to this bike, e.g., is it possible and, if so, any recommendations on brand/model, and how difficult will this be?
I’ve looked around online and become quickly confused on what exactly would be needed. The wireless route seems more appealing if it can be done.
Thanks, as always!
I have a 2010 Felt B2 that I’ve been running 11-spd ETap on for the past several years ( since ~2017 ).
Really love it on that bike. Since ETap is wireless, no issues with fussing with internal wiring, so it was a stupidly easy retrofit, so that’s definitely the way to go, IMHO.
I have the blip-box mounted to the stem ( it fits underneath my between the arms bottle cage, so it stays out of the wind, but bento box would be another good location ).
-Chris
Consider the Zipp VukaShift AXS extensions as well. They’re super clean, and mean you won’t need to hide a blip box.
Photo attached of my 2016 Felt B14 with eTap AXS. Biggest issue was having to buy a new rear wheel with the XDR free hub.
Looks great!
I agree. Really nice set up. Thanks for the input on the extensions, tri-.
Hi everyone,
I’m still rocking a 2011 Felt B14 and I love this bike. I also tried electronic shifting and love that too. So, I’m reaching out to the ST brain trust for advice on retrofitting electronic shifting to this bike, e.g., is it possible and, if so, any recommendations on brand/model, and how difficult will this be?
I’ve looked around online and become quickly confused on what exactly would be needed. The wireless route seems more appealing if it can be done.
Thanks, as always!
I have a 2010 Felt B2 that I’ve been running 11-spd ETap on for the past several years ( since ~2017 ).
Really love it on that bike. Since ETap is wireless, no issues with fussing with internal wiring, so it was a stupidly easy retrofit, so that’s definitely the way to go, IMHO.
I have the blip-box mounted to the stem ( it fits underneath my between the arms bottle cage, so it stays out of the wind, but bento box would be another good location ).
-Chris
No fussing with internal wiring sounds great to me. Thanks!
Not replying to anyone in particular.
Thanks again to everyone for the great input. I’m looking into a SRAM eTap setup and have a few follow-up questions:
eTap AXS front/rear derailleurs - what is the difference between Red/Force/Rival (other than cost)?
It looks like the eTap AXS derailleurs are designed for 12-speed (according to SRAM’s website). Will they work with an 11-speed cassette/wheelset? If not, how much effort is it to set up for 12-speed (the bike is currently set up as a 10-speed)?
Thanks!!
Not sure if you’re interested, but thought I would throw it out there.
I was in the same position with a 2018 Ridley. Last Christmas I spoiled myself with the conversion. Ultegra front and rear derailleurs, aero bar shifters, and rim brake levers for the base bar with a shift button on each. All cables, battery, both junction boxes, and a really cool junction A holder that you sandwich between headset spacers so there’s no taped or rubber band holder for junction box A. The benefit over SRAM to me is that it only needs to be charged once every 3 or 4 months at the most and it’s Shimano, so reliable and happy with other Shimano parts.
I don’t think it elevates the price of the bike as much as it’s worth stand alone, so if I’m considering parting it out and putting the old mech shifters back on the bike to sell.
Pretty low miles as I usually ride other bikes to train and just put a few rides in on the TT bike before a race of which I had just 2 this year.
DM me if you want to discuss it.
Not sure if you’re interested, but thought I would throw it out there.
I was in the same position with a 2018 Ridley. Last Christmas I spoiled myself with the conversion. Ultegra front and rear derailleurs, aero bar shifters, and rim brake levers for the base bar with a shift button on each. All cables, battery, both junction boxes, and a really cool junction A holder that you sandwich between headset spacers so there’s no taped or rubber band holder for junction box A. The benefit over SRAM to me is that it only needs to be charged once every 3 or 4 months at the most and it’s Shimano, so reliable and happy with other Shimano parts.
I don’t think it elevates the price of the bike as much as it’s worth stand alone, so if I’m considering parting it out and putting the old mech shifters back on the bike to sell.
Pretty low miles as I usually ride other bikes to train and just put a few rides in on the TT bike before a race of which I had just 2 this year.
DM me if you want to discuss it.
Hey, thanks for the info. I’m sticking with SRAM wireless setup. No more wiring cables through the bike. But, I appreciate it. 😎
For a TT or Tri bike Sram beats Shimano IMHO. Wireless for the win and easy to convert to a 1X setup if needed.
1: all AXS deraillleurs are compatible so a Rival front derailleur will work flawlessly with a Red rear derailleur. The front one is an easy way to save a few bucks as it’s the least interesting part. It should simply shift. I would advice you to go for the Force rear derailleur at least. Force and Red have a heavier spring than the Rival derailleur which will make it a better 1x conversion if needed (might as well go full aero and ditch the front mech when you don’t have much climbing to do).
2: They will only work with 12s cassettes, luckily the Shimano 12s road cassette will fit your 10/11s bodybags work fine with sram derailleurs. When using a sram cassette you’ll need a different body.
For a TT or Tri bike Sram beats Shimano IMHO. Wireless for the win and easy to convert to a 1X setup if needed.
1: all AXS deraillleurs are compatible so a Rival front derailleur will work flawlessly with a Red rear derailleur. The front one is an easy way to save a few bucks as it’s the least interesting part. It should simply shift. I would advice you to go for the Force rear derailleur at least. Force and Red have a heavier spring than the Rival derailleur which will make it a better 1x conversion if needed (might as well go full aero and ditch the front mech when you don’t have much climbing to do).
2: They will only work with 12s cassettes, luckily the Shimano 12s road cassette will fit your 10/11s bodybags work fine with sram derailleurs. When using a sram cassette you’ll need a different body.
Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed to know. It looks like I’ll be jumping from a 10s to a 12s - sweet! Although, I’m definitely keeping the 2x up front. Lots of hills around here and I tend to aim for them. Cheers!