# Who has the most miles on Di2? What issues?



## miataeric (Jun 4, 2013)

I've got a couple more months before I have the funds saved up to buy the drivetrain for my Lynskey Di2 build, and have been doing some reading in this forum about those with Di2. I'm just curious how many miles folks have on any version of Di2 at this point, and any issues that you've had and how they were remedied? I've read about some battery drain issues and a derailleur solenoid issue or two, but what else? Has anyone used the flat bar climbing shifters in combo with the regular "brifters?"

FWIW, I'll be going with 6870 for my build.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

Yes to all of your questions. Two di2 bikes, one with 7970, one with 9070. The 9070 has the extra climbing buttons. The 7970 has home brew cateye hacked buttons. Zero issues with both. I got the 7970 when it first came out ( 3-4 years ago), I do about 7k km per year including indoor.


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## thumper8888 (Apr 7, 2009)

Ditto, have 7970 on one bike, 9070 on the other...
Running an aftermarket internal battery on the 10-speed, and the factory internal on the 11-speed. Only quirks Ive noticed are:
1) the factory battery doesnt hold as much juice as the aftermarket, which I must admit has pretty high capacity
2) when in big ring of 11-s, the rear downshift from largest cog to next-largest is less than ideal. But of course I shouldnt be in the big ring, I know that.
Running sprinter shifters with 11-s, no issues with them after an initially accidental downshift or two just getting used to where they are. At this point, probably 8,000-8,000 miles on 10-s, and prob 2,000 miles on 11-s.


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## miataeric (Jun 4, 2013)

Thumper, who makes an aftermarket battery, and does it function the same (i.e. charging via the handlebar junction) as the Shimano one? Also, what is the cost difference? I've been kicking back and forth between internal/external battery...


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## bikingmeditation (Apr 23, 2013)

I don't have a lot of miles (just got it) but here's my thoughts on my Ultegra 6870 Di2:

1. Rode it in freezing rain (that turned to hail) and it shifted flawlessly. No hitch, no delay. It also was flawless the next day and every day since. This thing can handle bad weather (unlike me. After 2.5 hours in freezing rain/hail I was done).

2. The shifting into the big ring on the front is magical. Even under load it shifts instantly. Has to be tried to be believed.

3. The auto-trim is fantastic. I can shift into a wider number of gears in the back and not worry about trimming the front

4. Shifting quickly into the small ring on front can be done fearlessly - there will be NO dropped chains. *I tried* For testing purposes, I did everything that normally leads to a dropped chain, but the brilliant design protects against this (when you shift down, the derailleur pushes back against the chain for a split second before moving into the full inner-ring position. This stops drops)

5. The limit screws took a few adjustments before "settling" in. My LBS set everything up perfectly so I had smooth, exact shifts. But after a few rides, the small/small (front ring/rear cog) had the chain grinding the inner side of the derailler. We adjusted it again and it was perfect. Then after a few rides, it happened again. Another adjustment and it hasn't happened since. Odd.

6. I adjusted which paddles shifted what (I didn't like the rear-shifter choice, so I swapped them). What they don't tell you is, if there is an update for the 6870, you cannot do any of this unless you disconnect all the shifters and battery, then update the battery (connect it via USB to your computer), then update the shifters, then you can make changes. It's a stupid design choice, but a small thing.

7. I've only had them for a month and a half, so I only have about 200 outdoor miles and 25 hours indoors. It's been perfect shifting. Crisp, instant, strong and exact. I will never use anything other than electric shifting again.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

That battery update only happened once. All other updates don't require the disconnection you had to do. It was a one off update.


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## bikingmeditation (Apr 23, 2013)

goodboyr said:


> That battery update only happened once. All other updates don't require the disconnection you had to do. It was a one off update.


It is not a "one-off" update. There have actually been 4 updates for the battery so far (since 2012), but that doesn't mean there won't be another battery update again in the future.


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## goodboyr (Apr 19, 2006)

This was the only one that required you to disconnect everything except the battery. All the other updates just did it with the connections intact.


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## robbyville (Nov 7, 2012)

I can vouch for that, I was one of those who just happened to do an update when that was going on, and realized I was getting stuck in the continuous loop of battery not updating. Spoke with Shimano help desk (great folks) who told me to disconnect the various items to finish the update, and that they were working on the fix so that it wouldn't be an issue again. Last week I happened to plug in the system and decided to check for updates and it all worked flawlessly no disconnecting required.


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## thumper8888 (Apr 7, 2009)

miataeric said:


> Thumper, who makes an aftermarket battery, and does it function the same (i.e. charging via the handlebar junction) as the Shimano one? Also, what is the cost difference? I've been kicking back and forth between internal/external battery...


It was aftermarket on ebay, for 10-speed (7090) some guy was making them in his house...price was right, came with charger etc and was substantially lighter than external....and charges by simply plugging into one of wires from junction box. I swear it lasts nearly twice as long as my factory internal on another bike that is 11-speed.
cant remember cost and not sure if he's doing 11-speed... market may have fallen out when shimano intro-ed its own. but you could just troll ebay and it will kick up if someone is still doing em. works great.


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