Finally decided I’m sick of the faff of cable gears and badly set up front mechs and so want to move to electric gears.

Issue is my frame is a canyon ultimate, and it’s mechanical only (they sell the electric version as a different frameset). As far as I can see the only difference is that the holes in the frame aren’t big enough to push through the cable plugs which I believe are 5mm wide. Im not keen on taking a drill to the frame holes, so only option as far as i can see is remove the end of the cable, then reattach once it’s through the frame. Is this possible with a soldering iron?

Obviously the alternative is sram etap. I love the idea of wireless but the 11 speed version is 300 quid more than di2 and doesn’t have the option of syncro shift which really appeals to me. Obviously the 12 speed version does, but I’m not spending 1800 quid on 2 mechs and a pair of shifters.

yeah, it can be done, there are a few videos on you tube with people extending wires etc for triathlon bar shifters..
just needs shrink wrap to reseal everything afterwards, seems to just be 2 wires, maybe four depending on setup.

Interesting! And the answer i wanted to hear. Assuming they are joining 2 wires together rather than removing an end, but, I’ll have a look to see if it’s similar.

i think joining the wires would be easier as i’m not sure how accessible the plugs would be, would be harder to make them waterproof again possibly. A split in the middle of the cable however could be hidden somewhere in the downtube away from the elements so not as susceptible to water ingress.

Just watched the video..what you say occurred to me as well. Might buy a cable and see if I can thread it through all the holes before I splash out on the rest of the parts!

You can of course do external Di2 cabling that is stuck to the frame in a type of sheaf & have an external battery too. Not as neat though.

I do not know what sort of plugs these have but thru specialist electrical / electronic suppliers you can usually get new crimps to go in the plastic plug and sockets. so you could cut the and refit into the plastic plugs. automotive electrical suppliers coupld be worth trying as well

Of course being shimano it could be something totally unique to them but all the plastic plugs you get on electronics and in crs you can get new inserts for plug off, remove the metal crimp on parts from the plastic plugs, crimp on new inserts

Anyone got a picture of the plug and sockets?

I’ve done something similar on my GT Grade where I made a loom for my bars I spliced 2 cables together to make the cable runs the correct length for my layout(so 4 connectors on one cable). The cable connects the XT display on the bars, battery in the head tube and the 2 drop bar shifters together. Then I have one cable running from the XT Display to the rear derailleur (running 1×11) so no need for any more junction boxes. The XT display can be used to charge battery and connect phone via bluetooth to update firmware etc. There’s a spare port on the XT display that could be used for a front mech if needed as well.
Can’t remember how many wires there were but after soldering and shrink wrapping them individually I covered the wires in liquid electrical tape and then shrink wrapped over that to form a water tight flexible seal once dried, this part of the cable is hidden inside the Shimano di2 stem I used.