Having both Shimano Di2 and SRAM eTap, they are both great drivetrains. They both shift superbly, and the customization and simplicity once they are set up are great. When it comes to satellite shifters though, both come up a little short for me. Both have their pluses and minuses, but what if you could mix and match to provide the best of both worlds?
For Shimano, you had a few different options over time. There was the climbers box, the SW-R600, a chunky plastic box that mounted to your bars and provided two buttons for shifting in either direction. You could actually mount two on a bike if you wanted to control both your from and rear derailleurs from the tops, but they were far from being sleek. Eventually, Shimano also brought out the sprint shifters, the SW-R610, and refined them with the current version of their satellite shifters, the SW-R9150. The SW-R610 and SW-R9150 are both great shifters, the former having more of a hook for the button than the latter. The integrate nicely into your handlebars under the tape in the drops as a sprint shifter or on a bare bar in the tops as a climbing button. My main problem though, you can only plug one in on each side. What if you want shifters on the tops AND the drops?
For SRAM, you have the Blips. These buttons are definitely larger than the Shimano sprint sifters. The button themselves is about the size of a dime or penny, while the base is more nickel or quarter. When thinking about actuating them, an elevator button is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s probably not the best analogy, but I think you get the point. It’s definitely a button to push. You can wrap them under your bars for a stealthier look, or mount them over with Blipclamps, which are not nearly as sleek. In use, I love them on the tops. They are easy to use feel like they fit the role. On the drops though, they never felt as comfortable as the Shimano buttons. On the plus side though, SRAM eTap allows you to connect two Blips per side.
Back in the days of downtube friction shifters, blending shift levers and derailleurs was not a problem. You could mix Shimano, Suntour, or Campagnolo levers and derailleurs without issue. It was when friction shifting and eventually dual-control levers like STI, DoubleTap, and Ergopower, came became the norm that shifting became brand specific. You can still mix cranks, wheels, and in the mountain bike world, brake systems, but I’ll fully admit that it would feel strange in my opinion to mix Shimano, SRAM, or Campy drivetrains with another one of those brands cranks or wheel sets.
So that leaves me with two issues. For Di2, I want two sets of satellite shifters. For eTap, I miss the feel of the SW-R610. I had previously hacked together two pair of SW-R610 shifters to work on my Di2 set up, but after using the Blips, I wondered if I could do another hack and blend satellites from both brands. We are definitely not the first people to perform either of these hacks, but I successfully completed it recently, so why not tell you all about it. I wish I would have taken pics along the way, but I’ll do my best to describe it all.
So to do this hack, here is what you’ll need. Besides your electronic drivetrain, you’ll need the satellite shifters of your choice, a wire stripper, wire cutters, sharp scissors or hobby knife, soldering iron, solder for electronics, and electrical tape or heat shrink tubing.
Once you have everything, this is where things start to get scary. Whether you are splicing two Di2’s together, a Di2 and Blip together, mating a Blip to a Di2 connecter, or the other way around, go about an inch and a half to two inches up from the connector to the shift lever, clip the wires. You want to make sure that you have plenty of cable left on the connecter incase you mess up stripping the wires. The cables are long enough anyways that even when you cut them, you’ll still have plenty of length to get the buttons to where they need to be.
Before stripping the wires down, think about the placement of the buttons. If you are going to run them internally, you’ll need to run them first before stripping and splicing them together. Personally, I did not run them internally, but instead, used black electrical tape to hide the wire along the bottom of the unwrapped tops on my 3T Aeronova bars. I highly recommend this route over running the wire internally. From there, use the scissors, hobby knife, or wire strippers to remove the outer sheathing. My wire strippers didn’t work well, so I used a sharp scissors to cut into the sheathing, but was careful to not cut the super thin wires inside. After I cut into it a little bit, I pulled the sides apart, almost like peeling a banana. Inside, you’ll find two cables, one red, one black or white. If you want to use heat shrink tubes, make sure to have the correct size tubes (really small for the inner wires, a little bigger for the outer) and be sure to make sure the wires are long enough to put the tubes on and still have room for soldering. Next, carefully strip the inner wires to get to the bare wires. They are really tiny, so take a lot of care to just strip the inner sheathing and not cut all the way through the wire. Slide any heat shrink tubes on before you move on to the next step.
Now is the time to grab your soldering iron and solder. If you are joining multiple buttons to a Di2 plug, you can twist the exposed button wires together before soldering them to the plug cables. Since both systems are simple two wire buttons, just make sure you match up red to red, and the other black or white cable to the plugs black or white cable. I’m horrible at soldering, but as long as they have a good solid connection, an electrician friend says “heat shrink tubing will hide even the ugliest solder joint. Join all of the wires together with solder, and you are all set. Slide the heat shrink over the exposed wires and carefully heat them, or wrap them in electrical tape. Repeat to add an outer protective layer as well.
And that’s it. From there, plug them in, and test the buttons, place them, and rewrap your bars. Overall, it shouldn’t be more than a few hours of work (that’s being generous), including wrapping your bars. Just take your time. These wires are tiny, but it is definitely doable for anyone with a little bit of technical skill. If you decide to try it, good luck, and hopefully you’ll end up with the same great results we have.
Heckling Editor, Image Taker, Crash Test Dummy, and Beard Master at Bikeworldnews.com
~Veggie Powered Athlete~
Location – Lancaster, PA
Current Testing Rigs – 2024 Van Dessel Arch65, 2019 Van Dessel Full Tilt Boogie, 2018 Van Dessel Motivus Maximus LTD, 2016 Van Dessel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2015 Bianchi Sempre Pro, 1978 Trek TX900
Dream Bike – I’ll tell you when they make it
Discipline – Cyclocross, gravel, road and duathlons (ride/run)
Favorite Rides – Quiet country roads of Amish Country, some of the best roads around.
Food of Choice – Sweet potato roll
Beer of Choice – Unibroue Grand Reserve 17, aged four years
Bourbon of Choice – Widow Jane 10 Year