1x12 Wireless Di2 New User Guide

While I have published guides for 10/11-speed Di2 and 2x12-speed Di2 a couple of years ago, the Wireless 1x12 guide never surfaced.. for some reason I didn't think it was necessary.. oops!

Acknowledging that 1x12 is in fact a different beast than 2x12 Di2, it deserves its own new user guide, really. So... here we go!

(it's a work in progress, so bear with me while I get this page sorted)

The manuals you get with a bike aren't great, they're generally just a black and white piece of paper. Don't worry - I'll walk you through the things you should absolutely know about 1x12-speed wireless Di2 for 1x12 gravel (GRX) and mountain bikes (XTR, XT, Deore).

2x12 Di2 guide - table of contents

• What does Di2 stand for?
• Shimano manuals on 12-speed Di2
• Do I need to switch the system on or off?
• Connect to phones / bike computers
• Mobile app? I connected and now the bike doesn't work
• How do you check the shifter battery level?
• How long does the derailleur battery last between charges?
• Charging your Di2 derailleur battery
• Other resources

What does Di2 stand for?

Digital Integrated Intelligence, or just "Di2", is Shimano's electronic shifting. It has been around for a while now - the first DURA-ACE Di2 groupset was the 7970 series, released in 2009.

This 10-speed system uses a different wiring standard from all the Di2 groupsets that followed, and with the release of Ultegra 6770 (2011) Shimano introduced the EW-SD50 wires - and E-Tube. Then, a couple of years later, the SD300 wiring standard was introduced.

What is E-Tube? Essentially, it's just the name Shimano gave their electronic communication system. All Di2 systems (except 7970) communicate via E-Tube. While Shimano has never explicitly stated what it stands for, "Electronic-Tube" makes sense.

Di2 Software and Tools

Di2 windows software is called E-Tube Project, and the mobile app is E-Tube Project Cyclist. There's also the E-Tube RIDE mobile app, which basically turns your phone into a bike computer - you can only pair a limited set of sensors though.

If you'd like to read more on Di2 software, here's a page for you: Di2 E-Tube Software & Tools.

Shimano 12-speed Di2 Manuals

While I personally think the guide you're reading now is pretty good at explaning the basics, it's impossible to cover everything. This page would just grow way too long.

Shimano actually has a pretty good documentation site - si.shimano.com. This is where you can find Exploded Views (EV), User Manuals (UM), and Dealer Manuals (DM) for all your components.

The regular user manuals aren't all that good, but the Dealer Manuals are. To find one, simply type your Di2 series' code in the search box, and then open the files labeled "DM". For example, if you're looking for 12-speed XTR manuals, type "M9250", hit enter, and open the relevant DM.

If you're on 12-speed XT, then you type "M8250" into the search box. Deore XT can be found by looking for "M6250", and 1x12GRX is "RX827".

Note that the shifters sometimes have different model codes. For example, the GRX shifters are "ST-RX825".

I'll link to the latest versions of the MTB / GRX Dealer Manual below:

• 1x12 Rear Derailleur Dealer Manual
• 1x12 Wireless Shifting Switch
• 1x12 MTB Technical Tips
• Battery Charger Manual
• Battery Manual
• Hydraulic/Wireless Shift Lever Dealer Manual
• E-Tube Cyclist manual
• Shimano Torque Chart

If you'd like to know more about using the Shimano documentation, take a look at my page on using Shimano's documentation site: si.shimano.com.

Do I need to switch the system on or off?

Nope! You don't! There is no "on" or "off" switch.

1x12-speed Di2 bikes are fully wireless systems, meaning that the communication between shifters and rear derailleur happens, well, wirelessly. The systems goes into a low-power state when not in use, and as a result, you have to wake up the Di2 system before it'll work.

It will not always shift the very first time you press a shift button. This first shift effectively wakes up the system.

You'll only have to wake up the system once every ride, or after a long coffee stop - it goes into standby mode after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Connect to phones, bike computers

Since the wireless connectivity is in the rear derailleur, you can connect any 12-speed Di2 bike to your bike computer (Wahoo, Garmin, Sigma, etc.).

E-Tube Cyclist (mobile app)

To connect to your mobile phone, download E-Tube Cyclist from the iOS or Android app store.

Then, make sure Bluetooth is enabled on your phone, and open E-Tube Cyclist.

On your 12-speed rear derailleur, press-and-hold the button for 0.5 - 2 seconds. The LED will flash blue, indicating that the system is in BluetoothLE connection mode.

You then use E-Tube Cyclist to register a new bike, or connect to a previously added bike.

Connect bicycle computers

Connecting to bike computers (like a Garmin, or Wahoo, Sigma, etc.) is relatively simple. Usually you 'wake up' the Di2 system by shifting once, or by pressing the button on the rear derailleur.

Your bike computer should then be able to see the Di2 system, and connect to it.

How you do this exactly depends on the bike computer you use. Here are the help pages for the most common ones:

• Garmin: configuring Di2 on a Garmin device
• Wahoo: BetterShifting.com // Wahoo.com
• Sigma: Rox 12.0 // Rox 11.0 // Rox 10.0
• Bryton: Setup on youtube

The HammerHead Karoo and Karoo 2 are special cases. Shimano forced SRAM to remove Di2 support from the Karoo devices in 2021. A helpful developer built an app that adds Di2 support back to the Karoo devices.

Mobile app? I connected and now the bike no longer works!

Don't worry - your bike is fine. You see, as long as your phone is connected to the bike using E-Tube Cyclist, the bike won't respond to any commands. This is supposed to happen, but it does cause confusion and near-panic attacks among some new Di2 owners.

To restore the bike, reconnect using the mobile app and then simply press the disconnect button. You should then be able to shift again.

How do you check the shifter battery level?

Since your bike has wireless shifters, you'll have to replace the batteries after a couple of years. Checking the battery status is really easy - you simply press and hold both shift buttons for about 0.5 seconds.

The lever's LED will then switch on, showing you a rough battery level indication:

• Green: 11% to 100% battery
• Red: 1% to 10% battery level
• No LED: 0%

Once the (2xCR1632) battery charge reaches 10%, you've got about a month to replace them before you run out of power (and shifts) completely.

How long does the derailleur battery last between charges

One of Di2's strong points was always its high-capacity main battery. The 1x12-speed wireless systems utilize smaller, individual batteries mounted directly to the derailleurs.

As a result, you can expect a shorter range - typically 350 to 500km per charge, depending on how often you shift.

Checking your Di2 battery status

Checking the main Di2 battery charge level is really easy - you just press the rear derailleur button.

Pressing the button for 0.5 seconds or less will turn on the LED, indicating the remaining battery charge.

• Solid green: 100% - 51%
• Flashing green: 50% to 26%
• Red: 25% to 1%
• Off: 0%

Charging the derailleur battery

Charging the derailleur mounted battery involves taking it out of the derailleur, putting it in the charger, and then letting it charge.

The EC-DN100 charger has a USB-C port, and takes about half an hour to fully charge the BT-DN320 battery. Pretty simple, right? Here's a video:

Other resources

There is a lot of other information on Di2 out there, you just have to know where to look. Carlton Bale has an excellent page with in-depth Di2 information, GPLama / Shane Miller has a bunch of videos up on Youtube, and of course, there's GCN and GCN Tech as well.

I mentioned this earlier, but I'll do it again: the Shimano manuals are a really good source of information. Especially on setting up and bike and troubleshooting issues.

Help! Tell me more!

This is a beginner guide to 12-speed Di2, and it (intentionally) doesn't cover everything.

If you have a question or problem, and it isn't covered in the installation guides or the Frequently Asked Questions, feel free to send me a message - or leave a comment below.

I'll do my best to help you as soon as I can.