Connect the SM-PCE02 to 12-speed bikes for troubleshooting
12-speed Di2 bikes are great! From set up to configuration and firmware updates, you can do it all through the mobile app.
The E-Tube app is definitely my first choice when dealing with 12-speed bikes.
When it comes to troubleshooting though, nothing beats the SM-PCE02. It lets you do several things that the mobile app does not:
- Check components for problems
- Run battery consumption diagnostics
- Restore corrupt firmware
The SM-PCE02 is also a great tool to update wireless shift levers. As you may know, these cannot be updated using the mobile app, unless you connect them by wire to perform the update.
How do you connect an older PCE02 to SD300 ports?
Before we get started, it’s good to know that there are two versions of the SM-PCE02. Functionality-wise they’re completely identical, the difference is in the cables that come with it.
If you have a recent PCE02 then it probably came with two interface cables: one for SD50 ports, and one for SD300 ports.
Have a slightly older SM-PCE02? Then it probably came with an SD50 interface cable only.
In that case, you’ll need some additional hardware to connect to 12-speed (SD300) bikes.
You’ll need either the EW-AD305 adapter, or the new link cable: Y79M9801T.
EW-AD305 Adapter
The EW-AD305 adapter is the cheaper of the two solutions. It is a small inline junction that has both an SD50 and an SD300 port, acting as a converter for the two standards.
You connect your PCE02’s SD50 wire to one end of the AD305 adapter, and a spare EW-SD300 wire to the other. Then simply use that EW-SD300 wire to connect the PCE02 to the bike.
SD300 Link cable Y79M9801T
Shimano’s new SD300-type link cable for the SM-PCE02 lets you plug the PCE02 into any SD300 port you like, using just the single wire.
New SM-PCE02 units come with both the SD50 and SD300 link cables, so if you were to buy an SM-PCE02 now, don't bother getting the link cable separately.
PCE02 connection options
When it comes to connecting the PCE02 to a bike, things can get confusing. Other than with 11-speed bikes, there is no easily accessible main junction, and the shifters are usually not wired to the rest of the bike.
So what do you do? How do you connect the SM-PCE02 to a 12-speed bike? Which port do you use?
It depends on what you want to accomplish.
Need to update shift levers or run diagnostics on them? Connect the PCE02 to each shifter directly.
Want to run diagnostics on the entire bike or change settings / update firmware for multiple components? Connect the SM-PCE02 to the bike through the RD or the battery’s third port.
Let’s take a look at these scenarios, and others.
Connect the PCE02 to shifters
Starting with the easiest scenario - connecting the PCE02 to shift levers to update them, or run diagnostics on the shifters.
Connecting an SD300 wire to the shifters is easy - push back the rubber hood cover to expose the SD300 ports, and plug the cable into the top port on disc brake shifters, or one of the top two ports on rim brake shifters.
The bottom port is for satellite shifters only, and connecting the SM-PCE02 to that port will not work.
if you’re connecting to 105 ST-R7170 shifters then be aware that the SD300 port is located near the front of the shifter, hidden underneath the rubber hood cover.
Connect the PCE02 to both derailleurs and battery
There are a couple of scenarios where you want to connect the PCE02 tool to an entire bike, for example when:
- Testing for battery consumption issues
- Restoring or updating firmware
- Running diagnostics on components
- Setting up the bike
The best place to connect the SM-PCE02 depends on your specific bike and setup, here are my favourites:
Connect to the battery’s third port
Is your bike a disc brake bike? If so, then the third port on your battery is probably not in use, and it’s a great place to connect the SM-PCE02.
Assuming the battery is in the seat post, all you need to do is take the seat post out, remove the dummy plug from the battery, and plug in the SM-PCE02.
Schematically, this is what this method looks like:
Now… you can’t always get to your battery, mind.
Canyon bikes are especially notorious for having the battery in hard-to-reach places, and sometimes require you to remove the bottom bracket to reach the battery. If so, connecting to the battery isn’t really an option.
Connect to the rear derailleur
This is by far my preferred method of connecting the SM-PCE02 to a bike. The rear derailleur is easily accessible, and is unplugged in mere seconds.
Also, this way you can easily:
- Update the battery and both derailleurs
- Run diagnostics and battery consumption checks
- Change settings (like synchronized shift, passkey, button assignments)
The downside? You need some extra hardware to connect to the rear derailleur:
- One EW-JC304 four-port junction
- One EW-SD300 wire of any length
Why? Because we want to connect to both the rear derailleur and the rest of the bike. We’ll need to add some more ports near the rear derailleur so that we can connect the PCE02.
To do so, we’ll unplug the derailleur wire, connect that to our four-port junction, and then connect the spare EW-SD300 wire to both the junction and the rear derailleur, closing the loop.
Confused? Here’s a wiring schematic to clear that up for you.
Disconnect the wire from the rear derailleur and connect that to your EW-JC304. Then use an EW-SD300 wire to connect the rear derailleur to the EW-JC304.
You now have a complete Di2 ‘circuit’ again - all components are connected.
With the EW-JC304 junction now in place you have two ports to plug the SM-PCE02 into either port.
On the bike, that’ll look similar to this:
Connect using Front Derailleur wire
The process for connecting to the Front Derailleur is very similar to the one described above - you disconnect the derailleur wire, connect the EW-JC304 junction, and use a spare EW-SD300 wire to reconnect the front derailleur to the rest of the bike.
However, while the rear derailleur wire is easily accessible, this isn’t the case for the front derailleur wire. I don’t like this method as much, but it’s included here for completeness sake.
To take the front derailleur wire out, simply remove the wire cover. I recommend using the Di2 wiring tool to do so.
This is how you do that for 12-speed Ultegra and** Dura-Ace** front derailleurs:
Here’s how you do that for 12-speed GRX / 105, and 11-speed front derailleurs:
With the wire removed, simply connect the junction and wire, and you’ll be ready to connect the SM-PCE02 to the bike.
Here is the before image. We’ll disconnect the front derailleur wire at the derailleur and plug that into the four-port EW-JC304 junction.
Then take the spare EW-SD300 wire, and use that to connect the front derailleur to the JC304 junction.
The front derailleur is now connected to the rest of the Di2 system again, and you can plug the SM-PCE02 into one of the ports of the JC304 junction.
Connect to the entire bike (including shifters)
Now that we’ve discussed how to connect the SM-PCE02 to the bike using either derailleur wire and a junction, that pretty much covers the most common use cases.
I have intentionally ignored the remaining scenario so far, because, to be honest, I rarely use this method.
However, if you want to run full diagnostics on an entire bike, including the shifters, you’ll have to connect the entire bike to the PCE02 - including the shifters.
Why would you want to do this? Well, for example when the customer asks you to run diagnostics on their bike and has requested a service report. E-Tube Project can export these for you, but it’ll only show physically connected (wired) components.
Also, updating everything all at once and checking for battery consumption issues is simply easier when the entire bike is connected to the computer.
If your 12-speed bike is set up wired, then you probably already have a junction installed somewhere, and you simply plug the SM-PCE02 into either that, or an unused shift lever port.
Is the bike set up wireless? Then you’ll need an EW-JC304 junction and three EW-SD300 wires so that we can connect the SM-PCE02 and both shift levers.
In this case, the battery has only two SD300 wires connected to it, and we’ll use a spare EW-SD300 wire in the third port to connect the JC304 junction to the battery. Plug the SM-PCE02 into the junction too, and you’ll have two unused ports remaining.
At this point all that’s left to do is to connect both shift levers, and that’s it - the entire bike is connected to the SM-PCE02.
And yes, even the 105 ST-R7170 shifters have an SD300 port - it’s just hidden underneath the rubber hood cover.
Note: you may not be able to connect to both 105 ST-R7170 at the same time. Last time I tried, my E-Tube Project kept disconnecting until I disconnected one of the shifters.
Connected to the bike, now what?
With the computer connected to the bike you can now run E-Tube Project Professional to run diagnostics on any 12-speed Di2 bike, update firmware, set up synchro shift / auto shift / free shift… or simply pair shifters.
When you’re done, restore the bike to the way it was before, and you’re good to go.
If you connected the SM-PCE02 to the battery, keep in mind that there should always be something in the battery’s central port (this is the one with the copper strip). That port absolutely must be occupied. If not, the bike may not work, or the battery will lose charge rapidly.
In theory you can use either a wire or a dummy plug, but people have reported issues when using a dummy plug. I therefore recommend using a wire in the middle port.
Have I missed one of your favourite methods? Any questions?
Let me know what you think in the comments below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
