Pair 1x12 Wireless MTB / Gravel derailleurs and Shifters
Are you building a new 1x12-speed wireless Di2 Mountain Bike? Or have you recently bought an MTB upgrade kit and are you upgrading an older bike? Either way, one of the first steps is to pair your rear derailleur to the shifter.
This page explains exactly how to do that. Before we get started though, I’d like to point out that this page applies to 1x12-Speed MTB and 1x12 GRX systems only.
At this time, that’s these derailleurs and shifters:
The shifters that can be paired to these derailleurs are:
If yours is a 2x12 road or gravel bike, read my guide on pairing 2x12 wireless road/gravel shifters.
Two methods of pairing
You can pair 1x12 wireless Di2 derailleurs using two different methods: using the E-Tube Project mobile app, and without the mobile app.
The mobile app method can only be used if you haven’t paired any shifters to the derailleur. If you have paired a shifter to your derailleur, you’ll have to unpair these shifters first.
Pair a 1x12 Di2 shifter and derailleur without app
Don’t have access to the Shimano E-Tube Project mobile app, or just don’t feel like using it today?
You’ll be glad to hear pairing shifters/derailleurs without the app is quite fast! Once again, this will only work if there are no shifters paired to the derailleur.
Unbox both the derailleur and shifter, and make sure their batteries are charged.
Then take your shifter, and press and hold both main shift buttons until the LED on the rear derailleur turns blue.
Let go of the buttons, and then press those same buttons again until the LED on the rear derailleur flashes blue.
That’s it, you’ve just paired a shifter. Up to four shifters can be paired this way
Pair all the shifters you can to use with this rear derailleur, and then exit pairing mode by holding down the button on the rear derailleur for about half a second, and the LED will flash green.
You can now use the paired shifters with this derailleur, so press some buttons to confirm that everything is working. Enjoy the rides!
Race prep: pair spare shifters to an MTB derailleur
You can only pair shifters to a derailleur (without the app) if there are no shifters paired yet, so you can’t just swap out a shifter mid-race and pair it on the fly.
However… you can prepare for this, and pre-pair spare shifters.
Like I’ve written just above, you can pair up to four shifters during the initial pairing process. This is an opportunity to pair your spare shifters, and those can then be swapped out during a race if your rider damages their shifter. Word of warning: keep these paired spares separate and isolated, so there is absolutely no chance of any of their buttons being pressed during the event. The last thing you want is for your rider’s bike to shift on its own because someone is playing around with the spares box.
Prefer a video? Here’s one of me first unpairing and then pairing a 1x12 MTB derailleur and shifter:
Pair a 1x12 Wireless Di2 derailleur / shifter using the app
For this method to work you need to have the E-Tube Project app installed on your Android phone or iPhone.
With the app installed and running, press and hold the button on the rear derailleur for 0.5s to 2s and it will start flashing blue. This means it’s in bluetooth connection mode.
If you have previously connected to this bike using the mobile app, simply tap the bike when it shows 'detected', and E-Tube will connect to the bike.
Is this your first time using E-Tube Cyclist? Then all you need to do is "Register bike or power meter" to add your bicycle to the app. Once you have successfully connected to the bike, you'll see the customize page screen.
Use the mobile app to connect to the bike or register a new one, and then open the ‘Add or remove wireless switch’ page from the customize tab.
This is where you’ll find all paired shifters, and also where you can unpair shifters.
To pair a shifter or MTB switch, tap any of the QR code icons to the right of the ‘Add switch’. Boxes
The app will now ask you to scan the shifter’s QR code:
Scan the QR code on the shifter, and that’s it. There are no extra steps to take. Repeat the process for any other shift unit that you want to pair, and then press the blue ‘done’ button.
Having a hard time locating the QR code? The image below should help:
If you want to customise your buttons, do so now. Otherwise disconnect the app and confirm that the shifter works - you have just paired a wireless shifter using the E-Tube Project mobile app!
Enjoy the rides!
With the shifter paired, you can now continue setting up the bike, or, if this was the last part of your build, enjoy the rides.
Any questions, comments or feedback? Leave a comment or send me a message.
