Autoshift on the Shimano XT di2 + EP801

[Astro66]

I use the Manual Coast Shift a lot. But I'm using Free-Shift less and less. The problem with the Free-Shift is sometimes I gear down to get my bike ready for terrain I see ahead, and the Free-Shift will gear back up again.

 

[PeymanD]

I use the Manual Coast Shift a lot. But I'm using Free-Shift less and less. The problem with the Free-Shift is sometimes I gear down to get my bike ready for terrain I see ahead, and the Free-Shift will gear back up again.

Turn off the Auto-FreeShift (mouthful). If on display it says A1 or A2, it means the auto-FreeShift is activated, and it tries to change gear based on speed. Put it in M for Manual, and it completely stops any auto-FreeShifting. When you manually shift while coasting, Freeshift activates and changes your gear. No more automatic FreeShifting

 

[Astro66]

Turn off the Auto-FreeShift (mouthful). If on display it says A1 or A2, it means the auto-FreeShift is activated, and it tries to change gear based on speed. Put it in M for Manual, and it completely stops any auto-FreeShifting. When you manually shift while coasting, Freeshift activates and changes your gear. No more automatic FreeShifting

Yep. That's how I'm running it mostly.

I have A1 set up with MTB cadence. And A2 with road cadence. But yes. On Trails I mostly use M for Manual so I can manually shift whilst coasting.

Oh BTW. Something to note on the Electronic Di2 XT derailleur.

I had a derailleur malfunction on the weekend. I shifted too quickly up the gears, jammed the derailleur into the cassette, and the the impact protection clutch released, meaning the derailleur dropped onto the 12th cog and wouldn't shift back.

I had no idea it had this impact protection mechanism. Took me nearly half an hour to work it out. You just had to manually push the derailleur back to the position of the selected gear, and I heard the clutch click back in. And away it went.

It's great to know it has this protection, instead of snapping the derailleur. But some more apparent documentation would have saved me some time and worry.

 

[PeymanD]

Yep. That's how I'm running it mostly.

I have A1 set up with MTB cadence. And A2 with road cadence. But yes. On Trails I mostly use M for Manual so I can manually shift whilst coasting.

Oh BTW. Something to note on the Electronic Di2 XT derailleur.

I had a derailleur malfunction on the weekend. I shifted too quickly up the gears, jammed the derailleur into the cassette, and the the impact protection clutch released, meaning the derailleur dropped onto the 12th cog and wouldn't shift back.

I had no idea it had this impact protection mechanism. Took me nearly half an hour to work it out. You just had to manually push the derailleur back to the position of the selected gear, and I heard the clutch click back in. And away it went.

It's great to know it has this protection, instead of snapping the derailleur. But some more apparent documentation would have saved me some time and worry.

Good to know that it has that feature.

I haven't tested it myself, but the 11-speed Linkglide version is supposed to be less susceptible to jams when fast-shifting. It picks the right time to shift, hence making the jams less likely.

In fact big part of why I decided to give the Linkglide a shot was because of its durability and design to shift at the right time. Of course, the slower shifting is a downside, but it is a good tradeoff for my riding style.

 

[Astro66]

Good to know that it has that feature.

I haven't tested it myself, but the 11-speed Linkglide version is supposed to be less susceptible to jams when fast-shifting. It picks the right time to shift, hence making the jams less likely.

In fact big part of why I decided to give the Linkglide a shot was because of its durability and design to shift at the right time. Of course, the slower shifting is a downside, but it is a good tradeoff for my riding style.

I had stopped with the bike in 12th gear and I tried to go from gear 12 to gear 3 too quickly. I rapidly pressed the shift down button too many times whilst pedalling really slowly. This will jam any derailleur into the cassette.

With a cable derailleur, you'd feel the cable tighten, and stop pressing. I didn't feel anything and kept pressing until funny noises came from the derailleur.

That's the thing with the electronic shifters. You can shift so fast when it's like a mouse click on your computer.

 

[markloch]

I might give this a try - I’ve got CS-LG700-11 50T chainring and CUES U8000 series derailleur and shifter, SC-EN600 display/SW-EN600-L switch. Do I need anything besides:

Shifter SW-EN605-R
Derailleur RD-U8050-SGS

[edit] seems the CUES tech isn’t released yet - can go with the XT gear?

Shifter SW-M8150-R / -IR
Derailleur RD-M8150-11

I suspect the CUES tech will be a bit less expensive, though availability in the US seems to lag.

 

[Astro66]

I might give this a try - I’ve got CS-LG700-11 50T chainring and CUES U8000 series derailleur and shifter, SC-EN600 display/SW-EN600-L switch. Do I need anything besides:

Shifter SW-EN605-R
Derailleur RD-U8050-SGS

[edit] seems the CUES tech isn’t released yet - can go with the XT gear?

Shifter SW-M8150-R / -IR
Derailleur RD-M8150-11

I suspect the CUES tech will be a bit less expensive, though availability in the US seems to lag.

Everyone I have spoken to, says the Cues just doesn't shift as crisply as the XT Di2 Shifter. And the whole point for me to go electronic shifting was for "As Perfect" as possible shifting, with zero adjustment required in the future. So just get the XT derailleur. EMTB's are expensive. I don't think it's worth trying to save a few bucks on your derailleur.

You'll also need 2 X SD300 cables. One long enough to go from the derailleur to the motor. And one long enough to go from your display to the shifter.

Then you'll need the programming cable SM-PCE02 and the EMaxMini software to set the motor to Electronic Shifting, or you'll get a 903 error.

 

[scooby82r]

Might be a silly question but has anyone used a SRAM T-Type 12 cassette, chainring and chain with the Free shift and auto shift ??
The Sram T-type would handle the load and its not the cassette and chainring that move is it ??

 

[Astro66]

Might be a silly question but has anyone used a SRAM T-Type 12 cassette, chainring and chain with the Free shift and auto shift ??
The Sram T-type would handle the load and its not the cassette and chainring that move is it ??

When you fit the 12 speed derailleur, it disables Autoshift. So cassette choice isn't so critical.

 

[Suteki]

Might be a silly question but has anyone used a SRAM T-Type 12 cassette, chainring and chain with the Free shift and auto shift ??
The Sram T-type would handle the load and its not the cassette and chainring that move is it ??

Don't quite understand why you would tho? The T-Type cassettes are so expensive.

I have gone from the 12 speed shimano cassette to the Linkglide 11 speed with my new bike and the 11 speed is really impressive in terms of how smooth it is.

 

[Astro66]

Don't quite understand why you would tho? The T-Type cassettes are so expensive.

I think he was thinking that the SRAM cassette and chain can handle full load shifts like the Linkglide, and give you Autoshift. This way you can keep your 12 speed setup. But the Di2 12 speed derailleur won't allow it.

The main reason I haven't tried Linkglide and Autoshift, is all the faff of converting to a HG Hub, to fit the 11 speed Linkglide.

But no matter how strong your 12 speed cassette and chain. You need firmware to allow Autoshift with a 12 speed derailleur. And that doesn't exist yet.

 

[MateNako]

Well after 200km and one stupidly tiny crash I can confirm - DO NOT fall on your right side or be ready to spend hard cash

I literally slid on sand in the berm, bike washed out, doing maybe 20km/h at most and softly "landed" on the right side.
Really nothing too bad, almost felt like laying a bike when you stop.

Hanger is fine, straighten the cage just a tiny bit and yet there is something wrong with the gear changes on the 1st and 12th gears, so it seems I'll need whole new XT Di2 derailleur....

 

[Astro66]

I snapped my mechanical SLX derailleur about 3 months before buying the XT Di2 one. It happens.

 

[MateNako]

I snapped my mechanical SLX derailleur about 3 months before buying the XT Di2 one. It happens.

Oh yeah, of course!
I was just surprised that such "tiny" hiccup most likely ended this product.
But yeah, it is part of the joy of smashing hills on MTB

 

[Astro66]

Here's the pic

 

[MateNako]

Here's the pic

View attachment 145196

Oh daaaaaaamn

 

[RickBullotta]

I had stopped with the bike in 12th gear and I tried to go from gear 12 to gear 3 too quickly. I rapidly pressed the shift down button too many times whilst pedalling really slowly. This will jam any derailleur into the cassette.

With a cable derailleur, you'd feel the cable tighten, and stop pressing. I didn't feel anything and kept pressing until funny noises came from the derailleur.

That's the thing with the electronic shifters. You can shift so fast when it's like a mouse click on your computer.

Wires though...so 2000's. ;-)

 

[Astro66]

Pffft ........ Batteries though ....... so Casio .......

 

[GeordieDownSouth]

Everyone I have spoken to, says the Cues just doesn't shift as crisply as the XT Di2 Shifter. And the whole point for me to go electronic shifting was for "As Perfect" as possible shifting, with zero adjustment required in the future. So just get the XT derailleur. EMTB's are expensive. I don't think it's worth trying to save a few bucks on your derailleur.

You'll also need 2 X SD300 cables. One long enough to go from the derailleur to the motor. And one long enough to go from your display to the shifter.

Then you'll need the programming cable SM-PCE02 and the EMaxMini software to set the motor to Electronic Shifting, or you'll get a 903 error.

Does the SD300 just plug straight into the free ports on the EP801? I’m assuming this then powers the mech too, all the diagrams i find show additional seperate batteries which is somewhat confusing….

 

[markloch]

I believe the separate batteries are for non-e-bikes.

There are three identical ports on the motor (and a fourth that is close in appearance). Mech cable goes in one of the free ones. Another goes up the down tube to (in my case) the sc-en600 display, which has three ports, one to motor and one each to the left (sw -en600L) and right (SW-M8150) switches.

I bought a 300mm cable for the mech-motor connection, but for my Urrun it seemed a touch too short. It probably would have worked, but I happened to have an extra, short cable and a coupler and so added that on the motor end of the connection, which gave it a little slack and made it easier to ties the cables together.

With the motor out I took the opportunity to wire it for a headlight, and found a place to wedge a speaker-deprived AirTag in a silicon cover, sort of up the seat tube.

 

[Astro66]

Does the SD300 just plug straight into the free ports on the EP801? I’m assuming this then powers the mech too, all the diagrams i find show additional seperate batteries which is somewhat confusing….

Yes. Plug the derailleur into one of the 3 SD300 ports. Just don't plug it into the speed sensor port. It's clearly marked with a notch.

The derailleur is powered by the main 36V battery from the SD300 port. No need for an extra battery like the SRAM AXS system.

 

[GeordieDownSouth]

Yes. Plug the derailleur into one of the 3 SD300 ports. Just don't plug it into the speed sensor port. It's clearly marked with a notch.

View attachment 146229
The derailleur is powered by the main 36V battery from the SD300 port. No need for an extra battery like the SRAM AXS system.

Thanks Astro, and the second cable only goes from the shifter to the display?

 

[Astro66]

Thanks Astro, and the second cable only goes from the shifter to the display?

Correct. Display has 3 X SD300 ports. One should be spare. It will have a blank plug in it to prevent water entry. Just remove plug and plug in new cable.

 

[digitale]

FYI, autoshifting is working with 12 speed now with the most recent update. Completed the install today and it was auto shifting on my road test. Not sure if I'll keep it on the trails. Thanks for all the pointers in this thread, I was stuck on the E903 error before reading more carefully through this thread.

EDIT: I lied, I got the bike on the trail and confused auto freeshifting with autoshifting. It doesn't autoshift.

 

[SebastianK]

In a post on Facebook a guy claims that he has working Autoshift with 12 Speed and 85 Mm with Firmware 4.3.2

Any more knowledge here on that?

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[Astro66]

In a post on Facebook a guy claims that he has working Autoshift with 12 Speed and 85 Mm with Firmware 4.3.2

Any more knowledge here on that?

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I'll ask Peter from EMax. His software allows you to configure Di2 installations, and is very familiar with Shimano EP801 firmware.

Hopefully he'll answer.

Edit : Ok done. Sorry it's in German. We'll see if he replies.

 

[SebastianK]

Thanks!

German wouldn't be a problem for me

For reference, my 2023 Orbea Rise M20 just offered to upgrade to 4.3.0.
4.3.2. might be beta status?

 

[Astro66]

He's replied. There is no 4.3.2 Firmware. Only 4.3.0.

So it's pure fiction, as the current 12 speed chain couldn't possibly support repeated full load shifting. It's just too thin to fit the 12 speed cassette.