Using Di2 hood buttons to control motor assist level? YES AND SOLVED!

I have done more research on this. I believe the key to using the hoods for assist control is to install this device:
www.tradeinn.com

Shimano EW-EX310 SD300 Port X2 Adapter CAN For Di2 E-Bike| Bikeinn

Buy Shimano EW-EX310 SD300 Port X2 Adapter CAN For Di2 E-Bike , Accessories from Electronics for only 163.99 $. Find bike deals in Bikeinn | Fast delivery
www.tradeinn.com www.tradeinn.com

the catch, for some of us, is that it is not available for purchase in the US. but according to TQ tech support, this will do the trick.
 
that would be nice! it’s really ridiculous that big manufacturers like specialized and trek sell these bikes with di2 and then add kludgy power control buttons with extra wires. just lazy.
 
mschwett said:
that would be nice! it’s really ridiculous that big manufacturers like specialized and trek sell these bikes with di2 and then add kludgy power control buttons with extra wires. just lazy.
Click to expand...
For sure! now all we need is a friendly European to help us test this experiment.
 
Do you have the E-TUBE phone app. available? I believe you can configure it under the "Assist" customization feature. I have the Domane+ with the 105 Di2 and I'm able to configure my left shift/brake lever to scroll forward/backward through my Garmin and control my bicycle lights using E-TUBE "Cycle computer" and my right shift/brake lever controls the front/rear derailleur using the synchronized shift & multi shift. When I first got my Domane+, I was torn if I should've spent more for hoods with the buttons until the bicycle shop mechanic proposed the solution that I currently use. I hope this information helps you.
 

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Yes thanks I have that app and I have used it to configure the buttons to control my garmin scroll. But I do not have the option to use the buttons to control motor assist. I think this is because I lack that shinano part for the bike
 
My LBS got this to work. It is very cool. Right hood button is assist up. Left hood button is assist down. Super cool because there is no more delay between assist level 1 and off (with the normal assist buttons, you had to hold the down button for an extra long time to kill the assist). So now I got rid of the old assist buttons and just use the hood buttons, which is extra clean. Interestingly enough, this also gets rid of the Di2 battery: the bike battery now powers the shifters.

The key to making this work was that part above I listed on post #2 and I also needed a "TQ Smart Box Di2 Adapter Cable". Apparently the newer models ship with this, so hopefully you already have it in your tool box that came with the bike. I had to order one.

Doing all this is not really end user friendly. My mechanic had to remove the crankset, battery, etc. etc. But it works great.
 
kattanm said:
My LBS got this to work. It is very cool. Right hood button is assist up. Left hood button is assist down. Super cool because there is no more delay between assist level 1 and off (with the normal assist buttons, you had to hold the down button for an extra long time to kill the assist). So now I got rid of the old assist buttons and just use the hood buttons, which is extra clean. Interestingly enough, this also gets rid of the Di2 battery: the bike battery now powers the shifters.

The key to making this work was that part above I listed on post #2 and I also needed a "TQ Smart Box Di2 Adapter Cable". Apparently the newer models ship with this, so hopefully you already have it in your tool box that came with the bike. I had to order one.

Doing all this is not really end user friendly. My mechanic had to remove the crankset, battery, etc. etc. But it works great.
Click to expand...
this is AWESOME!

i have been exploring what it would take to get the bike battery on my scott e-bike to power the di2 system. as you note, not as easy as it should be given the nature of di2.
 
Yes you wouldn’t think it would be this hard, it I guess that Shimano part is specific to the motor. At any rate, I’d be curious to hear if there is any other e-bike where this can be done. This feature will keep me loyal to the Domane+
 
kattanm said:
Yes you wouldn’t think it would be this hard, it I guess that Shimano part is specific to the motor. At any rate, I’d be curious to hear if there is any other e-bike where this can be done. This feature will keep me loyal to the Domane+
Click to expand...
Just got a new SLR6 Pro which comes with Ultegra rather than DuraAce. Please confirm this fix would only work if you have DuraAce to start with as Ultegra doesn't have the buttons on the top of the hood. Thanks.
 
kattanm said:
My LBS got this to work. It is very cool. Right hood button is assist up. Left hood button is assist down. Super cool because there is no more delay between assist level 1 and off (with the normal assist buttons, you had to hold the down button for an extra long time to kill the assist). So now I got rid of the old assist buttons and just use the hood buttons, which is extra clean. Interestingly enough, this also gets rid of the Di2 battery: the bike battery now powers the shifters.

The key to making this work was that part above I listed on post #2 and I also needed a "TQ Smart Box Di2 Adapter Cable". Apparently the newer models ship with this, so hopefully you already have it in your tool box that came with the bike. I had to order one.

Doing all this is not really end user friendly. My mechanic had to remove the crankset, battery, etc. etc. But it works great.
Click to expand...
I got a new Domane+ SLR 6 last fall (2024) and am also bugged by the extra long press needed to kill the assist. It's nutty that TQ hard-coded that long press (not configurable in their app) as level 1 to no assist is my most common and frequent power change.

Anyway, I've just ordered a set of L / R Ultegra R8170 levers which have the hood buttons. My LBS will do the 105 to Ultegra lever shift and programming.
Do you think I'll also need to get the "Shimano EW-EX310 SD300 Port X2 Adapter CAN For Di2 E-Bike" and / or the "TQ Smart Box Di2 Adapter Cable"?

Perhaps my recent Domane+ SLR6 has one or both.
Ah -- I just checked the Service Manual and my bike has "CAN bus — *EW-EX310 (Shimano)". So I should be Ok ... but any thoughts would be appreciated.
(Unrelated: on this new configuration, the bike no longer has separate shift batteries.)


Look for "EX310".

Thanks for the information. It's a crazy amount of $ to spend on this solution, but I love the bike however really loathe the long press "feature" (and am not a big fan of -- though could live with -- the current power adjustment separate buttons).
 
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cbraudy said:
I got a new Domane+ SLR 6 last fall (2024) and am also bugged by the extra long press needed to kill the assist. It's nutty that TQ hard-coded that long press (not configurable in their app) as level 1 to no assist is my most common and frequent power change.
Click to expand...
Wow, nutty is right! It's important to find something to be thankful for everyday, and now that I read this, I'm thankful that my Vado SL treats OFF like any other assist level.

I also spend a lot of time going back and forth between OFF and ECO (my level 1). Hard to imagine what they were thinking with that long press on a fitness ebike like the Domane+.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
Wow, nutty is right! It's important to find something to be thankful for everyday, and now that I read this, I'm thankful that my Vado SL treats OFF like any other assist level.

I also spend a lot of time going back and forth between OFF and ECO (my level 1). Hard to imagine what they were thinking with that long press on a fitness ebike like the Domane+.
Click to expand...
Exactly! Just what were they thinking!
I'm gonna reach out to TQ and encourage them to provide an update that makes that function CONFIGURABLE.

My Kona Dew E-DL (with a Shimano drive system) sensibly treats OFF like any other key too. No four second long press needed to go from ECO to OFF.

I’ll report back if I get anything to report from TQ for Shimano 105 Domane+ bike
riders.
 
Jeremy McCreary said:
I'm thankful that my Vado SL treats OFF like any other assist level.
Click to expand...
That's because you have a handlebar remote Jeremy. And a Mastermind TCU.

The drop bar is incompatible with the remote, and some kind of buttons has to be installed on a road e-bike. Creo 1 was very similar to the TREK in the sense you had to do a longer press (1s) on the older TCU to go OFF unless you ordered installing a road remote. (Creo2 has the road remote installed).
 
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Let us know if TQ responds. I sent them a few questions about my FX+ 7S a few weeks ago and haven't received anything back.

I don't mind the long-press for off, as I spend a lot of time in the higher assist modes so the long-press is faster. However I do understand the other side of it.
 
I heard back from TQ. They’ve heard our us. The topic is under consideration though with no ETA as of now.

“Thank you for your message and interest in the HPR50 drive system.
This topic has already been placed with our product management team, where decisions are made on the order in which open topics are processed. I will address this again there to make it clear that this is a concern for many. When this function is implemented, you will be able to see this in our release notes:
https://www.tq-ebike.com/en/support/release-notes/
However, a date cannot yet be announced.
Best regards
Thank you for contacting the TQ-Service-Team
Bero”

I emailed them with an “Urgent” in the subject line — my trick to get responses ;-).

“I’m riding a Domane+ SLR 6 (Shimano 105) with a TQ drive and separate L / R buttons.
To go from level 1 to off requires an approximately 4 second press. All other power level changes simply require a button tap.
Would you consider updating the TQ E-Bike configuration app to allow making the long press OPTIONAL?
A number of people plus me have posted in an E bike forum about this nutty behavior.”
 
They actually responded to my email shortly after I posted that comment, haha. It was not the response I was hoping for but my suggestions were passed along regardless.
 
kattanm said:
According to this, it is possible to control the assist level with the buttons on the top of Dura-Ace Di2 hoods. Anyone figure out how to do this? Assist level is not an option in a Garmin computer setup screen, nor did I see that with e-tube project. However, my shifter firmware needs updating.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/revie...o7z0djJVdkikL1mlyiitdnchGAD7yRH5V0EeHLN8ul6RY
Click to expand...
kattanm said:
According to this, it is possible to control the assist level with the buttons on the top of Dura-Ace Di2 hoods. Anyone figure out how to do this? Assist level is not an option in a Garmin computer setup screen, nor did I see that with e-tube project. However, my shifter firmware needs updating.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/revie...o7z0djJVdkikL1mlyiitdnchGAD7yRH5V0EeHLN8ul6RY
Click to expand...

I’ve been meaning to post this for a couple months now. This is to solve the problem of the Domane+ SLR6 (Shimano Di2 105) requiring a very long press on the left TQ button to go from level one to zero.

I frequently go from level 1 to 0 and now it’s instantaneous.

(Supposedly TQ may address this in their software, but I have no idea if they’ve done that yet.)

I’ve done this with help from my LBS and I’ve gone from the detesting the TQ system to loving it.

Here’s what you do.

This is on Shimano 105 Di2 11 speed.

Have the latest firmware updates installed on all of the shifter 105 Shimano components. I could not update the shifters using the Trek app myself because it requires a special cable for shifter firmware in the 105 ecosystem. My local bike store did the firmware update for me although at first they couldn’t get it to work, and then realized they had to upgrade their laptop to a newer version of the Shimano software. Whew.

Once you have the latest Shimano Di2 105 components firmware, you can use the Trek app to set one of the left buttons to “front shift next” and the other one to power down.

The key thing here is being able to use front shift next which is now available in the 105 Di2 world once you have the latest firmware.

FSN is a great improvement for controlling the front derailleurs. You really don’t need two buttons to control the front derailleur as there’s only two chain rings.

FSN goes to what you’re not in.

That freed up a L shifter button, which I assigned to the TQ power down button. When you use that for a power down operation it’s instantaneous.

The annoying TQ button long press is still available to power down with the four second delay going to zero but who cares.

I’ve trained myself to use the left shifter lever for power down changes and the right TQ button for power up changes.

in case you’re wondering which buttons I assigned, I assign the smaller left shifter button to FSN and the larger left shifter button to TQ power down.

I now love the bike.
 
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