XShifter stealth installation on Scott Foil

Stealth or concealed installation of XShifter.

Having obtained the XShifter unit, I went about playing with it, setting it up, and trying it out without actually mounting it on my bike. I let it loose on the floor next to my bike during Zwift rides at these lockdown times and after using it for a number of rides, I am completely sold to the idea of electronic shifting. 

I like to have a quite drivetrain but for some unknown reason, some specific gear ratios are just noisier than others. Whatever cassette or derailleur I use, I just can't get that perfect almost silent chain noise across the range. With XShifter this is completely eliminated since I can fine tune individual gears optimally.

However in my opinion, despite the benefits of XShifter, it is not a popular upgrade choice due to the fact that it can only operate one derailleur and it can be unsightly when mounted externally.

I knew of its limitation to control only a single derailleur per unit but this is not an issue for me since my bike is setup to be as 1X system, having removed the front derailleur and gutted the left SRAM Red shifter of its mechanism. 

I believe eventually even road bikes will move to 1X setup like its MTB cousin since this is achievable with the increasingly wider range cassettes being offered and it is just a much simpler setup.

So to address the unsightly look, I went about finding ways to have it concealed within one of the bike tubes. Unfortunately it is almost impossible since the XShifter unit is constructed as compact as possible length wise. I wanted to install it within the seat tube ala "Shimano DI2 battery" thinking that this can be achieved if I separate the battery and connect the battery through cables soldered to the corresponding terminals. Alas, there is a protruding part of the unit which is just shy of about 2 or 3mm to fit inside my seat tube...which is already large and D shaped. 

So I went about trying to install it within the down tube, inserting it through the 1 1/4" lower head tube opening, securing it on the down tube through the two cable openings on my frame, and having a USB cable connected through one of the same cable holes for charging. Below is the result as well as the install video.

Stealth XShifter electronic shifting installed

The shifting pod just behind the original shifter paddle

The charging port

The stealth XShifter install process

Let me know your thoughts...

Update:

I feel like a fool for not noticing that there is an attachment bracket provided to allow for the installation of the XShifter unit onto the bottle cage holes, however you will require a longer cable housing to do so, nonetheless it makes for a cleaner install if a concealed/stealth install is not possible.

The bottle mount cage provided with XShifter