E-TUBE PROJECT Cyclist Reviews

by Drrush

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist showed a firmware update for the EW-WU111 module. The update got to 10% and stopped. The it said the update failed. No path to run again. Guess what, that failure causes the whole DI2 system to be dead. No gear shifting.
That means you have to correct using the ETube software on a PC. I don’t have a PC just Macs. So my 2019 Pinarello F10 with DI2 DuraAce is dead until a day later and I borrow a friends PC. Come on Shimano. You have to do better than this! I’ll not update firmware again using this.

by Darth Dyer

I have three Ultegra Di2 bikes. Not one will connect to ETUBEPROJECTCyclist. It’s pointless. I shouldn’t have to go to a shop and pay money to maintain my bike. Totally regretting not getting e-tap on my latest bike.
Shimano BE BETTER

by Ph0re

First day with my bike, and I had the EW-WU111 ready to go. Everything was working fine until I opened ETUBEPROJECTCyclist, then my system was bricked. I managed to restore it all, tried again, and bricked.

Don’t bother with this horrible software. If you do end up shutting down your entire Di2 system, unplug each of the cables from the junction box, and disconnect the junction box from the battery. I also had to unplug the Di2 wires at the derailleurs. Plug everything back in and you should be good to go.

by CactusChip

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist used to work fine until the release of iOS 11 recently. Now I can't connect via Bluetooth to EW-WU111 to update firmware of Di2 components, I get the error "BLE connection was interrupted, try again". I have the latest version of ETUBEPROJECTCyclist as of this moment (v3.3.0) and am on iOS 11.0 on iPhone 6. Lucky me I had another phone still on iOS 10 which I was able to use successfully to connect and update all Di2 components, including EW-WU111. Even after the update, I wasn't able to connect from the iOS 11 phone.

by Adam Boltz

I read other negative reviews and hoped Shimano would have fixed the bugs - nope! My Bluetooth connected and it offered to upgrade my new Ultegra R8000 components' firmware, then promptly encountered an error rendering my bike without the ability to shift. After a couple hours of fiddling with their not-much-better PC software (not available for Mac, mind you), I got the firmware reinstalled from scratch and it works again. But what a frustrating hassle this all turned out to be. Spend a little money to hire some software engineers who can match your mechanicals.

by Rixsurfer

Tried to update my DI2 using this mobile app and it bricked my system. It would not shift, nothing, absolutely unresponsive. A quick search online and I found out that this is a common occurrence. In most cases, unless you have a special PC interface you’ll have to take your bike to the shop to have them update the software. Someone said should sue Shimano for this piece of crap. I wish I could give it a negative 5 stars for the time and money it cost me. Next time I’ll buy Sram.

by T Van 1975

Come on Shimano, you can and NEED to do better than this! While ETUBEPROJECTCyclist does work with the e8000 on my Scott Genius, I find the features laughable compared to the Specialized Mission Control.
The only thing useful, to a degree is the ability to change the power settings in Trail and Boost. This would actually make more sense to have access to from the display of the bike and how often will you do this anyway?
There is no other useful info, no total hours or charge cycles. No actual percentage of battery charge aside from the bars also shown on display and battery itself.
Specialized can even monitor and adjust power levels based on the amount of miles you plan on riding!
I expected way more from a company the size of Shimano who also sells more Ebike systems than any competitors.
The e8000 is great, how about spending more than 45 minutes developing an app that can really showcase it’s abilities?

by Lost 22 Still Going

This has crashed my Di2 setup too many times, I’ll go you solution to fix. Problem is it updates firmware once it connects and if any hiccup in connection it locks the Di2 and makes shifting unusable. Fix is to disconnect every component from the battery count to 30 and reconnect. If you still insist on using, avoid the auto update of firmware by making sure phone is not connected to net via WiFi or cell. Best way is to avoid all together and use a PC version of E-TUBE to make adjustments.

by Antonelli

Do the people at Shimano ever test ETUBEPROJECTCyclist before (repeatedly) releasing it? It simply doesn’t work. They don’t provide a step-by-step walk-through setup. It’s completely disjointed. You find yourself randomly clicking on everything in the hopes that it does the trick. It can’t connect to anything. It asks for a passcode with no instruction on how to get a passcode or where to look for one. Very amateurish app that feels 50% done. Clunky interface. It really seems like Shimano has no idea how to place themselves in the user’s shoes when designing ETUBEPROJECTCyclist. Still can’t get this thing to work.

by PDFs All Day

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist used to be the worst iOS app out there. Now it is no worse than the third worst. My current issue, with v 4.0.2, is that it will connect to the Bluetooth module and detect an update is available. But the "Update all" button is disabled, and I can’t get it to update. And Shimano has no support. Unfortunately, it can’t connect to my Garmin, and the first thing Garmin says do is update the firmware. So no joy.

It used to be even worse. The appearance has improved, and the organization is somewhat more logical. But it still can’t maintain connections, and can disable your di2 bike. As at least two reviews say, if it disables your shifting, unplug all your devices, wait a bit, and plug them back in. I’ve been able to get my bike working again by unplugging the Bluetooth module and both derailleurs, without messing with the shifters.

by Jerryomoya

I can not connect to my Orbea Rise. It says the firmware it is not working correct.

Please fix.

by C Hofbeezy

I have been trying to figure this out for an hour. I changed the password because it made me but now it says the pass key is incorrect because there’s no opportunity to type it in! This is so frustrating.

by Caslca

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist works great for all of my 3 bikes(ep8 motors). All of the connected components are automatically recognized. I’ve gone through two updates with no issues whatsoever.

The reason for 4 stars is the connectivity of ETUBEPROJECTCyclist :
- it takes a good 30s for ETUBEPROJECTCyclist to connect to my bikes
- ETUBEPROJECTCyclist doesn’t automatically check for updates. Instead you have to click a “download update file” buttton. Not sure who came up with that pearl of UI design
- updates take a looooong time. I have to leave my phone near the bike for 10min or so.
- ETUBEPROJECTCyclist doesn’t automatically refresh the error log from the bike.

Overall, I’d say the experience needs to be improved a bit but ETUBEPROJECTCyclist is definitely delivering the promised functions

by Stshirlet

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist works well. Allows you to customize shifter parameters to accommodate different bike configs. Can also update firmware, see battery life, and adjust to multi shifting and shifting speed. Pretty neat addition to electronic shifting.

However, it hasn’t worked ever since I update the software on my iPhone. The gear just keeps spinning and nothing happens. Does anyone else have this issue? Is ETUBEPROJECTCyclist compatible with new iPhone software?

Thanks

by Whîsp

I don’t know why all the reviewers dump on ETUBEPROJECTCyclist. It isn’t supposed to be a work of art... it’s job is to update your firmware and make small adjustments to your electronic shimano bike parts- and it does just that.

I just updated the firmware on my shimano FC power meter and it worked just fine.

-1 star for the crappy user flow despite the new update.

by Geezer Fabulous

The factory default mode for Shimano's e8000 e-bike drive unit has TRAIL set to LOW and BOOST set to HIGH. This didn't work for me at all. After installing and registering, ETUBEPROJECTCyclist Bluetoothed my bike before I even powered it on. Pairing was seamless. Changing to the other preset profile which increases assist in TRAIL and decreases assist in BOOST was bonehead simple. There are still a couple of tweaks I can do if this adjustment leaves anything to be desired. ETUBEPROJECTCyclist works perfectly for what I need it to do, and the price is right.

by Falconquest16

As most reviewers have said there are several possible problems with using ETUBEPROJECTCyclist. If you do your homework, that is read all the negative reviews and watch the you tube videos you can skip all the headaches. I’m not the most tech savvy guy, but after reading all the feedback I didn’t have a single problem getting everything to work as advertised. As mentioned in other reviews install the EW-WU111 and then up date all the firmware through the battery charger connected to a PC with E-Tube installed. Then I used the E tube app on my IPhone to customize everything. When done with ETUBEPROJECTCyclist be sure and disconnect it from Bluetooth and you will be good to go

by Arnie2103

All works well. Slow to connect though.

by Curt1132

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist does exactly what it says it can do. Was flawless for me but as a previous reviewer stated you need to do some homework. I connected to the bike, updated all firmware, added functionality to the top buttons on the shifters and added synchronized shifting settings. Easy peezy.

by Mcfly7777

I just got a di2 bike from 2016 and I started to get new components including the wireless unit. I was worried I might brick my system by updating the firmware via Bluetooth.... but it worked fine. During update of the wireless unit firmware, it disconnects. All you have to do is to go into Bluetooth settings in iOS and “forget” the wireless unit and repair. It proceeds just fine.

by DiTos

I’ve been a shimano fan for 20+ years and I’m extremely disappointed with ETUBEPROJECTCyclist and di2 overall.... shimano stick with mechanical if you want electric shifters go with other brand. Just both a full dura Ace di2... power meter, wheels and everything and this thing will not connect to ETUBEPROJECTCyclist .

by Hwvdjxjd

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist is TERRIBLE. It’s Bluetooth connectivity is worthless. Firmware will begin then stop within a few percentage and then your Di2 is worthless until you can use a PC to actually complete the firmware update. This should not even be an option on ETUBEPROJECTCyclist

by Phelpsie83

Downloaded ETUBEPROJECTCyclist , connected to my Di2 via Bluetooth, got prompted to upgrade the firmware on multiple components, junction box upgrade failed at 50% and bricked my entire system. Tried numerous things I found on the web, finally had to download the equally crappy PC app to restore the junction box. Wow can Shimano do better.

by TheMaster

I hope that most people are more fortunate than I was. Installed ETUBEPROJECTCyclist, began communication with my DI2 unit, began updating software and the unit crashed leaving my bike completely without power and therefore unusable. As I write this review I still have what amounts to an unusable and very expensive bicycle. This is the most recent Di2. My old Di2 NEVER had issues like this.

by Bsewell

This software actually has the ability to ruin your bike. I updated the firmware upon the E-TUBEs recommendation. The update failed in the middle of the install. Bricked the battery which no longer responds to the usb charger. Trip to the bike shop needed now. Followed all repair suggestions but don’t have the extra PC hardware to fix it. The charger to PC solution didn’t work. Unplugging the battery didn’t work. Just terrible software. Thanks Shimano.

by Dave Jazz

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist hangs when connecting to the Di2 Bluetooth unit. This is a much reported issue and even though Shimano says that ETUBEPROJECTCyclist version (3.4.4) should connect to iOS 13 the problem remains: ETUBEPROJECTCyclist hangs!! My phone: iPhone 11 / iOS 13.3.
Will I be forced to pay over $100 for the primitive Shimano hardware display for DI2? Dear Shimano, I usually love your products but eTube is what software used to be twent years ago - buggy, problematic to install, unreliable. You can do better than this!!

by Swobos

Immediately upon connecting ETUBEPROJECTCyclist to my bike it completely froze the entire system. I’ve read many reviews here on ETUBEPROJECTCyclist Store as well as many user forums that this problem is very common and requires a complete reboot of the system on a PC. Absolutely horrible customer experience.

by Shutterchase

I had made a successful connection and setup for my new GRX Di2 groupset. After that, I couldn’t reconnect to it. I can see it available for connecting, but I get an error message.

When it did work, ETUBEPROJECTCyclist was a little clunky and was not very user-friendly. I think some changes need to be made to ETUBEPROJECTCyclist that make it easier to use, and there are bugs to work out so ETUBEPROJECTCyclist can better function.

by Jlbrown23

I had the same issues others complained about with the shifting locking up when using ETUBEPROJECTCyclist . But at least for me, disconnecting the Bluetooth seemed to get everything back to normal with everything configured.

ETUBEPROJECTCyclist itself works, but was a bit challenging to navigate. I’d rather use the full version, but there isn’t one for Macs.

by Johhny Apps1

So got a bike with Di2 and download this software, read the reviews and freak out.

I had no issues what so ever and the SW worked as intended. was able to change settings and update firmware... Not working for Shimano or anything..

by Jltx15

Thanks for the quick fix. App now connects to di2 and lets me change settings and update firmware successfully.