Campag4life

wasting money and making brake maintenance a total PITA...that's all.

Real question is...thru the annals of history, how have all the TdF riders descending down the mountains at 60 mph ever survived with cable actuated caliper brakes in less than perfect weather conditions?

Just doesn't make sense.

rpenmanparker 

Hey, man. That's just YOUR OPINION.

(Joke)

Maconi

Very funny. I would think those who are accepting of technological advances in shifting would appreciate technological advances in braking but .

SRAM has already said they plan to support hydraulic braking, I was just saying I wish it was already out. Guess it's just a race between SRAM supporting it and Shimano coming out with their new Di2.

Maybe the new Shimano Dura Ace Di2 will have some of the fancy features their XTR Di2 does (maintaining gear ratios when changing rings and what not).

rpenmanparker 

Glad you have a good sense of humor. We are pulling your chain pretty hard.

Maconi

Planemaker

Etap is being installed on my Trek Domane as I type this.

k_kibbler

First impressions, before the ride. Stuff I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere:

-The servos are strong and will pinch your fingers something nasty. Don't ask me why I know this. The FD servo seems especially powerful.

-The RD seems to have some YAW or chainline tweaking built-in, but I've not seen this mentioned as a "feature" anywhere else. At the most inboard position (biggest cog) the pulley cage angles slightly outboard toward the chainrings, and it straightens out as you shift down the cassette. I nearly panicked and I inspected the RD very closely, but everything looks well assembled, nothing loose or damaged. And it shifts fine on the repair stand. I hope I don't have a lemon.

-The hoods are vertically thinner than Red/Force22 (the area behind the levers), and about the same width and reach. The shifter clamps are more outboard relative to the shifter body compared to Red/Force22, where the clamps are more or less centered on the shifter body. End result is that on the same handlebars, the eTAP shifters sit about 2~3mm inboard on both sides compared to Red/Force22. #aerogains

-You need both hands to shift the FD which is impossible on the stand with one hand turning the crank. SRAM says you can shift the FD by pressing the function button on the FD itself. While this is true, it's actually hard to do without rubbing your hand on the rear tire or whacking it with the crank arm. Slight annoyance but not the apocalypse.

Ride impressions to follow.

spectastic

So redundant...

akod

Has anyone tried adding the eTap current gear app to a Garmin Edge 520 or 1000 computer yet? They said they released it in the new Garmin software, but as usual there are no instructions to be found anywhere on how to make it work.

Not important at all but handy and a little fun.

https://www.sram.com/stories/sram-re...n-520-and-1000

Thanks

k_kibbler

Pair as a new sensor, then add the 'gear combo' data field.

Campag4life

I understand that one of the nice features of Etap is how easy it is to install, but your builder must be one fast dude.

GlennR

OK... the RD's LED finally showed red, which means it still has 25% charge. So I swapped the batteries. I charged them in the middle of February and haven't touched them since. I have a little over 700 miles so i should get 1000 miles between charges.

noodle soup

700 miles since the middle of February?

GlennR

Yes, I do have another 300 on my CX and MTB bikes.

Fizzlepop88

just bought my new Carrera with etap 52/34 x 11-36.

Google SRAM etap for tandem

JohnJ80

How do you use the e-tap rear derailleur with a 36 tooth rear cog?

J.

Fizzlepop88

Sorry not really a tech guy. I do know that the rear derailler is custom made to handle the bigger gearsets.
The bike I test rode had a 11-40. The cage is deffinetly longer than standard. Its pretty cool I wanted something
with a gear indicator and this linked right up with my Wahoo.


Fiz

JohnJ80

I don't know anything about disassembling rear derailleurs but i do recall reading somewhere about people doing this with Di2 RDs.

I would really like to add the e-tap stuff to a bike that was originally set up for a mech group but I'd like to handle a larger rear cog than 28.

American Euchre

Bicycling has a nice write up of etap in it's latest issue. It's generally positive, but based on what I've read I do agree that it's a fantastic "beta" which just happens to be available to the general public.

Some 'rough around the edges' 'not quite ready for prime time' minor issues include:

-slower shifts compared to shimano and campy

-blips are too large, non ergonomic

-shift speed can't be programmed

I have to note that the prospect of recharging 4 batteries vs. 1 doesn't seem to be very convenient, either.

Bicycling also notes that the calipers are not very powerful and can be moved off center easily. They put in an obligatory dig at rim brakes, which I think is just unnecessary marketing and propaganda.


When sram corrects the problems listed above, I predict they are going to have a true home run on their hands. Either that, or when shimano goes wireless. Which will come first?

I say it's 50/50 but it's uncanny how sram simply cannot manage to match the smoothness and speed of shimano shifting.

RNAV

Point of order: you only recharge two batteries (F&R derailleur). Most folks have cycling computers that they have to charge -- how is charging two removable batteries any less convenient from removing your cycling computer to recharge (aside from the fact that the derailleur batteries need to be charged much less frequently)? At least with Sram, you can set up your charging station wherever you want.

Personally, I think it's a smarter solution than Shimano. You can swap the batteries around if one runs out of juice. You can carry a spare battery with you just in case. Can't do either with Shimano.

I do agree with you, though, that it's disappointing that the shifts are slower (and speed is unprogrammable) than the mechanical.

Hapsmo911

Dc Rainmaker has some thorough reviews. Here is is Etap review. As for speed of shifting..

"As one who’s spent a fair bit of time now on both (2 years on Di2, 2 months on eTAP), I just don’t see any real-world difference between shifting performance. If you read all sorts of reviews, everyone gives different opinions. Some say Di2 is faster, no wait, eTAP is faster. No wait, eTAP is faster in the front but not the back. Correction – eTAP is faster on both between 9AM and 11AM, but Di2 is faster on a Sunday at exactly 10:30AM. For four minutes only. Seriously folks. These shifts happen at millisecond speeds on both systems – and they’re just as fast as each other from a practical standpoint."

SRAM RED eTAP Wireless Shifting System In Depth Review | DC Rainmaker

bleui

His reviews/opinions is very much welcome in todays world of marketing/ambassadors thing

Fizzlepop88

Okay, so I can tell you first hand there is no noticable difference between the two. I own and test rode both side
by side. I went back and chatted with Rick at House of Tandems he has designed the system for tandems and other derailler
cages aren't interchangable with the etap. "..but if you want to try remember you can't buy an etap derailler''. As far as
a beta test it has over a million miles of testing before it was released, quote sram. It's comes firmware updatable none of the Shimano gotcha BS. Rick also show me the battery warnings indicators if you run out of battery you probably have no buisness riding a bike.

I just read this back to myself. It sounds like I'm down on Di2. No, I'm not I like it and it works great and will not change
our old reliable Roadster. It filled my bill.

Fiz

Retoocs

Does anyone know if the derailleur can handle having the limit screw adjusted so that it only shifts for 10 gears? Does it sense that it hit a stop and doesn't continue to try to shift into the last position? This would be using a 11 spd cassette with one cog removed so it fits on a 10 spd hub.

JohnJ80

I believe the spacing is different.

Why would you want to do this anyhow?