GlennR

I have 3 years on the shifter batteries, so since they cost less than $1 each... go ahead and splurge and replace them every winter.

deepakvrao

Would that need new wheels, or would they make it like Campy, 12 cassette on 11 speed wheels

deepakvrao

Probikekit? Can't seem to find SRAM there at all?

Edit: found it at their UK site.

UmneyDurak

Really. How would you "fix" mechanical ones?

maartendc

Well with just a multitool you can adjust just about anything on a mechanical derailleur on the side of the road, adjust the cable, adjust shifting, take it off the bike completely, etc. etc.

Not sure what the adjustment options are on an electronic derailleur on the fly if it malfunctions?

UmneyDurak

Well let's explore the anything part.
Adjust cables. This problem goes away because there are no cables.
Adjust shifting. I assume you mean the barrel adjuster that increases or decreases cable tension. That problem goes away, because there are no cables. So there is nothing to stretch, and no adjustments. Now electronic shifters do offer rear derailure adjustment when you set it up at home, or shop does it. Actually it's much easier to do at home. No need to play around with barrel adjuster, and making sure cable is tight enough from getgo. Just set shifter in to adjust mode and can move RD slightly left or slightly right. If you didn't do it quite correctly you can do it on the road, although once it's done no real need to do it again.
Take it off the bike completely. OK. You can take off electric shifter also. Not sure what that would accomplish as you would end up with loose chain hanging from your bike, but you can do it.
"etc, etc, etc" What else?

It's easy to say "I can adjust mechanical", but in reality the need for adjustments you have to do with mechanical goes away with electronic, and if anything major goes bad with mechanical there is no way to fix it either.

JohnJ80

I have ridden Shimano for years and would be some measure of a Shimano fanboy. I built a custom frame based bike and set it up with Ultegra Di2. Then I converted my old mech bike to SRAM eTap because the bike wouldn't have converted easily to Di2. Well..... long story short, eTap blew me away. I liked it so much, I just ordered the eTap upgrade kit to convert my Di2 bike over to eTap.

That said, having ridden SRAM mech on occasion - I'd say that I like the ergonomics and shape of the hoods but pretty much hated everything about how it shifted and the shifter mechanical operation. So I'd say stay with your Ultegra 6800 mech - which is a really good group - or go to eTap.

What I like about eTap is that is shifts so well, and I like the shape of the hoods better. I also find it a lot easier to shift with full finger gloves which is really important to those of us that have to ride in the high northern latitudes in the cold. I also love how clean the bike is with cables only for the brakes. No wires, etc...

We take our bikes with us when we travel and it is so much easier and cleaner to disassembler the bikes for packing in the cases with eTap than either Di2 or mechanical. No wires to worry about for adjustment. Disconnect the chain master link, unbolt the RD, put them each in a ziplock bag and done - 5 minutes or less. Compare that to having to fix the RD into the rear triangle and not damage either the cable or the wire (Di2). No comparison.

As far as electronic shifting being good - let me put it this way, I'd never go back and I don't know anyone who has made the switch that would either. In, now, thousands and thousands of miles of riding, I haven't had a single bad shift. The shift on the FD is especially noticeable since it's so fast and clean. On the rear, the shift is often so clean, it's almost easy to miss that you shifted at all.

You can put the RD into adjustment mode and adjust on the fly while riding. That said, once it's adjusted, I have yet to touch it. On both my electronic bikes, they have needed adjustment a lot less than the mechanical bikes have. So I'd have to say there is less maintenance. As for any other adjustments on the RD/FD you can also do that with your multitool. It's just the high and low limit screws - that's all that's left.

I have to charge my batteries somewhere around every 600-1000 miles depending on terrain. It's just not an issue. The eTap batteries are tiny so you could carry an extra battery or even two without a problem. The batteries don't discharge evenly with the rear being used more. If, by chance, the rear quit shifting, you could swap batteries with the front and be on your way again. The charger is also pretty tiny and we've taken it on tour with us (and then not needed to use it).

The coin cells in the shifters have been in there for two years. I'll probably change them this spring just because. I've sort of gotten into the habit of going through the whole bike and changing the coin cells on everything every spring even though they don't need it - wheel sensor, power meter and shifters.

So I've never been an SRAM fan for their road bike components, but eTap has changed that for me. If it were me, I'd not put SRAM road mech on a bike no matter what - I just don't like it (MTB is a different story). But my first choice for electronic would be eTap. And after going electronic, I'm almost certainly never going back. It's nice.

J.

generalkdi

I totally agree with what you said except maybe this. I saw twice malfunctions with DA Di2 and Super Record EPS, both time, the guys had to get back home with they rear delailleurs in the hardest gear. It didn't look funny at all. I've never seen a shift cable break during a ride tho, Maybe I'm not there when it happens, maybe I was just really lucky to see 2 rear derailers go wrong. Anyway, I'd still fo for Etap, failure is not something that happens, or happens very rarily.

JohnJ80

I'm not sure you can just equate a broken cable with an electronic RD failure. They are both going to have failure mechanisms that render them inoperable. I'd be willing to bet that the failure rate is pretty similar or is better for electronic. I don't think we'd see the number of electronic shifting bikes in major races as the World Tour level if it weren't reliable.

As for my own experience - in about 15,000 miles of riding electronic shifting bikes, I haven't had a single failure much less one that stopped me from shifting. In about the same mileage on mech prior to going electronic, I've have one failure that did prevent shifting. But I think in both cases, the reliability is pretty good and I don't think it should be a factor in a decision to select one over the other because it's at least a wash or in somewhat in favor of electronic.

I will say this though - derailleur adjustment is pretty much a thing of the past on electronic. Definitely less ongoing maintenance required.

J.

UmneyDurak

I had two SRAM mechanical shifters break few years ago. Had cable fray. **** happens. So far with etap on two bikes in last two years no issues, no adjustments. Knock on wood.

GlennR

You never have to worry about the shifter cables ever breaking with eTap.

77Eric