SRAM Revisited

If you look back into the Positivo Espresso archives, or search some online forums, you can find some complaints that many of the first generation of SRAM eTap (wireless electronic) rear derailleurs failed, gradually or suddenly, within the first three to six months. Mine did also, in the middle of a ride. It was of questionable enough reliability that there was no way I was taking eTap for the trip to Europe that included 2019 PBP.  I also, historically, have grumbled when, say, a SRAM crank-arm sheared off above the pedal, leaving my foot dangling in mid air, not to mention the many times that the rubber brifter covers have torn and worn on my SRAM brifters.

Overall, I had the impression that SRAM was trying to shave weight off of components in places where, perhaps, they should have focused on reliability. And that they rushed eTap to the market faster than they should have.

Of course, a search through the archives and the "equipment we broke" page will show plenty of Shimano brifters, Shimano Ultegra cranksets, etc., that were unrepairable after catastrophic failure. But overall, historically, Shimano seemed a bit more reliable and conservative than SRAM.

Then there was the very fast, sudden, jump from 1st generation eTap to the AXS eTap, with almost no backward/forward compatibility! Ouch - felt like a punishment for jumping in with both feet and getting the early product.

But I have now been using my warranty replacement SRAM eTap rear derailleur without any problems for the past 2+ years.  At this point I would trust it enough to take it on a 1200km brevet outside Japan. It continues to have some great advantages, other than reliable, push-the-button shifting. The main one is ... no shift cables, mechanical or electrical. This is a compelling advantage for travel, when one needs to take apart and put together a bicycle several times to avoid damage and fit it as luggage. 

And these days I find myself using an old SRAM Rival/Red mechanical groupset mix, with long cage (Wi Fli) rear derailleur and FSA/Ossymetric cranks, on the travel bike. Also, the Pelso came with a 1x SRAM GX groupset with hydraulic disk brakes (also 11 spd ... not the newer "Eagle" 12 spd version). These SRAM products work just fine, though they are not as effortless to use as eTap.

SRAM seems to be the "innovator" now. They led in bringing 1X systems from the MTB to the road/gravel bike market, including rear derailleurs with a clutch and a very wide gear range.

They led with wireless electronic shifting. Shimano is only now bringing out a "half" wireless product that, while it does not have wires running through the top nor down tubes, and so would work for a travel bicycle with couplers, still has plenty of cables within the front and rear parts of the bike, and a seat post battery that cannot just be swapped in and out in seconds as the SRAM batteries can.

And the AXS eTap seems reasonably well-regarded in the market. It has been out for several years, and has "trickled down" from Red, to Force, to Rival versions. The Rival one is affordable, the Force one at least not shock-the-conscience outrageously expensive.  You can get a power meter in your crankset for a few hundred dollars extra -- a fraction of what the first Quarks or old SRMs cost a decade ago. And they have both 1X and 2X systems.

--I have read that SRAM is doing a firmware upgrade so that an older 11 speed eTap rear derailleur could function with a new AXS shifter, as they stop being able to supply the older shifters for replacement. Backward compatibility instead of forced obscelescence. 

--The batteries and chargers also are compatible between first generation eTap and AXS. The 12 speed SRAM cassette free hub is different than the 11 speed SRAM/Shimano one, but at least it seems that many hub/wheel manufacturers (e.g. DT Swiss, Chris King) make adapters to allow continued use of old wheels/hubs with the new 12 speed cassettes.

--Rim brake versions are available. A hydraulic disk defeats the simplicity for travel of no shift cables/wires, simple brake cables with splitters, unless you use one of the mechanical/hydraulic disc brakes such as TRP or the Ultimo Yokozuna. If I were to transfer this groupset to a disc brake bike in the future, I could get some of those and continue to use everything else (and continue to use cable splitters for the brake cables to travel.

The main disadvantages for SRAM are, I think:

(1) the Shimano front derailleur performance continues to be noticeably smoother/faster than SRAM, and 

(2) SRAM is very hard to find and expensive in Japan. 

I bought my eTap from a German online retailer at the end of 2018. If I try today, the same site tells me the product is "not available for shipment to Japan".  That said, it is usually possible to find someplace that will ship to Japan what I want and need, if I cannot find it locally. I just purchased a Force AXS upgrade (with Rival AXS crankset, including power meter) to install on my travel bike this winter. I was glad that they offer a rim brake version. 

And the gearing will be 46-33 crankset, 10-36 rear cassette, compared to my current 50-34 and 11-32.  So my top gear will be 4.6x instead of 4.54x, and the bottom will be 0.916 instead instead of 1.06. Total range is 502% instead of 428%. Also, I could find a merchant willing to ship to Japan. The bike's titanium frame is in its 10th year. I hope that with the new groupset, I will have at least another 10 years of relatively trouble-free travel around the globe with my Ti Travel bike, Voyage Voyage.

Finally, even if SRAM is made in Asia (mostly Taiwan), it is an American company, with a pretty cool looking HQ in Chicago. As an American overseas, it is nice, once in awhile, to fly the stars and stripes.

electronic wireless shifting - SRAM Etap first impressions; others

In January I installed SRAM's etap wireless electronic shifting system on Voyage Voyage, the Titanium travel bike. I used the bike in Tasmania, and have continued to use it for my local riding and trips around town in Tokyo the past month, and you may have noticed it mentioned in various posts.

Lots of box, quite small components.
I guess the box helps justify the price?

I bought an "upgrade kit" so kept my current crankset (installed a Shimano Ultegra 6800 crank), rim brakes (I am still using Shimano Dura Ace 7700 brakes which I like far more than SRAM Red rim brakes), and my own 11 speed cassette (a SRAM Red etap cassette would require a second mortgage on my house). I got the "wifli" version that has a longer cage rear derailleur so will work with an 11-32 rear cassette. After changing from 52-36 to 50-34 chainrings, I had gearing for the hills.

The upgrade, from a German mail order shop, cost E1007 or around JPY125,000. Expensive, yet still far less than within Japan (I can find a SRAM etap groupset from Worldcycle, including hydraulic disk brakes ... which are NOT wireless nor usable with a couplered bicycle, for JPY279,000). The same German retailer has a Shimano Di2 Ultegra full groupset for the same price, E1007, including crankset, brakes, cassette and chain. Would it be worth it?

So far, the answer is YES!

My thoughts:

--The set-up is incredibly easy. This is a significant differentiator with Di2, Shimano's electronic shifting groupset.

--It shifts smoothly, effortlessly, and accurately every time. I did have a few chain-drops to the outside, but fixed that with some modest adjustments.

--No shifter cables! No fraying cables. No stuck cables. No jammed cable in the brifter that renders the brifter unusable. No twisted cables. No weight of cables and outer cable housings. And for a bike with S and S couplers, no more cable splitters. SRAM Etap feels to me lighter than the bike did before. (In contrast, Di2 feels (and is) heavier than a normal Shimano groupset. )

Ready for re-assembly

Especially for Voyage, Voyage, the shifter cable guides onto the downtube are in a location such that the cables sometimes interfere with a dynamo light mounted at the front brake mount on the fork crown ... when the wheel is turned far left or right. No cables = no interference and no friction. No bumping the dynamo light off of center.

--Batteries

Shimano Di2 uses a large-ish cylindrical Li Ion battery that fits in the seatpost, with cables down to a junction box in the seat tube just about the bottom bracket, and further cables to each derailleur and through the down tube all the way to a second junction box under the stem, and more wires to the brifters. Lots of cables to plug and unplug, requiring a special tool. Wiring instructions that one must follow.

SRAM etap is far simpler. No junction boxes. And did I mention no cables? (Just hold some buttons down to "pair" the components electronically the first time you use them. Done.) SRAM has detachable batteries that plug onto each derailleur, plus button batteries on the brifters. The button batteries on the brifters are CR2032 -- available in most stores -- and should last at least a year. (The batteries on the derailleurs are proprietary, but front and rear derailleur batteries are quite small and light, they are the same/interchangeable, and the accompanying USB docking station is also small and light. The one in the rear derailleur lasted me nearly 1300km in Australia, while the one in the front derailleur was still fine after 1500km. If the rear one dies, shift into the small front ring, then swap the usable battery to the rear and you will be able to ride home with plenty of gears. Better yet, on a long ride like PBP, just buy and carry one spare SRAM battery. Really simple and easy.

To stow a bike with couplers, I just take the chain off, unscrew and store the rear derailleur, and I can take the bike apart. (*one cable splitter still for the rear rim brake).

So far, so good. I love etap and am very happy with the upgrade.

I have heard many people who love SRAM etap, but a few who have had trouble with SRAM rear derailleur shifts after break-in period a four or five months ... not sure the percentage, but I will check back in. I am planning to use etap in the summer, for PBP.

So far, Shimano and Campy do not have comparable products.

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Meanwhile ... SRAM has already come out with a successor to my version of etap. It is called Etap AXS, and has a 12-speed cassette, and smaller front chainrings with a newly designed crankset including, as an option, integrated powermeter. But that set would be $2000 plus another $1200 for a crankset with integrated powermeter. A $3200 upgrade. Ouch.

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I would much rather go in the other direction. Cheaper, simpler.

I  see one really nifty idea for eliminating 90% of shifter cables but keeping your existing rear derailleur. It is from a company called Archer Components and appeared on some review sites last year. It is a hybrid -- wireless from your handlebars to a device on your seat stay. You connect your rear derailleur, and the device handles the shifts.

https://www.bikemag.com/gear/tested-archer-components-d1x/

GCN mentions it (or a similar product) in their report from this year' 2019 Taipei cycle show.
https://youtu.be/-zGkaPEJ-K8?t=32

The only complaint from reviews is that it shifts a bit slower than manual or Di2 or etap. The GCN report says this new version allows adjustment in shifting speed (and other features) via a smartphone app.

Last year's version was only for a 1x drivetrain -- single front chainring (no front derailleur). This year's seems for use with "normal" road setups, based upon the GCN report.

That said, 1x may be in my future. Tim Taylor used a nice 1x setup in Tasmania. And there are some attractive 1x setups now out there, with massive rear cassettes in 12 speeds. Maybe 11-42 or even 10-50 12 speed rear and 42 or smaller in front chainring.

The simplicity of the 1x is ideal for randonneuring, not to mention the ease of shifting without doing any mental calculation of how to match front/rear simultaneous shifts when really tired. And 1x is easier to fit with wider chainstays for fatter rear tires!

For my next bike, not this year ... sometime like the Thesis bikes or one of these 22 models ... but from a preferred purveyor?
https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/237160-22-road-gravel-and-cyclocross-bikes-1x-gearing-can-one-chainring-do-it