Sram etap FD chain drops

[RyanH]

I've had three sets of eTap and had periodic over shifting on all of them. Sram is also the only group that I have ever needed to run a chain catcher. A friend of mine that builds bikes for people has commented to me about how finicky the front derailleur is to setup.

I think it's hit or miss depending on your braze on tab alignment/position. Curious if people have had better luck with frames that use clamps instead.

[springs]

I just switched from a KMC to a Sram Red chain for the first time since owning etap. Much better front shifting with the Sram chain.

[TobinHatesYou]

I just switched from a KMC to a Sram Red chain for the first time since owning etap. Much better front shifting with the Sram chain.

Never had issues with the front and any of the 11-speed chains. In fact I've had the best luck with quieting down the drivetrain in the rear and shifting up the smallest cogs with the 5.5mm wide chains (Campagnolo, KMC, YBN.)

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As for whether band-clamps allow for better performance. Maybe. My old bike had a band-clamp and I definitely rotated it clockwise so the FD was farther back and slightly inboard. However that bike also had 1.5cm longer chainstays so it's impossible to say which helped more. Note, I've never had issues with round rings, just Q-Rings.

I used to run my FD high with the tallest tooth on the big ring lining up just under or at the bottom part of the guide mark. This was combined with running a .1mm gap at the high-limit. This would result in the occasional overshift and lazy upshifts at the two points on the chainring without shift pins. I now run with a 1mm gap as the cage transitions over the tooth and a more relaxed high-limit of just over 1mm. The increased gap for the high-limit is to make sure the protruding chain guide on the ceiling of the cage doesn't contact the chain should I pop down to 50x32 for short bursts up ramps / small hills.

Also before any Yaw adjustments are made (lining up the the top-down guide lines with the chainring,) it is important to initially bring in the high-limit first.

[izza]

The only fiddly issues I’ve had with FD are:

- with some braze on frames the initial lining up of guidelines with outer ring is just not there. Filed 1mm of carbon clamping hole and it was sorted.

- the lower limit screw can interfere with cranks. Can leave you needing minor chain rub in granny gears.




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[springs]

I just switched from a KMC to a Sram Red chain for the first time since owning etap. Much better front shifting with the Sram chain.

Never had issues with the front and any of the 11-speed chains. In fact I've had the best luck with quieting down the drivetrain in the rear and shifting up the smallest cogs with the 5.5mm wide chains (Campagnolo, KMC, YBN.)

I can't explain it, but that's my observation. It just seems to catch on the chainring pins better.

Your idea of moving the cage outboard while lowering it is very interesting and I'll have to try that. I was never sure of the purpose of the "nose" on the ceiling of the cage but maybe it helps prevent the chain from overshooting the big ring when adjusted in this manner.

[TobinHatesYou]

I think the flap is a guide for downshifts actually. It keeps the chain from lifting too much when coming off the big ring and helps prevent dropping the chain onto the BB shell.

[Kohletrinker]

I just switched from a KMC to a Sram Red chain for the first time since owning etap. Much better front shifting with the Sram chain.

Never had issues with the front and any of the 11-speed chains. In fact I've had the best luck with quieting down the drivetrain in the rear and shifting up the smallest cogs with the 5.5mm wide chains (Campagnolo, KMC, YBN.)

I can't explain it, but that's my observation. It just seems to catch on the chainring pins better.

Your idea of moving the cage outboard while lowering it is very interesting and I'll have to try that. I was never sure of the purpose of the "nose" on the ceiling of the cage but maybe it helps prevent the chain from overshooting the big ring when adjusted in this manner.

I had similar issue, but I solved it by new Dura Ace chain.
Shifting from inner to outer used to make drop outs...especially crank arms are at 14:00 during shifting. With Shimano, it never happens. I guess Shimano's new chain is thicker, or have some function at left side. Funny thing is that I gave up Shimano chain on my previous bike, was a lot more satisfied with SRAM Red chain.

[scottegriffin]

Hi
I have had sram etap now for four months and am having the intermittent chain drop problem.
I read the thread on "Sram etap.Six months in and how you getting on?" with interest as it seems several other etap users also have had this problem.
As far as I can work out the set up is correct. I have sram cranks, bottom bracket chain and cassette. The lbs that fitted them have adjusted them several times but it still sheds the chain on average once a 40mile ride.
I wonder if the people who have had this problem could tell me what they did to solve this problem. What to look for with the set up to make sure this doesn't happen as it is driving me nuts.
Thanks

Hi,

I've had exactly the same problem, same set-up on other bike with di2 works like a dream. So it's extremely frustrating, and not beig able to rely on the change is a killer. I was very tempted to sell the set on ebay, BUT, out of deperation, I came across https://wickwerks.com/products/sentinel ... n-catcher/ and since I've installed this, life is back to normal. Without it, whenever in gears 7-11, and move from inner to outer, the derailleur always over shifted. Particularly bad with oval rings mid rev.

[threes]

Wanted to add my bike to the list of SRAM ETAP FD chain drops, when shifting from small to big ring. This is on a new Synaspe with ETAP fitted as standard.

Since new, it has consistently (i.e. every ride) dropped the chain a few times, to the extent that I currently don't shift the FD much at present.

Working with LBS to try and solve...

[Allen254]

Same here my chain drops if i dont do it a certain way, but it only drops going form small ring to big ring, it never drops from big to small.

[TobinHatesYou]

With compact chainrings, the adjustment that has made the biggest difference for me is using the top hole of the angled shim that SRAM sells. Second biggest improvement was using certain chains like the KMC X11SL.

https://www.artscyclery.com/SRAM_Braze- ... RFDSH.html

[jlok]

Wanted to add my bike to the list of SRAM ETAP FD chain drops, when shifting from small to big ring. This is on a new Synaspe with ETAP fitted as standard.

Since new, it has consistently (i.e. every ride) dropped the chain a few times, to the extent that I currently don't shift the FD much at present.

Working with LBS to try and solve...

I had exactly the same problem. The problem was that the high limiter screw was set too outboard (I'm not sure why my mechanic always do that after every service, didn't bother to tell him what I did tho). I corrected that by setting it as close to the inborad as possible without chain grinding noise. Improved a lot! YMMV.

ps. my bike was TCR Adv SL Disc with 50/34 x 11-32.

[TobinHatesYou]

I had exactly the same problem. The problem was that the high limiter screw was set too outboard (I'm not sure why my mechanic always do that after every service, didn't bother to tell him what I did tho). I corrected that by setting it as close to the inborad as possible without chain grinding noise. Improved a lot! YMMV.

ps. my bike was TCR Adv SL Disc with 50/34 x 11-32.

It's not just he high limit that causes the chain to jump the big ring. Look at gap between the outside cage and chain when in 50x17. It's huge. The high limit adjustment doesn't really do anything here because the chain gets picked up by a shift pin way before it reaches the front of the cage. Before you adjust the high-limit, you still have to make sure both the height and yaw of the derailleur are correct. You might also want to install the angled shim to bring the rear 1/3rd of the derailleur cage so the cage is closer to more of the circumference of a compact 50t chainring.

[jlok]

Thanks but that solved my issue so... again YMMV.

[TobinHatesYou]

Thanks but that solved my issue so... again YMMV.

Yeah, but high limit didn't solve mine, and I'm sure it's not the source of problem for most people since adjusting the high-limit is one of the first things people do. Almost all of my thrown chains occurred when my chain was in the middle cogs on the cassette. This is the most difficult spot for a front shift. Getting literally everything else perfect was the key to eliminating outside chain drops, as well as choosing a specific chain.