eTap Long Term Reviews

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mjdwyer23
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:56 pm
Location: Wilmington, Delaware, USA

by mjdwyer23

Hey all, considering going eTap for my next build. I'd like to hear the down and ditry from anyone who has 5-8k on an eTap setup -- battery life, failures, shifting, longevity etc. I've been very happy with my Sram Red mechanical setup, so that's my backup. Thanks!
MD

IchDien
Posts: 674
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2012 12:23 am
Location: Veneto

by IchDien

You might as well wait until eTap 12 speed? Unless you want a discount, that'll be out 2019/2020.

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TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12455
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

I only have 2 complaints.

1) Battery housings keep breaking
2) FD overshift behavior causes outside chain drops when in middle cogs on certain bikes.

bikeboy1tr
Posts: 1395
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:19 am
Location: Southern Ontario Canada

by bikeboy1tr

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:23 am
I only have 2 complaints.

1) Battery housings keep breaking
2) FD overshift behavior causes outside chain drops when in middle cogs on certain bikes.
I havent had the housing breaks yet but have had the chain drop outside when it was mounted on my Time RXRS but since moving it over to the Colnago none yet. I notice when lubing the fd and rd I have to remove the batteries and clean the contacts as it will throw a red light for dead battery when I know it has charge. Otherwise I am happy with mine.
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wheelbuilder
Posts: 1193
Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2017 2:10 am

by wheelbuilder

2 years with mine.......a little over 10,000 miles. Every time I use them it is fun and frankly remarkable. The size, and tactile feel of the paddles is the best part imo. I also enjoy the automotive paddle shifter inspired right-upshift/left-downshift. Frankly ingenious how intuitive it is.

Problems......
1 broken battery tab.
Fussy front derailleur set up...... pro-tip......front shifting is greatly improved by installing wedge.

Battery life......derailleurs last about four months before they get to 1/4 charge.
Shifter batteries were still fine, but I replaced them at the 2 year mark.

Interaction with Garmin is a plus.

Next frame will have it as well when the time comes......
Never cheer before you know who is winning

HaroldC
Posts: 242
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:21 am

by HaroldC

I’ve had eTap for two years and I’ve yet to have a problem. No battery tab issues for me and they last about a month in between charges. The controls are very intuitive and the system has been reliable for me.

mjdwyer23
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 1:56 pm
Location: Wilmington, Delaware, USA

by mjdwyer23

Thanks, all, for the thoughtful replies. Not sure I'm patient or interested enough to wait for 12 speed, but we'll see what happens!

wheelbuilder wrote:
Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:16 am
2 years with mine.......a little over 10,000 miles. Every time I use them it is fun and frankly remarkable. The size, and tactile feel of the paddles is the best part imo. I also enjoy the automotive paddle shifter inspired right-upshift/left-downshift. Frankly ingenious how intuitive it is.

Problems......
1 broken battery tab.
Fussy front derailleur set up...... pro-tip......front shifting is greatly improved by installing wedge.

Battery life......derailleurs last about four months before they get to 1/4 charge.
Shifter batteries were still fine, but I replaced them at the 2 year mark.

Interaction with Garmin is a plus.

Next frame will have it as well when the time comes......
MD

ancker
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 9:29 pm

by ancker

I have three sets of eTap.

So far everything has worked perfectly fine. Regular charging and cleaning.
I'll never buy a group with derailleur cables again.

Di2 is probably just as good in terms of quality of gear and shifting, but not having to fish cables and find a place to mount the battery is a huge bonus for eTap, for me at least.

Digger90
Posts: 107
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2015 9:34 pm

by Digger90

I'm at a little less than your requested distance, having done 4,000 kms, but I love my eTap.

I spent 10 years on Shimano Dura Ace, then 10 years on Campag Record. Earlier this year I switched to eTap.

There's a fantastic feel to the lever hoods, the shift action is very simple to get used to, and so very intuitive... so much so that now when I ride my other bikes that have mechanical shifting, I find myself inadvertently tapping at the left shifter paddle to upshift a cog on the cassette - doh!

The shifting performance has been fantastic, with no missed shifts, no dropped chains etc. I've run a mixture of 28t and 32t cassettes on it (I got the WiFli version of eTap).

The one problem I have had is the rear derailleur freezing issue that's been reported by some other users eslewhere on here: the rear derailleur temporarily wouldn't shift despite the LED flashing (which signifies that it was receiving the signal), then, after a few seconds, it executes all the stored shifts at once. SRAM replaced the rear derailleur with a new one under warranty, but it worries me what will happen if that reoccurs after the warranty has expired, because eTap rear derailleurs are horrifically expensive and frankly, it's obviously an issue with the electronics, it's not user-created/induced, and it shouldn't happen at all.

Other than, I'm delighted with the quality, performance and feel of it.

grover
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 1:06 pm

by grover

I bought it as soon as it came out, so 3 or 4 years? Couldn't tell you how many kms I have on it.

Love the ergonomics and intuition of shifting. I've ridden my road bike on gravel rides just so I was riding etap, when I really should have been riding my cx bike.

I've had no failures with battery clasps, freezing derailleurs or anything else.

Front derailleur setup is tricky. I get the occasional drop outside too, but just shift it back on. Often it's after I clean the drivetrain. Maybe some of that built up gunk is structural!

I do feel that I am somewhat cautious of front shifting though and do back off, which can cost you in a race situation. So I am looking forward to improved front shifting in the next generation.

I think I've charged derailleur batteries four times, never changed the shifter batteries.

Overall, I'm sold! Definitely sticking with the wireless life! Can't wait for 1x etap on CX bike and Eagle etap on MTB.

ome rodriguez
Posts: 1371
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 9:16 am

by ome rodriguez

My 2 friends also had their wifli rear derailleurs freezing, but were replaced under warranty.

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cveks
Posts: 351
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:15 pm
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by cveks

friend of mine bought sram red etap 6 months ago and no issues for now works flawlessly.

osw000
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 7:23 am
Location: Girona

by osw000

Current discounts make it worth a try.

With just 1 month of experience so far I got the setup installation more present.

FD fine tuning is the key for smooth operation. I had to try several possitions. Tweaking height, angle rotation and stops to have the rings running smooth at least on the 9 upper and lower cogs.
I tried to get 50-28 smooth but I found that it compromised too much the 34 working with the lowest cogs and shifting wasn't perfect.
Once you try a bit it's easy to get what works for you.
Don't forget to put the wedge.

Being able to micro adjust RD on the go is great to keep shifting spot on.

I found calipers are trickier to center than Shimano as they are far more sensitive to cable housing length, but no problems after that.

Enviado desde mi SM-J530F mediante Tapatalk


photek
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Dec 29, 2017 12:09 am
Location: Geneve

by photek

I've had eTap for around 18 months the only issue I've had is the occasional poor FD shifting, however....I'm using oval chainrings (absoluteBlack) which probably doesn't help. Even then, it only takes a few minutes on the work stand to tweak it back to being usable.

Battery life on the FD & RD has been good, I charge them once a month just out of habit - I've still not changed the shifter batteries...

No issues with broken battery tabs or housings.

When the 12 speed comes out I will buy it, and then move the 11 speed eTap over to my commuter bike - if the 12 speed was not on the horizon I would buy another 11 speed setup - I really love it. The shifting is so simple and intuative, with a very nice tactile feeling.

Having less cables also looks great.

One negative....and it's a small one, I think the RD looks a bit ugly :wink:
2019 Trek Emonda SLR, SRAM eTap groupset, eeBrakes G4, Berk Lupina Saddle, TUNE Schwarzbrenner 60mm wheelset - 6.4 kg

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sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

installed march 2016, ridden year round ever since, baking heat, dust, rain, cold, salt spray, works fine, best groupset i ever used

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