This positions the rear derailleur lower down and further forward in relation to the cassette and generates increased clearance between the upper derailleur pulley and cassettes with big cogs as large as teeth.
For this reason, simply installing a long WiFLi pulley cage onto a standard eTap rear derailleur will not make it compatible with cogs larger than teeth. This is possible because the eTap BlipBox is a shifter. Because pairing eTap derailleurs and shifters only takes a few seconds, some of our pro mechanics and shops came up with this trick to make the eTap installation and tuning process even easier than it already is. When assembling a drop bar bike, after bolting on the derailleurs and shifters, they pair an aero BlipBox to the derailleurs instead of the drop bar shifters.
Because the BlipBox is a wireless shifter, the mechanic can shift both derailleurs both directions with just their thumb while they use their other hand to turn the cranks. Once the tuning is done, they pair the derailleurs to the drop bar shifters to complete the installation. Blip remote shifter buttons plugged into drop bar shifters perform the same function when pressed as the shifters they are attached to. That means if you have at least one Blip per shifter you can have up to two you can shift the rear derailleur in both directions by pressing the Blips individually and shift the front derailleur by pressing a Blip from each shifter at the same time.
To do this just place a Blip plugged into the left shifter next to a Blip from the right shifter anywhere you want on the right side of the handlebar. With a Blip from each shifter sitting right next to one another, you can perform all shifting operations with your right hand.
To do a front shift with this setup, just use two fingers to press the Blips simultaneously. No matter what width your handlebars are, SRAM makes a Blip with the right length wire for your application. Blips are available in mm, mm, mm, and mm wire lengths. Not only can you place Blip remote shifter buttons anywhere you want them on the handlebars, you have a few options on how to tape around them. You can tape over the Blip for a stealthy look or tape around the Blip for a more tactile feel.
If you are only planning on using Blips when riding on the tops of the bars, you might prefer to use BlipClamps to attach them outside of the tape zone right next to the handlebar clamp. SRAM says no, but after testing on our own, we disagree. The company claims that the new group, particularly the front shifting components, is designed as a system and should therefore only be used as such, with all the correct parts in place. We swapped old SRAM and even some Shimano parts into the mix to see how the drivetrain performed without the full complement of new Red components.
Here are the results. You miss out on the improved ergonomics of the new shifters, but performance does not suffer. The same goes for using the new rear shifter with an old derailleur: no issues whatsoever. The drivetrain is a bit louder than when used with the new Red cassette.
No huge surprise there, though. However, there are a number of small changes to the new Red group that make the individual components play a little less nicely with their predecessors. Most obviously, the front shifter no longer has any trim function.
The Yaw front derailleur is designed with these two changes in mind. Nonetheless, every combination of old and new we tried still worked; not quite as well as the full system, but still better than the old group. All the mix-matches we tried fell somewhere in between the two. Disclaimer: Setup always varies slightly from frame-to-frame. The different spacing of the old rings made front derailleur alignment during setup quite tricky, though. Am I missing it somewhere? But, looking at the parts in the review, the ballpark is:.
I know most sites recommend Ultegra DI2 to minimize the chain-drops. What about eTap? I was. I assumed possibly wrongly that I would need to swap out my cassette, chain and crank for this to work at its best? What about tire clearance? When changing the front derailleur to the small ring I instinctively change three or four cogs smaller in the back to compensate.
During my albeit five minute eTap test ride I could change the chainring and then the cogs, or vice versa, but I could never make it as smooth as I get with stock Ultegra. IMO, if they are going to stick with the both-buttons-shift-the-front-derailleur paradigm, they need a programmable solution to allow for some type of simultaneous rear derailleur adjustment.
I can get that with Rival for a lot less cash. When changing to the smaller ring you start by pressing the right button, keep holding it, press the left button shortly afterwards, release it immediately, and a fraction of a second later you release the right button. The whole sequence is done in probably less than half a second. Do you have to install the front derailleur at all? Great perspective. And thank you! On the other hand, that battery gets your shifting 1,KM.
One double-stuffed Oreo would not power me that far. If one mouse click burns as much as 1. And not feel bad about it. Sorry guys. Oreos are measured in kcal. I would guess that the 1. Thanks for the review Ray, great detail as always. The biggest problem in the UK is actually getting hold of it. The 2 separate controls for rear shifting is almost a showstopper for me.
Two handed shifting for the front also seems awkward. Maybe I missed it in the review, but does the Front Der automatically trim itself depending on which rear cog is selected? If you want to shift the FD with one hand, you can run a blip from the left shifter to near the right shifter or vice-versa , then you can use the blip and the nearby shifter button together to shift the front derailleur. In fact, you could do all the shifts with just one hand.
TomH: Late reply. The front derailleur does not auto trim. It works independently from the rear derailleur. For my old Cervelo R3 size 58, it was quite frustrating that i could never eliminate chain rub on many gear combinations when i had the SRAM Red yaw front derailleur. I have a tri and road bike both with Ultegra DI2 11sp. When it comes time to replace either, then eTap is in the realm of possibilities.
Need price to come down, battery life to go up. I figure the next gen in a few years and I will switch. Love electric, never going mechanical again. Even looking at upgrading my mtn bike to DI2. Love it. Great review, Ray…many thanks for all you do to help the sports community! Wonder what the chances are? Do you have tested how it does work changing from a rear wheel to the kicker still even shifting? Swear when on the kicker and water biking in poring rain as we have sometimes here in Brazil.
Have you thought about doing one for fairness? One has to start somewhere, and this makes the most sense as a starting point. No bias in drawing a line in the sand and calling that the starting point. The Garmin uses the gearing data to provide more in depth post-ride analysis, too.
It looks like you get a standard stem mount with elastic bands similar to Garmin , an tri-bar mount and two? Are the circular mounts flat bottomed and attached with double sided tape? Could this attach to bottom of a flat base bar? I have also read that the bottom of the blipbox is threaded so you can mount it with a screw — can you confirm this? I mounted the blipbox on my P5 by drilling a hole in the stem top plate and passing a screw through to the blipbox.
As you say this is your first foray into Groupset review and its pointless going back to review Di2 i agree what about the Rotor Uno Fully Hydraulic groupset that the Dimension Data guys are riding? Shifting was hit and miss, brakes were ok but not great…. Those articles were the initial prototype impressions, seems a lot of things were not yet finished.
The unveiling reviews YouTube videos, including one from GCN from a few weeks ago seem to show that the shifting was very clean and precise. Shimano should really release something like this given all the controversy of disc brakes.
Please do so at least for mechanical dura-ace. Is your battery comparison between Di2 and eTap an apples-to-apples comparison? Solutions seem to include upgrading the Di2 firmware to latest as well as checking for a frayed Di2 cable. The batteries last for a long time and you can also bring an extra battery.
Seems like a waste of energy yours and complicated run wires to the battery for little benefit. It is usually pretty easy to put a 4 port USB charger near your bike and keep everything charged up.
Nice review! I would like to ask if you think it is possible to use the road version of etap on a tri bike with road base bar and clip on aerobars? I think the tri version of etap has two many cables for a wireless system, the box is very big, needs improvement. Shimano, for example say Dura-Ace does not support but it works fine for me.
Hi Ray. Regarding rear derailleur alignment, I think from your description you used the limit screws to er, set the limits, and then micro-adjust to tune the shifting within the limits?
But the Sram installation video says you should use micro-adjust to get the low limit right, and then the screw just seems to used as a physical back-up, presumably if anything goes amiss with the motor.
They said there were no technical accuracy issues with the post. One person did raise an eyebrow to simply popping the chain link out, rather than using the SRAM PowerLink chain connector which would have been 10 times easier.
Plus, they said since I was doing it more than once, my way would have been better. Be nice to see another option out there. Definitely looks intriguing! Great review as usual Ray! Rumor is they are a ways down the road thought being SRAM is revamping the calipers but assumedly both rim and disc options will be available like the mech groups. Hi, I missed the reference to being ok in the article.
If it is there can someone direct me? I did find on the web a reference by someone who says they have used an with the eTap rear derailleur. I will report how it works when it arrives. I have had pretty good success with Shimano and Campy rear derailleurs going up 2 or 3 teeth over what the spec was, but no experience with SRAM before. Hi, I installed an rear today on my eTap setup, and it shifts well, no problems.
I sized the chain properly for a 30 tooth max rear cassette. No droop with small-small and enough chain and derailleur capacity when large-large not that I would do either combo other than for testing purposes—or as a mistake. Well, I have cancelled my pre-order of the E-Tap mini group.
I placed the order in November and really have no idea if SRAM will ever really get these components to market. The company I had the order with said if I was willing to buy the whole groupset they could deliver it. DC if you get to tell the folks at SRAM anything, tell them they are pissing off a once loyal customer base. So frustrating! Hi Ray, I have installed the tap. Great new system! Very happy with it. Thanks also to your review. Did you find the same probleme with the SRAM crank?
Hi, using a new Red crankset I also notice the crank is very close to the FD. I had a custom build done with eTap and s-works frame. The first time I road it in the shop getting my custom fit done the front crank made a clicking sound on every pedal stroke.
I mentioned the sound but no one really said anything. When I got it home I noticed a mark on the drive side crank arm. Took it back and the derailleur had moved to where the adjustment screw was hitting crank arm. Was nearing the end of a 30 mile ride when it really started making the same sound. Derailleur had moved again.
Took it back to the bike shop again. Not sure what really ended up being the issue. Do you have a link to the specific article? They actually had some shifters that were announced previously for bar ends, so just ensure if these are those, or something new.
Here is the link… link to velonews. Interesting, they do indeed seem new. The previous ones link to sram. Nice catch on their part. The shortest one is what I used. However, I have narrow compact geometry bars. The shortest one is almost too short, so if I had to do it again, I would get one size up and just manage the extra cabling appropriately. I just tried today an rear cassette. Hopefully they come down a lot in the next year or two. With regards to chain ring compatibility have you tried other types of chain rings with the system?
I have a Garmin with 6. It will display Etap gear info, but not battery info. Hello, maybe you found out already, you can go to the senor menu, look for the eTap senor, and go into the about page — you can see individual battery status for all 4 parts — left lever, right lever, front D and rear D. I am using Garmin , I guess it will be similar if not the same on Hope this helps. Is this part absolutely necessary?
If so any suggestions? Thanks Mark. What we suggest doing: since you have your derailleur installed already, remove the battery, and lightly mark the set up with a thin light colored marker silver sharpie works well where the derailleur aligns with the braze on tab. Slip a wedge behind the derailleur as it is set up now to see which wedge would work best. Mark where the wedge stops behind the derailleur if you can, so that when you remove the derailleur you can install the wedge with the wedge screw in this location.
You can remove the sharpie markings with a cloth lightly sprayed with isopropyl alcohol. If you need assistance, please bring to your local bicycle dealer for support. Thanks Kev, based on your note I have gone back to the bike and fiddled with it and got it attached. Best, Mark. Hi Roy, any info about eTap and and cassette support, please? Anyone tried to rape eTap? Thank you. See reply above. By the way, Ultegra di2 IS designed to work with an cassette, it has a medium cage rear derailleur, unlike etap which has a short rear cage derailleur.
Di2 will also work with cassette again assuming compact cranks and correct asjustment of chain and b-screw. I finally got my eTap in the US. If one wants to have shifting in the hadlebars and on the blips as well — will they work together and which is the best way to go — buy an road upgrade and a separrate blip box with blips?
Hi Greg, if I understand your question you have regular road dropped handelbars with aero extensions , you can definitely run the regular road shifters AND the blips at the same time. You can use two sets of blips in fact, placed wherever you want. I dont use aero extensions, but I do use the blips as shifters when my hands are on the top of the bars while climbing.
Sorry if I misunderstood your question. Not the full upgrade cassette, brakes, crankset etc.. Thought I would share. Thanks DC, your site is the first one I look at when I need a review. Just confirming that the rear cassette with full compact front works perfectly fine with the SRAM red etap. For example, if I make micro-adjustment on the smallest cog 11th cog by clicking 5 times on left shifter i. Hi Albert, yes is it does affect them all.
Do the adjustment with the chain in the middle of the cassette. Thanks for any response, and have a lot of good rides! Does anyone know roughly how much weight you save in gear cables? I purchased eTap from my LBS about a month ago. In general, I love it.
Specifically, I have one small complaint. When pedaling, the chain seems to click ever so slightly on the front derailleur. It seems like the solution should be a simple adjustment, but after 2 tries, the LBS is unable to get this clicking to disappear. Is this a common problem with a good solution? Otherwise, I am really enjoying the smooth shifting, the wireless system in general, and the clean appearance.
I have the exact same problem….. LBS has tried twice, with no success to remedy this clicking sound. It is like Chinese water torture listening to this on every bike ride, and it has really started making me question the wisdom of buying the eTap in the first place. Definitely not the BB. I have that checked twice, since I had the same thought, but there are no problems there.
Thanks for the thought, though. Excellent review. My next purchase will be the eTap. Which Zipp handlebars are on that bike in this review? Just got my Etap a couple of weeks ago.
Have read the comments here. A few quirks in by the sounds of it. Mine is set up on a trek Madone 9 series running chris king 11 speed hubs. There appears to be some clearance issues on the rear mechanistic on some after market wheel builds. Like anything running a J spoke instead of a straight pull spoke.
Electronic shifting is as revolutionary, or perhaps more so, as indexed shifting was 30 years ago. In fact, it is so easy I think the bicycle companies have their business model backwards. They should be pushing the power train companies for electronic shifting that they can put on entry level bikes instead of making it a high end luxury item.
Many newbies to cycling are often deterred by the shifting demands of mechanical shifting as well as their maintenance. The eTap is so easy and simple that it would make cycling much more appealing to newcomers. Millennials especially would see electronic shifting quite normal. Finally got my etap have been running the Sram force 22 groupset on my canyon so got the upgrade kit. Shifting is crisp and the mouse click feels so good.
Just wanted to ask that will upgrading to a Sram red 11Speed chain give me more good and quit shifting? The current chain is just km old. I also ride with rotor Q-rings t. No problems here either except clearance issue with rotor 3d crank arm and limit screws on fd — as mentioned in previous comments.
Way to go Sram! Hope so! Please let me know I understood somone could even develop it in the internal programs corrects. But certainly someone could develop a Connect IQ app for it, since it just uses the standard profiles. I have the full Etap groupset and I like it a lot, but I have dropped the chain twice when shifting up onto the big ring.
I believe I have the high and low limit screws pretty much correctly set. Has anybody else experienced this? If so, how did you fix it? Or do you think I need to look again at my limit screws? Also, has anybody noticed that you need to back off pedalling power a lot more with etap than you do with Di2 when shifting up to the big ring? I had the same problem. The high limit screw is quite sensitive. For a few rides, I took a hex wrench with me so I could adjust it on route. Once I got it right, it was never a problem again.
Rear derailleur failed half way through a race losing ability to change gear. Inspection revealed the battery-mounted plastic tab securing the battery to the bottom of the rear mount had broken so that the battery was no longer held securely against the terminals.
The road surface was not especially rough and no recollection of any unusual jolts or impacts. I have seen a couple of identical reports on the web. I want eTap so bad I can taste it. SRAM has just released a new rear derailleur that will accommodate a tooth rear cassette with the eTap.
Talk to your LBS and they should be able to order it for you. I think it is available now. The clearance issue is problematic. SRAM needs to either make a differently-shaped battery for the front derailler, make an adapter, or change the design of the derailler.
It actually seems like something that could be done with a 3D printer. My road kit is on the way, but I must be missing something. Where could there possibly be a frame fit issue? I have an older Orbea with a non Di2 compatible frame and I had no issue to install the eTap road bike upgrade, so I think you will be just fine as well. If budget is not an issue, taking the plunge with etap is a good choice over Di2?
Would you do the same? As of today, are you happy with etap functionality? Great review Thanks. Looking forward to it. Just record the audio and look at the waveform. I am having a frustrating problem with my eTap. LBS has tried twice to find and fix the problem, with no success.
Does anyone know of another solution? It is like Chinese water torture to listen to this on every bike ride, and I am about ready to scream. That noise is likely the low limit screw touching the crank arm. I had the same problem with my rotor crankset. To solve it I simply removed the low limit screw entirely since it was pretty much backed out fully anyway. Has anyone tried getting replacement parts? Im UK based and it seems like a great idea on my race bike, but if you cannot buy spares it seems pointless?
Any thoughts? The idea is — of course — to have one versatile do-it-all bike for races and the occasional triathlon. Ideally I want to be able to use Etap shifting at the aero-bars but am not sure of the best alternative. If possible I would like to set this up without the Blipbox.
As you are familiar with the real-life possibilities of Etap, could you please comment on these options:. In roadbike mode I could use them as second shifters with Blip-clamps and push the excess cable-length into the drop-bar. In Tri mode I would use them with the Blip-grips and tape the cable to the aero-bar. Anyone else have issues with the battery tab where it seats into the derailleur breaking off? The first tab that broke I figured maybe I did something wrong but now I have a second battery where the tab has broken off.
Just curious if its just me. Yes, I have had two batteries fail in this way — when the first one broke, I assumed it had been knocked or something, but now a second has failed in exactly the same place I am a bit concerned.
I am now looking at ways that I can secure the bottom end of the battery so that even if the tab breaks, I can still shift. Also the spare battery I bought has also failed at the same location. LBS has told me to bring them back and they should be able to get them replaced. No missed shifts, faster shifting, precise mostly silent rear shifts.
No problem shifting under power, standing or sitting precise micro adjustments front and back required Once set up, no further adjustments necessary. Build quality impressive. I love it! Quick question.
I currently have the sram red road etap kit, and i want to transfer it to my tt bike, would buying the blipbox still work with my existing etap fd and rd? Hi Is sram etap compatable with dura ace 11 speed chainset,cassette and chain? No issues. I have the etap on my tri bike since september. It works really well apart the fact that on my Garmin Edge the selected gears continues to appear and disappear.
Now I have the etap also on my road bike and with this the selected gears on the Garmin Edge never disappear. I cannot understand why there is this difference as both seems to work correctly. Does anyone have had the same problem? I had this happen when I had the Parallix Garmun connect app for etap on my Gawrap. Deleting the app solved the priblem. Hello, good Review! I build um new allround Bike in I saw the eTap and placed an Order in same Second. The Idea of Wireless is awsome.
Shifting Battery last log enough. Charging no Problem … must Charge my Garmin also and more to …. More Less than Wireless is not Possible! Sorry for my bad English ….. Ordered up a road set with 2 blips. The setup was VERY straight forward and after the requisite pairing the shifters and terrorizing the dogs with it I had shifters and derailleurs installed and dialed in about a half hour. Actually sad to say, took me longer to fish brake cable to my rear brake and setup my brakes. The blips on the top of the bars is sweet and I ordered another shorter set to run down to the drops.
I do have a question. I ran an 36t inner oval ring most of last cross season and was thrilled with the results and would like to run inner and outer on the road this year. I was hoping Sram would follow closely as I thought it would be very easy for them to do a syncro shif mode, if not to make a full proramming app as Shimano did, but till now nothing seems to move….
Yes, this is indeed strange. Wireless is really a milestone, eTap shift-logic is as easy as it gets, and SRAM seemed to have caught Shimano in some sort of surprise attack.
And SRAM is somewhat in the same boat. Their last major PR event was in August, where they made numerous announcements — some bigger and some smaller. Shimano generally just does one big event each year days prior of the Tour de France. My View as Hobby Cyclist is:. X No Firmware Upgrade necessary … it Works! I will sit on my reliable Bike with free Mind. New Update necessary.
HI Guys. I have a 10 speed cassette on my Scot Solace hybrid bike and having only 10 speed kept me away for so long until i recently heard somebody had got the system to work on a 10 speed too. So went ahead and bought the kit last week and set it up. It works perfefct. So all of you who have only 10 speed but still wanted this kit just go ahead and get it.
It worked for me. The only hitch is there is no 11th gear. Similarly when you downshift the first press does nothing.
You just need to get the limiters set in correctly and all is perfect. Super stuff. Great review as always. I ve got battery display on my Garmin , but where can you display individual battery levels. Do have any advice? A short google search says that there may be an issue with the batteries …. I am all for progress in cycling equipment such as electronic shifting, and disc brakes, eg , but why would one want to introduce the additional hassle of 4 separate batteries to keep an eye on and additional battery drainage, without really getting any surplus value over a hard wired di-system?
A standardisation of electronic wiring in bike frames, with connections at the bar ends and the attachment places for the derailleurs, including a central power source to power up all electronic devices. Now that would be progress. Well as an eTap user for several months now, I have to disagree. I love eTap and would buy it again. On eTap, every device flashes once an LED green or red when you shift. When green you have up to a thousand KMs left on the derailleurs and on the shifters many more.
When red you have 6 hours on the derailleurs. Not having wires travelling through the frame to corrode or break is a relief. Simplicity of assembly and setup is unsurpassable, Shifting is faster and more precise than mechanical in my experience.
If properly adjusted, no chain mishaps or miss shifts. Hi Mr. I will try to explain why i think this is a better solution in comparison to the other electronic systems out there:. Hopefully we can all agree upon that this system offers the easiest installation ever seen in cycling history.
The derailleurs batteries are interchangeable. As there is no cables running criss-cross in the frame there is less likely that annoying noise or wear of cabling will produce themselves. If you need to replace a battery, then just replace it. Done in seconds. In comparison to other systems this is a no-go. Thanks a lot for your perspective. To be clear: I have an electronic system on 2 of my bikes ultegra di , and I would never shift back to mechanical.
Electronical shifting in itself has obvious benefits. Some good points wrt the battery swapping convenience, which I did not consider before. Shimano definitely has some room to improve their system in that respect. Finally got my eTap, so awesome. The only ones I see appear to be Di2 related. Can you point me in the right direction? You also have to tell the sensor detail how many cogs you have and what the range is. The battery level works also, but I never use it.
Thanks Claude. A change to red only means you have 6 hours or less left. The rear derailleur is the first one to turn red so I recharge rear and front at the same time. Recharging is quite fast. I posted on here shortly after getting Etap.
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