How well can the s40 handle smaller 2x front chainrings with di2/etap?

[lacohe]

I recently picked up a s40 which has been great for me. It has been so long since I've gotten off a bike without pain, and I even remarked to my partner that it's surreal finishing a long ride and not experiencing nerve pain for the next couple hours.

With that said, I have been eyeing some groupset upgrades for the future. While I like the range of the apex 1x, I don't like the big jumps between gears especially around threshold efforts. I've been looking at past posts over the years regarding the front derailleur issue on the v20/s40 not handling compact (or smaller) chainsets well. However, I've read mixed reports where some have said di2 50/34 and axs etap 46/33 work without issue ("fine").

Given the cost and time of purchasing and installing groupsets, I was hoping to get any updated information on how well either work out of the box. Is it as smooth as one would expect for a standard setup, or does it 'get the job done'? Are chain drops still an issue as previously mentioned with their mechanical cousins?

 

[Frito Bandito]

I ride a V20 with SRAM AXS, and since it is always on the flats I ride with larger (52/36 or a 54/40) chainrings so keep that in mind. I got mine set up right and never had any issues with it on the front or rear. For some reason I couldn't ever really get mechanical groupsets to work well, no matter how many videos I watched or manuals I read so I decided to give AXS a try. Once I put AXS on and went through the app settings to microadjust the rear derailleur during Corona it has pretty much been flawless since then. My derailleur stalk maxed out at the 54t size, but since I am older and prefer a slower cadence I switched the 54t out for a 58t. The front derailleur won't fit so I just keep it on the 58t all the time and can kick it over to the 40t if required. So, I essentially run as a 1x now. With all that said, I don't think you'd have any issues with chain drops using an off-the-shelf crankset, or have any shifting issues as long as the pull ratios on the cassette match the rear derailleur. FWIW I am using 12-speed Ultegra cassettes on 2 sets of Mavic CXR wheels (11-34 and 11-36) with my long cage SRAM 12-speed AXS derailleur.

 

[Greg S]

On a previous S40 I ran a 50x34 crankset with an 11x36 cassette. Worked great and I'm rather compulsive about perfect shifting.

I'm in the process of putting a subcompact (48x32) on my V20c. There's a thread in the V20c sub-forum where I'll be posting updates if you're interested.