SRAM Red eTap AXS
- Thread starter Dave Arnold
- Start date
"More gear range"
Also = GIANT gaps between the gears. Ugh.
Also = GIANT gaps between the gears. Ugh.
Balor
Zen MBB Master
It is worse than that. 11T gear already feels like pedalling a polygon and jump from 12T to 11T is pretty large.
11T to 10T? Same thing, but even worse.
12-34 with 12 gears and double upfront with short cranks should strike a perfect balance between high and low gear ranges.
Unless you pilot a streamliner, very high gear range (40+ mph at 90 rpm) is pretty much useless anyway, you are better off resting and not pedalling at all even at steep downhill.
I have been on SRAM Red 22 for about 5 years and eTap for about 3 months. It comes down to this for me.
10,11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,28,33
vs
11,12,13,14,15,17,19,22,25,28,32
What am I going to do with a 10 sprocket? I get one tooth on the other end? Big deal. The loss of efficiency in the chain is not trivial.
The SRAM Red 22 manual bar ends are much faster and much more reliable than the eTaps. By far. Axs? Who knows.
Personally, any App on a bike is a huge turnoff and just a PITA. You wanted an opinion?
Power meter married to the chainring? Yikes that ain't going to be cheap for high mileage riders. Might be getting that wrong but looks like a whole new setup when the ring wears out.
If AXS had and could shift, I'd be interested.
11,12,13,14,15,17,19,22,25,28,32, 38
or
12,13,14,15,16,17,19,22,25,28,32, 38
Idon't have a ton of power and 53x14 or 53x15 is plenty. How many normal riders wear out their 11 or 12 sprocket?
Pass
10,11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,24,28,33
vs
11,12,13,14,15,17,19,22,25,28,32
What am I going to do with a 10 sprocket? I get one tooth on the other end? Big deal. The loss of efficiency in the chain is not trivial.
The SRAM Red 22 manual bar ends are much faster and much more reliable than the eTaps. By far. Axs? Who knows.
Personally, any App on a bike is a huge turnoff and just a PITA. You wanted an opinion?
Power meter married to the chainring? Yikes that ain't going to be cheap for high mileage riders. Might be getting that wrong but looks like a whole new setup when the ring wears out.
If AXS had and could shift, I'd be interested.
11,12,13,14,15,17,19,22,25,28,32, 38
or
12,13,14,15,16,17,19,22,25,28,32, 38
Idon't have a ton of power and 53x14 or 53x15 is plenty. How many normal riders wear out their 11 or 12 sprocket?
Pass
Now they are starting to emerge with 1x13 drivetrains. Sigh.
I would guess 12 speed and 13 speed means the old drive wheels are obsolete? (new spacing or width??)
One of my concerns with App based shifting or electronic in general is planned obsolescence. You might be up a creek 5 years from now if say a FD breaks. The next platform most assuredly won't be backwards compatible and support for the 5 year old obsolete stuff will or could be diminished to nonexistent. SRAM never allows us Dealers to lower prices unlike other countries (but they are forbidden to ship to US retail customers) and voila, e-tap is now much cheaper. Being blown out. Do I buy blips as spare parts now? Batteries? Charger? In my experience SRAM does not stand behind their products. So, not a lot of confidence in app based control. Not to mention being heavy, heavy, heavy but almost 2 pounds over Sram Red.
I guess they did not fix the front derailleur issue from e-tap.
https://road.cc/content/review/256096-sram-red-etap-axs-first-ride-review
One of my concerns with App based shifting or electronic in general is planned obsolescence. You might be up a creek 5 years from now if say a FD breaks. The next platform most assuredly won't be backwards compatible and support for the 5 year old obsolete stuff will or could be diminished to nonexistent. SRAM never allows us Dealers to lower prices unlike other countries (but they are forbidden to ship to US retail customers) and voila, e-tap is now much cheaper. Being blown out. Do I buy blips as spare parts now? Batteries? Charger? In my experience SRAM does not stand behind their products. So, not a lot of confidence in app based control. Not to mention being heavy, heavy, heavy but almost 2 pounds over Sram Red.
I guess they did not fix the front derailleur issue from e-tap.
https://road.cc/content/review/256096-sram-red-etap-axs-first-ride-review
Remains to be seen whether etap becomes the red headed stepchild. I just bought etap three months ago at full sticker. They are now blowing it out. Will they support? Meaning spare parts. I doubt it very, very much.
I am not the best to listen to. Most want the latest bells and whistles and bling and upgrade frequently. I do not. I value ruggedness and durability because of how much I ride and where. I still have an Italian built Masi with Campy NR all original from the 70's and it works fine, ditto c-record bike, or even a 1990's original Shimano Dura-Ace STI bike. None of them has ever failed. SRAM rear derailleurs break (spring) all the time and destroy hangers and wheels. When the derailleurs are controlled by an app based software dedicated to a single device, do you get support in 5 years? Or do you have to buy an entire new gruppo? Zipp hubs (sram)?
And, yes. I am not entirely happy with etap. Front derailleur performance is terrible (google is your friend) and both front/rear is slow to shift. I have three sets of SRAM Red 22 on three bikes and e-tap. So, I am a dedicated SRAM rider.
SRAM's marketing about smaller steps on the cogs is pure hogwash. Shifting from 10 to 11 is 10% whereas 11 to a 12 is 9%. QED. The option to put on different chainrings exists for any bike. 48/35 rings on an AXS bike vs 50/34 on etap with 10-33 vs 11-32? The math is obvious, the marketeers are blowing smoke. Besides, a 46/34 could be mounted on a 11 speed setup.....I ran one on my randoneuring bike for years.
I suspect my next grouppo will be Shimano. AXS is not only fat, it ain't cute.
Apparently, the blipboxes are already unavailable or hard to get. Next group will NOT be SRAM for me.
http://www.timetriallingforum.co.uk/index.php?/topic/131588-etap-11v12/
Last edited:
3bs
whereabouts unknown
ha. you are taking to a guy who still has a Schwinn from the 70's a miata from the 80's, a kuwahara from the 80's, a bianchi from the 90's, a specialized from the 90's, and a parts bin that probably borders on museum level collectability. i still have campy parts sitting around.
in terms of semi modern, i have a ton of shimano. that stuff has always been my go to. but in the last few years i have bought a few new parts that were sram, and they have been good. the only thing that has broke on me is my rear mech when i wiped my tica last summer, and nothing could have survived that hit. for whatever reason, in terms of shifters, i favot thumb shifters over everything
i came right up to buying a red etap wifli set a few weeks ago and then waited as i am suspect. i don't need a 10 tooth in back if i have a decent ring(s) up front.
one bike i am restoring needs a 1x, and i really like riding it so it has to be reliable. but wireless on that would be really beautiful, particularly if i can get the brake lines concealed.
i am sure on most of the other stuff i can just conceal the cables. but i rode a di electric setup for a week last summer on a borrowed bike and liked it, and some of what i am playing with now would greatly benefit from no cables or wires.
maybe i should just let the parts bin be my guide, and then just lose 10 lbs.....
in terms of semi modern, i have a ton of shimano. that stuff has always been my go to. but in the last few years i have bought a few new parts that were sram, and they have been good. the only thing that has broke on me is my rear mech when i wiped my tica last summer, and nothing could have survived that hit. for whatever reason, in terms of shifters, i favot thumb shifters over everything
i came right up to buying a red etap wifli set a few weeks ago and then waited as i am suspect. i don't need a 10 tooth in back if i have a decent ring(s) up front.
one bike i am restoring needs a 1x, and i really like riding it so it has to be reliable. but wireless on that would be really beautiful, particularly if i can get the brake lines concealed.
i am sure on most of the other stuff i can just conceal the cables. but i rode a di electric setup for a week last summer on a borrowed bike and liked it, and some of what i am playing with now would greatly benefit from no cables or wires.
maybe i should just let the parts bin be my guide, and then just lose 10 lbs.....
