Is Sram Etap reliable?

on-yer-bike
on-yer-bike Posts: 2,974
edited June 2017 in Road buying advice
Considering going electronic. Are the batteries standard that you can buy anywhere?
Pegoretti
Colnago
Cervelo
Campagnolo

Comments

  • meesterbond
    meesterbond Posts: 1,240
    Considering going electronic. Are the batteries standard that you can buy anywhere?


    Yes, in my experience (having two bikes fitted with it) it's been perfectly reliable.

    The batteries on the front and rear mechs are SRAM proprietary so you have to get the official ones from SRAM. The shifters have a CR2032 coin battery in them you can get anywhere. In my experience the mech batteries last ages (a couple of months of 3/4 times a week usage) and take an hour or two to charge. You get plenty of warning when they're getting low too. Never needed to change the CR2032s - shop reckoned you'd get a couple of years use out them.
  • vinnymarsden
    vinnymarsden Posts: 560
    The shifter batteries are just standard flat round ones...are they CR32 or something....allegedly last about 2 yrs in shifters.
    Having just gone to Etap, it's fiddly to set up, more so than Di2, as in getting it dialled in right, but once it's there, it's every bit as good, if not better than Di2..well, I think so anyway.
  • FatTed
    FatTed Posts: 1,205
    I have had e TAP for a year now, no reliability issues, it just works. LBS set it up for me.
  • bobones
    bobones Posts: 1,215
    I've had eTap since mid April. It was a doddle to install (although I do all my own bike maintenance) and has been perfectly reliable. I've probably done around 1500 miles with eTap, and I am doing my second recharge at this minute so around once a month or 700-800 miles between charges for me. The derailleur batteries are interchangeable so if the rear goes then you can swap them around and run off the small chainring without much bother. The shifter batteries are standard CR2032, which you can buy almost anywhere and supposedly last a couple of years.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,435
    installed mine 2016/03, ride all weathers, heat, frozen, pouring, dusty, smooth roads, pebbledash roads, plus a few trips in a bike box, no issues, once set up it's perfect and it stays that way

    reliable? well, anything can fail, the main difference with electronic vs. mechanical is the latter often can be bodged, whereas failed electronic is almost certain to need returning to sram for repair/replacement

    i have an extra rd/fd battery at home just in case (rotate it through when one on the bike needs a recharge), as others say the shifter batteries are widely available
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • Sorry to hijack..... I have Etap and find that I don't get a smooth shift between two gears only, about midway in the block (clicks for a couple of seconds before the shift). What's the most likely fix? Will it be trimming, or the limits?

    I did give trimming a brief try but it seemed to get slightly worse.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,435
    check the screws that hold the mech hanger to the frame are tight (assuming it's one that is attached that way)

    check the rear wheel is fully seated in the drops

    check the mech hanger alignment, there are various improvised methods to do this, but using an alignment tool is fastest
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny