SRAM Apex shifter problem

markp80

Hi all,

My SRAM Apex rear shifter appears to have failed - when I push the lever in, it doesn't seem to "catch" to enable me to change up the cassette (to a bigger gear), it simply drops straight down to a smaller gear.
The cable's definitely not broken, it's the shifter that's not ratcheting somehow. From what I've read, this sounds like something to do with worn/broken pawls in the mechanism - does this sound correct? And am I also correct in thinking there's nothing repairable, and a new lever is required?
I hope this isn't the case, as when I had a quick look, a replacement shifter is at least £100, which I have to say came as something of a shock!

Cheers,
MarkP

paulbnix

I had the same problem after about 15000 miles.
I couldn't fix it but luckily already had one that was still ok - about 10k miles on that one I think.

They are available on Ebay for less e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SRAM-Apex-11 ... Sw8WdbhysF

londoncommuter

How old are they and have they had any crash/knock at all? Older versions of Rival and Force shifters used to suffer from a lightweight metal bit snapping but SRAM changed it to sturdier metal around 2012 I think. Not sure if that affected Apex or not.

Might be worth investigating a warranty replacement if they're not massively old as I found SRAM were really good in that regard.

markp80

paulbnix wrote:

I had the same problem after about 15000 miles.
I couldn't fix it but luckily already had one that was still ok - about 10k miles on that one I think.
They are available on Ebay for less e.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SRAM-Apex-11 ... Sw8WdbhysF

- thanks for the tip, I'll have a look. After a bit of research, it seems to be a fairly common problem, so I wouldn't risk used, but new eBay would be fine.

londoncommuter wrote:

How old are they and have they had any crash/knock at all? Older versions of Rival and Force shifters used to suffer from a lightweight metal bit snapping but SRAM changed it to sturdier metal around 2012 I think. Not sure if that affected Apex or not.

Might be worth investigating a warranty replacement if they're not massively old as I found SRAM were really good in that regard.

I would say it's around 6 years old, but it hasn't had a hard life and has never suffered any physical damage in terms of crash or impact. I think the warranty is two years, so a claim on that might be pushing it a bit, but I guess it's worth an email to SRAM to see what the options might be.

Thanks for the replies guys.
MarkP