SRAM eTap rear derailleur not shifting

alexanderjames

Hi,

I recently purchased a SRAM eTap 11 speed groupset second hand. When it arrived, everything was working just fine, the derailleurs would shift as you'd expect.

Yesterday, I installed it on the bike, and was indexing the gears. However, halfway through indexing, the rear derailleur just stopped working. See the video here: https://youtu.be/CdBYPg_gmoE

You can see the green light still flashes when initiating the shift, you can also hear a clicking sound from the derailleur as if it's trying to shift. It's worth adding that the front derailleur shifts just fine.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get this thing up-and-running again?

Thanks

sungod

there's a long thread on ww about shifting faults, from memory some people said that cleaning may resolve it...
https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=153126
...might be best to start from the end and work backwards

try sram warranty if it's new enough (you may need the seller to assist)

fwiw not had an issue with mine, 4+ years so far, all weather riding

alexanderjames

sungod said:

there's a long thread on ww about shifting faults, from memory some people said that cleaning may resolve it...
https://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=153126
...might be best to start from the end and work backwards

try sram warranty if it's new enough (you may need the seller to assist)

fwiw not had an issue with mine, 4+ years so far, all weather riding

Thanks. I really hope it's under warranty, if not, I'll be having some serious arguments with SRAM. Really eager to keep and use the groupset, so I'll take the derailleur off tomorrow and give it a good clean, and see how that goes. Thanks for the insight.

dennisn

I believe YOU have done or are doing something wrong. You're the mechanic and it doesn't work after you worked on it. Ask someone who knows what they are doing to help you.

Ben6899

dennisn said:

I believe YOU have done or are doing something wrong. You're the mechanic and it doesn't work after you worked on it. Ask someone who knows what they are doing to help you.

That's what he's doing.

Jeez, upset about the election or something? Not really a pleasant response, Dennis!


OP, keep us posted how you get on. Maybe take it off the bike and have another go to see if it "shifts"... at least you can rule out the problem being somehow related to it being attached to the bike.

alexanderjames

Ben6899 said:

dennisn said:

I believe YOU have done or are doing something wrong. You're the mechanic and it doesn't work after you worked on it. Ask someone who knows what they are doing to help you.

That's what he's doing.

Jeez, upset about the election or something? Not really a pleasant response, Dennis!


OP, keep us posted how you get on. Maybe take it off the bike and have another go to see if it "shifts"... at least you can rule out the problem being somehow related to it being attached to the bike.

Thanks, Ben. Just for the record, I've fitted many, many groupsets in the past, and I like to think I'm a relatively competent mechanic - user error isn't to play here.

Unfortunately, it's still as dead once off the bike and cleaned up. It seems to have experienced some sort of critical failure as I've begun to index the gears. See the video here.

Doesn't look like it will be under warranty either, so I'm a little stuck at the moment! I have an Allez Sprint with rim brakes, they're not compatible with Di2, but love the frame and wanted to go with electronic gears. Was super excited to give eTap a try, so I'm incredibly disappointed.

Going to try argue it out with SRAM, will keep you posted on how it goes. Truth is, reading the thread linked above, there's clearly a critical failure in these eTap RDs. Hopefully I can convince SRAM to hook me up with a new one.

dennisn

Ben6899 said:

dennisn said:

I believe YOU have done or are doing something wrong. You're the mechanic and it doesn't work after you worked on it. Ask someone who knows what they are doing to help you.

That's what he's doing.

That's NOT what he's doing. There, fixed that for you. Take it to a shop that sells and fixes E shifters. I still say YOU have done or are doing something wrong. Try watching a video or reading the tech manual or try a bike shop. Or don't admit to yourself that YOU may have done something wrong and continue on your current path. Remember you said it worked when you got it then you worked on it and now it doesn't work. Seems easy to figure out why.

Ben6899

alexanderjames said:

Ben6899 said:

dennisn said:

I believe YOU have done or are doing something wrong. You're the mechanic and it doesn't work after you worked on it. Ask someone who knows what they are doing to help you.

That's what he's doing.

Jeez, upset about the election or something? Not really a pleasant response, Dennis!


OP, keep us posted how you get on. Maybe take it off the bike and have another go to see if it "shifts"... at least you can rule out the problem being somehow related to it being attached to the bike.

Thanks, Ben. Just for the record, I've fitted many, many groupsets in the past, and I like to think I'm a relatively competent mechanic - user error isn't to play here.

Unfortunately, it's still as dead once off the bike and cleaned up. It seems to have experienced some sort of critical failure as I've begun to index the gears. See the video here.

Doesn't look like it will be under warranty either, so I'm a little stuck at the moment! I have an Allez Sprint with rim brakes, they're not compatible with Di2, but love the frame and wanted to go with electronic gears. Was super excited to give eTap a try, so I'm incredibly disappointed.

Going to try argue it out with SRAM, will keep you posted on how it goes. Truth is, reading the thread linked above, there's clearly a critical failure in these eTap RDs. Hopefully I can convince SRAM to hook me up with a new one.

Is there a SRAM equivalent of Shimano's etube? Sorry I'm not much help, specifically (all my kit is mechanical), but I'd look to trouble shoot in the same manner. A factory reset might be a winner?

whyamihere

I had a very similar thing happen with one of my AXS mechs, but in that case it was brand new so I was able to simply send it back to the retailer as a warranty job. Unfortunately with 1st gen eTap, there's not really any diagnostics you can run. I assume you've tried all the usual electronics steps of taking the battery off (turning it off and on again basically), repairing it to the shifters etc?

step83

I had this on mine, if you apply light pressure to the mech (kick it) it will suddenly "wake up" you need to clean all he bushing out as SG linked the WW guide is pretty much right.

MidlandsGrimpeur2

Have you tried to re-pair the rd with the shifters are per the initial setup?

As you are not the original owner, not hopeful on a warranty claim. Also, not entirely sure Sram even make 11 speed parts any more, been told by numerous dealers that you cannot get hold of etap 11 speed components.

schlepcycling

SRAM have just released an updated 11 speed etap rear mech
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/09/updated-11-speed-sram-red-etap-rear-derailleur-adds-orbit-pulley-cage-clutch/

alexanderjames

step83 said:

I had this on mine, if you apply light pressure to the mech (kick it) it will suddenly "wake up" you need to clean all he bushing out as SG linked the WW guide is pretty much right.

Thanks, tried this to no avail. From the videos I've seen, this works fine when pushing the derailleur inboard, but my derailleur's stuck in the biggest sprocket. Doesn't seem to work pushing inside-out.

MidlandsGrimpeur2 said:

Have you tried to re-pair the rd with the shifters are per the initial setup?

Definitely tried this, first thing I tried. Attempted to re-pair since a few times, no joy!

whyamihere said:

I had a very similar thing happen with one of my AXS mechs, but in that case it was brand new so I was able to simply send it back to the retailer as a warranty job. Unfortunately with 1st gen eTap, there's not really any diagnostics you can run. I assume you've tried all the usual electronics steps of taking the battery off (turning it off and on again basically), repairing it to the shifters etc?

Tried all of this too

david37

alexanderjames said:

step83 said:

I had this on mine, if you apply light pressure to the mech (kick it) it will suddenly "wake up" you need to clean all he bushing out as SG linked the WW guide is pretty much right.

Thanks, tried this to no avail. From the videos I've seen, this works fine when pushing the derailleur inboard, but my derailleur's stuck in the biggest sprocket. Doesn't seem to work pushing inside-out.

MidlandsGrimpeur2 said:

Have you tried to re-pair the rd with the shifters are per the initial setup?

Definitely tried this, first thing I tried. Attempted to re-pair since a few times, no joy!

whyamihere said:

I had a very similar thing happen with one of my AXS mechs, but in that case it was brand new so I was able to simply send it back to the retailer as a warranty job. Unfortunately with 1st gen eTap, there's not really any diagnostics you can run. I assume you've tried all the usual electronics steps of taking the battery off (turning it off and on again basically), repairing it to the shifters etc?

Tried all of this too

CLEAN it