SRAM eTap Availability

christrinder
christrinder Posts: 14
edited May 2019 in Road general
Does anybody know what’s happening with SRAM’s etap products? I’ve been trying to buy an aero upgrade kit (2x11) for a while but nowhere seems to have stock. I’m also confused by the new AXS product - is this replacing the original etap products - because some articles I read suggest it is, but most of the AXS products I can find seem to be more for cyclocross. Thanks in advance for any information you can share on these products.

Comments

  • step83
    step83 Posts: 4,170
    the old 11spd eTap is being replaced by AXS, youll still find the older kit knocking about but as its no longer being made itll become more an more scarce.

    From what I can tell the only difference between the CX and road is the front mech and cranks
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,433
    etap is not being replaced by axs, both are current products and should remain so for years, just as mechanical red is still available, even old 10-speed red is still a current product

    supply of bundled upgrade kits is another matter, the peak market for upgrade kits was at launch, demand may have dropped low enough that it's not worth retailers (or sram) selling them any more as a kit - you can still buy the components separately, though probably costs more than a kit would've

    if you're ok with 12-speed, you could get that kit instead
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • etap is not being replaced by axs, both are current products and should remain so for years, just as mechanical red is still available, even old 10-speed red is still a current product

    To be fair this is not the impression I have got. Already been told by my LBS that they cannot get hold of 11 speed etap groupsets or individual components at present and don't expect to be able to now axs has been released. I think I mentioned on another thread that I was reading an interview with a senior exec from Sram who alluded to the fact that as a company it did not make sense for them to offer two electronic setups longer term and that 12 speed axs was their focus for the future.

    Websites such as Cyclingtips have also reported that they expect the mechanical road groupsets to become obsolete - scroll down James Huang's piece here for more - https://cyclingtips.com/2019/04/sram-force-etap-wireless-electronic-groupset-details-weights-prices/.

    Obviously a lot of this is still speculation but I would guess that the current full range offer of electronic and mechanical 11 and 12 speed groups will not remain part of sram's portfolio for the longer term, they look set to ditch some of the lineup at some point.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 16,433
    etap components are all still available, but as i pointed out, the market for upgrade kits isn't there any more, especially for the aero one

    having said that, if you search you can still find upgrade kit the op is looking for, took less than a minute to find it advertised as in stock https://www.7hundred.co.uk/41687/produc ... -aero.aspx though of course it could be they're fibbing!

    sram still market red 10 speed, that's 10+ years, still available

    sure things will eventually get dropped from production, but sram (just like shimano and campag) know they need to have stock for maintenance over a reasonable term, otherwise they'll rapidly get a reputation for hanging customers out to dry
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny