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SRAM give a quick look behind the development of eTap

Written by Cory Benson
19 Comments
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We’ve seen a lot of the new wireless SRAM Red eTap group since its introduction last fall, our early rides, and our recent breakdown of a test group.  There’s no doubt that the introduction of the wireless groupset will continue to impact the road (and even mountain) markets for some time. SRAM has talked since day one about rethinking the way we shift and took some inspiration from F1 with their paddle shifting. Have a quick look above at their video take on the story of how they set out to once more simplify the bike’s drivetrain.

Sram.com/Stories
Cory Benson
4,386 articles

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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fergus
fergus
8 years ago

How do you simplify the complicated, more like how do complicate the simplistic? By asking the right questions, such as “how do we sell more cr@p to the consumer under the pretense of marginal improvements”.

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Bikerhp
Bikerhp
8 years ago

Got to see the new etap yesterday. It is very nice and seemed to work great.

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Velociraptor
Velociraptor
8 years ago

How do you simplify the complicated? Add 4 batteries to it.

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CassMan
CassMan
8 years ago

I wonder what the trigger is for the FD, Just how perfectly do you have to hit both paddles for it to register a FD shift instead of just jostling the RD up and down.

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dG
dG
8 years ago

been riding for a very long time. have had some sweet nice bikes, some not so. have *never* been crazy about electronic shifting because it still needs wires and a clunky, ugly a** battery. plus, my current set up on my bikes have mechanical shifting that works quicker and better than my friends’ di2 varieties. So when i saw these i was all over it. OH MY GOODNESS do i ever lust after it. Sram did great here.

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dustytires
dustytires
8 years ago

Test rode it once and got the shifting pattern intuitively. No wires is a no brainer, more wires is more stupid. More $ than Force mechanical is my personal problem, not yours, not SRAMs guess I got to work more, work smarter or sell overstock

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Mariusz
Mariusz
8 years ago

What a nice day for a ride.. ( gets on bike and rolls out of driveway and bike wont shift ) Mother F*^$@# I forgot to charge my batteries *^$#@$%^!!!!!.

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jcharles00
jcharles00
8 years ago

Worrying about charging sucks, but I already have to make sure my garmin is charged, so.. eh. It is only marginal improvement, but I gotta admit that I like the idea of less cables and the idea of right up, left down.. as someone who as explained shifting to new riders many many times working retail, I think it makes more sense. (not that new riders will get etap, but it will trickle down eventually)

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Chris
Chris
8 years ago
Reply to  jcharles00

Except it only goes up/down to next cog rather than to the next gear. Granted, most cyclists don’t understand the difference but it would be great if they offered a truly sequential shifting option.

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sad
sad
8 years ago
Reply to  Chris

itsjusta software update and a patent fight away

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Chris
Chris
8 years ago

I hope that as this trickle downs they include the option for truly sequential shifting where shifting up/down actually moves to next higher/lower GEAR rather than the current system which only moves to the next larger/smaller cog. Should be doable though you would need someway to program the shifters to know exactly what cassette you are running.

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Dan Lind
Dan Lind
8 years ago
Reply to  Chris

Ugh. I think this would be a nightmare. Why does anyone want their bike jumping from big to small chain ring and back again constantly when a typical x-26/28 cassette should cover enough ground to get most people from point A to point B. Sure, eTap is not truly sequential, but we’re riding bikes, not driving cars. If you can’t spin a 28 while in the 53, drop into the 39 and dump the cassette. It’s really a simple process. These are bikes…what’s the point of over complicating things? Just my .02 of course……

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Erich
Erich
8 years ago

Note to self: stick with mechanical and go to Home Depot to buy a strong electromagnet before the next race. 😉

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Roddy
Roddy
8 years ago
Reply to  Erich

More like note to evil self bruh.

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Chris
Chris
8 years ago

Forget motor doping, I want a seattube mounted EMP and I will destroy the local crits.

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Ben
Ben
8 years ago

For those who are worried about forgetting batteries, I suppose you forget your shoes a lot to. And I’m pretty tired of people poo pooing innovation as simply a way to gouge consumers. If it wasn’t for progression, you would still be on steel bikes with 5 speed downtube shifters, wool clothing and toe clips. If that’s your thing, go for it. For the rest us please stop yer bitchin’.

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El Pablo
El Pablo
8 years ago

It’s always fun to see the people that think bike companies (any companies really) make stuff that they ‘have’ to buy. All you f*cking whiners just keep your bike as is and quit whining. Bikes are toys. They are for fun. eTap is cool. Mechanical shifting has worked for years and isn’t going away (yet). No one is taking you toy away to force you to buy a new one.

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Richard
Richard
8 years ago

Well said Ben

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Maza
Maza
8 years ago

How is this a “look behind the development”? It’s literally just an ad.

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