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.
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.
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)
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.
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……
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’.
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.