I made a big decision this week -- a decision with broad and far-reaching implications for every facet of my future: I got electronic shifting for my road bike. I had been upgrading to an electronic shifting bike for a while but couldn't justify the cost, especially since I wanted SRAM eTap instead of Shimano Di2.
Note the the internal cable routing ports are sealed!
Two things about eTap the really appeal to me: completely wireless system with interchangeable batteries for the derailleurs, and the unique shifting method SRAM developed. With eTap, the right shift lever moves the chain down to a smaller cog and the left shift lever moves the chain up to a bigger cog. You click both shift levers together to switch between chain rings. Shimano has caught up some with its new SynchroShift technology, which moves up and down to easier and harder gear ratios incrementally, automatically switching between chain rings as required for the appropriate gear ratio. Although developed primarily for tri/TT bikes, a friend of mine just upgraded the firmware on his Di2 system for his road bike and says he's only changed chain rings twice since upgrading to SynchroShift.
SRAM says that the rechargeable derailleur batteries last for around 625 miles and the coin cell batteries in the shift levers last around two years.
Front derailleur
I'm looking forward to riding with eTap. I replaced a SRAM Force groupset and, while the rear derailleur shifted well, the front derailleur was really finicky. I ended up replacing the SRAM front derailleur with a Shimano DuraAce front derailleur and there have been quite a few missed shifts and there were still quite a few times that the chain dropped into the bottom bracket. There should be no more missed shifts or chain drops with electronic shifting.
Rear derailleur
It is too bad that there are no reasonably-priced bikes that come with electric shifting, especially SRAM Red eTap. My 2015 Jamis Xenith Pro has all the stiffness and lightness I need. But to get a bike with eTap I would need to get a top of the line, high modulus carbon frame, with top quality wheels and cranks, bringing the price of the bike up to $7,000 easy. It was much cheaper to just switch out my shifters and derailleurs and keep my existing cranks, chainrings, cassette and chain.
planned to give it a test drive on the trainer last night but ended up working too late to be bothered to set up the trainer (the working hard is necessary in order to purchase the new gear, yet diminishes the time available to train on it - quite the paradox).
I look forward to test riding it this weekend!. Look for a full review next week!