SRAM Etap first " ride " impressions

[SoCalSteve]

Hi all,

I finished building the Kirk late Monday ( built up pretty easy, bit different than Shimano kit, but I figured it out ). Took it out this morning for a 25 mile shake out ride. Mostly flat at the beach with a few small hills. It was very windy going out and a very strong tailwind coming back. It gave me a chance to ride through all the gears.

I'll admit that after riding Shimano DI2 for the last 5 years, it took a bit of getting used to. But I did. Took a few miles and a few shifts. Did I mis shift a few times, yeah. But it wasn't a big deal. My brain didn't freak out, my fingers didn't fall off. The God of Campy didn't reign down on me.

It just worked. Quietly, quickly and easily. Would I sell my DI2 groups and shift over? No. Would I buy another group for a bike frame that wasn't drilled for DI2, yes. Does it serve a purpose? Certainly. Is it better than the other groups, probably not. But, it serves a purpose. I'm glad I bought it and installed it on my Kirk.

Oh, btw, the Kirk is a great riding bike. I had forgotten how good it is. Glad I dusted it off and installed the Etap grouppo on it.

[SoCalSteve]

The mega yacht has been docked there for about a week now. Over 300 feet long. Seriously attracts some attention, but not as much as my Kirk!!!

[chiasticon]

badass bike, dude. etap or not, it's a beaut! enjoy!

[Cicli]

Nice bike.
Love the orange.

[Likes2ridefar]

Like the bar wrap job. Ive never gone all the way to the stem.

[shovelhd]

Holy crap look at that yacht.

[SoCalSteve]

Holy crap look at that yacht.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3yO2BfnIJPo

[SoCalSteve]

Like the bar wrap job. Ive never gone all the way to the stem.

I wasn't sure how far to go and I didn't want to cut it shorter until I was sure of how it was all going to suss out with the blip shifters under the bar tape and all...so, I ended up doing this and I kind of like it!

[Hilltopperny]

Beautiful terraplane! I love it! Etap or not it's a great bike! The owner of the lbs has the etap and loves it.

[R3awak3n]

damn that looks pretty amazing. Only complaint is taping the bars all the way :eek:

really looks awesome though, deep carbon, the color and I usually don't like the Kirk drunk stays but really nice here

[mistermo]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3yO2BfnIJPo

Money can't buy class.

[exapkib]

Love the all black against the orange/white frame. That just oozes class--definitely the best vehicle in any of these photos.

[tiretrax]

damn that looks pretty amazing. Only complaint is taping the bars all the way :eek:


That's the old school way.

SoCal, if you like it, that's the way to go. Nice job. Glad to hear e-tap is a good tool that won't make my bike explode. Thank you for the review and the pictures. Now, any hotties laying around on that yacht?

[R3awak3n]

That's the old school way.

its just weird on the aero bars

[SoCalSteve]

its just weird on the aero bars

Kinda, yeah...but, I have the blip shifters under the bar tape ( bottom side of bars ) in the middle ( maybe a little closer to the stem ). It just seemed to work out that way. Sometime form does follow function. I did it for a reason.

2 of my other bikes have the same bars and are hardly wrapped at all. Thought I'd try something different with Rays beautiful bar tape this time....:banana:

[FL_MarkD]

Beautiful bike. Thanks for sharing the report and the pics.

[ceolwulf]

I'll join the chorus, that's a good looking bike :banana:

[beeatnik]

A flat beach ride as a shakedown. Haha.

I like Etap's early adopter style.

[alancw3]

love it! especially the way you did the bar tape. haven't seen a better job old school or not! just saying. enjoy!

[Bob Ross]

Money can't buy class.

But, as David Lee Roth once said (when asked if money could buy love), it "can buy a boat big enough to sail up next to it."

[fuzzalow]

Holy crap look at that yacht.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3yO2BfnIJPo

Gotta give the guy his props as he was involved in every detail of what he wanted that boat to be. It seems appropriate, given the stature of what he has achieved to afford such pursuits, that he is not intimidated by projects of significant scale and complexity. Clearly something he enjoys and I'd guess stimulating for him to keep another couple hundred variables floating in his head while he was doin' the work.

Money can't buy class.

I don't think that's fair unless you know something about this guy that we don't. I'm OK with the fact that this guy's reality is completely different from my reality.

To OP: Nice bike although I am a pure white handlebar wrap kinda guy. Campagnolo only though for me so this eTap serves up the same curiosity as the gentleman's yacht - a novelty that I'll not experience but that I'm sure you'll both enjoy.

[oldpotatoe]

How close to the rear tire is the front der battery? Could it interfere with big/wide tires?

[SoCalSteve]

How close to the rear tire is the front der battery? Could it interfere with big/wide tires?

No, plenty of clearance.

[sitzmark]

Sweet! Nice attention to detail. Enjoy the many miles to come. :banana:

[bobswire]

Aw Man, you really blew it,you should have added these.

http://i63.tinypic.com/2wdothe.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/1pbjuu.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/1e163k.jpg

I kid I kid, less is more. That fame with that build is Snazzy.

snazzy
adjective

Elegant; smart and fashionable; clever and desirable; nifty, ritzy:

[pdmtong]

Aw Man, you really blew it,you should have added these.

I kid I kid, less is more. That fame with that build is Snazzy.

snazzy
adjective

Elegant; smart and fashionable; clever and desirable; nifty, ritzy:

This is a SCS bike not a Jeff N. bike.

[Keith A]

Steve -- Thanks for sharing your experiences with Etap, and your Kirk is lovely...not matter what group is on it.

[vqdriver]

http://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2016/04/eTAP-DCR-Movement3_thumb.gif

[SoCalSteve]

This is a SCS bike not a Jeff N. bike.

Post of the day! Thank you, got a real "laugh out loud" moment.

[oldpotatoe]

http://media.dcrainmaker.com/images/2016/04/eTAP-DCR-Movement3_thumb.gif

There are 5 or 6 punchlines here somewhere...:eek:

[pdmtong]

Post of the day! Thank you, got a real "laugh out loud" moment.

Thanks, I knew you would get the idea...

An orange Kirk kills it no matter what. No need to go all naranja to match. Plenty of inspiration from the ten 10th anniv frames if needed.

I am grouppo agnostic but now that eTAP is here, I see no reason to consider anything else if budget allows.

As I have said before - what could make it better? Assuming the electro-mechanical reliability is as promised, if I wave a wand, this is the best i can come up with.
- quieter
- faster
- lighter weight
- smaller form factor
- longer lasting batteries
- more granular battery level indicator
- shimano-esque metallurgical finishes
if these things never happened eTAP is still my preference over the other two electric systems, which IMHO could still improve.

I go back an forth between SRAM and campy on road, shimano/sram triggers and gripshift on dirt. it's not an issue.

now, having said this, eTAP hydro is soooo ugly.

[93legendti]

Looks great, congrats.

[SoCalSteve]

Thank you all for the lovely compliments! I've been enjoying riding it very much this week. Did an epic ride ( for me ) and it handled like a champ. Took me 3 rides and about 75 miles, but now I don't even think about shifting this way. Second nature.

It is a bit slower to shift than DI2 and a bit less smooth. But not enough to take it off the bike and sell it. Probably me just being hyper sensitive.

[velomonkey]

OK, so first - SoCal's Kirk is awesome and . . . it's close to my size. Man, that thing is wicked sweet, broh.

OK - so tooled around on Etap today - some dude who showed up at the group ride had it, nice guy (it was on an orange parlee - what's up with Etap and Orange). Anyway . . . . . . these are my thoughts on it and I think Etap is great and am glad SRAM made it. First, a word to level set my thoughts. . . .

I have Campy Record EPS on a colnago C59 and I really dig it. I have Campy record on my firefly. I've been riding my firefly lately for 2 reasons - my Bora 50mm wheels are "too much carbon" on my colnago. My hands often go to sleep as I have low blood pressure. They go to sleep after like 30 minutes. So the Bora 50mm wheels on my firefly are better and I like riding those wheels. Plus my firefly has power and my training is like 8 weeks behind. I like electronic shifting, it's awesome.

So . . . . I was non-plussed with Etap. Wait don't throw rotten veggies at me . . . . I thought it looked good, the cranks finally look decent and the rest of the group isn't too bad. The hoods aren't for me as I have big hands and could swallow them up, but I didn't totally hate them either. The reason I didn't like it - the whole "shift right for up in the rear, shift left for down in the rear - shift both and the front "will move to where it's not" didn't work for me. I didn't like it. I also saw how slow electronic is or can be. . . . .

Hear me out . . . in New England we have a lot of "little bigger than roller" hills. We don't settle into a climb and do it. We get over it. Often you will hit a climb in your 53x21 or 23 or whatever. Start it, get your position and then go to your 39x17 or whatever. Mechanical - at the same time push down on the left and push down on the right 3 or whatever clicks. Done. Etap. Hit both left and right and shift down to the 39 and now you are spinning at 160rpm - hit the right, ok, hit the right again, ok, hit it once more - is that the RPM you need? No. Hit the left again.

Now granted on my EPS I hit left and 'hold' my right and it's still not as fast mechanical, but it is faster.

The whole thing made me think "I'm going back to mechanical for both my bikes."

Anyhoooowwwww. Sweet bike.

[SoCalSteve]

OK, so first - SoCal's Kirk is awesome and . . . it's close to my size. Man, that thing is wicked sweet, broh.

OK - so tooled around on Etap today - some dude who showed up at the group ride had it, nice guy (it was on an orange parlee - what's up with Etap and Orange). Anyway . . . . . . these are my thoughts on it and I think Etap is great and am glad SRAM made it. First, a word to level set my thoughts. . . .

I have Campy Record EPS on a colnago C59 and I really dig it. I have Campy record on my firefly. I've been riding my firefly lately for 2 reasons - my Bora 50mm wheels are "too much carbon" on my colnago. My hands often go to sleep as I have low blood pressure. They go to sleep after like 30 minutes. So the Bora 50mm wheels on my firefly are better and I like riding those wheels. Plus my firefly has power and my training is like 8 weeks behind. I like electronic shifting, it's awesome.

So . . . . I was non-plussed with Etap. Wait don't throw rotten veggies at me . . . . I thought it looked good, the cranks finally look decent and the rest of the group isn't too bad. The hoods aren't for me as I have big hands and could swallow them up, but I didn't totally hate them either. The reason I didn't like it - the whole "shift right for up in the rear, shift left for down in the rear - shift both and the front "will move to where it's not" didn't work for me. I didn't like it. I also saw how slow electronic is or can be. . . . .

Hear me out . . . in New England we have a lot of "little bigger than roller" hills. We don't settle into a climb and do it. We get over it. Often you will hit a climb in your 53x21 or 23 or whatever. Start it, get your position and then go to your 39x17 or whatever. Mechanical - at the same time push down on the left and push down on the right 3 or whatever clicks. Done. Etap. Hit both left and right and shift down to the 39 and now you are spinning at 160rpm - hit the right, ok, hit the right again, ok, hit it once more - is that the RPM you need? No. Hit the left again.

Now granted on my EPS I hit left and 'hold' my right and it's still not as fast mechanical, but it is faster.

The whole thing made me think "I'm going back to mechanical for both my bikes."

Anyhoooowwwww. Sweet bike.

Thanks!

You can do exactly that ( and very fast ) with DI2. It's a very nice feature they have. It can be done with Etap, just not as fast AND takes a bit more thought. Hit a hill, press both levers, release one ( then hold the other one until you get to your desired gear ). It does work. Not as 100% seamlessly as DI2, but with a bit of thought ( I learned to do this seamlessly on my third ride ) it works with Etap.

[velomonkey]

Thanks!

You can do exactly that ( and very fast ) with DI2. It's a very nice feature they have. It can be done with Etap, just not as fast AND takes a bit more thought. Hit a hill, press both levers, release one ( then hold the other one until you get to your desired gear ). It does work. Not as 100% seamlessly as DI2, but with a bit of thought ( I learned to do this seamlessly on my third ride ) it works with Etap.

That makes sense - hold both, then release left but keep holding the right and get to your gear. Not ideal, but I can totally see that's how you do it after taking it for a spin.

I should have taken a pic of the Parlee - it was a repainted parlee. Nice. Your kirk is nicer!!!!

[sandyrs]

now, having said this, eTAP hydro is soooo ugly.

I thought the shifters looked closer to "normal" than any other hydro levers....