Do I really "need" Sram Etap?
 

I've got Sram Etap on my brain.

My Moots has full Dura Ace 9000.

Talk me out of it.

eTap is legit.

Keep the DA9K. Get another bike to try eTap.

I just got it. I have 0 miles on it, but played with it on my workstand. I’ve used Dura Ace stuff for decades. The SRAM stuff is very slick, and set up is awesome. Get eTap, and don’t forget to get Blips to put on your bar tops for climbing.

It's pricey. That's about the only con I can think of, and that's what's keeping it off my travel bike for now.

One more thing in your life that will eventually have dead batteries right when you want to use it?

-or-

Five years form today, you'll be able to get it for 1/10th the price, if you still care?

-or-

It won't work after an EMP strike?

I try not to think about etap. I really liked it for the 15 minutes I was on a bike equipped with it.

My Moots had ultegra 6800 on it for about a year before I caved and put etap on it. Personally, I like the old 6770 di2 better than etap but that wasn’t an option and this said etap works really well. I don’t think you will regret it and you can run the DA 9000 brakes and crank.


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do you need it? No.

is it awesome? you bet.

would put etap on my next bike, the one of after that, I like it that much.

If you have to ask — no.

I've put it on 2 bikes, one with hy/rd brakes, other rim brakes. I like it; having a little challenge getting the FDs tweaked just right - they occasionally throw the chain too far when shifting to the big ring; need to check and see if the adjustment screw is backing out a bit. Other than that, works well, clean on bike, haven't had any other shift adjustments to make, wish there was a better way to monitor battery life.

That said, I think the Dura Ace 9100 on my Peg is every bit as awesome. Fast and accurate shifting, awesome brakes, nice finish.

We are blessed with a lot of great choices right now.

Although I've never used it, my thought is if you want something and can budget for it, you should get it because it will bring you enjoyment. I have bikes with both electronic and mechanical and while I prefer electronic, I still get plenty of joy riding with "just" mechanical. At a certain point, it is all about rationalization. One thing to think about is that if your bike doesn't have all the right internal cabling and you want electronic, eTap is your only way to really go now, so that alone might be enough of a reason, though it doesn't exactly provide a real reason for electronic.

On the other hand, if you wait a while, there will eventually be a newer version out that is somehow "better" and there may even be a Force level eTap at some point.

You don’t need it. I didn’t need it either, but when my wife wasn’t paying attention I put it on a bike.

I didn’t need it on my other bike, but I traded out for another eTap shift kit (no cranks, I had to draw the line somwhere). I also never mentioned that to my wife, because I’m not as stupid as I look.

I also didn’t need it on my breakaway travel bike, but it saves valuable seconds in assembly time. And it’s so much easier to get the bars into the case, so clearly, it’s a good decision. This makes it easy to put together while she’s distracted.

So, no, there’s no valid reason why you need eTap. But, you’re an adult, and if you put some effort into it, you can justify anything. Just get off the fence and work up a good excuse. Your old grouppo can go on the rain bike you’ve been thinking about, clearly saving you some money. See? Easy.

Get it, but make sure to buy 4 extra front derailleurs and an extra set of cranks as you'll gouge the first when the limit screw unthreads itself. Over and over again.

Overrated. And the paddles are backwards.