Ha! He only managed second. Maybe di2 would have made a difference!

I hope your more careful than me. :-)


Yesterday I joined some friends on a ride so in my usual rush I grabbed the etap equipped road bike off the rack and set off on the 45 minute drive to the start point with just a quick thought while driving, "maybe I should have checked or topped off the batteries." I boot up the Edge 820 and the first thing I hear is a beep and a message that the rear derailleur battery is critical. To continue with consistency of being an idiot I go on with my friends and all is cool until about mile 20 I realize that both batteries are dead and I am stuck with a 52 / 32 combination. Now the sun baring down and a toasty 91 degree temp I am wondering if Uber could find me. My friends decide to stay with me as I am left at a mere 13 mph top speed spinning at 100 rpm and for the first time hoping that we actually gets some climbs so that gear ratio would calm the bouncing on the saddle. Ruined what was supposed to be a fantastic route for my friends because they would not continue on and insisted on making sure I made it back okay.

First thing I do when I get home was to order another couple of batteries at $80. One that I would carry with me and the other to keep in my gear bag in case I need 2. Now wouldn't be something if this happens again I have 4 dead batteries because, again, I am an idiot always rushing around and not checking over things before I leave the house.

Maybe if I give myself a public flogging here I would remember? I wish, but I will probably forget again.

Do the batteries drain just sitting there for weeks/months? I haven't used the bike in a while and the batteries were charged pretty good at the last use. I typically use my Felt IA.

I have actually heard more first-hand stories about drained Di2 batteries than eTap batteries. I have experienced an unexplained Di2 battery drain. That said, it is pretty easy to drain eTap batteries driving around, because the internal accelerometer keep the derailleurs live during movement. Though, they shouldn't just drain while sitting still.

I have not ridden my road bike in almost 2 months since topping off for a hilly 80 mile ride. Batteries still show full on my 520.

It is certainly not worth it if you care about your money or don't have unlimited budget for gadget.
Modern mechanical works very well. Do yourself a favor and buy shimano ultegra (or dura ace but they are pricey) teflon coated cable. They'll improve shifting to perfection. No more changing cable and housing every now and then. Works perfectly all year long, wet or dry, no adjust once cable is stretched.

That said if you are sitting on a pile of money, for no performance advantage, you'll enjoy electronic shifting it just has this little inexplicable edge. For a TT bike there is the true advantage of shifting on the base bar but if you don't use your TT in mountain that really is no big deal.

this is what I have as well... I'm not a fan of the blip box which pretty much keeps me away from eTap on the TT.

I have force on my TT bike and bought a road bike with u-di2 this winter. While the di2 is really nice it wasn't a game changer like a power meter is.

Once you go di2 you will never go back. I would not test ride one till you have the cash to buy it. Also varia radar is great

personally, I am converting my Cervélo P3 to Di2 so that I can shift out of the extensions. That's pretty much it... Sourcing the parts from here and there because I am a cheap ass.

I agree.
Honestly, I've tried both Etap and DI2 (Etap Currently). For my TT, I prefer DI2 because of longer battery life and more reliable shift.
It feels like I have to charge my Etap at least every three weeks.

It just feels like etap was created for the road bike and they half-assed the engineering for the TT. Blip box and blips with wires are annoying and lots of parts that can go wrong. It defeats the purpose of being wireless.

Totally agree. I wish that SRAM had designed integrated TT brake & shift levers like for the road bike. We would still have to run wires to the extensions for the clicks, but I would gladly have done that. If SRAM ever comes out with a true integrated TT setup that does not include the Blip, I will consider dumping my TT Di2. Until then, Di2=TT; eTap=Road.

No need for wires. You can hide whatever wireless thing is needed inside the extensions. You can have 4 blips connect wirelessly to the derailleurs.

That is my 3.0 perfect vision for my future electronic system. It just requires a battery in each click thing unit. It is my 2.0 that I would "settle" for integrated brakes/shifters that have the battery and wireless bits and then wires to the extension clicks.

Just to add a different perspective:

My wife is a very good crit racer. But crashes with some frequency. When she was racing on mechanical DA, every crash was hours of re-tuning and trying to figure out what needs to be replaced. She is on etap now and it has saved me literally 50+ hours of diagnostic work over the past 2 years. Things are either broken or they are not.

Related -- she has crashed on to her etap rear deraileur 3 times. And every time the hanger has bent, but not the deraileur.

I still race on mechanical and my bike is definitely more of a PITA after a crash. So I'd add "less of a pain in the ass after a crash" to the pro column for electronic.

Andy

Yeah, I would say eTap + Crit = Match Made in Heaven.

I used to race criteriums in my youth. It was my favorite event. I also crashed a lot in training and racing. But, I am thinking of the shifting. The eTap shift design is so perfect for a crit. No thinking, like with Di2's fussy little double-buttons. Just click and roll-- you literally cannot screw up. And, it destroys mechanical... for crits when you want to do multiple shifts, mechanical brake shifters kind of suck. I think down tube shifters would even be better in that scenario.

Been interested in sourcing a 1x TT eTap setup- mind if I ask where/how you bought your kit? How has the groupset been working out for you?

I'd say if you're buying a high end new complete bike at a bike shop, electronic is probably the way to go. Everything on new bikes these days is designed to work well with electronic stuff, the kinks have been worked out. If you're converting an old bike, eTap might make sense but Di2 will be more of a challenge and inevitably be cobbled together. I would not convert a 2009 road bike to Di2 but I might convert one to eTap.

Then again, I am putting a ton of miles every year on 10 speed Ultegra 6600 from 2005 on my primary road bike. It's currently on its 4th frame. I keep thinking I'll get rid of it, but that stuff works flawlessly and is completely reliable. I like 6600 better than both 6700 (total crap) and 6800 (better but still vague and squishy compared to 6600) both of which I've owned on other bikes. I haven't tried 8000 yet. Electronic on a road bike might be nice, but I frankly can't envision needing something that works "better" than 6600.

Is it actually good time to buy electronic groups set right now? Im thinking, maybe later this year, or next year we will see next generation of di2/etap which will be much better. Maybe someone will make junction which fit into aerobar extension... If next two years we will have same di2/etap i will probably buy it now. Does anybody know, are we expecting for the new generation of the electronic groupset from Shimano/Sram ?

I have had electronic on my most recent tri bike.. game changing, especially if you live in the mountains. I am considering a new road bike, have DuraAce mechanical on my current one. When I mentioned mechanical on a new bike, both mechanic and manager of my tri shop said "get electronic, no questions asked". Since I race for the shop and know them really well, I do trust that they are just trying to sell. My 2 cents.

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

On TT bike yes, as you can shift in both positions super easy. On Road bikes, I don't think so, it is just a bling. New mechs when properly set will shift the same way as di2 stress free super smooth.