Dancing Skeleton

I just found out that Sram is no longer going to make an 11-speed eTap FD.
This is a complete slap in the face to current 11-speed eTap owners, especially since Sram released the "A2" RD, which looks like an AXS RD, but is 11-speed compatible. Why not a FD?
I'm in a lousy situation, my bike & some parts were damaged in a crash. I have been able to acquire a new right shifter & A2 RD. I need a FD, but they're nowhere to be found.
Someone paid $540 for a used on on eBay recently.
What's worse, is that I've been slowly acquiring parts for a disc brake bike with eTap22. All I need is a FD, and again, Sram isn't making them.
Not good.
I've been a Sram loyalist since 2010, and I've got plenty of spare 11-sped cassettes, chains, chain rings etc., along with several sets of wheels in 11-speed.
I'm not paying $1,000's to ditch those & swap (not upgrade) to AXS 12-speed. I'll go to Shimano before I do that.
What am I supposed to do?

ScottRiqui

Perhaps the non-availability is temporary? This post from Glory Cycles makes it sound like there's a new 11-speed "A2" front derailleur in the works as well (part number FD-RED-E-A2), but as of late September it was still "coming soon."

DaveSSS 

11 speed etap has a flawed communication system, so it needs to die out. I wouldn't spend more money on it or build a new bike with it. All brands eventually phase out old tech and move on to new. Shimano will have 12 speed next year and it won't be compatible with 11. Campy is the same, except that their freehubs are 9-10-11-12 speed compatible.

shelbyfv

Maybe some info here. https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...ilability.html

spdntrxi

yep.. sold both sets of 11sp for redonk prices on ebay and went AXS red. Once Shimano goes wireless bye bye Sram.

Dancing Skeleton

That's a different argument.
My issue is that Sram had said that they would support 11-speed for a while, came out with a new RD, then has apparently abandoned plans for a new FD, and without warning not made any FD's available.
Personally, I've had nothing but excellent performance from 11-speed eTap.

Dancing Skeleton

Doubtful, that's a different thread that I started.

veganbikes

Oh no the brand that has not been able to make a decent road front derailleur and has railed against it often and fought hard for 1X is doing something on brand for them. Sorry I don't mean to be mean but this does seem like what SRAM might do. The thing SRAM does well is brake levers, they make excellent brake levers and their cassettes and chains are great as well. If I were them I would just focus on that stuff.

TiHabanero

Talking with a customer a day ago who was claiming to get rid of his car and go commuting by bike. He asked my opinion about an ebike. Told him 10 years from now parts such as proprietary pieces like controllers and batteries, they will not be available from the bike companies as they will be abandoned for new tech. Have said this same thing about electronic shifting, and lookie here Sram has proven me correct, again.
Bicycles are simple, keep 'em that way and you will be pleased for decades to come. Admittedly, when Campy goes wireless I'm in. Only have about 20 years left to live so I don't care about long term serviceability, but I still use drive trains from the mid 80's because it has not worn out yet, and is still serviceable.

veganbikes

Normally I could agree to a point but Bosch has kept up support for all their stuff in the U.S. aside from the Gen 1 stuff that never was in the U.S. to begin with (aside from a few imports here and there from people) they according to their website started in the U.S. 6+ years ago (but have been globally active with gen2 since at least 2013) and I can still support that 6+ year old bike easily and no signs of losing support for that. Yes electronics do change and it can be a risk but again one has to not just sit there and say "well they might change it" and never try something. Certainly some other brands might be a little bit more risky but with say Brose, I can get parts to fix their motors like belts and batteries are not proprietary to the system so I could get it rebuilt by someone assuming I still have the old one from the manufacturer and for say Specialized who has used Brose for a while I can get the same batteries for the Como/Vado and they still fit the original 2017 models and can upgrade to the new display.

Amt0571

Why such hate towards SRAM FDs? I rode a SRAM triple MTB for 10 years without issues, and my current road bike also has a SRAM FD which is excellent, and in fact, does away with the trimming that Shimano requires. What's not to like about it?

I don't agree on the brake department though. SRAM hydraulic brakes are problematic and have been since they were still using the Avid brand.

base2 

It's because Sram front derailleurs of any variety are garbage. So much so they gave up & tried to get everyone to believe they didn't need them. Specifically, the spring tension was too high & it made for unpredictable performance & problematic adjustments.

Yaw was stupid.

Doubletap shifter throw is te-rarrded.

Mountain mechanical shifters that shatter inside the first ride. Garbage. You'd find better guts in a Microshift/Sunrace.

When people realized that they wanted to do more than 20mph, they invented a 10 tooth cog that wears out in a season & stuck it on cassettes that are 500% range with stupid huge gaps between gears. 20%gaps! Really? Garbage.

Garbage cassettes that are overpriced for being worthless with 3 smallest cogs worn out in 3 months.

The only chains I've had that self-destruct on the first ride were Sram. Garbage.

Proprietary $100 chains. WTF?

Crankarms that break about an inch up from the pedal axle. Garbage. (40 mile 1 legged ride, that day.)

About 10 different crank arm spider spline interfaces. Garbage.

A million different bottom bracket "standards" that are anything but.
Garbage.

Forcing dealers in to full groupsets or not at all is an abuse.

Their xd driver, & keeping cassettes as a cartridge unit is better design than Shimano though...& they haven't tried the FSA 107bcd idiocy yet. So I guess there is that.

What's up with the hidden bolt thing? Campy aspirations? Dumb.

Every part Sram has ever made has been specifically designed to be short lived, obsolete, proprietary, & to grift consumer choice.

All the above example, have either happened to me personally or been witnessed first hand by myself, in person.


Did you really think a battery powered, radio controlled, electro-mechanical was going to be any different? Ha!


Gevenalle.

Amt0571

I'm not justifying what's happenning to the OP with his electronic FD, but as I said I used a triple mountain bike with SRAM X9 for 10 years and 40k km without any issue. Sold it with the original derailleurs working like new. Used SRAM chains for ages with no issues either and although I mostly used Shimano cassettes on my MTB, I'm using a SRAM cassette on my road bike which works perfect.

I'm currently using a Yaw FD and see no issues with it or with doubleTap shifters.

It seems to me that your criticism is unfounded.

Oh, and although I'm not really sold on 1x, my new mountain bike happens to have a Shimano transmission with a single chainring and a 10t cog.

base2 

You asked why the hate?
I cited a bunch of reasons why.
Also, I did a few minor edits.

Admittedly, Quarq & Rockshox haven't done me wrong yet & Sram has excellent customer service. My replacement crankset arrives in the morning via UPS.

base2 

Edit: I take that back Quarq bought Powertap, then immediatly discontinued the C1 in favor of their own much higher priced option & threw away the repair & calibration equipment. They did keep the support though in the form of a $489 replacement that you still gotta buy a set of rings for. So, your not totally SOL.

They also discontinued the 32 hole disc hub. So if you want a strong, capable powermeter mountain/off road wheel it's gotta be a 24 or 28 hole laced into expensive AF carbon. (Zipp maybe?) My 32 hole Powertap disc hub had to be re-imported from Switzerland. I should've bought 2.

They also discontinued Powertap steel freehub bodies. They'll be happy to sell you bunches of super soft aluminum ones as a new revenue stream, though. As if guided by a magician: "Oh, look at this durable & long lasting xd drivers & all these Sram cassettes over here!"
I've been snatching up steel ones from Craigslist for a while now.

The ability to order Powertap repair & service, parts, overhaul, etc... has also been pulled from their website. It requires special consumer request through text-bot in the service portal.


ok, ok, ok...Rockshox, hasn't done me wrong.

The invisible hand of the Empire is always guiding you back.

The whole Sram empire is a scam.

DaveSSS 

Many users also complain about the new AXS 12 speed front derailleurs being difficult to setup and having chain drop issues. I've set up force axs FDs six times on four different frames with no problems at all, but I don't use sram cranks. I'd say sram has a crank problem.

TiHabanero

"I'd say sram has a crank problem."

I'd say Sram is a problem. Great customer service, best I have ever had to use, however I have used it quite often, which just should not be. Simply don't have warranty-able issues with Shimano or Campy.

veganbikes

Because they have had issues making front derailleurs work well hence why they have been so all in on 1X. Their mountain stuff seemed to be better hence why I mentioned road specifically.

You missed my point on SRAM and brakes. I simply said brake levers not their actual brakes, those are crap-o-la but are a little better these days at least. I am talking S500 and S900 and all their other single speed/cable actuated levers. Also Avid lever are also quite nice but again cable actuated and not their actual brakes.

Marcus_Ti

SRAM seems to think no one needs an FD anymore.