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Can I add E-tap to my 2015 Foil? Or just get a new bike?

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Can I add E-tap to my 2015 Foil? Or just get a new bike?

Old 08-14-22, 03:23 PM
  #1  
23109VC
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Can I add E-tap to my 2015 Foil? Or just get a new bike?

I was riding recently and while stopped for a break ran into another local cyclist who had a pretty new very high end Trek bike. It looked nice..and he had the SRAM E-tap shifters. I have a 2015 Scott Foil. My bike is full carbon, but was built way before all the e-shifting became common …. So I have cables, but they route internally inside my frame.

Rather than buy a new bike I wondered if I could just make a few upgrades and make my bike a lot nicer. Add Carbon wheels and upgrade my SRAM Rival group set to E-tap.

my initial impression is that getting just the group set is going to be in the $1500 range..then I have to pay someone to install it.
adding carbon wheels is doing to cost me another $1000-2000.

I could just buy a newer more modern bike like what i have - a Scott Foil comparable to what i hae is about $5000. More money than fixing up what i have..but I wondered if maybe in the long run that woudl be better. I’d still have my 2015 Foil which one of my kids could have/ride.

so question 1 is - is it really cost effective to do these upgrades and should I consider it? Can I add SRAM e-tap to a bike like mine?

question 2 - if you were in my shoes - woudl you upgrade the bike I hae or just spend that money on a newer bike? I could keep or sell the one i have..I think a basic Scott Foil comparable to mine even comes with Syncros brand carbon wheels..so all the upgrades ar eon it.
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Old 08-14-22, 03:43 PM
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You can add the groupset to your bike. It's not difficult to install the new SRAM groupset because it's wireless. Even moreso assuming you're running rim brakes and not hydraulic disc brakes.

There are different tiers of e-tap. What groupset do you have on the bike currently? If you don't get the higher end e-tap (Force or Red) chances are your bike is going to be heavier than it is now...

Which bike would you be looking to get if you didn't upgrade yours?
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Old 08-14-22, 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by 23109VC
so question 1 is - is it really cost effective to do these upgrades and should I consider it? Can I add SRAM e-tap to a bike like mine?
Cost effective? Not really. SRAM eTap is expensive and not thought of as a good cost-to-benefit upgrade. It doesn't really make you any faster. It's very cool though, I liked everything except the short battery life. Really, it's all up to you and if you feel it'd be a nice upgrade to have for the outlay. It's certainly very easy to install on older bikes.


Originally Posted by 23109VC
question 2 - if you were in my shoes - woudl you upgrade the bike I hae or just spend that money on a newer bike? I could keep or sell the one i have..I think a basic Scott Foil comparable to mine even comes with Syncros brand carbon wheels..so all the upgrades ar eon it.
I put eTap (the old 11-speed) on an old carbon bike that was all externally routed beforehand. It was very cool. I had blips on the clip-on TT bars also.

At the end of the day, it wasn't really worth it. Sweet shifting, yes. Fun to use. Yes. Way too expensive. Yes. I ended up taking it off and selling the eTap around the time the new 12-speed was announced, so I still got a good resale on it. Would I do it again? Probably not. But it was cool...

If you have the cash burning a hole in your pocket then go for it. Personally though, you'd probably be better putting the money towards a newer bike.
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Old 08-14-22, 05:23 PM
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I'd say yes to a new carbon wheelset, no to the new e-shifting.

Wheelset is an easy upgrade, with and improvement you should notice right away. And those wheels can be moved to a different bike easily (as long as the bike has rim brakes).

Changing to e-shifting is complicated, expensive, and the gain is not all that stupendous.

I upgraded a Foil to Di2 for one of my guys. Just ordering all the necessary bits was a hassle.
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Old 08-14-22, 05:43 PM
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Thing is the rim brakes. I am in this scenario with a 2015 Propel. The AXS on my cross bike is great, but it has disc brakes. Making it a very nice difference. Brakes on the Propel plain are horrible that etap wouldn’t resolve.

So I got road wheels for the cross bike instead.

I wouldn’t do it unless somehow you have a mech shifting hydro disc brake bike.
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Old 08-14-22, 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
I'd say yes to a new carbon wheelset, no to the new e-shifting.

Wheelset is an easy upgrade, with and improvement you should notice right away. And those wheels can be moved to a different bike easily (as long as the bike has rim brakes).

Changing to e-shifting is complicated, expensive, and the gain is not all that stupendous.

I upgraded a Foil to Di2 for one of my guys. Just ordering all the necessary bits was a hassle.
Di2 is more time consuming to pull together than eTap, but still not hard. Ordering SRAM is stupid easy. Ordering Di2 just takes a couple minutes of thought and having a clue. Nothing to complain about at all if you know what's up. SRAM does a much better job of putting a group together in a box making life super easy.
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Old 08-14-22, 08:33 PM
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I dont’ know what bike I would upgrade to.. but probably something like I have now.. I like my Foil.. I’d maybe upgrade to a newer Foil.. I’ve seen some that are similar in “grade” to the one I hae now that are about 5k. They come with carbon wheels and the SRAM e-tap. I’m used to SRAM so I’d like to stay with that setup… one lever to click for up/down shifts. I don’t what to go to Shiimano and learn a new system. I’m sure i could but I like what I have. I currently have SRAM Rival on my bike..nothing fancy. It works though. I cna’t say I “need” an e-tap setup but the newer version of my bike has disc brakes, e-tap and carbon wheels. I think the newer Foil like my biike has Syncros brand (Scott’s in house brand) carbon wheels. They are probably fine but not as “fancy” as the higher end brands like Zipp. If you8 get the higher end Foil they come with better wheels but they all have Shimano group sets.

thoughts? I could just upgrade my wheels now and see how I like it. I assume I can get a decent carbon wheelset for $1000. And just keep my Rival setup. Woudl there be any SRAM upgrade I could do but keep the cables.. go to Red or Force? I don’t care about teh weight savings…it woudl probably be minimal..i;d only change if the shifting was much nicer
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Old 08-14-22, 08:42 PM
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Here is an example of what I can find that is a “new” version of what I have. This is about $5800. This would be a big outlay of cash vs what I have now..as I coudl spend $1000 and put carbon wheels on my existing Foil. I have a Foil 30. Here is what I have now…the next link woudl be what I woudl buy if I went new.


If i opted to “upgrade” id be willing to spend about 5-6k but not anymore. I ride for fun and exercise but I don’t race. I have ridden 10 years and have done 1 century… i might do another Burt it’s not a priority. My existing bike is probably like for now.. i guess i coudl find one of these and try it out and see if I “can’t live without it”… i can easily afford a new bike but I don;t have to have one unless it’s going to be like night /day better than what i have now.


This link below is the newer versions of what I have now… very cool looking and much more modern.but would it be “night/day” better than my bike.. like if I put carbon wheels on my bike maybe it would be plenty good. I could even upgrade my cranks/shifters to a newer SRAM setup that would be better and save quite a bit of cash..
https://www.racycles.com/bikes/shop-...-20-bike-23550

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Old 08-14-22, 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by cxwrench
Di2 is more time consuming to pull together than eTap, but still not hard. Ordering SRAM is stupid easy. Ordering Di2 just takes a couple minutes of thought and having a clue. Nothing to complain about at all if you know what's up.
The hard part with Di2 conversion (the one time I had to do it) was finding a distributor that had all the necessary little bits in stock.
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Old 08-14-22, 10:45 PM
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Originally Posted by burnthesheep
Thing is the rim brakes. I am in this scenario with a 2015 Propel. The AXS on my cross bike is great, but it has disc brakes. Making it a very nice difference. Brakes on the Propel plain are horrible that etap wouldn’t resolve.

So I got road wheels for the cross bike instead.

I wouldn’t do it unless somehow you have a mech shifting hydro disc brake bike.
Rim brakes are absolutely fine. I am 90kg and have ridden from my house to Idyllwild and back multiple times. It's a 7k elevation gain. Never had an issue stopping, ever. I also don't have to deal with warping and squeaking rotors like I do on my Tarmac SL6.

If you want nice wheels but don't want to pay the Zipp premium, Elitewheels and Far Sports make fantastic wheels. Winspace is very popular as well. They're not what you would find in your local bike shop but they make good products.

It sounds like an endurance frame would be best for you honestly. Why don't you look into a Trek Domane or something like that. You might enjoy that type of bike and geometry better.

Last edited by Silidons; 08-14-22 at 10:51 PM.
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Old 08-15-22, 06:24 AM
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I went through a similar question period with my Canyon Endurace CF with Ultegra 8000 group. I started looking for parts to go to electronic shifting but decided to go for a new bike. At the time the Rival AXS etap was just appearing on bikes. I found a Cervelo Caledonia Rival AXS eTap at a local bike shop and bought it. I changed out the wheels to ICAN Cycling Alpha 50 wheels. It is a dream bike. The shifting is great.

In December 2021 I also ordered a Lynskey Helix with Rival AXS eTap and received it in late May. It replaced a Lynskey R300 with Ultegra 8000 mechanical group. This is my secondary bike. I put ICAN Cycling Alpha 46 wheels on it. The Rival shifting is great on this bike too.
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Old 08-15-22, 07:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Silidons
Rim brakes are absolutely fine. I am 90kg and have ridden from my house to Idyllwild and back multiple times. It's a 7k elevation gain. Never had an issue stopping, ever. I also don't have to deal with warping and squeaking rotors like I do on my Tarmac SL6.

If you want nice wheels but don't want to pay the Zipp premium, Elitewheels and Far Sports make fantastic wheels. Winspace is very popular as well. They're not what you would find in your local bike shop but they make good products.

It sounds like an endurance frame would be best for you honestly. Why don't you look into a Trek Domane or something like that. You might enjoy that type of bike and geometry better.
Just to be clear, in my post I wasn't talking your run of the mill 105/Ultegra/DA rim brake calipers. I'm talking the 1st generation canti style aero rim brakes on the 2015/2016 Giant Propel. They are hard to adjust, the modulation and strength/feel are horrible. Yeah, non-issue if I had the standard brake calipers.
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Old 08-15-22, 07:30 AM
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I had the same debate as well which was add Di2 (12-speed) to my 2020 Domane SL5 for about $2,500 or buy a new Domane SL7 for $6,600. I already had carbon wheels on the SL5.

My analysis was that I could sell the SL5 without the upgrades I added over time for $2,000 to $2,500 at best. I would then have to add to that another $5,000 or so to buy the new bike. That would be $5,000 roughly to get Di2 since everything else would be the same. Didn't make sense, especially since I really like the color of the bike I have.

Installation was easy with the exception of routing the brake hoses (particularly the fork), so I took that part to the shop to have done. I just didn't want to disassemble the IsoSpeed in front.

Now I have a SL7 that is labeled as a SL5.

Just finished the project, and have not had a chance to ride it yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so. Will it make me faster - no. Am I excited to have it - yep! Would I do it if I had to stretch to afford it - no. Would I do it again being able to afford it - Yep!
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Old 08-15-22, 07:38 AM
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Wheels
One advantage of disc brakes is that there's lots of room for larger tires and wider rims. The big air volume in these wheels allows for lower air pressures without losing efficiency. Carbon wheels are nice with discs--no rim brake problems.

Newer bikes have room for larger tires. What size tires are you riding now? Quite old frames weren't designed to even fit 28mm with enough room to spare for mud or grit picked up while riding. I'm guessing your frame is okay. I use hex "L" wrenches to measure tire-frame gaps -- a 5mm wrench is 5mm across the flats, for instance. I'd want at least 4mm after installing the new tire. Both at the sidewalls of the tire, and above the tread.

I have a very nice road bike with upgraded aluminum wheels. I never considered getting carbon wheels since I have rim brakes. I don't see the advantages, and don't want the special carbon brake pads.
My frame from 2014 fits 28mm and wide 20.5mm inside width rims easily. I think 32mm would be too tight, with small gaps at the tread.

Electric shifting
This was totally worth it for me. Di2 was very expensive when it was new, and I've never regretted it.
I shift a lot. I ride lots of rolling terrain, and shift as the grade changes constantly. Or when I'm trying to keep up with a faster group on the flats. I'll shift a gear, do a couple of pedal revolutions, then shift again. It's so easy to shift, even with my ring finger or with gloves on. And front shifting is so much better -- just a click, and it always shifts fast and reliably. I shift the front more often, even when I just want it for a short time.

Sram electric, with no shift wires, is easy to install. (But make sure you know how to pull and replace internal frame brake cables before you start, if you do the work yourself!)

It's interesting that my upgrade priorities are so different from some of the other responses.

Last edited by rm -rf; 08-15-22 at 07:45 AM.
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Old 08-15-22, 08:59 AM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
The hard part with Di2 conversion (the one time I had to do it) was finding a distributor that had all the necessary little bits in stock.
The one time...
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Old 08-15-22, 09:33 AM
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Unless you are very capable at DIY and able to easily catch on to the stuff required to do the new to you electronic shifting installation, then I recommend you just buy a new bike with it already installed. The new bike with electronic shifting will also be at a tier level the the other components such as wheels will also be decent and not the lower tier wheels you'll usually find on the inexpensive models of the same bike.

So the price difference of upgrade isn't that compelling to me. Besides, you get a new bike. And your son or other will get a nice bike... assuming it fits and they aren't more into another style of riding.
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Old 08-15-22, 09:51 AM
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Do you want wider wheels/clearance for wider tires and disk brakes? Do you think you might crave them in the future? Go new, because those are things you can't retrofit onto your current frame. If you're happy with everything on your current bike but just want some new fun electric doodads and gizmos, go with upgrading what you've got.
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Old 08-15-22, 10:07 AM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
The hard part with Di2 conversion (the one time I had to do it) was finding a distributor that had all the necessary little bits in stock.
Originally Posted by cxwrench
The one time...
Guilty as charged.

It was more of an annoyance than a difficulty. There's nothing technically difficult about Di2.

My tolerance for incompetence is quite low.
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Old 08-15-22, 03:43 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
Guilty as charged.

It was more of an annoyance than a difficulty. There's nothing technically difficult about Di2.

My tolerance for incompetence is quite low.
Me too, for sure!
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Old 08-22-22, 01:54 PM
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My bike came with super skinny 23s… I switched out to 28s and they fit fine. I think that made the ride better… and I can’t really say if it made the bike slower at all.. if anything the only thing making ME slower is the 20 lbs I put on when I stopped riding after my crash…. I’m back on the bike trying to work off that weight…

I don’t dislike my bike at all… I am afraid to go ride a new once b/c I might want to buy it.. . I figured if I wanted to upgrade mine, I could do the group set and wheels and be cheaper than a new bike, but it might actually not really be that much cheaper. I don’t need the lightest/fastest/best bike…so i may just leave my bike the way it is.. and keep riding and get more fit…

but when the time comes and I want to get a new bike - I will look into Etap and carbon on the next bike. thankjs!
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Old 08-23-22, 02:43 PM
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So eTap is easy to install practically on any bike however you will need a XDR hub on your wheelset which will cost you

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Old 08-23-22, 02:47 PM
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But to answer your question, unless you get the parts used or on deep discount I would buy new. It's true Rival AXS is $1300 and Force AXS is $2000, so they aren't crazy expensive but they will add a ton of weight to your bike. IMO if you can get a brand new bike with all that stuff already on and the bike has zero miles, why not go new? Frankly I'd rather try and score a last gen Foil RC 30 mechanical at $4300 than dumping more money into an older bike. Or get a 2022 RC 20 for $5800 like I have. I think it's a great bike albeit heavy at 18.22lbs, but it's pretty easy to shed weight on that bike. Changing the saddle, cassette, and cranks can shave like a half a pound. Getting some lighter carbon rims since the Capital 1.0 wheels are 1640g to something that is sub 1500g also saves some weight

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