Anyone using Sram Axis?

[Vince Sikorski]

Anyone using Sram electronic shifting for long rides? How many hours are you getting out of the derailleur battery? Will one spare for the rear derailleur take you through a 1200? Just noticed what appears to be a crack in the frame of the bike I was planning to take to PBP. Options are my new Scott Addict with Sram electronic shifting, or my old steel Erickson that I rode PBP in 2003. Recently upgraded some of the components on my old bike, so confident of reliability. Undecided which bike to take now.

Vince Sikorski

[ron...@comcast.net]

Vince,

We've been doing this for 3 decades now. You know the value of proven technology, (i.e.: the Erickson) on a ride like PBP. The Scott is a pleasure to ride, but you obviously haven't yet come to trust it to go the distance or you wouldn't be asking the question.

If you have to take your bike into one of the mechanics at a control, will they be able to diagnose and fix the electronic SRAM? How about the Erickson? Is your French good enough to explain the problem? You might be able to buy some cheap parts at Decathlon that will let the Erickson limp to the end (hey, it could happen). Could you do that with the Scott? Okay, that's kind of reaching for it, but you get my point about the availability of parts.

On the other hand, what's life without adventure? And PBP is such a grand adventure. It's not an adventure, however, until something goes wrong. Bad judgement makes for good stories. Take the Scott. It's a new bike. New stuff is much less likely to break. Or take the Erickson. It's proven it's ability to go the distance. Either way, you pay your money and you take your chances. So pick a bike and roll the dice. Just remember the phrase " Excusez-moi de vous déranger. J'ai un problème."


-Ron Himschoot

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[David Litt]

Early on the first (pre-AXS) version of SRAM etap had lots of reliability problems (I got mine replaced on a warranty claim and could not use/trust it at PBP in 2019. I remember others -- Lois Springsteen in California -- reporting the same), but I have not heard of issues after the first year or so of production, or at all with the AXS.

I plan to use an AXS Force/Rival mixed groupset for PBP -- it is a joy to travel with. No shift wires makes an S and S coupled bike even easier to take apart and put together. 

I have used AXS on lots of 600s, and was going to use it on Cascade last year until Covid-19 caused me to DNS. It has never given me trouble ... unlike, say, a broken shift wire that ended up with a jammed up Shimano brifter and unusable derailleur on a 1200 long ago.
SRAM Etap bike ready to assemble for a 2019 Tasmania series:

That said, I would bring more than 1 spare battery.  Fully charged and relatively new batteries should last 1200kms. But they are small, light weight, can vary with temperature (especially shorter life in mid-winter ... probably not an issue at the coldest PBP temps) and so I always carry a couple with me on a longer ride. I got a set of two no-name Chinese spares for about 40% of the SRAM price and they last maybe 40-50% as long. Or you could bring your SRAM battery charger just in case, if you will be charging a phone anyway from a brick battery or if you can find an outlet at a PC.

On Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 3:45 AM Vince Sikorski <vinni...@gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone using Sram electronic shifting for long rides? How many hours are you getting out of the derailleur battery? Will one spare for the rear derailleur take you through a 1200? Just noticed what appears to be a crack in the frame of the bike I was planning to take to PBP. Options are my new Scott Addict with Sram electronic shifting, or my old steel Erickson that I rode PBP in 2003. Recently upgraded some of the components on my old bike, so confident of reliability. Undecided which bike to take now.

Vince Sikorski

[Lois Springsteen]

I put SRAM AXS on my gravel bike about a year ago and it’s been flawless, unlike the early eTap Red. I would definitely recommend carrying a spare battery or two. They are so light and small. 

Lois

Sent from my iPhone

831-227-6266

On Jul 24, 2023, at 2:25 AM, David Litt <david...@gmail.com> wrote:



Early on the first (pre-AXS) version of SRAM etap had lots of reliability problems (I got mine replaced on a warranty claim and could not use/trust it at PBP in 2019. I remember others -- Lois Springsteen in California -- reporting the same), but I have not heard of issues after the first year or so of production, or at all with the AXS.

I plan to use an AXS Force/Rival mixed groupset for PBP -- it is a joy to travel with. No shift wires makes an S and S coupled bike even easier to take apart and put together. 

I have used AXS on lots of 600s, and was going to use it on Cascade last year until Covid-19 caused me to DNS. It has never given me trouble ... unlike, say, a broken shift wire that ended up with a jammed up Shimano brifter and unusable derailleur on a 1200 long ago.
SRAM Etap bike ready to assemble for a 2019 Tasmania series:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/seattlerando/CAEZ9q_n_Px18MCQtw%3DW_Gd9AgnLWaoMcWojgZbtV8RwZswEKGA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Dan Driscoll]

+ One… Agreed, the original SRAM eTap had issues, but SRAM was GREAT about replacing whatever it was, many times and even upgraded me to AXS when it came out. 

To date, on the SRAM AXS, in more than the last 4 years, I’ve not had a single issue, with well over 60,000 RUSA kms, including 6 1,200kms, several 1,000kms, and 16  600kms with 9 of those being super sixes. 

I love SRAM, never going back to wires and cables. 

For PBP I’ll start with 2 fresh batteries, and carry one spare, at some point half way or more, I’ll swap out the used batteries for 2  freshly charged batteries from a drop bag. This is what I did in PBP 2019 and it worked great, with piece of mind that I’d have more than enough shifts to finish.  

Although I think a new pair of batteries would last 1,200km, my batteries are 2022 and older... why risk it?

If you’ve gone longer than you think you should have or your Garmin shows a low battery level in the rear, just switch the front and rear batteries to extend the run time, as the rear usually runs low first, and the batteries are the same. 

I’d take the new bike. 

Hope I didn’t Jinx us. 

DanD

On Jul 24, 2023, at 4:24 AM, David Litt <david...@gmail.com> wrote:

Early on the first (pre-AXS) version of SRAM etap had lots of reliability problems (I got mine replaced on a warranty claim and could not use/trust it at PBP in 2019. I remember others -- Lois Springsteen in California -- reporting the same), but I have not heard of issues after the first year or so of production, or at all with the AXS.

I plan to use an AXS Force/Rival mixed groupset for PBP -- it is a joy to travel with. No shift wires makes an S and S coupled bike even easier to take apart and put together. 

I have used AXS on lots of 600s, and was going to use it on Cascade last year until Covid-19 caused me to DNS. It has never given me trouble ... unlike, say, a broken shift wire that ended up with a jammed up Shimano brifter and unusable derailleur on a 1200 long ago.
SRAM Etap bike ready to assemble for a 2019 Tasmania series:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/seattlerando/CAEZ9q_n_Px18MCQtw%3DW_Gd9AgnLWaoMcWojgZbtV8RwZswEKGA%40mail.gmail.com.

[in...@cyclingforever.com]

Hi Vince,
I am not as avid cyclist as Dan :-) but I recently built a new frame
with
SRAM Red/Force mixed. I was extremely skeptical how this works on a
1200km but
after 15 years of using Shimano Ultegra, I finally switched to all
wireless stuff,
plus hydraulic disk brake.

I have ridden 3 1200km sicne end of April that I built this bike and I
can tell you
that I never ever go back to my old bike. As other said, I carry two
extra batteries
for my peace of mind :-)

I was able to go on for two days and then changed for day 3 & 4.
I did not change batteries b/c I had to. I just did it for risk
reduction.

As far as gearing, the SRAM works like Swiss watch, it's so precise and
exceptionally smooth.

Again, my experience is only 3 month old vs Dan several years :-)

but I hope that you find this helpful.

Hamid Akbarian



On 2023-07-24 15:34, 'Dan Driscoll' via Seattle International

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[Richard Wolf]

I have been traveling to France with a bike with electronic shifting (Di2) for 10 years and the only problems I have had have been cabling issues. So SRAM's wireless system should be reliable. Cables on a bike are evil and to be avoided, whether electrical or mechanical.

Electronic shifting is quite stable - I have not had to touch the adjustment in the 10 years I have had the bike

As you probably are aware, in a pinch you can swap out a dead battery for the live battery from the other derailleur, so you can at least keep going a little longer.

In general I have found French mechanics to be more knowledgeable than their American counterparts vis a vis electronic shifting.

-- Richard