This was posted 3 years 10 months 24 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Sram Force Etap Rim Brake Upgrade Kit $1399 (RRP $2499) @ Bikebug

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It is a bit niche but for all the cyclists out there on ozbargain this is a really cheap way of getting into the world of wireless shifting for a fraction of the price.
RRP prior to this is $2499 with next to no installation it's a reliable user friendly install.(note no cranks or brakes are included)
Hydraulic Upgrade kit also available for $1899 down from $3399
https://www.bikebug.com/sram-force-etap-axs-2x-hydraulic-dis…

If you're in WA give Bikebug Perth a call or email and order through them, just looks after the store a bit better.

*EDIT: This is a 12 speed groupset and unfortunately not backwards compatible with 11 speed due to smaller cassette spacing. (almost too many shift options now)

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  • +1

    Waiting for AXS deals for mtb :)

  • +6

    Warning: motorised shifters are a gateway drug to getting an eBike :-)

    • +11

      Nah, electronic shifters are for precision, eBikes are just for lazy people :)

      • +33

        Perhaps, but it gets us lazy bstds out there pedalling :)

        • +15

          Fair point, the more cyclists out there, the better :)

        • +20

          Exactly. I live in a hilly area and regular cycling was above my motivation level. I bought an eBike and now ride 30kms a day - and overtaking the lycra types up every hill is pure joy every time :)

          • +6

            @1st-Amendment: Every one of them does realize you're using an e-Bike though, so aren't too bothered.
            Full Disclosure: I do ride in Lycra sometimes.

            • +5

              @jatyap: Nor am I bothered if they not bothered :)
              The simple fact is that I'm going faster than pretty much every other vehicle (other than motorbikes) is fun.

              • -4

                @1st-Amendment: Sounds like you eBike is not legal then. Not judging, but just want to make it clear to would-be eBikers that any legal bike will NOT be overtaking anyone who is even moderately fit.

                • @sheamas88: The funny part about the legality is that even with the speed de-restricted I still can't go as fast as the pros, which makes the law kind of stupid. I'm technically illegal while the guy next to me going faster isn't.

                  • @1st-Amendment: I agree the speed limits on eBikes is stupid. As I pointed out even someone modestly fit will go faster than an eBike so restricting eBikes to 25km/h is kinda pointless.

                    My only point was to let less knowledgeable people know that legal eBikes won't be achieving what you are

                • -1

                  @sheamas88: There are some gnarly hills in Sydney.

      • +18

        Ebike for lazy or fat people is a myth. The guy with the most ebike strava segments in my area also happens to be a current world cup downhill rider. Ebikes mean can ride further, get more downhill laps in and train more effectively.

        • +12

          might work for MTB but probably seen differently by roadies. Personally I think if it gets people who might otherwise feel intimidated by the lycra and being unfit out on a bike then it has to be a good thing. For roadies who are cycling to get fit, challenge themselves and compete they are of little interest.

          • @2ndeffort: For someone who fits what you're saying to a tee - what would the cheap way be of getting into this?

            • +6

              @MynyMouqe: I havent really looked into the ebike option. Almost all of my riding these days is of the stereotypical MAMIL variety. The much maligned and ridiculed stereotype of over-capitalised middle aged guy on an expensive bike …. that's me and I love it. I almost exclusively ride a road bike these days, I own mountain bikes but since I've become infatuated with the whole road riding thing MTB has lost its shine for me. The social contact, camaraderie, mateship and friendliness of 'the bunch' make it almost like a footy club for blokes too old to play footy, at least for me anyway!

              I know that there are now road e-bikes that look almost identical to regular road bikes so that you fit in with the local MAMIL bunch at the shop ride and most importantly coffee shop chinwag at the end. Problem with these types of bikes is cost, most are very expensive. There are a bunch of conversion kits you can buy online to add onto an existing bike but I've never had much to do with any of them. Most are aimed at the mountain bike or inner city hybrid/cruiser type of bikes and demographic. I've never seen one for a road bike but I am sure there must be one around.

              2 of my non-cycling friends in their late 50's are currently trying to get into the sport. They dont want to come along to the MAMIL rides out of probably intimidation I suspect. I've been riding with them on Sundays to get them experienced and a bit faster. They bought 2nd hand bikes through eBay/FB Swap groups for much less than a new bike would cost. Warning though, if you dont know what you are looking for and what to look out for 2nd hand can be a real trap. Both of them bought regular non ebikes and we are just taking things slow on our rides. If you buy a bike from a good bike shop, most run 'shop rides' on a Saturday morning. That's where I started, bought a bike and just turned up one Saturday. I was lucky to find a good bunch and I struggled to keep up for the first few months but, spurred on by the age-old motivation of peer pressure I learned loads from the more experienced guys and knuckled down to build fitness and strength.

              • +1

                @2ndeffort: Thanks for your reply - really appreciated. I'm VERY intimidated I have to say - just want to try and get out there and start riding, I'm VERY out of shape, have not ridden a bike since I got my drivers licence a long time ago!

        • Perhaps with trail riding but not for road riding.

          • +1

            @igerstep: Yes, not many non ebikers understand this. Road bikes are so light with minimal tyre drag etc that most riders would easily pedal faster than 25km/h several times in a ride. Off road is mostly slower, more technical, so the 25km/h assist limit is less of an issue. I ride in very steep technical country and never notice the 25km/h limit - by that time gravity is slamming me down the hills with huge acceleration.

            • +1

              @poohduck: I bought my ebike for commuting and cruising. 30km round trip with big hills, a real tough ask for a regular person, but quite feasible with electric boost. The 25km/h limiter is not practical and a lot of countries are starting to up this limit to 45km/h which to me is about right. Australia as usual will be last to work it out.
              Having no restriction I find that I cruise at about 30km/h on flats and can hammer up to 50km/h for short bursts. Fastest I've done was about 70km/h down hill. This actually makes it a lot safer in traffic, as 25km/h you are a blocker, but 40-50km/h you are keeping up so not holding others up. Of course the first red light and you blitz anything on four wheels which is another plus.
              The other huge benefit is hills. I can ride up steep hills at about 22km/h which is double what the lycra guys I ride past can do.

              So sure it's not a serious road bike replacement, but for everyone else they tick a lot of boxes.

              • @1st-Amendment: I think the limit is a good thing, although 32km/h would be more useful while still maintaining our current freedoms, if that is possible. In the US the limit is 32km/h - that would be more akin to a non assisted bike. Once you start going faster than a non assisted bike, that's when the non ebikers and relevant authorities will look at registrations etc. You're trying to compete with motorised traffic now; there is no end to that (I used to own a ktm 990). Ebikes and bikes should have limitations if you want to keep the freedoms of current ownership, eg we can ride on bike paths, bike parks, no registration, no age restriction etc etc. Once you're trying to compete with motorised traffic you're in a different group that will attract attention - not good for the whole ebike movement as such. In the US there are many who don't like the fact that emtb riders can ride the same trails as mtb riders. They are voting on it now, or just have, and that is with the 32km/h limitation. The fallout may be some restrictions. Most non assisted bike riders would rarely crack 50km/h pedalling on the flat, but 32kp/h, yes, even then though the majority of riders could not maintain 32km/h.

            • @poohduck: Most average roadies would ride most of the time over 25 km/hr. Most bunches I ride with average 28+km/hr for several hours and that includes some 7 or 8 km/hr up steep hills and 70+ km/hr coming down the other side. From memory, around the bay in a day a couple of years ago we averaged about 29 km/hr for the day's ride (8hrs or so). Getting over 25 km/hr, particularly drafting along in a bunch is not hard at all.

              • +1

                @2ndeffort: For sure, that's why I think the 32km/h limit as used in the states would be more appropriate. Beyond that and we would probably lose our current freedoms.

        • +1

          Wow, never thought of that - ebike as a portable personal t-bar for downhillers. That makes a LOT of sense!

          But it actually challenges my notions of what ebikes ARE. What I'd think would get in the way would be that an ebike wouldn't be the best ride for downhill, either in performance or in durability. Are there actual ebikes that are suited for downhill abuse?

          I'm a 50+ year old with not the world's best knees. Prior to living where I currently do, within 1km of lapland (aka Centennial Park), I lived at the beach and was surrounded on 3 sides by daunting hills punctuated by traffic signals and intersections requiring stopping. Oh, and they're two-lane with kerbside parking, and rather heavily trafficked, not side streets used only by residents. Not the best environment for a ride. I never rode anywhere because it was such drama to get up the hills. An ebike probably would have been useful to me, to free me from the confines of the valley I lived in.

          • @NWLikeShopping: Yes there are high performance Full suspension MTB ebikes now, if that's what you're into.

          • +2

            @NWLikeShopping: You'd love it. I'm 57 and I ride up everything that I ride down. It's a real technical and fitness challenge. I only use low assist levels. Previously I used to push my bike ahead 1 or 2 feet, grab a brake, then walk up to it; it's actually hard to walk up and down these hills because they have loose rock and stones over a hard, eroded, clay base. So now I get to enjoy the whole ride, up and down.

            It's also not true about fitness levels. I still use an ancient mtb set up for urban duties, and find that my fitness has actually improved because of the ebike.

            • +1

              @poohduck: Makes it even harder if you use cleated shoes, as the metal is prone to slipping.

              • +1

                @jatyap: I've had to go flats 😊 I'm no good in technical slow stuff clipped in 😞; I kept falling off.

        • -4

          usually mtb riders that criticize ebikes are the ones that cant afford one..

      • +4

        No relevance at all. And if lazy , people much rather use cars

      • Seeing people riding ebikes on rail trails makes me laugh.

        Literally designed to be +-4° slope and people out there trying to cut corners.

        If we could design fake legs with a joystick that goes up your butt people would buy them so they don't have to walk

        • Yes, they've been around for at least 100 years now. Although I'm not sure your joystick idea caught on; maybe the central location is too challenging? It would enable you to keep both hands on the wheel though :)

      • And for cyclists with chronic back injuries :)

    • +9

      No chance, been riding Di2 for 5 years, absolutely zero interest in an e-bike

    • +3

      Warning: eBikes are a gateway drug to non-eBikes :-)

  • Any idea where this sits relative to the Shimano range? (Ultegra/Dura Ace)

    • +2

      On par with ultegra/ultegra di-2

    • +4

      Force is their Ultegra. But the only real comparison is bang for buck at the time, there are frequent 50% groupset deals especially for Shimano. Paying full price is only for people with too much money to care or who cant wait a month for a sale to happen.

      • +2

        Where can I find these 50% off shimano groupset deals? thankyou. Looking at putting something together.

        • The internet's.
          May have to VPN and shipping forward your way around local price-fixing agreements.

          UK CRC just had a DA 9150 Di2 clearout at 55% off, but it's all out of stock now. Everyone will be clearing that for the new series about to happen.

          They did some price fixing deal in the US market last year so not as frequent as it was. But it was basically at the point that RRP was just doubled price for show.

  • +1

    hmm do I want to replace my R7000 105……tempting.

    • +12

      Don't forget the 12spd cranks ($679), cassette ($290) and chain ($60) that you'll need to go with it. Your wheels will also need to get a new freehub to take the xd-r if they'll even accept the xdr driver. Probably another $100 Plus you'll need to change the BB to a dub to fit the cranks in! I thought about this path but the extra bits and pieces needed to make it work get annoying

      • +1

        And that just answered my question :P Thanks!

        • +1

          hahah. Upgrade to ultegra di2. You won't need to change many parts, it's also lighter than force axs. Def not as cool as a completely wireless setup though. Every time i look at getting force axs the fact that it's heavier than 105 mechanical turns me off….

          • +1

            @Jumbolkna: If weight is so important cyclists probably shouldn't eat breakfast then.

            I mean c'mon.. it gets taken WAY too far. If you like it, the grams just aren't that bad.

            • +1

              @justtoreply: Yea exactly true. A 105 kit is already very capable. I think we get caught up with comparing the numbers. 200g vs 250g. I mean that's 25% heavier. But it's 50g though and doesn't really make a difference for the 95% of us who are below the elite racer level.

            • @justtoreply: Wrong!

              Cheaper and easier to use lighter components than to control that beer gut!

              • @mikaelkn: Haha. Mate, if someone was training on a 7kg demon then rode to the bottleshop and picked up a 2kg six pack.. I don't even reckon they could make it home with 9kg of dead weight! ;)

            • @justtoreply: Completely agree that weight isn't everything. All I'm saying is that force axs which will cost 3k with cranks cassette etc vs 105 which is much much cheaper and still weighs less than force axs.

      • Ok, well that answers my question about upgrading my old SRAM Apex too..

      • +2

        11 speed shimano cranks work fine (its just sram has changed ranges so you need to make sure you get the gear ratios you want)
        Theres 12 speed cassettes that fit on a shimano freehub too
        so lots of ways to save $

        I just wish shimano would discount 11 speed already

        • Yeah don't need to upgrade the crank and hubs if you are willing to give up the 10t cog and move to 11t minimum as there are compatible cassettes.

          Additionally if you are looking for a larger range on road hubs, If you have a current SRAM setup like Apex 1, you can buy the PG-1230 11-50 for about 130ish to use with standard hubs and get a Garbaduk Force AXS RD cage with Pulleys for about 230, and 12spd compatible chain ring for your crank, in my case I have a 110bcd 5 bolt so I just use a Garbaduk chainring as it is compatible with the flat-top AXS chain as well and cost about 100.

          Additionally there is the Sunrace MZ90 11-50 cassette for about 170 and a bunch of other cassettes like Rotors 11-39 (Expensive) that you can use on Shimano/SRAM road hubs.

          Again you have to give up the 10t cog for 11t as far as I am aware as there isn't any way to squeeze the 10t onto the HG splined hub.

      • Brakes too, but at least they're backwards compatible.

  • Bloody tempting to replace my dura ace 9000…. must. resist.

    • My canondale Synapse came with hydraulic 105 brakes ….I thought more people would be saving coin and looking for hydraulic shifters and brakes in upgrade groupsets ?

      • +1

        I think the whole industry is going towards hydraulic disc brake setups. This is probably discounted because most people are moving towards road discs as I notice that the disc brake version is not on similar discount.

  • Any deals on a SRAM HRD upgrade? If not, the wife won't murder me so it's cool.

  • got any deals on mountain bikes?

    • Due to Covid demand mountain bikes are fairly well sold out across the board, all I can suggest is to ring around and see what floor stock is left. 2021 generally lands October/november

  • +1

    These brakes cost more than my last 2 giant bikes combined.

  • FYI this does not include cassette ($290), chain ($70) or crank ($680) - these are Pushys prices but I assume Bikebug is the same or similar.

    • New freehub too?

      • Assuming your wheels have an XDR freehub available, yes. Oh, and brakes for $240.

        That makes for a total of $2680 for the full set.

  • +1

    Yeh, that's cool and all but is it aero?

    • Fair point ;)

  • Sram force etap 🙈 🙈 🙈 Whoever came up with this name surely doesn't speak Polish 🙈🙈🙈

  • Excited, then rim brakes…. :(

  • For someone that didn't know wireless brakes existed…do these need to be charged or something? What powers them?

    • +2

      Just for clarification, the brakes aren't wireless, just the shifting mechanism. The shifting is powered by individual batteries on the derailleurs and shifters.

    • Wireless chargers. And unicorns. Duh.

  • +2

    Any chance of a power meter deal OP? Such as Favero Assioma DUO or Garmin Vector 3?

  • I think the 11sp SRAM ETAP upgrade kit made sense; but not sure who would be upgrading to 12sp SRAM ETAP since the only 12sp road groupset is SRAM?

    • Campagnolo also do 12 speed groupsets, Shimano are still at 11 speed buy the rumours are that their next groupset update will go to 12 speed.

  • Just recently I thought I might treat myself so I bought a new bike with SRAM ETAP all over it, hydraulic brakes, all the good stuff I'd been dreaming of. It's such a weapon. Bloody love it. I tender my recommendation.

    • Any old gear you're looking to get rid of? I'm trying to build my bike back up.

      • Mate probably can't help you! My old rig has been retired and after many happy years cruising around with it I just couldn't bring myself to part it out.

  • Wouldnt the weight of an ebike be poor for downhill?

    If jump averse I can see heavy being handy and possibly better centre of gravity but much less nimble.

  • I can get a refurbished brembo brake kit for my ford for this price 😳

  • OK, so this is a good price. I love cycling, technology and working on bikes. But I just don't get the need for electronic shifting. I have never used my 105s and thought that this is so much effort, I wish I could just push a button (and pay 1000s of $ for the pleasure). To me it is is just another thing to go wrong and have to remember to charge…..
    I like the primal mechanical connection between me and my bikes and the fact that I can take it apart and fix it if I need to

    • +1

      But it makes such a glorious sound when going from small to big on the front derailleur!!! It scares away the opposition, its very intimidating. :)

      Seriously only have to charge the battery 2 or 3 times a year, so that's not at issue, plus it warns you when its going flat. It automatically 'trims' all the gears so they just work perfectly, ALL the time. You can happily cross chain all day long, the whole system is very forgiving and quick. It's just a pleasure to use. I own two Giant carbon road bikes, (both basically the same frame) one with Ultegra 6800, and one with Ultegra R8000 Di2. The Di2 bike has 26 000 kms on the clock, the mech Ultegra only 9073 kms. You can see which bike I prefer to ride!

  • I’ve tried the disc braked version of this groupset on a 2020 Trek Domane SL7, which has RRP of $7.5K. Loved it but went for an almost new 2019 SL6 Disc which has mechanical Ultegra for $2.5k which is also great.

    This might suit someone doing a rebuild of a good rim braked frame, but personally I’d just put the money into a modern disc braked bike.

    • +1

      where did you find it for $2.5k?! That's a steal

  • Okay, excuse the noob question but what is this why does it cost so much money? Is there a video that can explain to me what this is and why I need it?

    • +5

      It is the gears for attaching to a good enthusiast level road racing bicycle. It is expensive because it is the current model and also because it is an electronic wireless set of gears. This means that, unlike the older sets of gears you might have seen before, a bike with this does not require any cables running on, across or through it to link all of the gears together. The bike also doesn't need regular maintenance on the cables to make sure the gears are still 'indexed' etc. Finally, as the current model, it works with a 12 speed rear cassette. That means 12 gears at the back and 2 at the front meaning 24 gears you can use to suit whatever type of roads you are riding.

      These are particularly interesting to enthusiasts because, being wireless, the process of setting up a new bike is much easier since you dont have to feed wires through a bike frame. These are also interesting to riders as most consider electronic gear shifting superior to the old cable gears. There are always traditionalists who prefer cables but, from my personal collection of bikes which contains both, electronic gears are much better.

      If you are the type of person that would want to buy this, you would probably already know what it is. If you are not a serious road cycling enthusiast this product is no more for you than the Ozbargain posts for expensive camera lenses or drones are for me.

      • +1

        Couldn't of put it better myself +1

  • are these as good as my shimano sora?

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