SRAM

Red ETap Lever & Disc Brake Caliper - Set

SRAM's Red ETap Lever & Disc Brake Caliper might just be the nail in the coffin of cable-actuated components. With its wireless electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes, it promises easier setup, better performance, and less maintenance. So if it's time to modernize your road, 'cross, or gravel bike, this shifter/brake lever and caliper set is what you'll need.

We first saw the seeds of this innovation on brakes like the new Guide and reworked Code series, with the eTap HRD levers importing features like Contact Point Adjustment and a healthy body of anti-heat design elements from their mountain bike counterparts. With new features comes a new model name: gone is yesterday's HydroR; here to stay is HydroHC. Contact Point Adjustment dials the amount of grab you have to put on the levers before the pads dig into the rotors. If you like a light touch, you can dial them light; if you tend to throttle the hoods during hard efforts, maybe allowing a little leeway for incidental lever pull would be a good move. Either way, you can adjust the levers to match your style—and each other—without manually fiddling with the calipers and pads.

The heat dissipation tech hinges primarily on four features: heat shield, insulated aluminum pistons, and a wider pad pocket. Of these, the stainless steel heat shields are the most notable, as they insulate the fluid from the pads, providing an extra layer of thanks-but-no-thanks that helps prevent fade during long periods of braking. All of these features were first implemented in the Guide, Level, and Code redesigns, so they've already proven their mettle in the emergency braking moments that often define off-road.

At the heart of it all, SRAM's proprietary Airea communication protocol creates a unique, 128-bit encryption code that securely pairs the shifters and derailleurs, resisting both hacking and jamming for worry-free shifting even in a pack of other eTap steeds. Unlike other electronic drivetrains, SRAM's system is closed and does not allow shift reprogramming, which is actually a refreshing dose of user-friendly simplicity in an industry that can occasionally get lost in minutiae. SRAM is confident that the eTap shift logic delivers an optimal shifting experience across road-related disciplines without requiring a host of minor tweaks—an ethos developed and proven by the company's mechanical road and mountain lines.

The shift paddles sit under the brake levers in a similar position to the mechanical version, but they use eTap's peculiar shifting logic—the most pronounced departure from traditional shifting in decades. (We refer you again to the R&D zeal mentioned above.) The right lever directs the chain down the cassette for a harder gear, the left lever guides it up the cassette for an easier gear and simultaneously engaging both levers shifts the front derailleur between the chainrings. We suspect this system was built with one-by in mind, but we're also able to adapt to it with a double crankset after just a few minutes of throwing levers. Each shifter also features ports for compatibility with SRAM's separately sold Blip shifters, offering virtually endless potential for shifting access from the drops or the flats.

Each shifter is powered by a CR2032 coin type battery with a predicted lifetime of two years when riding an average of 15 hours per week. To keep tabs on the various battery statuses, each derailleur and shifter features an LED indicator light to communicate battery life, with green, red, and flashing red stages to clearly relay power levels. Each component also incorporates an accelerometer that puts it into sleep mode when stationary to conserve battery and wakes it up for full functionality when your bike is in motion.

SRAM tested eTap in a wide range of riding conditions, both in the real world and the lab to ensure reliability; as we mentioned above, we've actually seen evidence of this on the roads and 'cross courses around the country. Given the cold-weather tolerance issues of its first generation hydraulic road brakes, we're particularly pleased to note that SRAM specifies that eTap has undergone testing in its in-house climate chamber, proving the group's reliability in temperatures ranging from -20 degrees up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

This setup comes complete with right and left Red eTap HRD shifters and flat-mount hydraulic disc calipers.