Apex 1 Shifter issues

[amasidlover]

My son's Boardman CXR 8.9 (bought second hand) came with Apex 1 x 11 and the right hand shifter has started having significant issues - the cable end managed to pop out of the red retainer in the shifter yesterday; apparently this occurs on these shifters if you apply too much force e.g. try and change gear while stationary, although apparently my son doesn't do this (and to be fair I've never seen him do it). Plus the shift down has never quite been reliable it can take several attempts before it will shift one sprocket down the cassette.

I've only ever run Shimano before so I don't know how close to normal the shifting is, but from reading forum threads it sounds like SRAM can be a bit clunky than Shimano but is usually reliable.

So I have two questions...

1) Would a change in shifter be sufficient to fix the issues or could this be a faulty / worn derailluer that requires more force than normal (the cable is new and the the derailleur is clean).

2) What shifters are compatible with the Apex 1 x 11 rear derailleur? If it improves the shifting I'm happy to pay a bit more to get a Rival or Force (suspect Red is too expensive) shifter, but I'm not clear on whether the hydraulic brakes are all compatible or whether I can use a Rival 22 right hand shifter (I can't seem to find Rival 1 x 11 shifters on sale).

 

[vickster]

Presumably it’s the mechanical not hydraulic shifters you are after?
Have you tried changing the cables? How many miles has the bike done?
If it was bought second hand, you may not know
how the previous owner rode it, maintained it?

 

[amasidlover]

It is the hydraulics shifters and not mechanical.

The previous owner said he hadn't ridden it much - based on the wear on the derailleur jockey wheels and the rest of the bike it can only have done low thousands of km (at most). Either that or it was incredibly well looked after (given the state my bikes are in by that age!)

 

[amasidlover]

This is what I'm looking at replacing it with https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/GBSRR...2x)-hrd-hydraulic-disc-brake-caliper--shifter - for some reason its not possible to buy it without the caliper...

 

[vickster]

Should be compatible with the mech, I’d want both sides for aesthetic reasons, keep the callipers as spares or sell on

 

[amasidlover]

Should be compatible with the mech, I’d want both sides for aesthetic reasons, keep the callipers as spares or sell on

Thanks - not sure I can justify another £100 for the aesthetics on my son's bike (or even on one of my own...)

 

[bikingdad90]

Is there a kink in the gear line run? Too little tension on the cable?

 

[cyberknight]

as said above replace cable and outers 1st and see ,my commuter needed 2 hands to shift before x mas and recabling sorted it

 

[vickster]

I would definitely check the shifter is compatible with the mech as there are different ones for 1x and 2x SRAM systems after changing the cables

 

[bikingdad90]

Also I think with sram where the cable pops out the hoods onto the bar might be too sharp a bend, I believe you can swap the position on SRAM.

 

[amasidlover]

Cable run is good - I've replaced outers and inners x2 - most of the run is open so its very smooth. @bikingdad90 do you have any more details of that as I noticed that that section was a very sharp bend with the way the cable exits the shifter.

@vickster that's my concern about whether the 2x and 1x shifters are different and the various vendors seem a little less than consistent about correctly labelling the products. This is the only official document I could find https://www.sram.com/globalassets/d...lity-map/road/compatibility-map-road-2018.pdf - but it doesn't give specific part numbers so I've no idea if a 1x11 RHS Lever is the same part as a 2x22 RHS Lever or if they're not the same whether they are compatible...

I'm almost tempted to replace the derailleur as well and switch to Shimano since then I at least know what I'm doing...

 

[vickster]

Cable run is good - I've replaced outers and inners x2 - most of the run is open so its very smooth. @bikingdad90 do you have any more details of that as I noticed that that section was a very sharp bend with the way the cable exits the shifter.

@vickster that's my concern about whether the 2x and 1x shifters are different and the various vendors seem a little less than consistent about correctly labelling the products. This is the only official document I could find https://www.sram.com/globalassets/d...lity-map/road/compatibility-map-road-2018.pdf - but it doesn't give specific part numbers so I've no idea if a 1x11 RHS Lever is the same part as a 2x22 RHS Lever or if they're not the same whether they are compatible...

I'm almost tempted to replace the derailleur as well and switch to Shimano since then I at least know what I'm doing...

Ask your LBS for advice?
have you searched eBay for a replacement 1x shifter? There were plenty of hydraulic ones when I was looking for mechanical!
eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40409856...N/zo/E3w6aHmiBY6phoQHgFe8=|tkp:Bk9SR46crqW1YQ

 

[bikingdad90]

@amasidlover i believe with SRAM the gear cable exit can be set to either the left hand side so it comes out behind the bar or on the right hand side so it comes out the front of the bar. With some setups when there is a sharp bend it hinders the shifting as it needs to be pulled through the bend, the sharper the bend, the more it has to work to achieve the shift.

 

[Jenkins]

I would definitely check the shifter is compatible with the mech as there are different ones for 1x and 2x SRAM systems after changing the cables

Rival & Apex 1x systems are both 11 speed and Exact Actuation so you were correct earlier that these would be compatible as Rival 2x 11 speed is also Exact Actuation. You can't use them with NX/Eagle which are X-Actuation derailleurs.

 

[cyberknight]

I hope you get sorted , my experience is only with the older 10 speed sram systems so i cant help much although i have never found the routing through the shifters to be an issue even with the bend, in fact the routing on the current shimano shifters that actually causes the cable to fray inside the shifter gives me more headaches .