[Closed] Drive train upgrade time 11,12 12 axs?

Never had much luck with the Sram 12spd mechs, 6 months and the clutch fails, the jockey wheels have probably seized by then. You can't adjust the clutch like you could on the type 2.1 and earlier, so back to sram it goes for warranty, sent 3 back in total.

If its the sram shifter you like, I'd be suggesting to run a shimano rear mech and everything else sram. It works perfectly, the added benefit of the mech not sticking out nearly as far, the clutch actually works properly and is adjustable (bike will be a lot quieter as greatly reduced chainslap)

If the range of Sram 11 speed works for you I wouldn’t change away from it to be honest.

I went from Sram GX 11 speed to Shimano xt 12 speed (keeping carbon Sram X1 cranks and getting a Shimano 12 speed compatible direct mount chainring) and I’m a little underwhelmed. I like the range on my fairly heavy full suss bike but when it gets muddy it’s been a bit finicky / noisy vs 11 speed. Changing from the Shimano chain to a Sram XX1 chain has helped though in mucky weather.

I was going to go gx eagle but the jump between the two lowest gears on the Sram 12 speed cassette is bigger so Shimano made more sense.

In terms of electronic shifting I’ve got di2 on my road bike and it is a lovely thing - but mainly for the front mech shift where on road bikes I’ve always found that and trimming the mech a bit of an arse. But di2 only has one battery to keep on top of charging. The equivalent AXS would have 4 separate batteries I believe. Mtb less of an issue with just 2 batteries - but where there’s no front mech I can’t really see the point personally.

Never had a problem with SRAM. Running mainly 12 speed XO1 on most of the bikes. Runs smoth but most of all its never let us down. Abigale has competed on it since 2017 and most of the time has got a full season out of the cassette, mech and chain before passing it down. Running 11 speed on the ebikes and again apart from smashing my mech off on a rock climbing the beast its been first class.
Not bothered with the AXS yet as cant justify the cost.
Not been one for constant faffing and fettling its what works best for us.

In terms of look, feel and weight the new GX Eagle is hard to beat. Longevity is very mixed but I haven’t heard too many problems with the new stuff.

The weight and performance is so good that I would question upgrading to anything higher up the SRAM mechanical ladder.

AXS on the other hand is a step change. I have it on 4 bikes. A mixture of pure Red, pure XX1 and 2 bikes with a mullet of Red and XX1. Battery charging is a non-issue in the real world. It really isn’t that difficult to keep on top of and the ability to carry a spare battery is a bonus (although I have never had to use it). You don’t need to worry about the shifter batteries as they last forever and don’t need charging. The mech batteries last well, give you fair warning that they need charging and are quick to top up. Comments about the need to charge multiple batteries generally come from people that don’t use AXS and are somewhat understandable as a barrier to entry. However, I have yet to hear it mentioned as an issue by any owners. Shifting is slick, quality is good and I have nothing bad to say expect the ergonomics of the shifter are an acquired taste (but there is a new paddle that seems to fix this). The only issue is that once you have tried it, you wouldn’t go back.

Objectively it is very difficult to justify the massive cost jump between GX and AXS. It really is a bit of pure indulgence. But if cost is not prohibitive, you only live once and it really is about as good as 12 speed derailleur shifting gets.

I find the current crop of Shimano to be a little dull and although they all work well, I prefer the look and feel of SRAM. Again there is a big subject component to this view but each to their own.

So for me it is a choice between GX or AXS. Any other questions for somebody who has used the kit extensively for the past few years since it launched, let me know.

AXS works very well, easy to install and configure/set - if your wallet can take it.
A consistent shift no matter the conditions and a lack of cabling is always good.
Battery life is pretty good and easy enough to recharge or swap out.
It is expensive though...but it does work consistently very well.

AXS is amazing, purely from how clean and how easy it is to install, plus it’s not remotely finicky like some claim 12 speed, I’ve never had an issue with regular Eagle though and I’ve used both X01 and GX Eagle for the last 4 years. Of it were me, I’d go GX Eagle with an X01 shifter, as it’s way nicer than GX!

For any Eagle system, make sure the jockey wheel/cassette spacing is correct, that has an amazing impact on shifting smoothness.

Set up on Eagle is critical, but once done it works very well. I’ve gradually upgraded over the years and have AXS on 2 bikes now. Is it worth it? No question it’s a yes for me.

700 miles on a 12 speed GX mech & shifter, X01 cassette and XX1 chain and not a single issue. Don't think I've had to re adjust the indexing either.

Would love AXS but can't really justify the cost to upgrade.

I've been running an 11 speed Sram X01 rear mech, cassette and shifter since 2016, the rear mech and shifter are still going strong and the cassette was only replaced a couple of months ago. I had to replace the rear mech mounting bolt recently as it developed play that affected shifting, but the rest of the mech is good - its still on the original jockey wheels! I was running this setup with KMC chains but changed to Sram XX1 chains after a KMC chain snapped (not at the quick link), the XX1 chain is a worthy upgrade, durable and high quality.

I rate 11 speed X01 for its performance and longevity and see no reason to change it to 12 speed, i'd say if you are happy with the gear range then stick with 11 speed X01.

I've had X01 Eagle on my Jeffsy since I got it 4 years ago or something. It's been brilliant, really good, and has needed no maintenance/fiddling; except when I swapped the cassette for a new one when I checked the various adjustments I've haven't looked at it at all. It's set up and it just changes every time.

I do hear a lot of people complain about shifting, and I don't know why my experience has been the exact opposite, but it has. Perhaps it is sensitive to jockey wheel / cassette gap, perhaps it's very easily influenced by even the slightest mech hanger misaligned, I'm really not sure. But it's given me no trouble whatsoever.

AXS keeps winking at me when I look at the online shops... 🙂

@solarider - I’ve found your experience very helpful looking back over a few threads on AXS and have just pushed the button </pun> on a ‘mullet’ AXS setup for my Tripster. It’s a v1 frame, and has seen a few miles but felt it deserved a treat. It’s my do-it-all bike that’s used for everything that I don’t do on the mountain bike, so wondered how it fares holding up to winter abuse? Also, how critical is chain line on it?

I did 65k off road on the gravel bike yesterday. It was like the Somme. I have never been on a muddier ride in my (too) many years of riding. I think that coupled with a wet Autumn the pandemic restrictions have led to more people than usual walking and biking the trails this year when they would ordinarily have a bit of a breather during the Winter.

The AXS mullet build never missed a beat. Shifting never feels difficult because there is a lack of direct contact between your fingers and the mech. For all I know the mech was struggling but you would never know. Unlike a mechanical setup where you are more aware of cable pull and gritty cables. Obviously chains and jockey wheels will wear just as readily with AXS in the mud as a mechanical set up but I have found that waxing and rotating the chain every 150kms is working well. I have 2 chains for each bike so there’s always a fresh one waiting to fit and it is reckoned to extend cassette life in dry conditions but obviously the abrasive nature of mud will wear everything faster anyway.

Chain line is definitely more sensitive, particularly at the 10t end of the cassette on a road or gravel bike with shorter chainstays. On a mountain bike the chainstay length enables the chain to enter and leave the cassette at a shallower angle but on a bike with shorter chainstays the chain angle is greater and it can make for a noisy experience on the first 3 cogs. The range is a big ask for a 1x.

The fact that you can’t adjust chain line on most modern chain sets does make things worse. I was running a SRAM Red 1 x chainset on my gravel bike and being a road chainset it positions the chain ring relatively inboard. I swapped it with the EE Wings from my winter road bike for yesterday’s ride and this positions the ring slightly further outboard. As a result there was zero noise from the small cogs, but the 50t did feel noticeably more noisy.

Neither are particularly bad and not a deal breaker, but I do think we are probably at the limit of cassette width with Eagle for a road/gravel application. Fitting more cogs in the same space might work (like Ekar), but perhaps the ‘more gears better’ arms race might stall at 12 or possibly 13 if SRAM and Shimano choose to compete with Campagnolo.

The only other thing to note is that battery life is shorter in cold weather. Again, this isn’t particular to AXS. My lights and GPS also suffer the same. But the lights and GPS are usually brought inside the warm house after rides whereas the AXS batteries live on the bike outside in the cold. Nothing catastrophic (I still only have to charge every 8-10 rides), but definitely something to be more aware of.

Never had a problem with SRAM. Running mainly 12 speed XO1 on most of the bikes. Runs smoth but most of all its never let us down

This, and this:

For any Eagle system, make sure the jockey wheel/cassette spacing is correct, that has an amazing impact on shifting smoothness.

Making sure the mech and cassette are spaced properly is (apart from changes) the only real routine maintenance I do on my drive-train nowadays.

Shifting never feels difficult because there is a lack of direct contact between your fingers and the mech. For all I know the mech was struggling but you would never know.

TBH, one of the (tiny) justifications for going with AXS was that after another broken scaphoid, the wrist movement required to change gear on the drops is pretty uncomfortable, but I’d never really considered why it’ll be easier, so thanks for this realisation!

Thanks for the other insights too - and apologies, OP, for the slight hijack.

and apologies, OP, for the slight hijack.

hey its good to see others opinions. Still would like to try AXS but head and heart have ongoing battle just now

Any issues with AXS in the cold battery performance etc

Is the upgrade money coming from a limited pot?

If so, I'd err on the economical side and spend the money on something that will make a real difference to performance.

Cheers @bruneep!

re. battery performance: check solarider’s most recent post above - last paragraph. I’d not thought about it all, but I guess it’s to be expected - my car’s the same at this time of year!

I've been running 12sp X01 for a couple of years, no problems at all. Upgraded to AXS a year ago and absolutely love it. Zero problems in all weathers - super smooth, quick, precise shifting all day every day. Have it on both bike now.

I did both upgrades on the (relatively) cheap, went with upgrade kits, one from Europe when that was still an option. The other was from ebay, I think I paid about 500 - 600.