[Closed] Is GX Eagle really that bad?

Never really had an issue with mine, rear mech has taken a clattering a couple of times, not sure what the issues are elsewhere, but i tend to try not to shift under strain and so on, it isn't buttery smooth, but it works from what i can see.

I bought a GX eagle kit from bike discount, rear mech stopped working after 3 rides. Looks absolutely fine but it can’t shift all of the cassette. If it shifts the top it won’t do the bottom without skipping and visa versa.

Stuck a new X01 eagle mech on and it’s been fine ever since. Shifting was good on the GX when it worked.

Have a read of this: https://bikepacking.com/gear/sram-eagle-review/

Tl:DR - GX cassette, shifter and chain; X01 derailleur

Been running mine 3 months now.

Works really well, doesn’t shift as sweet as my old XT M8000, but at the same time is more ‘positive’. I do wish it wouldn’t take 1/4 - 1/2 a crank turn to shift a gear.

The shifter seems very robust, I miss multi shifting up the gears.

I believe the whole exploding derailleur thing was limited to early ones, there’s been a revision apparently.

Cassette is far harder wearing than my old XT, 3 months of mostly shitty weather and it’s like new, I’ve killed an XT in less than 6.

I think most of the issues have been with NX Eagle , GX seems to be quite a lot better , and more durable .

Just over a year on mine now. Easy to set up and hasn’t missed a beat (or a shift). I’m not exactly gentle with it, often shifting under load, but it keeps on trucking.

My GX eagle was brilliant for the first year. Only adjusted the barrel adjuster once after a few weeks and it just kept shifting very well. After a year it started not shifting well and I also hit it a few times against some rocks. Couldn't work out how to fix it so I put up with it for months.

It was only about a month ago I realised what was going on, the chain was dropping off the top jockey wheel after a decent and running between the jockey wheel and the cage. They have revised the design of the jockey wheels since launch and I had the original ones.

I managed to pick up a cheap second hand new version of the mech that had only been ridden twice, and that has sorted it. Nice shifting once again. So if you go for it, make sure you get the new jockey wheel version.

GX eagle rear mechs are a bit rubbish. Delicate and very sensitive to misalignment.

After going through two in a year I've switched to xo. Trouble free 6 months so far.

GX Cassette, shifters etc are fine though.

GX good, NX awful both in the Rear D dept

OP - have you considered SRAM cassette and Shimano shifter and mech?

Had my Eagle 18 months. Serviced just once. Zero issues at all.

Chakaping, I have considered this as well.
I know it works in theory, but I'm a little unsure

The only issue I've had with Eagle GX running on Hope hubs is when I clouted my rear mech on a post. Even then it still shifted through most of the cassette.

Maybe go all gx except rear mech and go up a level on that.....

Chakaping, I have considered this as well.
I know it works in theory, but I’m a little unsure

I do it on several bikes with 11sp and it works great, would probably do same if going 12sp.

Bought a full nx eagle group this year for my son who has given it a good test with no issues so far.
Only thing I can say is that when the bike hasn't been ridden for a day or so the shift from 1st to 2nd takes ages or a slight back pedal for it to drop instantly.. Once used for say a 100m or so its back to perfect again

No bother with mine, it really doesn’t like mud though as the margins are so close.

Had XO as OE on the bike. Killed the rear derailleur due to sticks getting jammed in it. Replaced with GX and haven't noticed any difference.

I've had mine on for... I dunno, a year? Since it got cheap basically. Last 6 months it hasn't had much use because of injury but it was getting pasted before that. Couldn't be happier really, in use it's pretty much indistinguishable from my 11 speed sram and Shimano.

Still going to get a spare before I go to france though

I've had three bikes with it and it's fine. I will say that it doesn't have the margin for error that the likes of old 9sp Sram had which you pretty well just installed a cable, pulled it tight, clamped it to the derailleur and rode your bike but it's acceptable. The higher end shifters do feel nicer, but the result is pretty much the same.

Over sensitive. I had the poor jockey wheel version. They fell apart with not much use. My lbs kindly fitted the newer jockey wheels. A stick touched the rear mech and ate it.
But yeah, very sensitive. Only have to look at it and it needs dialling in again.

Most issues ive seen with eagle is while racing and think its caused by the tendency to peddle across rough sections, causing the chain to jump off the bottom jockey wheel.
I've seen that people are running a GX cassette and the new shimano 12 sp mech and shifter is the option I would take.

Well someone on a group ride with me last week broke the mech rather than the hanger on an Eagle drivetrain (not sure what level) and my GF's GX rear mech lasted about 8 months before going a bit sloppy - it was still tolerable but she wanted to try to get rid of some noises it was making on the cassette. I don't think it would have lasted past a year.

Much as I wish Shimano had just gone with XD or at least opened up their standard to everyone, I've found Shimano to be much better quality and durability than SRAM.

Had mine about 18 months, also had a stick eat the rear mech. But I'm not gentle with mine, changing under load and couple of gears at a time when climbing...its not the smoothest but it does work well. Its had one service and replaced rear mech in 18 months of heavy usage. Can't really complain I suppose.

Got gx on new bike. Had xt8000 previously which was not perfect but didn’t have a 1/2 wheel turn delay especially when downshifting that sram has. B screw set indexing fine. Is that just how it is? If so anyone running xt12 speed cassette with sram everything else?

I’ve seen that people are running a GX cassette and the new shimano 12 sp mech and shifter is the option I would take.

I dunno how it played out in the end, but back in the good old days of 9 speed (circa 2003) Shimano had "Hyperglide" which was a series of patents covering shifting on the cassette. One of which was that each sprocket had gates and ramps that lined up with the next one, which meant you could shift as many clicks as you liked, and the chain would follow the ramps diagonally across the sprockets and engage on the one you wanted. Hence hyperglide cassettes only go onto the hyperglide freehub one way so they line up. And SRAM were therefore limited to cassette that only allowed one shift at a time (although on the same freehub design). I presume that patent still applies.

In the real word it's harder to tell as you tend to force the chain to shift outside the gates, or it's covered in dried mud and crusty lube. But in principal shimano doesn't do that "clunk and skip a tooth" shifting.

Probably one of those things you only ever notice if you swap wheels with new cassettes and ride them back to back, and probably a bit of conformational bias. Wouldn't stop be doing what you suggest, but would irritate me every time it did it!

> https://bikepacking.com/gear/sram-eagle-review/ < That's a very useful review...

Mine has been pretty trouble free for about 8 months of moderate use on the Spark. Put a new chain on, but I think it's skipping in certain gears now (one of the cogs has a bent tooth too).

Might just stick the old chain back on and run the cassette into the ground and replace it when the time comes.

Looking forward to seeing how my Intense goes with full XTR 11 speed, just to compare the two.

@metasequoia - I posted the same link in the third reply on this thread.

Almost a year on my GX Eagle stuff, riding probably 60% of the weekends since then. No issues. Had to fiddle with the B Tension a bit. It shifts just fine up and down the block. If gets quite crunchy if it drys out, so it doesn't seem to work well with 'dry lube'. I'd agree with those who say it's not the smoothest. I was running X01 11 speed prior to GX and that was properly buttery. Have ridden 12-speed XTR and that's crazy smooth (and very light at the shifter). For the money, I'd rate it as 'good'.

I know this is a bit of a thread resurrection but today - after much frustration - I realised that for the first time ever : I managed to wear-out* a derailleur. In probably 8 months.

*Wear out= Sort of a gradual thing: I can get it work in either the top 2/3 of the cassette or the bottom. Not both. Its got a definite play when pushed by thumb. Proper wobble at the lower jockey.

Swapped a GX deraileur off a newer build: and its perfect. Near zero play. And of course as you're not meant to reuse the chain connecteors - so that's more faff /cost!!

Grrrr.

I'm not buying SRAM stuff again.

Bought full NX groupset.
First mech had wobbly mount and iffy jockey wheels - son took it out for a ride and rear mech ate itself before I could pop it in the box to return under warranty.
Second mech wobbled more than first.
Third mech was better, but still a bit wobbly.
Shifter has a thing where the end of the cable can push out its mount, jamming the shifter.
Cassette upper few gears wore out in under 5 months (worse than Shimano or Sunrace).

Not impressed.

Going with a mix of Eagle parts is the best way.

Just moved from XX1 shifter/mech, GX chain & Hope 10-48 cassette to 12 speed using GX Eagle cassette and chain with XX1 Eagle mech & XX1 11 speed shifter with e13 conversion kit, and the an actual XX1 Eagle shifter shifter.

Only had a couple of rides so far and I like it. The conversion from 11 speed to 12 speed with the e13 kit was a piece of piss to do and shifted perfectly. The Eagle XX1 shifter is more like the XO1 in terms of it's shape and internals than the 11 speed XX1, and the shift is a noticeably more positive. Neither in a good nor bad way, just different.

I managed to get the cassette off of Wiggle for £105 delivered (£10 off for new account but a few quid delivery) HERE and there was no way I'd spend on an X01 or XX1 cassettes and chain - daft money for consumables.

The mech and shifter were from classifieds but would of been happy with the e13 conversion on the shifter. Never bothered trying the 10-50 cassette with the 11 speed XX1 mech, and didn't fancy the GX mech.

and didn’t fancy the GX mech.

Just to be clear - my beef is with the mech. The rest of it is pretty great, it's just goddam even more expensive than the sticker prices when the derailleur wears out so quick!

Have been running it 18 months, two rides a week. On third chain and swapped out jockey wheel bearings for stainless. Apart from the odd chain jump on the jockies it's been faultless.

@kneed - as posted earlier in this thread:

Have a read of this: https://bikepacking.com/gear/sram-eagle-review/

Tl:DR – GX cassette, shifter and chain; X01 derailleur

No, it isn't.

Bear in mind there is a lot of GX Eagle out there, and folk have been running it for a long period of time, compared to every other 12 speed groupset.

Have a read of this:> https://bikepacking.com/gear/sram-eagle-review/ < Tl:DR – GX cassette, shifter and chain; X01 derailleur

I'd actually go GX Cassette, derailleur, chain. X01 shifter.

The X01 shifter is remarkably better, and it has an adjustable lever - so it fits better with all brake matchmakers.

I've got GX rear mech on one bike with a X01 shifter, and a X01 rear mech with a GX shifter on the other bike. The one with the GX mech shifts a load smoother than the one with the X01.

My GX mech has been spot on for almost a year.

I’ve got full Eagle GX on my hardtail and a GX/X01 mix on my full sus, and (once set up properly) have had very few issues with either.  My full sus has an X01 cassette and shifter and GX mech.  The main issue I have with Eagle is that the long cage on the rear mechs is really susceptible to damage from rocks, roots, sticks etc.

The first generation GX mech on my full sus was perfect for about 5 months regular rough Dark Peak use - until a large loose rock smashed it into my spokes (cage bent 90 degrees from normal). Contrary to my expectations, the mechanic at the local bike shop managed to straighten it up so that it worked perfectly in 11 gears - and most of the time all 12! Kept it going like that for about a month, then swapped to a second generation GX for an overseas trip.  Second mech absolutely fine...until a loose rock hit it! Managed to tweak it back into position and, again, fine until it got hit by a small stick.

I prefer the X01 shifter, mainly because you can adjust the position and throw of the large paddle, and it just feels a bit more refined than the GX shifter - it’s pretty close though TBH.

As far as the mechs go, because of their susceptibility to damage, I just wouldn’t bother going higher up the range than GX - and at least the cage on the GX is metal, so can be bent back into shape when it does hit something.

Just as a heads up, my GX Mech is working fine with an XTR 12 speed shifter...don't know if the X01 offers double/triple upshifting or two-direction downshifting, but I was missing those on the GX shifter, which felt very industrial in comparison to my usual Shimano.

I'm assuming from that that the cable pull ratio on Shimano 12 speed the same as SRAM 12 speed?

my thoughts are its gash.

on a new bike (several infact)

had new cables, derailleur, alignment and a new mech and cassette. It shifts ok on everthing but the 4th cog up? no idea why. nothing has solved it.

itll drop back then you back pedal

it costs a lot. its no where near as refined as shimano.

I think it’s mostly ‘haters gonna hate’ by this point.

SRAM stuff installs and sets up differently than Shimano whether it’s brakes, cranks or shifting. Since the dawn of Mint, people familiar with Shimano have installed or bled SRAM according to rules of thumb that work perfectly well when they are in their comfort zone and blamed SRAM when it doesn’t quite work. Sweeping generalisms obviously contained above, but honestly that’s about the crux of it.

Only a few rides in on my GX so can't comment on longevity but I like it so far.
Coming from XT 11spd (and XT 10spd before it), it has a lighter but more positive lever action and shifts more quietly.
Smoothness seems about the same, as does speed of engagement.

Basically, I don't think you lose anything coming from previous generations of Shimano or SRAM (of an equivalent level) in terms of feel / refinement.

I’m assuming from that that the cable pull ratio on Shimano 12 speed the same as SRAM 12 speed?

Seems to be. But my only evidence for that is that it has worked well for the last few hundred miles. But then Scotroutes off here couldn't get it working, so it may be fussy about something else and I just got lucky.

I had an NX mech that decided to eject it's back plate and jockey wheels part way down a run in FoD, this also resulted in one of the chain links getting twisted about 45degrees out of true. That was after 5 months from new, about 550Km according to Strava.

I've replace it with a GX mech and just twisted the chain back expecting it to shift awfully but put up with it until a new chain arrived.....the old chain is still on because it all seems to be perfectly fine and laziness has won so far.

Not overly impressed with the NX falling apart BUT, it is all held together by bolts/allen key fittings, so perhaps I should have checked it a little more often.

More of if it aint broke, dont fix it.

My shifting was out the other day until I noticed a fly has settled on the rear mech.