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I have AXS on two bikes and carry a spare battery in my back pack and I've had AXS on two bikes for 18 months now. When I first fitted them I was getting on average 4 big weekend rides with a mid week ride out of a single battery charge, and as recently as October last year I rode in Spain every day for 6 days without changing the battery.
Over the last 6 months I've noticed the battery life getting shorter and shorter and up until last week I was having to re-charge after just 2 rides. I changed the batteries for both bikes again over the weekend and last night the battery was almost flat after a 3hr ride !
There was a suggestion on a Sram forum that I should update the firmware which I did on Tuesday but on the face of it that could have made it worse !
I know the cold is supposed to affect the battery life but this is ridiculous and it didn't get this bad last year.
Any experiences of the same and any ideas would be appreciated.
thankfully my two batteries are still fine. both between 18 and 24 months old.
The only thing i can imagine is 1) battery degradation from use. and 2) the sub zero temperatures.
When you charge them, are they charged in a cold garage or in a warm house etc?
Frustrating tho, especially as replacement batteries arent the cheapest of things!
Yep, I have 2 batteries that are a few years old, barely used (as on my tt bike) and are showing the red light after about an hr of use
Check that the mech is correctly adjusted (b tension screw primarily) and is not trying to move the upper jockey wheel against one of the cassette cogs. My axs recently developed a problem where the b tension screw would back out over the course of a ride, meaning that the mech couldnt move freely as the upper jockey wheel was interfering with the cassette, this result in rapid battery drain. a bit of threadlock on the b tension screw and setting the b tension correctly sorted it out.
Also check that the various pivots are free to move, it could be that one has seized up causing it to need more battery for every gear shift - maybe a bit of light oil on every pivot point and then cycle the mech up and down a few times?
When you charge them, are they charged in a cold garage or in a warm house etc?
Always charge them in the house. Just seems odd that all the batteries are failing at the same time !
Probably not your problem, but make sure that the bike is "in gear" when it's put away. I've had batteries drain over night and (more annoyingly) in the car when I've accidentally knocked the gear shifter when putting the bike away. When this happens you can hear the mech impotently ticking as it tries to change gear.
Yep, check that the bike is in the right gear when put away.
I drove to the trails with my bike on the roof next to my wife's bike. Little did I know that the shifter was rubbing on her grip.
Ended up having to ride single speed when we got there and she had a hole in one of her grips 🙂
I always take the batteries out when driving / traveling - the mech(s) and post are motion activated (iirc) and driving around uses the batteries up. I found that a mech that was showing a green light when you leave could be red or dead when arriving a couple of hours later....
I always carry two spares now.
Take a LiPo battery from 20 degrees to 0 you effectively half the capacity/run time and power will reduce about 40% (there are some curves somewhere). It'll warm up due to the load, but if you are continually cooling it, because it's cold outside, it'll never warm up properly.
I had a special light battery made for me a few years ago (by four4th) with an extra insulated pack, that only loses about 20% during the course of a long night ride night if i start the minute it's finished charging. Takes that much longer to cool down. Even at -10.
My hopes are pretty much losing 40-50%.
Might be worth having a pair for winter use only and glueing 2-2.5mm foam to the outside faces of the batteries, similar to lagging round outside water pipes.
I had this on a 6 month old XO1 mech, tried a couple of batteries, not leaving it anywhere in freezing temps etc with same result so warrantied it with sram through my LBS and had a new mech returned to me within 3 days.
Reading this thread with amusement and bemusement.
https://bikerumor.com/sram-self-charging-auto-shifting-rear-derailleur/
SRAM will solve this one day. Probably another £400 rear mech.
The first few paragraphs mention one of the drawbacks of current electronic derailleurs; the inconvenience of having to recharge the battery, with the inherent risk of it running out of juice whilst out on a long bike ride. Those lucky enough to own an electronic shifting drivetrain will know this all too well; perhaps not so much because they’ve run out of charge mid-ride, but more likely because they’ve forgotten to re-charge the battery before heading out for their next ride. One can imagine the frustration.
"hey, we created this problem and now lookee here, we've gone and solved it!"
"Can we sell them something new and expensive again?"
"Hell yeah.."
"High five Brad!"
"High five Geoff!"
Reading this thread with amusement and bemusement.
Same!
I know it's supposed to be nice when its working
But overall this sounds like a lot of faff and expense for not really that much benefit.
Sorry! Tell me I'm wrong.
Those lucky enough to own an electronic shifting drivetrain will know this all too well; perhaps not so much because they’ve run out of charge mid-ride, but more likely because they’ve forgotten to re-charge the battery before heading out for their next ride. One can imagine the frustration.
There’s an easy checklist before buying AXS.
1. Are the the kind of person who never ever has a fully charged mobile phone? If yes, stick with cable.
The End.
It’s not rocket science and not very tine consuming either. I always remove batteries after a ride and for car journeys. Check the led colour before removing and if it’s anything other than green, then charge it ready for next time. If that sounds like too much work then AXS isn’t for you.
So why is there a thread about it then?
😉
yeah, axs doesnt really do anything a cable mech doesnt do, but its just a lovely thing to use, and its nice to have one less cable flapping about. AXS is one of lifes luxuries - not at all essential, but nice to have.
If you're the sort who see (any) motors on bicycles as the devils work then theyre not for you, but its pretty easy to stay on top of charging the battery (assuming there isnt a fault - as per the op) , when you finish a ride glance down at the mech and press the shift button, if the light on the mech is not green then charge the battery - it takes about 40 mins, and then the mech will last for many multiple hours of riding time. Even a quick 10 minute top up charge (for example if you only realise the battery is low immediately before the ride) will give you hours of ride time.
Theyre also not for you if you are weight weenying, they're heavier than your average high end mech.
So why is there a thread about it then?
cos his is broken - like when a gear cable breaks, or gets sticky, or stretches and needs adjustment etc etc
Occurs to me that I've never taken the batter out while flying, never had an issue though, mech seems to sleep unless the jockey wheels are turned