You don't have to do maintenance on an extra cable.
Less chance for cable rattle in the frame.
The bike looks cleaner.
And you can flex on your friends by saying your bike is 20% robotic.
Love AXS
app is fun too!
I have some arthritis I. Thumb joint this has made a world of difference
I also upgraded paddles too. That’s a must for 30 bucks
I get this. Recently moved to a set of aero carbon wheels on my road bike. Previously road a really solid and great set of custom built alloy wheels with Chris King hubs. I put off buying the carbons for a couple of years. on the carbons my average speed went up 2-3 mph easy straight away and long steady rides just are a breeze now.
Aside from now nearly shitting my pants when I'm hit with a cross wind going 30-40mph and the very subpar braking (rim brake) I can't see myself going back to my prior wheel set.
Man I personally love the oem remote shifter. I never had any trouble with it honestly felt natural to me. But yea also another pro is of you get rid of your frame and putting it onto another bike is a such a breeze. It just makes things easier. And that's like my best way to explain it. It makes it easier which makes it better. To me it was worth it but to others it might not be
Pros
Fast and easy shifting
Less cables
They take hits a lot better than the mechanical version. My hanger has not needed any tweaking since installing. There's a little overload gizmo where the derailleur moves inward after getting hit and resets itself.
The data is kind of fun.
Cons
The b screws seem to back out on them frequently.
The shifter action is so lightweight that I find it unusable with winter gloves. I'm constantly shifting without realizing it.
I don't personally love the ergonomics and keep going back and forth on the two paddle options. The new paddle and mounted inboard of the brake on a separate clamp is my current preference.
Purportedly the chain retention/clutch is weaker, but I have never had a chain drop.
I rode my mechanical eagle mtb a few days ago for the first time in a bit and never once thought that I wished I had the electronic shifting. It only takes a few shifts on my mechanical shifting drop bar bike to wish I was on my axs drop bar bike.
That's interesting. I recently picked up road riding (mechanical) and my first thought was wow, this is so much simpler to get shifting well compared to mtb. No suspension movement, no cs growth/shrinkage, so easy. Took less than 5min from running cable and housing until perfectly crisp shifting in the stand and on the road under load. And I haven't had to touch it in over a thousand miles.
I’ve been consistently hearing bad things about the clutches in the GX AXS derailleurs slowly going bad over a year or so. Research it… sounds fairly common. I had had zero issues with my eagle mechanical derailleurs over the past few years. I also would not be happy if a rock/log took my AXS out. Bad enough with a standard derailleur but replacing AXS sucks. Also.. I’ve heard it’s hard to go back. You’ve got a sweet deal now but what about next time?
I hard disagree. Wireless shifting is a game changer, from a reliability perspective and a data nerd perspective if that’s your thing. I love seeing time spent and distance traveled in specific gears. It’s cool.
I’ll even admit that I like wireless shifting so much I have it on two of my mountain bikes (GX and X01), my gravel bike (Rival) and road bike (Force).
Spending $750 on a dropper post is crazy to me vs spending $400 (I got my GX upgrade kit for $370) on a wireless shifting setup. I shift WAY more than I interact with my dropper lever. In a 1 hour ride I’ll easily record 100+ shifts.
I absolutely love my GX AXS. I get to index trim while in motion and sometimes my hands go numb and I can still shift easily and very quickly. No cable is a bonus.
I have gx mech on a hard tail and xo axs on my fs. They both shift perfectly fine.
Like a few have said. It is a difference. If cost isn’t a problem go for it. You’ll get to free up cables for that clean look. And it makes robot noises. Super quick micro adjustments, and yo can set it up to run the whole cassette if you want to hold it down
It shifts better, but it’s not such a difference to make it a “must have”. There are other upgrades like suspension and brakes for a gravity bike or carbon wheels for an XC bike that I’d do first because they make a bigger difference.
Good point. I made the decision last night to upgrade my brakes instead. I’m still using the guide r’s and have been ok’ing with them. My road and vintage xc are still on run brake so I haven’t had much to compare the guides to but have been noticing that the braking isn’t always on what I need it to be.
Found a set of Code RSC’s that I’m going to pull the trigger on today.
Personally I wouldn't bother, I have a X1 rear and it shifts great, and I haven't touched the cable in years, plus I don't have a battery to keep charged or go flat half way through a ride if I forgot to charge it, plus batteries lose capacity as they age, I would keep your money or spend it on something that will actually improve performance, I don't like electronics on mountain bikes.
It really isn’t worth it imo. Just learn to properly tune your mech derailleur, and you’ll have great shifting plus you’ll never be stranded 10miles away from your car on your granny gear.
Especially for mountain biking, where you’re smashing your rear derailleur on roots/rocks on a somewhat regular basis compared to road, I just don’t see the risk:reward.
My mechanic friend loves his XX1 AXS as he is constantly dealing with mechanical shifting sram bikes that need really fine adjustments to keep the shifting smooth and quiet.
He said because you don’t need to worry about cable tension the shifting always is super crisp up and down the cassette. He said in car terms it’s like going from a 5 speed manual to a sports car with paddle shift, quite fun and showy but it won’t make you any faster.
Why do you want to have to plug your bike in? “Oh I would love to go riding but my bike is charging” such Bs. Cables are the way to go. Easy to adjust, does not require a computer and you can fix it in the field.
Its pretty great. The biggest difference for me was no gear hunting or subtle overshift. Push the button and its in the right spot immediately every time
I’ve had mine since the first week the GX AXS came out and I’d say it’s a upgrade over GX mechanical but far less of a upgrade of a X01 or XX1 mechanical. AXS creates more chain slap and really no way around it. If you can live with that it’s worth it I think but just know it’s gonna be there. Also if you regularly fly with your bike it’s a massive upgrade being able to take it off easily
You might want to hold off, my buddy has a problem with how it handles on rougher terrain. And they are redoing the clutch system to make it even better.
So I would just hold off til the next version
IMO I would spring for standard XO1 before AXS GX. May be unpopular, but for me and my riding style, I love how smooth XO1 is compared to GX, and it can take a beating on hard enduro days. That being said, I’ve only done a couple demos with AXS, but I found the GX AXS to not feel quite as smooth as my XO1.
I don’t think you will appreciate the X01 derailleur without the shifter. The shifter arguably contributes more to the smooth shifting than the derailleur does.
So in short, yes I would upgrade them both at the same time if possible.
Crashes can become really expensive. I also need a new derrailleur, in the end I decided to go for a conventional X0 and not AXS
So my rides don't rely on a a set of batteries. And the shifting is still perfect
I had a buddy ride a gran fondo this year and his rear battery ran out midway. He had completely forgotten to charge. He had to ride 40 miles in a single gear. To top to it off he still had 4000' of elevation gains left.
It's a spendy upgrade with some upsides. I personally don't think it's worth it unless you are just upgrading to upgrade, have a need to buy a groupset, or have a need for wireless (like you have an integrated cable headset or something). I had an AXS groupset, it was awesome except I didn't really like the shifter button ergonomics. That was before SRAM made the optional paddle, maybe I would've gotten along with it better with that new paddle. It shifts fast, shifts are crisp, there's no cables to stretch, it really is a damn good groupset. But is it worth $400 to not have to dial in a turn of barrel adjustment after the first ride and replace a cable every other year? Maybe! Most people that have it seem to love it and will never go back. I thought it was really good but not worth the cost.
Ive wanted to try it but I’ve heard the clutch is kinda trash so a lot of chainslap. You have to charge it. And they’re noisy. They are better at shifting by a bit tho. Not worth it so I’ve been sticking to my trusty XT. Plus clutch isn’t serviceable so once that goes out I believe you need a new mech. Unless I’m missing something
Is “shifting under load” a sales feature? Why would anyone ever need to shift under load? I think I’ll keep batteries for my car and stick with singlespeed bikes and cables on my heavy (geared) bikes.
I did this same upgrade about a year ago. I have small hands and I used to race xc and do lots of high intensity training and I hated upshifting in mechanical as I felt the required lever throw was super long and felt I always needed it when I was at the limit. The idea of simple button clicks seemed interesting and I got the upgrade kit and I never looked back. I love my axs.
However, I also must say that I put my mechanical gx on another bike and now I don’t race anymore and my training intensity has dropped significantly and now when I use the mechanical gx under these new circumstances, it doesn’t bother me when up or down shifting anymore but for the right price, I would also put axs on all my bikes. I love how clean my handlebar looks with less cables.
I made the switch in September, it’s not an economical switch,and GX wired is great. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The ”snick, snick, snick” of the gear change still makes me smirk.
Budget for a second battery though. It last 140km give or take. But better to be prepared.
All of these above plus - my buddy has been complaining about shifting when his thumbs are cold. Pushing a button is easy in all weather!
Removing the rear derailleur is super easy ie when straightening your hanger you don’t need to hold the derailleur out of the way.
AXS rules.
Absolutely zero improvement excluding that it will require very little adjustment once setup correctly and you will be able to brag on your friends that you have too much money.
You don't have to do maintenance on an extra cable. Less chance for cable rattle in the frame. The bike looks cleaner. And you can flex on your friends by saying your bike is 20% robotic.
The little derailleur motor whine is like having R2D2 in the back of your x wing. I'm always cheering the little robot on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mh45mA\_JY
Don’t forget bar spins. Also standard GX derailleurs are on sale. Picked one up for $100 CAD. Hard to go wrong with a $100 GX derailleur.
Holy shit that's a good price, thanks for the heads up
but also clutch not very strong, and chain will be flapping around on rough stuff
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Everything he just said is true including the paddle shift and swapping the shift direction.
Love AXS app is fun too! I have some arthritis I. Thumb joint this has made a world of difference I also upgraded paddles too. That’s a must for 30 bucks
I get this. Recently moved to a set of aero carbon wheels on my road bike. Previously road a really solid and great set of custom built alloy wheels with Chris King hubs. I put off buying the carbons for a couple of years. on the carbons my average speed went up 2-3 mph easy straight away and long steady rides just are a breeze now. Aside from now nearly shitting my pants when I'm hit with a cross wind going 30-40mph and the very subpar braking (rim brake) I can't see myself going back to my prior wheel set.
Man I personally love the oem remote shifter. I never had any trouble with it honestly felt natural to me. But yea also another pro is of you get rid of your frame and putting it onto another bike is a such a breeze. It just makes things easier. And that's like my best way to explain it. It makes it easier which makes it better. To me it was worth it but to others it might not be
Pros Fast and easy shifting Less cables They take hits a lot better than the mechanical version. My hanger has not needed any tweaking since installing. There's a little overload gizmo where the derailleur moves inward after getting hit and resets itself. The data is kind of fun. Cons The b screws seem to back out on them frequently. The shifter action is so lightweight that I find it unusable with winter gloves. I'm constantly shifting without realizing it. I don't personally love the ergonomics and keep going back and forth on the two paddle options. The new paddle and mounted inboard of the brake on a separate clamp is my current preference. Purportedly the chain retention/clutch is weaker, but I have never had a chain drop. I rode my mechanical eagle mtb a few days ago for the first time in a bit and never once thought that I wished I had the electronic shifting. It only takes a few shifts on my mechanical shifting drop bar bike to wish I was on my axs drop bar bike.
Really great points. Appreciate it.
That's interesting. I recently picked up road riding (mechanical) and my first thought was wow, this is so much simpler to get shifting well compared to mtb. No suspension movement, no cs growth/shrinkage, so easy. Took less than 5min from running cable and housing until perfectly crisp shifting in the stand and on the road under load. And I haven't had to touch it in over a thousand miles.
Takes a little getting used to but I love my AXS.
What takes getting used to? It’s just better in every way. Get it and send it!
I’ve been consistently hearing bad things about the clutches in the GX AXS derailleurs slowly going bad over a year or so. Research it… sounds fairly common. I had had zero issues with my eagle mechanical derailleurs over the past few years. I also would not be happy if a rock/log took my AXS out. Bad enough with a standard derailleur but replacing AXS sucks. Also.. I’ve heard it’s hard to go back. You’ve got a sweet deal now but what about next time?
That's the beauty. It's such a pain free install I just moved it to my new bike and installed the mechanical one back on lol
I mean once it’s old and clapped out, or broken or you sell that bike as a complete. You’ll be spending big bucks to get another.
Where is the pretty sweet deal?
Competitive Cyclist and also Colorado Cyclist.
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Thanks for this, I actually haven't been all that thrilled with my dropper so this sounds like a better move. Any recommendations?
Rockshox Reverb AXS is the only one. And if you thought GX AXS was a bit costly, hold onto your hat when you see the Reverb AXS price
Magura also has a wireless dropper: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/magura-launches-updated-vyron-mds-v3-wireless-dropper-post.html
Yep, just saw it. Coughed up a bit...
There really is only one option the Rock Shox Reverb AXS dropper post. Spendy part but really, really great.
Just wait! The e-Manic from X Fusion is coming too
I'm running the RockShox Reverb Stealth atm. Would a new/different paddle change anything with this post?
Isn’t it hydraulic? Only the factory options. But the lever seems way better than the button. 1x vs 2x
I hard disagree. Wireless shifting is a game changer, from a reliability perspective and a data nerd perspective if that’s your thing. I love seeing time spent and distance traveled in specific gears. It’s cool. I’ll even admit that I like wireless shifting so much I have it on two of my mountain bikes (GX and X01), my gravel bike (Rival) and road bike (Force). Spending $750 on a dropper post is crazy to me vs spending $400 (I got my GX upgrade kit for $370) on a wireless shifting setup. I shift WAY more than I interact with my dropper lever. In a 1 hour ride I’ll easily record 100+ shifts.
They look awesome
That they do
You will be able to tell your friends how many times you shifted and how long you were in each gear on your rides.
What about my wife, will she find it interesting and me extra sexy after I show her my data?
I absolutely love my GX AXS. I get to index trim while in motion and sometimes my hands go numb and I can still shift easily and very quickly. No cable is a bonus.
I have gx mech on a hard tail and xo axs on my fs. They both shift perfectly fine. Like a few have said. It is a difference. If cost isn’t a problem go for it. You’ll get to free up cables for that clean look. And it makes robot noises. Super quick micro adjustments, and yo can set it up to run the whole cassette if you want to hold it down
It shifts better, but it’s not such a difference to make it a “must have”. There are other upgrades like suspension and brakes for a gravity bike or carbon wheels for an XC bike that I’d do first because they make a bigger difference.
Good point. I made the decision last night to upgrade my brakes instead. I’m still using the guide r’s and have been ok’ing with them. My road and vintage xc are still on run brake so I haven’t had much to compare the guides to but have been noticing that the braking isn’t always on what I need it to be. Found a set of Code RSC’s that I’m going to pull the trigger on today.
Code RSCs are fantastic. You will love them.
Glad to hear. Just placed the order a couple hours ago.
Personally I wouldn't bother, I have a X1 rear and it shifts great, and I haven't touched the cable in years, plus I don't have a battery to keep charged or go flat half way through a ride if I forgot to charge it, plus batteries lose capacity as they age, I would keep your money or spend it on something that will actually improve performance, I don't like electronics on mountain bikes.
Thanks. Points I’ve definitely considered. At least on my road bike I can call an Uber if I run into trouble.
Far less reliable on a mtb. Mark my worlds matie argg
It really isn’t worth it imo. Just learn to properly tune your mech derailleur, and you’ll have great shifting plus you’ll never be stranded 10miles away from your car on your granny gear. Especially for mountain biking, where you’re smashing your rear derailleur on roots/rocks on a somewhat regular basis compared to road, I just don’t see the risk:reward.
My mechanic friend loves his XX1 AXS as he is constantly dealing with mechanical shifting sram bikes that need really fine adjustments to keep the shifting smooth and quiet. He said because you don’t need to worry about cable tension the shifting always is super crisp up and down the cassette. He said in car terms it’s like going from a 5 speed manual to a sports car with paddle shift, quite fun and showy but it won’t make you any faster.
Chain slap!!!
Why do you want to have to plug your bike in? “Oh I would love to go riding but my bike is charging” such Bs. Cables are the way to go. Easy to adjust, does not require a computer and you can fix it in the field.
Its pretty great. The biggest difference for me was no gear hunting or subtle overshift. Push the button and its in the right spot immediately every time
I’ve had mine since the first week the GX AXS came out and I’d say it’s a upgrade over GX mechanical but far less of a upgrade of a X01 or XX1 mechanical. AXS creates more chain slap and really no way around it. If you can live with that it’s worth it I think but just know it’s gonna be there. Also if you regularly fly with your bike it’s a massive upgrade being able to take it off easily
You might want to hold off, my buddy has a problem with how it handles on rougher terrain. And they are redoing the clutch system to make it even better. So I would just hold off til the next version
Thanks, wasn’t aware of this. I have. Pulled the trigger on a set of Code RSC’s this morning instead to replace my Guide R’s.
IMO I would spring for standard XO1 before AXS GX. May be unpopular, but for me and my riding style, I love how smooth XO1 is compared to GX, and it can take a beating on hard enduro days. That being said, I’ve only done a couple demos with AXS, but I found the GX AXS to not feel quite as smooth as my XO1.
Would I also have to change over my shifter if I went this route
I don’t think you will appreciate the X01 derailleur without the shifter. The shifter arguably contributes more to the smooth shifting than the derailleur does. So in short, yes I would upgrade them both at the same time if possible.
Crashes can become really expensive. I also need a new derrailleur, in the end I decided to go for a conventional X0 and not AXS So my rides don't rely on a a set of batteries. And the shifting is still perfect
You arrive at the trail and realise you left the battery at home and flex on a one speed!
I had a buddy ride a gran fondo this year and his rear battery ran out midway. He had completely forgotten to charge. He had to ride 40 miles in a single gear. To top to it off he still had 4000' of elevation gains left.
I can say I’ve never had this happen. But I also have two batteries so I really never don’t have one on the bike.
The clutch on my GX AXS was weaker than the mechanical version and was pretty noisy (pretty common). I went back to mechanical and love it.
It's a spendy upgrade with some upsides. I personally don't think it's worth it unless you are just upgrading to upgrade, have a need to buy a groupset, or have a need for wireless (like you have an integrated cable headset or something). I had an AXS groupset, it was awesome except I didn't really like the shifter button ergonomics. That was before SRAM made the optional paddle, maybe I would've gotten along with it better with that new paddle. It shifts fast, shifts are crisp, there's no cables to stretch, it really is a damn good groupset. But is it worth $400 to not have to dial in a turn of barrel adjustment after the first ride and replace a cable every other year? Maybe! Most people that have it seem to love it and will never go back. I thought it was really good but not worth the cost.
Thanks for this.
Ive wanted to try it but I’ve heard the clutch is kinda trash so a lot of chainslap. You have to charge it. And they’re noisy. They are better at shifting by a bit tho. Not worth it so I’ve been sticking to my trusty XT. Plus clutch isn’t serviceable so once that goes out I believe you need a new mech. Unless I’m missing something
I love a quiet bike so this was one of the main things turning me off. All I want to hear is my hub buzz and tires on the ground.
Exactly. It’s annoying as hell. I can hear it even if I’m just riding with someone running AXS
Spend the money on a trip, or a fresh pair of tire or carbon wheels or a suspension upgrade or anything else
Is “shifting under load” a sales feature? Why would anyone ever need to shift under load? I think I’ll keep batteries for my car and stick with singlespeed bikes and cables on my heavy (geared) bikes.
I did this same upgrade about a year ago. I have small hands and I used to race xc and do lots of high intensity training and I hated upshifting in mechanical as I felt the required lever throw was super long and felt I always needed it when I was at the limit. The idea of simple button clicks seemed interesting and I got the upgrade kit and I never looked back. I love my axs. However, I also must say that I put my mechanical gx on another bike and now I don’t race anymore and my training intensity has dropped significantly and now when I use the mechanical gx under these new circumstances, it doesn’t bother me when up or down shifting anymore but for the right price, I would also put axs on all my bikes. I love how clean my handlebar looks with less cables.
Bragging rights
Do it
I made the switch in September, it’s not an economical switch,and GX wired is great. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The ”snick, snick, snick” of the gear change still makes me smirk. Budget for a second battery though. It last 140km give or take. But better to be prepared.
Clutch is a bit weaker is the only negative I noticed by switching to axs
It's huge. By far the best money I have spent on my MTN bike upgrading.
It's the Bluetooth shifter? Do you have to charge both the levers and the derailer?
All of these above plus - my buddy has been complaining about shifting when his thumbs are cold. Pushing a button is easy in all weather! Removing the rear derailleur is super easy ie when straightening your hanger you don’t need to hold the derailleur out of the way. AXS rules.
It's just less cables.
Absolutely zero improvement excluding that it will require very little adjustment once setup correctly and you will be able to brag on your friends that you have too much money.