There’s an extortionate jump in price, what do you get for the extra cash above a GX groupset?

Less weight

The use of more expensive materials
Bearings instead of bushes (jockey wheel bearings are shite though)

And as above less weight

I’d want anti gravity for 3x the price! Is it a big difference in weight?

A large amount of the weight is in the GX cassette.

Fairly.

XX and X01 are basically equivalent to XTR Race and XTR Trail respectively. They aren’t intended for mortals who quibble relative value. GX is somewhere around SLXish and X1 is around XTish. There isn’t really direct equivalence between SRAM and Shimano ranges.

X01 is very lovely in use, but also very expensive. As with anything, it’s worth adding a higher spec shifter to a lower overall spec group. The GX group is seriously let down by a horrible shifter unit.

XX and X01 are basically equivalent to XTR Race and XTR Trail respectively. They aren’t intended for mortals who quibble relative value.

Basically this…

I’ve got X01 12spd on my full sus, X01 11spd on my HT. Are they “worth” it? Of course not! But it does feel special.

If you have to justify anything on the grounds of cost, just buy GX. It really is bloody fantastic kit with all the features of X01 and XX1, just weighs a little more but is 1/3rd the price!

Trying to decide if a gx grouopset would be an upgrade over my existing setup on my yeti.

Currently got

11 speed xt shifter
Xt cranks with a narrow wide 32t ring
11-46t xt cassette that weighs as much as a small house!
Xtr 11 speed mech.

I ran out of climbing gear on a climb last week (albeit it was in the lake district and was 880ft of ascent in 1 mile)..

Got me looking at 50t cassettes, I’d prob up to a 34t ring up front if I did..

What do we reckon? Would my bike stay about the same weight but have a bit more gear at both ends?

Should I just go for a cassette mech and shifter and leave my xt cranks on there?

if you went 34, you wouldn’t notice much of a difference in having a 50t sprocket, over 32/46

Also remember the SRAM cassette has a 10t cog so you’ll be gaining top end even staying with the 32t chainring.

And yes I’d go shifter, mech, chain and cassette and keep the Shimano cranks

Trying to decide if a gx grouopset would be an upgrade over my existing setup on my yeti.

What wheel size? I ask cos it affects the gearing…

What do we reckon? Would my bike stay about the same weight but have a bit more gear at both ends?

GX Eagle is like for like, actually a touch lighter than XT! So a resounding yes to your question…

if you went 34, you wouldn’t notice much of a difference in having a 50t sprocket, over 32/46

This…

Also remember the SRAM cassette has a 10t cog so you’ll be gaining top end even staying with the 32t chainring.

And this…

And yes I’d go shifter, mech, chain and cassette and keep the Shimano cranks

Disagree re the cranks. GX cranks aren’t the prettiest of things for sure, and GXP means a bit more faff on the non driveside on most BB’s, but the SRAM chainring is miles better than the Shimano rings!

650b.

For £300 the 12spd gx groupset is a bit of a no brainer.
Ime, sram gx is nicer feeling than xt and a bit lighter. Currently have x01 on one bike, gx11 on another and xt 1×11 on another. Id say x01 and gx the main difference is cassette weight, XX1 adds carbon and not much else. The only things stopping me having sram on all bikes is the multi release shifter on shimano, i ride that bike on the brake tops a lot so it makes shifting much easier.

Where can you get one for 300?

Where can you get one for 300?

Upgrade kit (mech, chain, cassette, shifter) is €250 at Bike-Discount.

Where can you get one for 300?

crc did it for black friday, not sure if they still do.

or theres a full set in the classifieds for £250 atm

Chilled76 I run a near identical shimano setup on the FS and also have hardtail with eagle on. I’m not overly bothered by weight so went GX as is so much cheaper. I’m really impressed by the GX, very reliable shifting, a more clunky feel to a xt / xtr setup shift but very reassuring. There’s no finger downshifting like with shimano, it’s a bit weird at first but you get used to it. There is definitely more range, that’s obvious eagle is 500% but if you ran a 34t up front instead of your current 32t it will be similar in the 50T to your current 46T gear. You would get more top end with the 10T. And there is always to option of dropping a 28t or 30t on and with that massive cog on the back crazy steep spinning would be possible.

But If you tend to ride gravity based descents that require little or no pedalling then why not just keep your current setup and change your chainring for big climbing days? For big lakes / Scotland descending i always stick a 28T up front, you might spin out on road descents but who cares. And changing a chain ring takes 5 mins.

But if II was building new again I’d definitely go eagle.

Mix and match.

X0 cranks and above for carbon weight. GX mech is fine enough for most people and really not going to notice the weight difference. GX cassette however is a fair weight compared to the higher versions, but as said comparable with XT, though more expensive. X1 and above shifters are just a little bit nicer in shifting and not too much more in price so worth a shot.

In my case I’m all Shimano freehubs so I use XTR (and XT on one bike) cassettes, but mix of X0 cranks, GX mech and X1 shifters.

Then down below GX is NX. Cheap as chips, just heavier (though Shimano freehub compatible on the cassette).

GX Eagle is a very good deal however, but then there’s not really any main competition with 12 speed. It’s heavier but reasonable price for 12 speed. Still expensive cassette though. When new fangled cassettes are down to what they used to be when XT was the go to (i.e. sub £60), wake me up 😀

They aren’t intended for mortals who quibble relative value. GX is somewhere around SLXish and X1 is around XTish. There isn’t really direct equivalence between SRAM and Shimano ranges.

Probably subjective but unless they have made some significant strides with SLX the GX 11 I’ve used is at least on par with XT, the NX sits closer to the SLX side of things

the NX sits closer to the SLX side of things

SlX is 10% cheaper & 13% lighter, gx shifter is ok, but extra functions of Shimano ones are missing

I’ve just swapped out the 11-42 NX casette that came on my bike for an 11-46 xt and it’s 100g lighter.

Tbh now that you can get a deore 10speed 11-42 that’s 100g lighter than NX, many OEM bikes would be better served with a cheaper (at retail) deore 10sp drivetrain as it’s a fair bit lighter

30t ring on the front and an 11sp GX cassette (with XD freehub) for a cheaper solution?

Otherwise go with GX 12sp, the higher end Sram groupsets are only really for OE or mugs IMO.

I’m using a GX cassette and mech with an X01 shifter.

I didn’t see the point in a posher mech and the posher cassettes are a bit rich for me. The GX one is lighter than the XT cassette and mine has lasted well.

The posher shifters are worth the extra cash in my opinion / experience – they feel nicer and I like the fact that the lower trigger can be adjusted to suit.

I managed to break my GX shifter on NYE when I came off in a rock garden, had a X1 shifter fitted this morning at the LBS. Feels smoother on the up shifts, not sure if it is worth double the GX shifter but it was X1 or NX and thought it would be a nice upgrade.

CRC have had the full eagle group set at £299 for a while, before and post Black Friday just have been in and out of stock a bit. Just set an email alert up if there’s no stock, ordered mine just before Christmas.