sram eagle saracen 12 speed chipps

Review: SRAM XX1 Eagle Groupset

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Rewind to Issue #109 of Singletrack Magazine for Chipps’ review of the SRAM XX-1 Eagle 1×12 Drivetrain.


It’s hard to believe that SRAM’s first 1×11 groupset only came out five years ago. Since then, the ‘one by’ revolution has truly swept through the land.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
SRAM XX1 Eagle debuted in 2016 as the world’s first 1×12 mountain bike groupset.

With typical panache, SRAM launched its newest groupset – 12-speed XX1 Eagle – to a collection of the world’s bike media in the sunny Italian mountains. Rob Crayons headed over for us to try out this new 12-speed groupset and he returned impressed. What we wanted to know, though, is how well the groupset would do in the less sunny UK. After a short wait, our own groupset arrived and we were free to fit it to a bike.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
Chipps has been testing the Eagle 1×12 drivetrain for the past 9 months in proper UK riding conditions.

Any bike? No. This is where we learned that SRAM is VERY keen to differentiate between XX1 Eagle and X01 Eagle. XX1 is for cross-country bikes and X01 is for trail and enduro bikes. Despite them looking similar and having almost identical specs, don’t you be putting the gold gears on an enduro bike or there’ll be trouble. Apparently.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1 cranks
The SRAM XX1 Eagle crankset uses carbon fibre arms and a new X-Sync tooth profile.

SRAM XX1 Eagle Crankset

The chainset is a lovely bit of work. Carbon crankarms with a veiny single ring bolted to them. The chainring looks purposeful and cut away to reduce material wherever possible. The hollow crankarms look both light and reliable. Those chainring teeth, though! The teeth look hooked and already worn, but the carefully designed shape is aimed to keep a tight hold on the chain when driving, and then release it easily at the bottom of the ring, reducing noise and drag.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1 chain
Do we need to say anything other than…GOLD?!

SRAM XX-1 Eagle Chain

There’s no mistaking this chain. It’s not gold-plated; it’s coated in Titanium Nitride, a super-tough and hard-wearing coating that’s used on machine tools and drill bits. Interestingly, on splitting the chain, it’s apparent that the coating is applied after the chain is assembled, so there’s no apparent protection against wear between plates and rollers, though all external wear – against the chainring and cassette should be greatly reduced. You’ll need the special 12-speed split-link, but it’s conveniently (and beautifully) rainbow anodised for easy spotting.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
That huge 10-50t cassette provides an enormous 500% gear range without need for a front derailleur.

SRAM XX1 Eagle Cassette

Which brings us to that 12-speed cassette. With a tiny 10T sprocket at one end and a massive 50T at the other, it boasts a 500% range – which is as wide a range as we ever had with three chainrings. It requires a SRAM XD compatible hub, but these are now widely available and not really an issue any more. The first 11 sprockets of the cassette are machined from a single piece of steel, hollowed out to the nth degree to give a light, airy, hollow cassette body. This is topped by the biggest, 50T sprocket, which is machined from aluminium and which curves backwards over the spokes of the wheel. This sprocket is black, which has the visual effect of making it pleasingly hard for your riding pals to spot at first glance.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
The XX-1 shifter can mount independently, or together with a SRAM MMX brake lever clamp.

SRAM XX1 Eagle Trigger Shifter

The Eagle shifter leans heavily on the existing SRAM XX1 shifter only – in a Spinal Tap Plus moment – this one goes up to 12.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1 derailleur
The beefy XX1 Eagle rear derailleur.

SRAM XX1 Eagle Rear Derailleur

The rear mech is at once enormous, with huge jockey wheels, and yet about the same size as a two-by XT rear derailleur. The lower jockey wheel has a narrow-wide profile to keep the chain running sweet and the clutch mechanism is said to have increased in (non-adjustable) tension. There’s a nifty plastic tool to help get your B-tension screw adjusted into the sweet spot. The whole system looks good together, with gold and black accents on everything.

cotic eagle sram xo1
SRAM also offers 12-speed technology in an X01 groupset for a few quid less.

About X01 Eagle

It would make sense to mention X01 Eagle about now. This is the groupset that is more intended for trail and enduro bikes. It’s also better for the shy as the black and red colours are far less showy than the blingy gold of XX1. Apart from a few grams difference in the crank arms (the XX1 chainset is fully hollow, the X01 is not) and the Ti-Nitride coating on XX1’s chain and cassette, the two groups are identical in construction, yet intended for different uses.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
“Yes, that is a 50t sprocket officer.”

The Ride

It would be doing the years of engineering experience at SRAM a disservice to say ‘It’s just like 11-speed, only with one more gear’, but that’s meant as a compliment. In use, the gear range feels natural and intuitive. There’s no giant pause when selecting the 50T and the other gaps are the same ones we’ve all quickly got used to with the 1×11 that SRAM has pioneered.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
The XX1 trigger shifter is sharp and precise, while being a touch smoother than previous SRAM shifter pods.

Shifting is smooth and you could even persuade me that it’s slightly lighter and quieter in use than 11-speed. The gear shifting sounds a little less ‘clicky’ than last year’s SRAM shifters and the whole ensemble works together with boring efficiency.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
Change up your gear ratio by tweaking the chainring size.

The gear range itself is enough for near enough any rider for any purpose. Tweak the chainring (from 30T to 38T) to suit your legs, load and ambitions and you have gears enough for loaded touring or cross-country racing.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
Despite loads of miles in the Yorkshire mud, the gold finish still looks surprisingly slick.

There’s no denying that the XX1 Eagle groupset price is eye-watering, but given SRAM’s statement about never developing another new front derailleur, combined with its aggressive trickle-down to lower groupsets and I think we’re likely to see 1×12 dropping from top-flight Formula One vapourware to more affordable Ford Focus levels in months rather than years.

sram eagle 12 speed xx1
And the rear mech has had its fair share of scrapes and knocks, but is still as snappy as the day it first went on.

Overall

I was all set to damn XX1 Eagle as just another ‘plus one’ innovation that we don’t need, but its nonsense-free use and triple chainset-range of gears is ushering in a future where the front derailleur is dead. Give it a year or two and gears, and bikes, will be changed forever.

Review Info

Brand: SRAM
Product: XX1 Eagle 12-Speed Drivetrain
From: SRAM, sram.com
Price: £1276 (full drivetrain): Cassette £388, Chainset £421, Rear mech £258, Shifter £131, Chain £78
Tested: by Chipps for 9 months
Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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Comments (8)

    In the 9 months, what sort of mileage has it done? and what does the chain measure using a chain wear gauge? Thanks

    It is a thing of beauty but daaaaaaaam, it’s expensive.

    What is the durability of the cassette? That is a serious amount of money for what is a consumable part. How can a 10t by 30 something chainring give a top gear similar to a 42/44 by 11? £1200 odd for a groupset is madness.

    £1200 is a lot, but back in 2007, a complete XTR Groupset was

    Chainset £250
    Cassette £90
    Shifters £100
    Rear Mech £95
    Front Mech £55
    Chain £27

    …so over £650, and that was 10 years ago when there was but one standard for EVERYTHING.

    Its also worth noting that the X01 Eagle groupset can be had for £750.

    Though nowhere near as slick as 10x XT the quality of the Eagle’s gear change is surprisingly good, however the big rear mech is vulnerable. On my bike (650×2.6 tyre) it sits a mere 120mm above the ground in the big cog. This compares with 160mm for 2×10 XT and 200mm for 2×9 Sram X01. I hung up the Eagle mech second time out on very familiar trails. A mate lost the mech and three spokes on an innocuous climb when a twig flicked up dragging the mech into the wheel. I have also seen minor ‘offs’ untrue the mech, which were impossible to fix out on the trail (I now carry the ‘B’ Screw set up guide with me). Similar instances with other mechs have seemed easier to correct. For big days out in the mountains, where you need the gear range, my choice (reluctantly) would still be for a 2x.

    Er, isn’t the first picture of a Sram XX 2×10 chainset? (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)

    It’s changed. Magic is afoot!

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