SRAM GX Eagle AXS Upgrade Kit review

Credit card is getting itchy!

Timing is everything. Happy 100th shimano, love sram

What comes on the upgrade kit that warrants the extra money over mech and shifter?

It contains a battery and charger. Neither come with the mech as a stand alone item.

Just battery and charger are more than 500 quid? Might have to strap on some AAs

If they did an 11 speed version I'd be very tempted for my gravel bike, can't justify a wholesale upgrade though.

Belgian waffle you do get £501 worth of mech and shifter in the Upgrade kit too....

@Ben March oh right thanks yes that did seem a bit ridiculous

Someone needs to redefine affordable

if availability is any better than normal gx at the moment i could be tempted, current 2 year old/ 3k mile stuff is getting a bit tired so want to replace it(will probably put the old stuff on the spare bike as it still works and the lack of the 50 cog is hard work when your used to having it)

Hopefully it'll be less than these prices on the online mega stores. There's always NX AXS no doubt at some point in the future. 350ish would be a no brainer for me.

I’ve found AXS to be an amazing product - does exactly what it says time after time. This will probably tip the scales for me on my ‘other’ bike which is still running cabled x01...

If the rear mech and cassette will work with a gravel tap shifters I'm in.

I will continue not to miss what I never had, I like my bike being mechanical.

20 hours on a charge. What if you race 24 hours solo? I’ll stick to Di2. Last loads longer between charges

20 hours on a charge. What if you race 24 hours solo?

I guess you just take a spare battery? They just clip on an off.

You can't really do that with Di2.

The 20 hours is probably conservative, Andrew - and it depends on how much you shift. A battery can be changed in the time it takes you to stuff your mouth with a banana, so it's probably not that much of an issue - and the batteries are small, light, and relatively cheap, so there's nothing to stop you packing a spare on long days out.

I've just orgered this! Thinking about stripping it down, and rebuilding the lower half from an XO1 mechanical mech...

Also..how did Mike Hall ride the Tour Divide on Di2 without charging...? surely the 20 hours is 'number of shifts' dependant..?

Andrew Reay, yes you can if you run Di2 with external battery.

Mike would like gave used a dynamo hub.

Looks great,but could I use it with an NX cassette?

I can't see why it wouldn't work with an NX cassette, a GX or XO shifter does

I've been using this since it first came out, so around 18 months and about 4000 miles, I've ridden bike parks, bridleway, trail centres and through some decidedly dodgy undergrowth when deciding to try a different track and the system has never missed a beat. The battery life is misleading as I reckon it's 20hrs of continuous gear changing. Most of my rides are 2 to 3 hours and I've gone months without charging the battery at 2 to 3 rides per week, if you are constantly changing gear then it will reduce life but it is not something that should be an issue for the majority of riders...though forgetting the battery is 🙁 which I've done on a few occasions!
I like it's simplicity, reliability and that you can pretty much fit and forget. I upgraded as needed to replace components and the cost difference at the time was around £90 so for me it was an easier choice to make at the time. Now I'm saving up for one for the wife 🙂

Also brilliant, there is no functional difference between GX & X01 and XX1 AXS that I can tell, only around 80g in weight. For £££ less.

i've GX axs... the shifting at the bottom (smaller sprocket) end of the cassette is poor now...gonna check the hanger alignment, but... there's tonnes of play in the pins holding the cage... i'm going to submit a video to wiggle for a warranty replacement, as i thing it SHOULD be firmer than this..
Anyone else has play issues in the pins?

DrP

Yes. Had that last year on mine. Shop sent it to SRAM and it was a warranty job. Replaced in a couple of weeks.

Also, if there's loads of play in the top jockey wheel and if it's an old chain, that doesn't help with shifting.

You can't just"slightly" down shift to help it change gear.

Another con missed in this review is the clutch in them lasts about year then it’s shot. That extra bouncing you mentioned destroys the non adjustable clutch until it stops working and then you start dropping chains. I’ve seen this multiple times. Fortunately the warranty is pretty good with SRAM and they do send you a new one, if you can prove it.

You can stop the 'bouncing' of the derailleur on the hanger by adding a small (1mm?) shock hardware spacer between the outside of the derailleur and main bolt. I also added an o-ring to keep the inner bushing in the correct place. This will all make more sense if you pull the main pivot assembly apart and see how it works. A Youtuber said to file down the bushing to achieve the same solution, but good luck getting the derailleur warrantied if you take a file to it....

You can still move the derailleur back to remove the wheel if you use a bit of force, but once the wheel has been installed again, ideally check that the bolt is still tight.

If you have one of the earlier gx mechs, they were missing a small bolt holding one of the bushings in place. Looks to be missing in the review pics too from what I can tell from the bottom picture, it’s beside the limiting screws. The new ones are shipped with a bolt in place now, but you can put one in yourself if you have an older mech to give it a bit more support if it isn’t too late - M3 size, 6mm length. There’s a discussion and more info/pics here

Just checked my XX1 axs mech and the screw mentioned in that thread is missing. I’ve ordered some of those screws mentioned in that link. I’ve always had issues with changing up from the smallest gears, hopefully this will sort it?

You can stop the ‘bouncing’ of the derailleur on the hanger by adding a small (1mm?) shock hardware spacer between the outside of the derailleur and main bolt. I also added an o-ring to keep the inner bushing in the correct place.

@walleater - can you elaborate on this? Do you mean something like the thin rubber spacers that take up side to side play (the black bits here) and are you actually disassembling the derailleur to fit it (behind the b-screw locating collar?) or just putting it between the derailleur and hanger?

Sounds like it should fix my one gripe with the system.

Just checked and mine is missing that bolt too, I'll get one ordered.

On the subject of stopping the bouncing, I'd be interested to know what others have tried as I did some testing a while back with my gx AXS and gx cable mechs, and determined that the clutches are about the same strength - it's the absence of the shift cable providing tension, and the extra weight of the mech which allows the mech body to bounce freely once any chain tension is lost.

Given that the only reason the mech needs to rotate on the main pivot bolt is to allow for rear wheel installation - when shifting all chain tension/adjustment is done by the cage - I came to the conclusion that there just needed to be a bit of extra 'friction' between the main bolt and the mech body to stop is dangling in the breeze like a pair of 90 year old's bollocks! 😁

@pj11 - I don't think it will fix an already present problem (although I would be happy to be wrong about that), more as a protective measure to stop play developing. I take it you've checked the hanger alignment?

Only issue I have is now want it on all my bike

@frogstomp

I removed the B tension assembly from the derailleur (it was just a press fit on my derailleur, not the annoying c-clip style that is on the conventional SRAM derailleurs....), and pushed out the main pivot / bolt. I then installed a thin Cane Creek spacer on to the main pivot bolt before installing that back into the derailleur. So the spacer fits on the outside of the derailleur.

https://canecreek.com/product/rear-shock-hardware/

It'll probably all make more sense if you pull the B-tension assembly off and remove the bushing and main pivot bolt and look at how it all works together.

@walleater - thanks for the update. That makes sense and good news about the B-bolt having wrestled to re-fit the spring clip on previous ones!

Interesting, I tried removing the b tension plate but couldn't do it, so I stuck an o-ring between the inner plate and the mech body ring, provides just enough tension to stop it flapping around.

If that breaks I'll fit a shock bushing ring as you've done above, should be a bit more permanent.

@johnnyc , yes I’ve checked the hanger alignment ,there’s a lot of sideways play with a clicking sound within the mech is the warranty 2 years on sram gear, mines 18 months old.

Well my bolts arrived, and fitted.

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I might keep the 4x spare I have in my bag and them when I see someone with an AXS mech, check whether they're missing the bolt. I'm sure I won't get any strange looks as I dive under their bike... 🤣

Yeah, SRAM is a 2 year global warranty on their kit...

As above I sent my 18 month old axs xx1 back as there was play in it. Received a brand new one today from SRAM. Result 👍