New SRAM X0 Eagle AXS: First Ride Thoughts

I’ve thought for a long while that the extra reach needed on modern wide range cassettes puts significantly more leverage through a mech hanger than ever before. It seems much more involved to keep on top of mech hanger alignment.

Something like this needed to happen.

Shame I have only one bike it will fit on!

utter nonsense. 1x not an improvement over 2x or 3x. Come on now… 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Heavier, less range, more fragile, and far more expensive.

for those talking about patents, Bikerumor (sory) did a patent patrol article a few years back. Admittedly most of these articles include a large amount of speculation, but it’s still good to see what’s being thought of.

Patent Patrol: Direct thru-axle mounted, hydraulically damped SRAM rear derailleurs

also a bit about the shift ramps

Patent Patrol: Shimano, SRAM, & Campagnolo all file major drivetrain updates

 

Heavier, less range, more fragile, and far more expensive.

Depends what you buy. I run mid cage XT 12 speed and that is (Relative to 1x) lighter, less but still adequate range, definitely no more fragile and certainly less fickle and prone to derailling, and quite cheap relatively speaking.

Before I never spend any money on this is there an easy way of finding out if your bike has a UDH?

there’s a lookup on sram’s website
It’s also usually listed in the frame spec of your bike

Before I never spend any money on this is there an easy way of finding out if your bike has a UDH?

How old is your bike? Think it only appeared in 2019. The text UDH is usually printed around the driveside rear drop out if it uses UDH. mine has a UDH, but I wont be rushing to replace the drive train just yet….. cost needs to come down quite a lot.

I got the impression from one review that there are variations of the UDH and not all are suitable for AXS Transmission.

back to what we always could do with 2x or 3x!

1x is a reaction to the introduction of larger wheels not transmission complexity.

Heavier, less range, more fragile, and far more expensive.

No bash guard, constant chain drops on anything remotely bumpy, chain suck mangling frames, never in the right chainring, cluttered bars, more cables, more maintenance.

Anyway, I think the argument about 1x Vs 2x/3c has been done to death.

It’s the future, Get onboard old men.

1x has also freed up space for alternative suspension designs.

Look at high pivot bikes.
Think about anti squat and anti rise when there are 3 different chain rings (although I think it was advantageous on my old turner 6 pack).

Heavier, less range, more fragile, and far more expensive.

Wrong, wrong, almost wrong and wrong. In my experience.

And what about the upsides?

I’ve always said, the time to launch a £3k groupset is in the middle of huge financial strain around the world and massive inflation

The sorts of folks that’ll buy this groupset now; aren’t personally really suffering massive inflation or financial strain

I don’t think the photos really sell it for me, they remind me of this (takes hybrid commuter out of shed, fills watering can, takes photo)… 😀

Yeah nothing like it, but whatever. The photos look like it’s covered gunk.

edit: yes the kit has been used for review, but the colour scheme of the kit bleuuuighhhrrrr, gunk, but it really doesn’t matter because it’s waaaaaay out of my price range.

Apologies if others have mentioned this, but I get that the mech is strong and will take a whack, or a fat bloke mysteriously jumping up and down on it, and also I have personally experienced that mech hangers do not save mechs but they do save frames when things really go south.

I’ve bent a few hangers with whacks and thumps, but I’ve only snapped them, and mangled mechs, from sticks in spokes. I think 3x over teh years. mech mangled, hanger snapped, frame ticket boo.

I’m not buying AXS yet, but what happens with a stick in the spoke? with a big tough mech do I now say bye bye to mech and frame?

So why is does the mech look bent form behind ?
I heard ‘dont worry about it’ buy not the why ?

Also doent this system rely on the frame manufacturers getting their tolerances spot on from the factory – mech hanger alignment tool is not going to help anymore

there’s plenty of videos of fat blokes standing on the mech (well, not so fat) but a lot heavier than id be happy with on any of my kit

it looks bent from behind so the top pulley aligns with the cassette sprocket, lower pulley aligns with the chainring

only tolerance the frame manufacturer would need to get right is the size of the through hole, and thickness of the axle flange itself that the mech sits on. as the cassette butts to the mech hanger part.. the tolerances then all become SRAMS issue.

anyone remember the derailuer hanger savers that kind of mounted the derailuer to the frame in the same way as this direct mount derailuer is – ie it resulted in the derailluer being cantilevered off the axle rather than hung from a hanger?

I had one on a specialized enduro in about 2007 – I’m trying to google for a photo.

edit:

this is the best I can find, it wasnt one of these, but worked in the same way, was made by shimano I think

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194300340992?hash=item2d3d33eb00:g:eb4AAOSwZd1Vbthv&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwFldwu4EaoQJGMcQyNF9zeSNwZ3JPD1%2F3tuozNJG%2Bso3QMpDWlwJvXQhiiPz%2F4lq8FRr3u2eHQtBpuOx%2BXyeV0AumdCeUSSxnO7Cgwh7OAAEd18j3N6%2F%2B1i5JMTEMxWbikmKS9V%2BCVX4211QAofoUAQhnsGPIRou0b%2BlxcDzVtBx0fHOvxQjMLXRDblhXXqqu2SKkjXcFNbkuNTykJrNhd4dOM4RM3HuMavO5YBLHIcPiDHZ709Cz3OH5thMA%2F%2B%2ByQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6aTsqPhYQ

Got to touch the groupset in my LBS today, didn’t jump up and down on it but was surprised how big and heavy the mech is and how light the “cheap” cassette is. The shifter looks like a tiny speedplay pedal

found it ! it wasnt made by shimano, was made by specialized

https://www.certini.co.uk/components/service-parts/specialized-demoenduro-derailleur-guard–black__19437

All the videos I’ve seen of people standing on mechs they’re standing on the axle, which seems kinda pointless to me. I’m glad it’s strong there, but the most vulnerable point will always be the bottom of the cage, near the bottom jockey wheel.

I’m disappointed, but not surprised by Cy’s comments that not all UDH frames will accept this new groupset.