20 Months Riding SRAM T-Type

Now that the sly brilliance of SRAM's patient bait-and-switch that was the Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH), which seemed like pure benevolence on SRAM's part, has begun to fade from memory, it's time to have a look at how the company's revolutionary new derailleur system has performed since it was launched.

There is some good news, some less than stellar revelations, and lots of nuance in between. In some ways you can call T-type a home run and in other ways it hasn't been exactly everyone hoped. Overall though, it would be tough to argue it hasn't been well received so let's start with a look at some of the initially touted benefits that have turned out to match the sales pitch.

T-type Wins

The killer app of T-type isn't the electronic actuation or the flat top chain or the timed ramps on the cassette or the way the servo moves it inward away from harm when it senses an impact. What sets it apart is the way it attaches to your bicycle. Like the UDH, rather than attaching to your bicycle frame, the bulk of the load of a T-type changer is supported by the axle of your rear wheel. Obviously this is vastly sturdier than small piece of steel or aluminum hanging off your carbon or metal frame by a couple of bolts but, even more importantly, it's vastly more likely to be perfectly aligned.

Transmission derailleurs are not impervious to damage, as I have found out in two different ways I will discuss below, but the mount is remarkably robust. Photos of dorks like me standing on the mounting support of a T-type derailleur became laughably ubiquitous when the system was launched but try jumping on any conventionally mounted derailleur. Unless you are an adolescent elf, your hanger will be destroyed and likely your derailleur as well.

Engineering Motivation

While strength is important here, it's the consistent alignment, because of the stout mount, that sets this system apart from every previous derailleur, and this was apparently the motivation that set SRAM engineers down this path. They knew that, even if they could build the best parallelograms and cages in the world, if the hanger or cage was bent or the system wasn't set up properly, it wouldn't shift worth shit. I was told that drove the big-brained tinkerers in Schweinfurt bonkers. The products they created often performed poorly (based on market research) because of factors that were out of their control. They set out to take back that control, and that's how we got here.

What We Can (mostly) Agree On

Mounting and Alignment

There is broad consensus that the mounting system of T-type derailleurs is superior to what came before. Banishing the derailleur hanger forever should make mechanics and riders the world over rejoice, particularly if this technology could be had for a price that didn't involve donating a kidney.

Load

There is more to it than just alignment though. The robust mount and the sturdy derailleur, along with strategically placed shift ramps, allow the derailleur to shift in situations that would mangle previous derailleurs. You can fly down a hill, unaware of the abrupt and steep climb ahead, and mash your chain up your cassette violently, without fear of disaster.

In fact, T-type derailleurs shift better under load than they do in the most perfect conditions. If you put a bike with Transmission up in the stand and run through the cogs, you'll be disappointed because it's likely to hang up a little. When you are on the trail and there is mud and grit on your drivetrain and your chain is snapping up and down like an elastic band because of the rocks and roots you are hitting, it's likely to shift brilliantly. It's a rare case when real world performance exceeds what can be achieved in the lab (or in the bike shop).

Setup

The other upside to SRAM is that setup is less witchcraft and more precise engineering. It's a different procedure, and it involves several steps, just like a conventional derailleur, but there is less guesswork and nuance. The chain length is calculated for you, there are no limit or b-tension screws to adjust and it's as simple as following some instructions. If it doesn't work as advertised, you likely forgot a step, whereas with a traditional derailleur it could be that the changer is bent, the cable tension is off, the hanger is bent, the chain is the wrong length, or several other subtle and tricky-to-diagnose factors. It may seem more difficult for anyone who has only installed cable-actuated traditional mechs, but once you get it, it's foolproof.

Wear Life

The final performance factor, that isn't yet incontrovertibly proven, is longevity. Even before this, SRAM's Eagle drivetrains had incredible wear life without any performance loss. When well treated, it's remarkable how long Eagle cassettes and chains last. Based on what I've heard from riders and bike shops, it seems like Transmission durability is even better, perhaps because of the reliable alignment.

Right to Repair

T-type derailleurs were built to have replaceable parts. You can replace the cage, with or without the damper/clutch, and the outward wear parts easily and with no special tools. Once the clutch is gone on a non-T-type Eagle derailleur, it's only good for parts.

Cables

A related benefit in the age of internal cable routing, particularly those that go through headsets or beneath and around eMTB motors and batteries, is not having a cable. Stringing housing, even with the right tools, can take hours. And even then, if there aren't internal guides you should be taking preventive action so your cables and lines don't sound like a marimba band. This might be using some kind of insulation on the cables or wrapping zip ties around as suspension to keep the housing from banging on other housing or hose or the inside of your bicycle frame. Either way it's a pain in the ass. Installing T-type is so easy that for a time I was sharing a derailleur between two bikes while I was repairing one of them.

I should probably make a list.

T-type Benefits

1. Likely to be aligned well because it mounts on the rear wheel's axle.
2. This produces consistent shifting, mostly independent of the rider's maintenance or repair skills.
3. T-type not only shifts well under load, it shifts better under load, in situations that could destroy conventional derailleurs.
4. The mount has been tested to withstand some ridiculous figure like 500 lb/210 kb of force before damage occurs.
5. The installation process is straightforward and much less finicky than a cable actuated install.
6. Drivetrain wear life seems to be exceeding already high expectations.
7. Repairability; T-type derailleurs have several easily replaceable parts and most of them are inexpensive to replace.
8. Forget about the hassles of internal routing.

Shifting Speed*

The first area where T-type disappointed many riders is shifting speed. Initially I said here that SRAM had stated T-type shifted faster than other derailleurs. My memory was incorrect here and what they said was that, because your chain spends more time in contact with cogs, you can ride faster with T-type . T-type can be a little slower making shifts than other derailleurs, electronic or otherwise. The system often seems to wait until the ramps arrive to allow the chain to move up or down the cassette. This makes for smoother shifting in many cases but, it's not fast, at least compared to conventional or cable actuated Eagle and certainly compared to Shimano's higher end drivetrains. For me this slight lag is a non-issue but I know riders who miss more immediate shifts.

*This paragraph has been edited with more accurately information about SRAM's initial claims about T-type shifting speed.

Throwing Down Your Anchor

Have you ever had a festering injury somewhere on your body that seems to attract demons? You seem to thrust the injury site into rusty nails and bowling balls like it pays money?

For the several months it was like that with the GX T-type rear derailleur on the Norco Range VLT tester I've been riding. I went from rarely, if ever, bashing my rear mech, to sometimes smashing it multiple times on the same ride. There is no getting around the fact that it's bigger and it hangs a little lower and further outboard than conventional derailleurs, and that this exposes T-type's Achilles heel; the cage.

SRAM makes tough derailleurs, and the T-type is the toughest of them all, but there is only so much you can do to beef up a derailleur cage without making it a boat anchor. Another issue is that, because the mount is so rigid and the upper mechanism is so robust, it doesn't flex like other derailleurs. If you smash a conventional derailleur, the hanger, the parallelogram, and the frame, all flex a little, spreading out the impact. With T-type, the cage takes almost the entire hit.

There came a point, after months of abuse, when I wasn't able to straighten the cage enough to have the derailleur shift accurately and it needed to be replaced. The good news is, the cage is easy to replace, and relatively inexpensive. The bad news is that, if this happens during a ride, possibly hours from civilization, you might be shit-out-of-luck.

Since the cage replacement, I have been getting better at realizing that my previous clearance awareness was inadequate and smashing the derailleur less, but contact hasn't yet been eradicated.

Removal Woes*

Another less common, but not unheard of issue, is stripping your mounting bolt upon removal. I was swapping my original T-type tester from a test bike to my own bike, to continue testing it, and the mounting bolt just kept turning. It immediately became obvious that I'd stripped the bolt. I used every trick I knew to try and remove it and failed repeatedly. I eventually gave up and took it to SRAM and it appears they decided to cut the derailleur to remove it from the frame. It is possible to remove a derailleur that has a stripped mounting bolt but, perhaps because it's more time consuming, SRAM techs decided to cut it instead. Normally you'd just need to replace your mounting bolt.

Apparently this issue can occur if you remove the mounting bolt while the rear axle is still in place. This was something I missed in the manual.

*Originally I stated that this can occur if you remove your derailleur without the rear axle installed but actually the opposite is true. I also said the derailleur was stripped but I meant to say the mounting bolt, which is an easily replaced part.

Cost

I remember thinking that a cable-actuated XX1 rear derailleur was costly. At a modest 323 USD it now seems quaintly accessible. Then AXS came along, and the current XX1 AXS derailleur price is up to 753 USD. That felt like the ceiling (and as I recall, it was pricier before T came along) but there was more to come. Obviously there are less expensive options, both XO and GX, but the top of the line provides useful figures for comparison.

But wait, it seems like there has been some sort of seismic shift. The current price of an XX T-type derailleur is 650 USD. Obviously that isn't cheap, but considering it's cheaper than the "conventional" AXS XX1 mech, it seems comparatively palatable. Here in Canada however, the price of top of the line T-type pushes close to a grand at 947 CAD. That compares to a Shimano XTR 9100 derailleur at 365 CAD, which is probably the smoothest shifting MTB derailleur ever made. Unfortunately, you don't get to charge a cable-actuated XTR derailleur, which means you could ride for days in the wilderness without even thinking about it...

If you are buying an aftermarket system, a GX group will cost you about 1100 USD, including cranks. SRAM doesn't recommend this, but you can get by without replacing cranks which will save you a packet. SRAM also tells us that longevity and performance will be reduced if you don't use a T-type specific chainring but my experiments with regular narrow wide chainrings have been successful thus far. The chain and cassette are integral to the system, and obviously the shifter.

The only functional difference between GX, XO and XX is the lower "Magic Pulley" which has teeth that can rotate independently of the spokes of your pulley. This means that if a stick gets jammed in the pulley spokes, your chain can continue to move, which may save your cage and your ride. I haven't had this occur thus far on any system.

T-type as Original Equipment

Where I particularly object to the added cost of T-type is when it compromises the build of a complete bike. The Kona Process 153 I've been testing has a great build at an excellent price, and it comes with a GX T-type drivetrain. That doesn't seem like a bad idea until you notice that it also comes with SRAM G2 brakes. When I first rode these, in less demanding conditions in the Sun Peaks Bike park in high summer, they performed well. When I brought them to the North Shore, with more sustained steep sections, less grooming and fewer opportunities to get off the levers, their weaknesses began to reveal themselves. (more on that in my full review). The point is that, for the money saved with a lower bling drivetrain, Kona could have installed any brakes they wanted. For me, solving the performance equation between good brakes and cable drivetrain or mediocre brakes and T-type, takes less than a heartbeat.

Obviously Kona had to make this calculation based on sales, and bling derailleurs have always been consumer magnets. Anyone who has sold bikes for a living knows that your average consumer isn't as educated as, for example, the NSMB audience, and is attracted to shiny things. Riders who are looking for a build that emphasizes the performance of suspension, brakes and wheels (what Andrew Major would call a min max build) will sometimes be disappointed when drivetrains take up too much of the cost that ends up producing the retail price of a bike.

Batteries

I sometimes imagine having a bike with coil suspension front and rear and old fashioned cables. The only thing to check before a ride would be tire pressure. Transmission isn't bad, considering the CR2032 coin cell in the shifter lasts about a year, and the AXS battery in the derailleur will survive up to 75 hours of riding time (from reports I've heard) but they still eventually will run out of juice.*

*If you are driving to a ride, remove your AXS batteries because the vibrations of the vehicle will keep the derailleur awake and drain your batteries prematurely.

It's easy to check both before a ride by pressing the AXS button; if you get green you are GTG, if you get red you'd be wise to swap it out but you still have some shifting time left. Despite this, I have drained a battery myself and I've been on rides when others have had components die as well. There is often a solution, like carrying spares, or shifting your rear mech with the AXS button if your shifter battery dies, but it adds a concern to your ride that isn't necessary. Wouldn't it be nice if SRAM made cable-actuated T-type? Imagine a car that you didn't have to fill up or charge? Or a phone that didn't need to be plugged in? That's what I call innovation.

T-type Misses

1. Shifting is a little slow.
2. Cage is exposed and takes the brunt of impacts.
3. Mounting bolt interface can strip.
4. This shit is expensive.
5. Batteries - remembering to charge and checking levels is a PITA that adds a little friction to the ride experience.

Transmission on the Trail

For better or worse, while I'm riding a T-type system, I tend to forget it's there. Shifting is largely intuitive, requiring less brain power. Like many of you, I have spent decades honing the craft of shifting so that I can sneak in shifts in unlikely situations and figure out how to make a damaged changer keep going in the wild, both with trail-side bends and adjustments, tweaking the cable tension from the saddle, and caressing it when it comes time to shift. Some of you are attached to those skills and how they connect you to your bike, and I get it.

When it comes to driving a car I vastly prefer driving a manual transmission and feeling like I am part of the connection between the engine and the wheels. On my bike, my concerns are more about getting myself down challenging trails smoothly and as quickly as I'm able without mishap. That's where most of the juice is for me. There was a time when technical climbing (for example) carried more importance and, if that was still me, I may have remained a luddite. Instead I am relieved to put more of my energy into riding features for the first time, hitting lines more smoothly, and attempting to ride descents in nasty conditions like it was a perfect spring day with peanut butter dirt.

I switch bikes regularly and, between testers and personal bikes, I currently have Shimano and SRAM cable actuated derailleurs and regular AXS and T-type. I can't say that I am disappointed to be on a cable actuated bike, and I savour the simplicity and absence of batteries. I haven't lost those shifting skills and surprisingly, cables continue to seem second nature, but there is no denying that they require a little more thought, attention and preparation on the trail. Putting that mental energy elsewhere has value for me, but not for everyone.

I have also used all three levels of T-type and, while I wish this wasn't the case, XX is the smoothest shifting of the lot. The pricier chain, cassette and derailleur each work a little better than the lower two models producing a difference you can feel after experience with the other two. At the same time, GX and XO shift great and, unless you are incredibly fussy about your shifting or you are trying to eke out the very best performance for some competitive reason, and to save weight, I would steer you toward GX and save you a packet of cash.

In The End

I could keep riding for the rest of my life without any electronics on my bike at all and be perfectly happy. I don't love dealing with cable routing, bent hangers and busted derailleurs but they are generally rare occurrences for me.

I appreciate all of the undeniable benefits of T-type, and I am quite sure I have a better riding experience when it's handling my shifting, but it's not an essential. I'll be thrilled if I never have to string a derailleur cable through an eMTB again but if and when I have to, I'll deal with it.

I enjoy riding nice bikes with state of the art components but, if the apocalypse arrives and I'm left with a 20 year old hardtail, I'll keep riding and loving mountain bikes and mountain biking.