But electronic bits doesn't have anything to do with keeping the mech actually in alignment. And I'm not sure that switching it into fine tuning mode and tweaking the alignment is any easier than just spinning the barrel adjuster.
AXS is still affected by hanger alignment, b-tension, and everything else exactly the same as mechanical. It only removes one out of 4 or 5 factors of a properly operating mech: the cable & housing. I've re-aligned or re-placed mech hangers probably 8ish times in the last 3ish years, and each one of those would have effected an AXS system exactly the same. I've also replaced cables twice in the same time, and would have had to charge AXS batteries maybe a half dozen or more times.
Otherwise, when the hanger is straight, my GX mechanical is "just push and it shifts", just like everyone likes to say makes AXS special. And I hammer on that stuff! Just the other day, I dumped 3 gears* in the middle of a steep slab climb to get the send for the first time in a while, mech didn't complain a bit, just shifted.
The only real trade-off is cable maintenance once or twice a year and never worrying about charge remaining, versus charging batteries every few months and hoping they don't get knocked off or stolen... I'm choosing cables: I have enough things in my life that need charging, my bike does not need to be one of them.
*(Reminds of something about AXS I can't recall reading about. SRAM mechanical can downshift 4 or 5 gears at a time with a long throw of the big paddle, and I use this all the time. How does this work on AXS? Do you click 5 times in a row? Hold it down? If hold, how to you know how long to hold to get X gears lower or higher? And how are either of those better than pushing through X number of clicks on a long throw?)
Sept. 24, 2021, 7:44 a.m. - Justin White
But electronic bits doesn't have anything to do with keeping the mech actually in alignment. And I'm not sure that switching it into fine tuning mode and tweaking the alignment is any easier than just spinning the barrel adjuster. AXS is still affected by hanger alignment, b-tension, and everything else exactly the same as mechanical. It only removes one out of 4 or 5 factors of a properly operating mech: the cable & housing. I've re-aligned or re-placed mech hangers probably 8ish times in the last 3ish years, and each one of those would have effected an AXS system exactly the same. I've also replaced cables twice in the same time, and would have had to charge AXS batteries maybe a half dozen or more times. Otherwise, when the hanger is straight, my GX mechanical is "just push and it shifts", just like everyone likes to say makes AXS special. And I hammer on that stuff! Just the other day, I dumped 3 gears* in the middle of a steep slab climb to get the send for the first time in a while, mech didn't complain a bit, just shifted. The only real trade-off is cable maintenance once or twice a year and never worrying about charge remaining, versus charging batteries every few months and hoping they don't get knocked off or stolen... I'm choosing cables: I have enough things in my life that need charging, my bike does not need to be one of them. *(Reminds of something about AXS I can't recall reading about. SRAM mechanical can downshift 4 or 5 gears at a time with a long throw of the big paddle, and I use this all the time. How does this work on AXS? Do you click 5 times in a row? Hold it down? If hold, how to you know how long to hold to get X gears lower or higher? And how are either of those better than pushing through X number of clicks on a long throw?)