SRAM GX drivetrain

Posted by: craw

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: Captain-Snappy

Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.

No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings.  Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.

The idea is that with a 34-50 you have a nice low climbing gear and 34-9 is a high gear for cruising on the street.

Again, Id argue that 80% of mountain bike riders dont ride on the street.  Those who live close enough to pedal to the trailhead are the lucky ones I guess.  The whole 'range' argument kind of gets lost on me, but Im kind of slow and old so would never have the need for something like 34-9.

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: Captain-Snappy

Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.

No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings.  Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.

You adapt , I had one bike that had a 36t up front a few yrs back  and the first few rides it sucked . Once I adapted it was great . My current bike is a 28 oval and I think I will be going to a 30 or 32 next . Having a 45/50 on the back of the bike helps a lot today . I know guys running 32/36 and they have no problem out climbing the 30/42 30/45 guys .

I find the only occasions when I really „appreciate“ the huge range of the 11-50 are when I ride with someone who’s having a really low gear and taking a very relaxed approach to climbing. I can keep my preferred cadence and just spin and chat away, without going to a 30rpm leg bursting mode or being the ass who’s constantly going that tiny but friendship destroying bit faster.

When I let my body determine the speed/cadence intuitively I always end up in 32/42 max and will therefore go to a 34t chainring, once the 32 is worn. The 50t is for the long alpine days...

My bike will profit a bit from the bigger ring, because of pivot locations.

I do ride to the trails by bike usually, because of our traffic situation (Europe), but I really don’t need the 11t. If I ride my mtb with fat soft tires down sustained road descents I’d be doing something wrong imho. If you spin 90rpm on a 32x11 on a 29er that equates to roughly 37km/h. I can’t put out that much energy for a very long time. (On level ground)

And when I’m going 37km/h or faster on trails there’s no pedaling involved most of the time.

For racers it makes a lot of sense though.

If my bike would play nice with small chainrings I’d be on a 30tx1x11 10-42 xx1 cassette and Shimano drivetrain. Sweet, reliable and light.

Posted by: tashi

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: JBV

isn't that xtr shifter alone about 200 bones?  xtr is at least double xt prices last i looked.

$75USD for xtr vs $42USD for xt.  The shifter is worth the price increase in my opinion, the RD is not really worth the up charge from xt.

The shifter is one spot where the XTR choice is, in my view, a "good value".  Performance is markably better, even when paired with "low-end" derailleurs,    it's not vulnerable to random destruction a la a rear derailleur, and IME they last longer.  I have a 10 speed that has been ridden hard since 2011 that's still providing XTR-level performance.

11-speed Shimano setup on my hardtail: XTR shifter, SLX deraillaur, XT 11-46 cassette. No complaints, and I think I maximized value.

The X01 Eagle on my full-suspension is awesome too. I don't think I could pick a favourite between the two setups.

I've got GX Eagle and would describe it as 'functional'. Sure as hell isn't as solid / positive feeling as drivetrains from 10-15 years ago which is somewhat ironic. Hell in think in terms of a feeling of quality and set-up, XT from 1989 was better! I also had a 34 ring up front which was pretty daft (maybe explained the equally daft 175mm cranks though.....), so went down to a 30 as I figured I'd probably never use top gear anyway. 6 months later and I still don't think I've used 30/10 top gear. Which make me wonder how many people actually need the range. Having 12 gears and a huge range makes it easy for companies to assume that some of the gears will work for everyone! I also just bought a 10sp chain and cassette for my hardtail and they retailed for around $110 for both in the LBS which makes me think maybe I should dump the new 15 speed Ultra-Condor gears off my next build and just go back to cheap-ass 10 speed!

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: craw

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: Captain-Snappy

Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.

No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings. Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.

The idea is that with a 34-50 you have a nice low climbing gear and 34-9 is a high gear for cruising on the street.

Again, Id argue that 80% of mountain bike riders dont ride on the street. Those who live close enough to pedal to the trailhead are the lucky ones I guess. The whole 'range' argument kind of gets lost on me, but Im kind of slow and old so would never have the need for something like 34-9.

I agree. I'm just playing devil's advocate. I couldn't care less about this much range. 30t chainring and 11-42 out back is plenty for me. In fact I'd take 11-42 in 10spd if it meant better durability and longer life. I'll stick with Shimano because I like the crisp shifting and relative affordability - it feels reasonable to replace casssette, chain and chainring for <$200.

Posted by: Captain-Snappy

Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.

That's exactly why I went 30T front with the 9-46 e13 rear. Weighs about 120g less than GX Eagle and has more range. If I bought a bike with Eagle I'd obviously keep it, but not sure I'd ever upgrade to Eagle given all the other cheaper and lighter choices out there. I was also interested in the Sun Race cassettes but they just weigh too much for me...the 11-46 is 465g and the 11-50 is 512g! If price is king they are great value though...

Posted by: craw

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: Captain-Snappy

Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.

No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings.  Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.

The idea is that with a 34-50 you have a nice low climbing gear and 34-9 is a high gear for cruising on the street.

The only time I've had my Rr Dr in 12th so far is when I'm cleaning the chain. I can almost guarantee I'll never use it on trail, and definitely not on Shore dirt. I would either get eaten or

11-46 sunrace cassette with XT 11 speed shifter/derailleur/cranks and 30 tooth elliptical ring. Works great. Super reliable, shifts well, and doesn't break the bank. I really like the gear spacing of the sunrace and it seems to be holding up well.

Posted by: shoreboy

Posted by: Captain-Snappy

Just got Eagle GX on my '18 Altitude and I like it, but admittedly not blown away by it only because the shifting isn't is light as my former '12 10-spd XO because of the added clutch. What I did notice is while it's a 50T pie plate for 1st gear, it's also a 34T up front. This made me wonder if they could do a 46T and a 30T up front instead. Maybe it's a engineering design issue of optimizing ring size for tooth wear, blah, blah. Who knows. Also wonder what a heavier cassette does to the sprung weight of the rear end in terms of suspension performance. Other than that it's all good so far.

No idea why bike companies spec bikes with 34T front rings.  Sure, there are people out there that are strong enough riders to actually need them, but Id guess 80% of buyers would find a smaller ring more friendly.

True, but being in Minnesota for the month it reminds me that those of us who live along the sea to sky can tend to forget how relatively flat a huge proportion of the riding demographic's trail actually are. :)  

Its more that most bikes don't have "shore gearing", imo.

The GX Eagle derailleur on my Reign has developed so much play in the main bolt that shifting has become inconsistent. It's never been super precise but it was tolerable, now it's not anymore.

Option 1 is I get an X01 bolt kit and use that on the GX and that is supposed to improve it according to the internet.

Second option is replace with new X01 derailleur.

Third option is get rid of the Eagle stuff and "upgrade" to 1x11. Eagle doesn't have any added value for me anyway. But I'd have to replace the whole drivetrain.

Any GX Eagle owners tried option 1? Worth the hassle?

Has SRAM improved/fixed the GX in the meantime or would a new one still have the crappy main bolt?

For $25usd I'd give it a shot.

https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/products/sram-x01-eagle-rear-derailleur-b-bolt-and-limit-screw-kit?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgLOiBhC7ARIsAIeetVDOWCJshf6P3Vn0YUNbnMNN66tbwz1gJ0MaBX2Iq_LClXcd4hmdTEMaAtndEALw_wcB

I've gone through a couple GX derailleurs that reached terminal sloppiness, wish I'd known about the bolt kit.

Posted by: Hepcat

For $25usd I'd give it a shot.

https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/products/sram-x01-eagle-rear-derailleur-b-bolt-and-limit-screw-kit?gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgLOiBhC7ARIsAIeetVDOWCJshf6P3Vn0YUNbnMNN66tbwz1gJ0MaBX2Iq_LClXcd4hmdTEMaAtndEALw_wcB

I've gone through a couple GX derailleurs that reached terminal sloppiness, wish I'd known about the bolt kit.

Looks like it retails for $44 CAD here.

I'm not sure it's worth the hassle since the existing bolt has so much play, the whole assembly may be too worn out and even the new, better X01 bolt may not be snug.

Posted by: [email protected]

Looks like it retails for $44 CAD here.

I'm not sure it's worth the hassle since the existing bolt has so much play, the whole assembly may be too worn out and even the new, better X01 bolt may not be snug.

Hey Niels, you're right about this. I learned the hard way that both the bolt and the derailleur body wear on GX. Blew through a couple of them. I now buy X01 B-bolt when my GX is new. They're honestly every bit as good as X01 once you do this, but it's gotta be before they're worn.

But there's a way to save your worn GX derailleurs, Hall-Lock style, if you don't mind a little McGuyvering. Also quiets down the derailleur on clunky landings and bomb-holes. Buy the X01 B-bolt kit. It's better than the GX because it has a coated bushing over the bolt, so it won't wear the derailleur body near as fast. Pull off the bushing and file it down ever so slightly so that your derailleur body is making firm, but not tight, contact with the B-washer thingy. Don't over do it, it needs to be able to move if it takes a hit and to make wheel removal easier.

Not guaranteed, but it worked brilliantly for me and quieted down the bike. You're only modifying the bolt's bushing, so not high-risk to try. I actually also do this on my new X01 derailleurs to minimize the clunks on chunk. Heard the tip from some pro mechanics that were trying to quiet down the old AXS derailleurs.

If that's confusing, I can post some pics later this week. Good luck!