I’m getting very close to pulling the trigger on a new Specialized Epic Evo and am thinking about upgrading some of the components from the stock SRAM GX it comes with. Anyone have any thoughts on Eagle AXS? I have the new AXS road groupset on my roadie and love it, but am curious how people feel about the MTB version.
I’ve got X01 mechanical on the bike the Epic Evo will be replacing and have been pretty happy with it so I’d be cool just going from GX to X01 or even XX1 too.
I have a groupset waiting to be installed, so I’ll have impressions in the next few weeks.
Based on reviews, it performs great. The big question I have is about battery life. Anyone have real world experience on how long the battery lasts?
I have a ‘mullet’ setup on my Open: Force AXS up front, Eagle Xx in the rear. Has been a great setup so far. Zero issues with things like missed shifts, chain drops, excess noise, etc. Only hiccup was the first firmware update done when I first got the bike. Update wouldn’t work on the force shifters, and couldn’t pair after the broken update. Ended up pulling batteries, factory reset, and had to uninstall/clear caches/reinstall the Android AXS app to get past. Since that worrying day one, system’s been perfect since getting it in June.
I was able to find an online retailer that didn’t charge tax and stacked a 20% discount, so I got it for around $1600. I think I got lucky though.
Running AXS since May. I’ve gone several full (6 hr) days of riding in a row without needing to charge batteries. I’ve charged my d battery maybe once a month. I still haven’t changed the original shifter battery.
I’ve had XT, XTR, DuraAce, and I’m convinced Eagle AXS is the best groupset available today.
AXS is amazing! I will never have mechanical shifting again. It performs flawlessly even in the worst conditions.
Battery life is great and I’d put it at 25+ hours at least but I’m not sure as I’ve never ran out of battery. My longest continuous ride was almost 18 hours (over 3,300 shifts) and that wasn’t even on a full charge. The next day the shifter still showed a green light, meaning it was over 20% charged. I’ve used my AXS for a MTB vacation in Scotland riding 6 days straight and never needed to recharge it. I do have a spare battery in my pack for emergencies but have never needed it.
Thx. If it worked for Marji Gesik, I put it in the reliable category. Electronic shifting for my next bike I guess! That’s at least a few years away tho. So by then I’d imagine they’ll have a gen 2 or 3 AXS released with maybe some more features.
I’ve been riding Eagle AXS since June, including 12h races in the nasties conditions. Performed well. Battery life, no idea. I always recharge often. I’ve never seen the green LED change colour.
HOwever, what I don’t like: set up can be as finicky as with the mechanical. Either you’r lucky and frame geometry/chainset geometry fit perfectly together or not. 1by drivetrains should make your life easier. My experience is mixed on this.
I had AXS installed this fall and rode my mountain bike a half dozen or so times with it. I replaced X01 with it. It’s been great so far. Shifts very smooth. I raced Iceman with it this year where the conditions were very muddy and I had no shifting issues. As far as battery life goes, no issues yet. It only takes an hour or so to charge.
honestly, I don’t really see the use of AXS… xo1 or xx1.
I mean… it’s just read deraileur + front one.
If you want to upgrade from gx eagle, I see the better choice (price/performance) choosing these ones: xo1 cassete(same weight as xx1) + xx1 crankset lightest in the market.
in terms of weight and performance, gx1 eagle its about the same like xx1 (rear shifter + front) and you’ll pay extra money only for looks(gold)
I have used X01 and XX1 shifters and derailleurs for a couple years and found them to be very finicky. I could never get them to maintain smooth shifting. I had tried trouble shooting shifting issues that seemed to work for a bit, but still had issues eventually. AXS has been fit and forget.
Now being on AXS for about 6 months and shifting has been flawless. Even in horrible conditions, riding 6 days straight in pouring muddy rain soaked trails in Scotland. Everyone around me was having shifting issues here and there but AXS was perfect. Had an MTB 
that took over 17 hours, which the last hour consisted of thunderstorms. The mud was so thick I had to clear handfuls of mud between the tires and the frame. I oiled the chain the night before and didn’t reapply anything to the drivetrain over the course of this event yet never had a shifting problem.
So maybe I just had a lemon XO1 and XX1 mechanical equipment before, but for me I’m sold on AXS.
One critisism I’ve heard about AXS is the shift lever is not really a lever but more of a toggle up and down that uses your thumb and can be an unnatural action. Some reviewers also said they had a bunch of double shifts over bumps, which sometimes happens to me with mechanical eagle too.
For me and how much I fall, I can’t afford to wreck $600+ RDs often, so I am sticking to mechanical GX and will upgrade to X01/XX1 as things wear out
Put it on my Trek fat bike. It’s been flawless and no battery issues. Battery charging is so easy I just charge it at same time as head unit. Raced an entire cross season (fat bike division - and yes I know that is a strange thing) with superb performance. Same races with cross bike, mechanical SRAM, not so good. Buttons took a bit to get used to, and there can be some accidental shifts under pressure during technical sections but that is 100% user error and I learned quickly how to avoid it.
I will upgrade cross bike to AXS next year and will put it on upcoming mountain bike purchase. I love it.
Agreed. I already have an X01 crankset that will be going on the new bike. That plus the cassette seem like the best bang for the buck so I’ll be making those changes at a minimum.
They last son long that my fear is not being used to charge it and one day in the future running out.
the problem with the mud its not in the deraileur himself, but in the pulleywheels… there the mud is gathering… the pulleys from xx1 are the same as gx eagle…
you said that the xo1 eagle deraileur is stiffer than gx eagle? the clutch mechanism is stronger?
I doubt that, unless I see an article or something telling that.
Leaning this way after reading all this. Already have the X01 crankset as my power meter is built into one so that’s being swapped out day one. Picking up the X01 cassette seems like the best place to start and then down the road think about X01 RD and shifters or even go AXS at that point.
I ran AXS this season on my hardtail and overall it was fantastic. It shifts really well, I had no issues with the remote (but I flipped the shift button functions from default) and the battery life is excellent.
However I did have one major issue that I posted about in Leadville thread. Duringg the Leadville Trail 100 this year I spontaneously lost shifting for about 30 minutes during the Columbine climb. It simply stopped working as if the battery was dead. At exactly the second tomey Whoop 3.0 heart rate strap also stopped broadcasting to my Garmin 830. I was locked into my biggest cog at the back during this. About 30 minutes after I lost shifting, it started again and then had no further issues. I was nearing the top of Columbine at that time so it worked out ok. My dealer reported to SRAM but never heard anything back.
Ultimately it’s a reminder that 99% of the time the systems work, but there are Gremlins that can emerge. My Garmin and Whoop have since had firmware updates and I haven’t had the issue reoccur, but it sure happened at a bad time but could have been way worse if I hadn’t regained the ability to shift during Leadville.