Ordered my stuff. For those who have used AXS vs XT/XTR how is the shifting under load? I’ve heard the Shimano stuff is fantastic at this, but the AXS is no slouch either.
Just curious at this point, what’s done is done
My lbs owner has been a huge Sram fanboy basically forever and he swapped his axs for xt and says he’ll never look back. But I’m sure every person is going to have their own experiences and preferences.
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@Jonathan I recognized your voice on the MTB podcast as owning two bikes with AXS. How have your experiences been with it, that episode being a year or so old now. Steve raves about his M9100, how does it compare if you’ve tried it?
Also did you get used to the controller for shifting
I really don’t think you can go wrong with either, from everything I’ve read.
Probably right but I second guess my decisions, especially being someone who’s a Shimano only road kind of guy because SRAM is just not the same quality, and here I am 
Was looking at this image of both AXS derailleurs and noticed something. XX1 cage around the lower jockey is bigger. Also noticed they tweaked the mechanical X01 and GX derailleurs to have the same thing.
Is there some functional benefit to this? For stiffness? Less chances of snagging?
One thing I love about Eagle is being able to use the micro-adjust. It’s been one of the few times where I can actually adjust my own shifting without taking it to the shop.
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I have Eagle AXS and the dropper. The dropper is awesome and faultless, you get over 50 hours worth of battery life out of it. Is it THAT much better, I do think it is worth it if you are changing bikes and if you can swap it between bikes.
The shifting is a little different. After 840km, I guess 70 or so hours the rear derailleur broke after what seemed like a not very bad crash. I was going to replace it with a mechanical XO1 but there in non in stock so had to replace it costing $1500 NZD (1000US). I would be happy with a non AXS group set as my enduro bike has this.
Also the battery has ran out a couple of times and I have had to swap it with the dropper which is another reason to have the dropper. Is it worth it? No unless your XC trails a grade 3 and below and you are happy to fork out for a replacement.
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Good info thank you. I’m spec’ing and enduro bike and it comes with AXS which I’m a little surprised to be honest. I think the first thing I will do is bring my XX1 over from my XC bike and put the AXS on it. I’m happy with my dropper as it so probably wouldn’t make that swap. It will be NBD and upgrade day all at once 
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How did the derailleur break? Any photos?
If I were a privateer building an enduro bike, it would have Box 9 spd. No way I would put AXS on!
I’m far from enduro, more like using a Trail bike on XC territory. Aside from I think 2 or 3 cases of broken AXS derailleur though, most say these are rock solid
Definitely strong enough for the vast majority of XC-type trails/riding, I was speaking to cost/benefit. Gravity riding with AXS is for dentists. 
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Perhaps but the company selling it has one in stock, which is unusual right now and it’s on a nice discount. I would definitely pull it and swap it to my XC bike rather than risk racing it. I thought it was a weird spec but the price is right 
I would want AXS on the bike I do the most shifting on. I only have one MTB but I only ride local single track, there’s a few dedicated built MTB trails locally too, but nothing too crazy as far as descents go. I do fall a bunch just cause I really enjoy segment hunting in the woods and just keeping a fast flow. The only time I killed a derailleur was when my GX ate a stick and bent the parallelogram. I’ve dropped the replacement GX on rocky trails hard enough to bend the hanger inward like 20* but that derailleur is still working great
It was a bit sloppy and I was lazy getting up a rooty step up. Go to 6mins 10 sec on this video Whaka100 2020 Recce 50-60km - YouTube
It is hard to see on a photo but the spring broke and a stanchion bent slightly, it was changing still but could only use about 10 of the gears. Bike shop told me it was terminal.
Interesting, the crash didn’t even look too bad. I wonder why the hanger didn’t break in that case, seems to be a common reason for derailleur death as a whole when hangers don’t break as intended
The hanger was bent and I had to replace it. I agree and think the hangers shouldn’t be too robust. Also it does grate on me that you don’t get spare hangers when you buy a bike considering the hangers aren’t made to a standard.
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Here is my update:
So far had it for about 2 weeks. Shifting is awesome and smooth and effortless. Pinged a rock off the cage yesterday no biggie. Reverb AXS is the real deal too! SRAM AXS app sucks big time though, kind of useless for the Eagle system and I can’t even pair both the derailleur and dropper together because they are each their individual “system” and you can only pair one system at a time. Cockpit looks awesome and the bike is quiet without cables smacking each other
Shifting is still SRAM, def not as smooth as Shimano Di2 road (assuming XT/XTR are the same), in other words unless you back off the power during the shift you def hear it shift, whereas Shimano seems a bit smoother sounding. I don’t find this necessarily bad though since you don’t really get sound feedback from the shifter/controller anymore. Shifting under power is cool but I seem to break chains when I do so not sure if Shimano would offer much benefit here
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