If you are looking at weight as the driving feature here, best to add the cassettes too, since I wager that will be the bigger delta than the derailleur.
I mean the Eagle derailleur can shift the same cassette no problem…that’s where my confusion is, why do we need a special derailleur to shift a narrower range?
Likely the same reason they make short cage road RD. Better shifting response with shorter cage and less overall chain needed in the system.
May be smoke and mirrors, but that is the logic on using a short vs medium or long cage on road setups. Use the shortest one that suits the cassette size. Weight from the RD change is minimal, coupled with dropping a few chain links too. So marginal at best.
I’m not claiming weight is the real benefit here. It may be part of their marketing (that we haven’t even seen yet), but I think the real gain here is a better cassette to start, with a more optimized RD cage to match it better.
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I hear ya. Just seems like kind of overkill. Road AXS presumably goes to 30/32, Wide AXS to 36?, Eagle Lite 44, Eagle 52
yeah, 10-44 doesn’t do anything for me for XCO and certainly not for XCM or Ultras. I’m never searching for gears mid cassette in XCO. I’d rather prefer a 10-46/48 as I don’t like the jump from 42 to 52. I don’t think a 44 would be enough of a bail out gear to run daily trail riding and I wouldn’t buy a cassette just for the few flatter XC courses.
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Side question if I were to swap my 32t ring for a 34 would I need to extend the chain too? Can’t really add links so would need to buy a new one I guess
No, I swap between the both. 34 for XC and 32 for XCM and MTB 100s. Size the chain with the 34 chainring on though.
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Thanks. I rarely use my bailout gear and find myself in the smaller cogs frequently (as evidenced by cassette wear) so thinking a 34 could help me spread the wear a bit more evenly and keep a straighter chain line perhaps
I mostly switched to a 34 because I train on gravel roads and was running out of gearing. Bonus was that I had about he same ratio when I moved to the 52 from the 50 out back. Also, achieved a better chain line for XC with the 34. I could probably even go to a 36 chainring for training on gravel.
Looks like your master link is installed upside down.
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I don’t think my frame will clear a 36 but a 34 round is definitely doable.
It is and has been for months, and I meant to change it for yesterday’s ride but totally forgot, again haha
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True, amazing eye to catch that 
I’ve done it myself and took a minute to figure out the extra click.
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Yup, 34t is the stated max per Trek specs.
Going to flip the link now so I don’t forget haha.
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Also took a pic of my setup with the NEW AXS rocker. I had to reverse the shift direction, switch the mounting bolt to the inside, and pivot it down/away a bit but it’s great here
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That’s the new lever that aims to feel more like the old mechanical split controls?
Looks nice.
Yes the old is this. I like having the harder gear be the tiny paddle down below and then easier gear is the big paddle up top by the grip. The old one I was really pressing on the very edges/corners of the paddle
You can see I also moved my brakes and matchmaker inwards I think it feels better also
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I’m jealous, I’ve been waiting for my new AXS rocker paddle for months but its on backorder.
If you hit the little button with your thumb, is it the same as the top or bottom of the big button? Is there still a way to actuate from the front with your pointer? And if so, which buttons does that equate to? Thanks.