ttusomeone

I'm looking for opinions. I was fortunate enough to get a brand new SRAM GX Eagle groupset given to me. My wife's bike currently has the first generation XX1 group on it. Is the new GX group better than the first generation XX1? I know technology advances and trickles down, so I'm assuming at the very least it's just as good, and better considering new versus used. Before I went through the trouble to swap groupsets, I wanted to get the group's opinion.

My bike has newer XX1 on it so it wouldn't be worth it to me to swap what's on my bike.

qclabrat

Is the XX1 the 11 spd? If so and it's enough gears for her there's no reason to change IMO. The group as you know is really light and shifts great.

ttusomeone

Yeah it’s the 11 speed.

qclabrat

Id only consider it an upgrade if she needs 50t in the rear

Cyclist0108

We (that would be my youngest kid and my wallet) had terrible luck with GX 12 speed rear derailleurs. He finally upgraded to SLX 12-speed.

I think if it is the 11 speed, it might be more robust. But don't fix it if it ain't broke.

Darth Lefty 

Features like gear ratios and number of shifts aren't really hard to make, so they trickle down, but the really clever stuff that makes it much lighter, and a little more efficient, does not. The big differences in weight/quality are in the carbon cranks and the ultralight x-dome cassettes of the higher groups. The shifters and derailleurs have ball bearings and other nice bits that make them run smoother and shift easier.

The 11 and 12 speed groups aren't very compatible. The derailleur cages are bigger, the chain is narrower, so're the chainring teeth, it obviously needs a 12 speed shifter. About the only part of the groupset you might hope to keep is the crank.

Wooderson

I'd guess they'd be similar enough to where it won't make a material difference on the trail. My consideration would be whether the XX1 kit is getting old (play in the parallogram, other issues), then just the newness of the GX will help, but otherwise, I'd just leave it as it is.

So how does one have a GX Eagle groupset gifted to them, anyway?! Pls send me the signup link!

lmbiker13

After having tested a GX Eagle kit and a 1st gen XX1 kit...I can tell that the narrower cog spacing in the Eagle kits makes a positive difference in shifting speed, though not noticeable enough to the average rider.

lmbiker13

Did you get the GX kit with the carbon cranks? Haven't tested that out yet so can't say how it performs against the XX1 in terms of pedaling efficiency.