Alphonsus

So I know the hierarchy for the Shimano, however, some bikes use Sram, when I searched for the hierarchy it shows X-3,X-4, etc. When I look at the specs for the bikes, the group set is usually Sram SX Eagle. Where does the SX Eagle fall on the hierarchy?

Alphonsus

Where does the SX eagle fall in the Shimano lineup?

Alphonsus

I know it is Sram, but I meant as in the quality, is the SX Eagle match the Altus? Acera? Alivio? Deore? I'm new to knowing about individual bike components and how they are better or worse compared to other brands or levels

mstateglfr 

The people who name sram mtb components need to be kicked and fired. What a confusing designation hierarchy.
Too many with 'X' in the name...which is all of them.

livedarklions

I don't know why some people think making the OP sound like he's asking a stupid question when he's not is a clever thing to do, but it's basically a jerk move.

The question is whether the various levels of the SRAM mtb components are rough equivalents of the levels of Shimano and, if so, which SRAM level lines up with which Shimano level. I'd try to answer the question if I could, but I don't know SRAM stuff enough to do so. Pointing to the SRAM website is definitely not helpful because it's probably the last place that would make the comparison.

Darth Lefty 

SRAM have taken a different tack than Shimano. They’ve put all the most important features of Eagle 12 speed into cheaper levels. SX fills the gap left when NX became NX Eagle and got more expensive. SX is monstrously heavy compared with XX1, which has a really fancy cassette, a carbon fiber crank, and some other nicer features. But they’re both 1x12 and can go on the same bike with nearly the same range. Shimano still insists on debilitating their Deore group with unwanted 2x10 speed, only recently brought a similar range to the top 3 groups (meanwhile ending M7000 which was great), and has no further 1x options lower.

the group set is also not the first place to look for weight loss. You can save like a pound there, but it’s the big parts that have the big weights.

VegasTriker

It only takes about 30 seconds to get an answer if you google on "sram bike parts hierarchy". For road components this one covers SRAM, Shimano, and Campy: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-...s-guide-142789 If you want MTB groupsets try the other sources.

Caliper

Which is more reliable, Ford or Chevy? Cross-brand comparisons are far from an exact science. I also think that the brands tend to avoid having any of their groupsets line up exactly the same as a competitors for this reason. You always want to have a selling point or two for your components in a given price range so that the marketing guys have something to work with.

bakerjw

I don't think that the OP is too off base with their question. Myself, I've always had trouble following the SRam hierarchy and thus keep with Shimano.

With Shimano though, 1### (low end) to 9### (high end) is simple enough to follow without worrying about the name of the specific line. With their mountain bike line, it used to be 1## to 9## but they've brought it into 4 digits to be in line with road component part numbering.