SRAM eTap AXS or Not?
#1
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SRAM eTap AXS or Not?
I have a full SRAM Force etap AXS mullet setup, and I'm not sure if I should use it.
-- Force etap AXS HDR brake/shift levers
-- Eagle X01 AXS Rear derailleur
-- e-thirteen 9-50t cassette for XD/XDR
My current setup seems to work flawlessly:
-- SRAM Rival 1 rear derailleur
-- 11-50t cassette
-- Senseh Empire 11 speed levers
-- cable actuated TRP calipers.
It would be nice to have the 9 tooth top gear and hydraulic brakes, but that seems to be about it. Am I missing something?
-- Force etap AXS HDR brake/shift levers
-- Eagle X01 AXS Rear derailleur
-- e-thirteen 9-50t cassette for XD/XDR
My current setup seems to work flawlessly:
-- SRAM Rival 1 rear derailleur
-- 11-50t cassette
-- Senseh Empire 11 speed levers
-- cable actuated TRP calipers.
It would be nice to have the 9 tooth top gear and hydraulic brakes, but that seems to be about it. Am I missing something?
#2
Newbie
I have about 1200 miles on a full Rival AXS setup running their 43/30 crankset and a 10-36. Based on the AXS data I rarely use the 10, 11 and even the 12 riding SE Michigan gravel at 18-20 MPH. So for me any gain on the 9-tooth is not beneficial, but that's me. I don't spend too much time above a gear ratio of 3.3 but I spin a bit faster than most I think.
The AXS responds quickly and affirmatively and the disc brakes are awesome, but I'm also coming from Shimano 105/5700 and Avid Shorty 4 canti brakes. YMMV. I would not hesitate to go with Rival AXS on another build and yours will be lighter, if not mechanically better (as I understand AXS internals are all pretty much the same).
The AXS responds quickly and affirmatively and the disc brakes are awesome, but I'm also coming from Shimano 105/5700 and Avid Shorty 4 canti brakes. YMMV. I would not hesitate to go with Rival AXS on another build and yours will be lighter, if not mechanically better (as I understand AXS internals are all pretty much the same).
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Nope, I'll send you my address and you can ship it.
Serious answer, why not? Its a nice set up in general. I've set my daughter's bike up with rival AXS and find the shifting on it to be smooth, consistent and reliable. Hydraulic brakes are actually a nice improvement over cable in my experience and opinion. The 9t I could pass on and I tend towards thinking they're a stupid concept. The smaller cog has more resistance, higher wear, and requires a specific hub based on the brand of the cassette; I also have the issue of jr gearing that says a 9t cog will need a silly small chainring. But just this week my daughter crashed on a cross course and bent her hanger, the axs rear derailleur has no issues and worked perfect after aligning the hanger. Likewise, she smacked the shifter into the ground, and has annoyingly enough dropped the bike several times, yet there's no trouble with the shifters just working either. I'd go for it.
Serious answer, why not? Its a nice set up in general. I've set my daughter's bike up with rival AXS and find the shifting on it to be smooth, consistent and reliable. Hydraulic brakes are actually a nice improvement over cable in my experience and opinion. The 9t I could pass on and I tend towards thinking they're a stupid concept. The smaller cog has more resistance, higher wear, and requires a specific hub based on the brand of the cassette; I also have the issue of jr gearing that says a 9t cog will need a silly small chainring. But just this week my daughter crashed on a cross course and bent her hanger, the axs rear derailleur has no issues and worked perfect after aligning the hanger. Likewise, she smacked the shifter into the ground, and has annoyingly enough dropped the bike several times, yet there's no trouble with the shifters just working either. I'd go for it.
#5
Senior Member
I have about 1200 miles on a full Rival AXS setup running their 43/30 crankset and a 10-36. Based on the AXS data I rarely use the 10, 11 and even the 12 riding SE Michigan gravel at 18-20 MPH. So for me any gain on the 9-tooth is not beneficial, but that's me. I don't spend too much time above a gear ratio of 3.3 but I spin a bit faster than most I think.
The AXS responds quickly and affirmatively and the disc brakes are awesome, but I'm also coming from Shimano 105/5700 and Avid Shorty 4 canti brakes. YMMV. I would not hesitate to go with Rival AXS on another build and yours will be lighter, if not mechanically better (as I understand AXS internals are all pretty much the same).
The AXS responds quickly and affirmatively and the disc brakes are awesome, but I'm also coming from Shimano 105/5700 and Avid Shorty 4 canti brakes. YMMV. I would not hesitate to go with Rival AXS on another build and yours will be lighter, if not mechanically better (as I understand AXS internals are all pretty much the same).
#6
Newbie
By the SRAM book, your statement is correct. The compatibility chart from SRAM was a bit confusing to me initially (link below). But if you start from the right-hand side with the FD you currently have (I'm assuming you have FD-FRC-E-D#) that only matches to the non-wide x2 cranksets shaded in light gray. (For example, I have the crankset PM-RIV-1-D1 and front derailleur FD-RIV-EW-D1.)
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/do...bility-map.pdf
So again, by the book, you're looking to replace an FD and a crankset to go "Wide" and get the 43/30.
If you stick Force, it looks like you're in for the following (all prices from SRAM's website)
Wide FD FD-FRC-EW-D2 - $243
Wide Crankset - Force 43/30 FC-FRC-W-D1 - $268 or $585 for Force Wide Power Meters FC-FRC-WP-D2
I do not believe a new bracket is required but I'm not sure.
Going down to Rival wide would be completely compatible but heavier, and saves about $128 on the base non-power meter crankset and $48 on the FD.
It's outside my experience entirely but going to a "mullet" drivetrain with a SRAM Eagle 12 speed RD and a MTB cassette may be possible.
Does 10% lower of a lowest gear (going from 33 to 30T inner chainring takes you from ~25 to 22.5 gear inches low end) get you where you want to go? If the answer is no, I think you'll be looking for a mullet build of some sort to get the larger cassette in the back.
If you have to get serious about a mullet build for more range, if there's not a bike shop in your area of Nebraska you feel good about asking off-the-wall questions, maybe call one up in Kansas (Emporia?) where they do a lot of gravel business given their location relative to Unbound Gravel. Or, someone specializing in long-distance touring/loaded bikepacking bikes, who are used to outfitting people who want to climb up walls while hauling 60 pounds of gear and want to get down in the teens for gear inches.
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/do...bility-map.pdf
So again, by the book, you're looking to replace an FD and a crankset to go "Wide" and get the 43/30.
If you stick Force, it looks like you're in for the following (all prices from SRAM's website)
Wide FD FD-FRC-EW-D2 - $243
Wide Crankset - Force 43/30 FC-FRC-W-D1 - $268 or $585 for Force Wide Power Meters FC-FRC-WP-D2
I do not believe a new bracket is required but I'm not sure.
Going down to Rival wide would be completely compatible but heavier, and saves about $128 on the base non-power meter crankset and $48 on the FD.
It's outside my experience entirely but going to a "mullet" drivetrain with a SRAM Eagle 12 speed RD and a MTB cassette may be possible.
Does 10% lower of a lowest gear (going from 33 to 30T inner chainring takes you from ~25 to 22.5 gear inches low end) get you where you want to go? If the answer is no, I think you'll be looking for a mullet build of some sort to get the larger cassette in the back.
If you have to get serious about a mullet build for more range, if there's not a bike shop in your area of Nebraska you feel good about asking off-the-wall questions, maybe call one up in Kansas (Emporia?) where they do a lot of gravel business given their location relative to Unbound Gravel. Or, someone specializing in long-distance touring/loaded bikepacking bikes, who are used to outfitting people who want to climb up walls while hauling 60 pounds of gear and want to get down in the teens for gear inches.
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#7
Senior Member
By the SRAM book, your statement is correct. The compatibility chart from SRAM was a bit confusing to me initially (link below). But if you start from the right-hand side with the FD you currently have (I'm assuming you have FD-FRC-E-D#) that only matches to the non-wide x2 cranksets shaded in light gray. (For example, I have the crankset PM-RIV-1-D1 and front derailleur FD-RIV-EW-D1.)
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/do...bility-map.pdf
So again, by the book, you're looking to replace an FD and a crankset to go "Wide" and get the 43/30.
If you stick Force, it looks like you're in for the following (all prices from SRAM's website)
Wide FD FD-FRC-EW-D2 - $243
Wide Crankset - Force 43/30 FC-FRC-W-D1 - $268 or $585 for Force Wide Power Meters FC-FRC-WP-D2
I do not believe a new bracket is required but I'm not sure.
Going down to Rival wide would be completely compatible but heavier, and saves about $128 on the base non-power meter crankset and $48 on the FD.
It's outside my experience entirely but going to a "mullet" drivetrain with a SRAM Eagle 12 speed RD and a MTB cassette may be possible.
Does 10% lower of a lowest gear (going from 33 to 30T inner chainring takes you from ~25 to 22.5 gear inches low end) get you where you want to go? If the answer is no, I think you'll be looking for a mullet build of some sort to get the larger cassette in the back.
If you have to get serious about a mullet build for more range, if there's not a bike shop in your area of Nebraska you feel good about asking off-the-wall questions, maybe call one up in Kansas (Emporia?) where they do a lot of gravel business given their location relative to Unbound Gravel. Or, someone specializing in long-distance touring/loaded bikepacking bikes, who are used to outfitting people who want to climb up walls while hauling 60 pounds of gear and want to get down in the teens for gear inches.
https://www.sram.com/globalassets/do...bility-map.pdf
So again, by the book, you're looking to replace an FD and a crankset to go "Wide" and get the 43/30.
If you stick Force, it looks like you're in for the following (all prices from SRAM's website)
Wide FD FD-FRC-EW-D2 - $243
Wide Crankset - Force 43/30 FC-FRC-W-D1 - $268 or $585 for Force Wide Power Meters FC-FRC-WP-D2
I do not believe a new bracket is required but I'm not sure.
Going down to Rival wide would be completely compatible but heavier, and saves about $128 on the base non-power meter crankset and $48 on the FD.
It's outside my experience entirely but going to a "mullet" drivetrain with a SRAM Eagle 12 speed RD and a MTB cassette may be possible.
Does 10% lower of a lowest gear (going from 33 to 30T inner chainring takes you from ~25 to 22.5 gear inches low end) get you where you want to go? If the answer is no, I think you'll be looking for a mullet build of some sort to get the larger cassette in the back.
If you have to get serious about a mullet build for more range, if there's not a bike shop in your area of Nebraska you feel good about asking off-the-wall questions, maybe call one up in Kansas (Emporia?) where they do a lot of gravel business given their location relative to Unbound Gravel. Or, someone specializing in long-distance touring/loaded bikepacking bikes, who are used to outfitting people who want to climb up walls while hauling 60 pounds of gear and want to get down in the teens for gear inches.
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#8
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I used my gravel as a XC bike with XC 27.5 tyres and range.
In winter, I run the less expensive setup 36(eagle)X11-46(SLX) with Rival/force groupset.
When I race "flat XC", I run 36(eagle)X9-46(e13).
When I race "hillyXC", I run 32(eagle)X9-46(e13)
I like the wide range and shift it where I need it depending of terrain, the wider the range, the more versatile it is off road however, you may feel the gear gaping on road. Note that the bigger the chainring is, the worst the gear gaping will feel.
The 9T cog is OK but it can be noisy as it "bends" the chain line and "curls" the chain.
One thing I found with e13 cassette is while they work fine, I found that in fast race condition, the gear shifting is no that good as the ramps are "simple" and shallow. Before my last race, I swapped the e13 9-46 for a cheaper sunrace 10-46 and found that the sunrace ramps (hyperglide copy) make the shifting much faster and smoother.
If you are just riding and use electronic shifting, I'm sure the e13 will be fine.
In winter, I run the less expensive setup 36(eagle)X11-46(SLX) with Rival/force groupset.
When I race "flat XC", I run 36(eagle)X9-46(e13).
When I race "hillyXC", I run 32(eagle)X9-46(e13)
I like the wide range and shift it where I need it depending of terrain, the wider the range, the more versatile it is off road however, you may feel the gear gaping on road. Note that the bigger the chainring is, the worst the gear gaping will feel.
The 9T cog is OK but it can be noisy as it "bends" the chain line and "curls" the chain.
One thing I found with e13 cassette is while they work fine, I found that in fast race condition, the gear shifting is no that good as the ramps are "simple" and shallow. Before my last race, I swapped the e13 9-46 for a cheaper sunrace 10-46 and found that the sunrace ramps (hyperglide copy) make the shifting much faster and smoother.
If you are just riding and use electronic shifting, I'm sure the e13 will be fine.