All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Home dirt...

 

Just have to update this... I'm super impressed with the derailleur. It has been on the bike two full seasons, 1,500ish miles. I was sure it was smoked after this hit. The hanger snapped clean at the bolt. It hit HARD.
I mounted a new hanger, and viola! Shifted like new.
My usual replacement rate for rear derailleurs (due to a variety of reasons ranging from side-glancing rocks in tight spaces, cage smashing into tall rocks, offs where the bike goes into something) is 2-3 per year. Mostly due to the fact that I can't stand a shitty shifting transmission once it's bent. I HATE the clicks, slow shifts, missed shifts, skipping, etc.
With this thing, it has truly been faultless over the two years. I've only "micro-adjusted" a few times, which takes a minute or two, and never ever had to fuss with barrel tuning, adjusting tension, or replacing cable or housing.
I've also never had any issues with the batteries. I press the little button, and if the light is orange I toss it in the car charger on the way to the trail.
I've actually saved $$ running this setup, saved tons of time adjusting, replacing, and maintaining it, and it has always shifted perfectly every time.
I have only one complaint, and that's the clutch. It's not as tight as others, which can lead to a bit more chain slap. It doesn't bother me, but I do notice it when riding it back-to-back with my Shimano bike.

If you're on the fence, ride regularly and hate dealing with derailleurs, want perfect shifting without the fuss, and can be hard on your gear, I HIGHLY recommend the AXS stuff.

**For reference, this is the GX AXS derailleur. I like it so much, I'm getting the GX T-type soon and transferring this to the other bike.

 

Agreed, my X01 AXS derailleur has been great and is almost all silver from missing paint from scrapes and bashes. I'm a big fan of AXS.

 

This is actually really helpful for me as I've been debating upgrading to AXS or waiting for Transmission. Of course Transmission is expensive and my bike isn't UDH, so that makes waiting for Transmission a bit hard. I'll probably keep an eye out for AXS upgrade deals.

 

Transmission is even better. It does feel like it shifts slower than AXS but you forget about it after a couple of rides.

 

Nice thing about axs is that you can use your existing stuff and just get the derailleur and shifter.
T-type you need the cassette and chain also.

 

T-type you need a new chainring too and maybe crank in most situations. For sure chainring because of the T-type chain roller size. Also, the “required” chain line for T-type is 55mm. I haven’t tried it so I don’t know if 52mm works or if someone makes a T-type chainring that has the correct offset for a non T-type crank.

As everyone stated above Eagle AXS works great. Does Transmission work more greater? I don’t know.

 

Whoa Whoa Whoa, there's solid proof out there using standard eagle crankset, also a spacer behind the eagle cassette pushes it out enough to use as well. How well it works I don't know though.
There are forum posts and reddit posts about this though.

 

Is anyone riding at Snowshoe. I have a pass and also for 2025. I forgot to ask around here since I ride alone there 1/2 the time.

 

The rollers are bigger on a T-type chain vs an Eagle chain. Will it work in some combination of spacers and some chainring/cassettes (Wolftooth has a chainring that works for both). I’m sure it will and some people have.

but sticking a T Type chain on a SRAM Eagle cassette/chainring is not a good idea. It won’t sit right, the pocket won’t be deep/shaped right. I’ve put a flattop chain on an eagle chainring, there is daylight at the bottom between the roller and chainring.

could you use a t type chainring with an eagle crankset? Depends on if it’s an 8 bolt vs 3 bolt sram crankset. Xx1 eagle is 8 bolt. X01/gx is 3 bolt.

 

Things like this I just shake my head at. I bought a bike from a guy a year or so after AXS came out. He built it really nice... for the most part... nice brakes. great fork, great frame and new rear shock. Added AXS BUT went with Chinese knock off cassette, chain, bars, and wheels...
I just didn't get it. It shifted clunky... Like why spend the money and then cheap out on an integral part. Countless hours of R&D with sram / Shimano to make their stuff work and then to save a little bit (Comparatively to the total cost) got a random brand cassette.. in my mind the overall Quality goes way down.
Dont get me wrong, im cheap but some things I dont think are worth compromising on.... Yeah yeah yeah.. tell me about the frankenstein Shimano/ axs set ups... I still stand by my point lol.... The above bike I got with the knock off cassette also needed an HG freehub on the sram setup.. Would always confuse shops like crazy....

or maybe im just OCD and like it to match. Ive acquired a few bikes with E13 cassettes on Shimano stuff and never been as happy as keeping things consistent. Maybe its just me... I was also OCD about getting AXS wet . . but As above, I hear it is way more durable than I ever trusted it to be...

 

Over the last 40 years I’ve owned dual-sport bikes from Kawasaki, Honda and Suzuki. But the Specialized Diverge I bought less than six months ago is my favorite dual sport of all. Singletrack, dirt/gravel roads, pavement - it handles it all, and since there’s no motorized legal dirt close to home it’s getting a lot of use. Year-to-date mileage is about equal to my mountain bike and I only bought the Diverge in June. Gravel is not just a fad if you live in the right place.







So it doesn’t feel ignored, here’s my Ripley in Colorado last month. The bike did fine, it was just a dirt road, but my sea level lungs were feeling it. Our highest ride got to 11600. No shuttles.

 

Boise- About a thousand foot descent from this point, all the way to my front door.

 

Anyone been to Bentonville end of February?

 

@113tac The wife has talked me into a local trail race (running) we used to run many moons ago. My go to trail runners used to be the 3rd or 4th gen Nike Terra Kigers. Looks like the Nike line has gone space zone on me. Do you have any other trail runner reqs that meet the light/fast profile?

Been eyeing Hoka or Altras but have zero experience with them. I like zero to minimal drop on my dailies. Kinda like my trail shoes to be similar. I’ve never been a fan a big squish shoes. But I am 5 yrs older and more broken than my last race haha.

 

Leaving home to go home. Boise yesterday, faceful of Joro web in Atlanta today.

 

DISLIKE DISLIKE DISLIKE!

I know they have their purposes, but I hate spiders. This is my worse case scenario when riding. I have definitely bailed and let the bike go through a web before.

 

I’m a pretty big fan of the Altra Lone Peak. Meet your drop requirements, not a lot of squishy but surprisingly I don’t miss it.

 

My brother has done the Wasatch 100 several times and many other long trail runs. He said the Hokas are good but don’t last as long as others.

 

Yes, I live here, lol. It's usually not freezing, but can freeze overnight. It can be a bit wet with a chance of a dusting of snow that doesn't stick, and most trails are rocky and drain quickly. Should be good riding conditions. Good sight lines, cool temps, no bugs.