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

If the battery on an AXS derailleur is dead, is there a manual way to shift into a specific gear and run a single speed?

I've definitely been interested in wireless but have the typical fears of dead batteries and the initial entry cost being a bit steep - not to mention the terrain in the northeast like to eat derailleurs; however the micro adjustments and being able to index each gear individually is a major upside. Seems like on the eagle cassette with sram, it's a battle of getting the entire cassette range indexed well. Can get the high gears or low gears (not sure which side is which on the cassette) to shift smoothly, but the entire range tends to get a little finicky and leads to lagged shifts on one end or the other. My 11-speed cassette and NX derailleur is bomb proof, add in that 52 tooth gear and everything gets temperamental. Would love to get into transmission but definitely not interested in spending that type of money to solve a problem that is at best a minor inconvenience.

 

With all this recent battery chatter, I'm sharing an article I read this week. It's a review/commentary of wireless dropper posts. Check it out if you're bored or want to get into some solid bicycle-related nerdery!

https://bikepacking.com/gear/wireless-dropper-posts-rockshox-reverb-axs-vs-fox-transfer-neo/

 

I also got out for some Spring gravel riding last weekend around St George UT. My new wrist is still weak but my hand-strengthening PT has definitely paid off...I had such a serious death-grip on a loose downhill that I pulled my bar-tape wrapping apart by the hoods. But at least I know that I can hold on when it counts! Pic is from West Canyon Rd in Snow Canyon State Park.

 

Honestly nothing is going to beat the sram eleven speed stuff. Before I sold my stache I would switch back and forth and the gx 11speed was so much quieter and smoother than gx eagle mechanical.

I will say though, with a waxed chain on my gravel bike I can get the gx axs (non-transmission) with nx cassette pretty close to all gx 11 speed as far as quiet and smoothness go. One thing is that I’m pretty sure micro adjust is across the whole range, not each gear. Micro adjust for each gear would be so nice but unfortunately it’s not there, at least for og axs.

My mechanical gx is fine but that could be more a factor of me not really maintaining it aside from lube every couple weeks. I didn’t even lube it before riding it for the first time since like October and it was actually not bad haha.

I did convince one of my buddies to swap to gx eagle on his gravel bike after he broke his mechanical shifter. We will see what he thinks after first ride this weekend haha

 

ahem

https://bike.shimano.com/stories/article/what-is-shimano-linkglide.html

 

haha I totally forgot about that...honestly I haven't ridden shimano in years aside from my gravel shoes. have you ridden it?

if shimano made it easier to go 1x on the gravel bike I would have tried it but di2 isn't close to AXS when it comes to compatibility between MTB (derailleur) and road (brifters).

 

Must of been mistaken then - was under the assumption you could index each gear through the app for axs. If not, then its even more of a sticking point to stay with the mechanical shifting.

@Pugga put an eagle cassette on his gravel bike and I am quite jealous when I am reaching for one more gear on a climb. Would allow a larger front sprocket and not lose that bailout gear - seems the 1x drivetrain on the gravel means a sacrifice for either top end of climbing ease. A 52 tooth helps bridge that gap.

 

Come on now, I’m only up to a 50t cassette! It did integrate nicely with the SRAM Apex brifter and derailleur though. All the SRAM stuff said it wouldn’t work, 44t max. I originally bought a Gx derailleur to pair with the Apex brifters, but the Apex derailleur works perfect.

 

East Bay climbing will definitely take care of that jet lag. Mt. Diablo in the distance.

 

Finally got my 1/2” piece of steel. A friend had it leftover from a job and just cut me guide holes. They didn’t quite line up, but it’s fine, and it was free. It’s an awkward piece of ~130lbs and super stable.
Very Mad Max. The patina would cost extra from park tool.

 

Something I've always used to remember hi/lo gears on a cassette...view the cassette as a pyramid, hi gears on top, lo gears on the bottom.

 

Rode this system in Sedona...on a SC Heckler E-bike equipped with their auto shift tech...the shifting was really smooth under load (we rode singletrack this year, USFS half green light...) especially climbing the switchbacks up Grand Central towards Ant Hill.

 

This SB115 is now UCSC certified.

 

My friend that just made the switch to axs said he read somewhere that you used to but then sram updated the app. It had to have been when it first came out because I’ve had axs for a few years and have never been able to index each gear. I think it would be cool but probably not necessary.

I’m a huge fan of eagle on the gravel bike. The simplicity and range are so nice. I run a 44 oval ring and I think 11-50 cassette and rarely wish for more, at least here in Virginia. We did a climb yesterday that hit like 16% grade I think and that was probably the limit but still doable. I spun out at about 35mph on a mild downhill but not bad. Idk if I’ll be able to hit my top speed again, I think I got to 50 on a 2x drivetrain a while back. Lots of gravity helping though haha

 

Yeah, got one ride in this year, on the e-bike.

To be fair, I’ve had some health issues since October I’ve been fighting. I’m in the worst shape I’ve been in many years.
It’s going to be a long road (trail?) back.

 

I was humbled by porcupine rim on the flat and small climbs lol. Figure 7k feet factored in some too. Reno sits at 4500 ish so not that big a shock but enough. I had logged maybe 25 miles this year before that one. Gooseberry Mesa though I felt great. Not that physically demanding of a ride there though

Tahoe might take a while to melt with the late storms this year D:

 

I just installed a GX T-Type AXS on my brothers bike, it shows the gear indexing in the app and allows you to adjust it. Makes it super easy!

 

I think it was (and still is) a common misconception that you could index each gear. It came down to how it was originally stated, that you could index in any gear. Not each gear separately from each other, but that you could shift into any gear and index there to eliminate any rasping or skipping, which should in theory eliminate it in all gears since the skip between each is the same.
The issues arise with frame and hub manufacturing tolerances, bearing wear in frames and hubs, and the occasional lower cage bump which can throw it out of alignment.
Not sure why SRAM doesn't allow for individual gear alignment, seems like including a small memory would be simple enough.
To be fair, I have both AXS and Transmission and they are both faultless in shifting 99% of the time. If they ever get out of whack, which is maybe once per season, I just reinstall them from scratch and they're back to perfect.
With the dust that kicks up here in the summer, I've never had shifting be perfect more than a few rides with any other system. Dust eventually gunks up the cables. The AXS stuff is really amazing to me in that respect. It just shifts so damn well.
Of course the GX AXS derailleur is notorious for its weak clutch, so it can get bouncy. And both systems are heavy, which definitely affects how the rear wheel reacts. Going back to the Shimano stuff was really impressive, it defienley made the rear more sensitive.
Trail bike or ebike where shifting is a priority, AXS all day. DH or shuttle rig, Shimano or 11 sp SRAM.

 

For those looking for a budget friendly option to get a 1x gravel groupset... I've been running the MicroShift Sword Black groupset on my gravel bike. Super happy with it for the price!

Porcupine Rim humbles just about everyone! People think that TWE is a downhill ride but you're constantly going up, and down, little features from UPS till the river. I puked the first time I did a half-enchilada.

 

Where did you get your Sword stuff? I’ve been trying to source a 2x Sword front derailleur and brifter without much luck. Microshift stuff has been good to me also, it’s pretty bomb proof, just not overly refined or lightweight. If I could have kept the Microshift brifter and switched to hydraulic brakes, I likely would have. I needed hydro brakes so the Microshift stuff had to go, still running it on my backup, makeshift road bike though.