Hey everyone!
The popular SRAM GX got a refresh,
and we looked at a new 10-52T cassette recently.
But they also recommend using it with this new 520% derailleur.
How is it different from the old one?
Let's take a look!
If you didn't know lunar comes from lunar grey,
the new color that they've used on these components.
And you see it used on the big 52 tooth cog of the cassette as well.
Also, they mentioned the more premium materials used,
the new lunar gray color and also the the glossy finish.
They definitely give you that feel of a more premium product
but are there any other differences?
The details of your new derailleur can be found here on the side.
This is made in Taiwan just like before,
you can see the product code from SRAM and also that this is a
GX Eagle derailleur, lunar being the color,
and a clear differentiator from the old product.
In the box, aside from the usual SRAM leaflet
you're gonna find the derailleur. Surprise, surprise!
Actually the surprise is the fact that they've replaced their B-gap adjustment tool with this.
If you remember, the first generation used to provide this little tool in the box.
And the derailleur itself is still trapped in that molded piece of plastic.
And to get the weight question out of the way,
old derailleur is 294 grams,
new derailleur is 299 grams
so 5 grams difference between the two.
This whole front end of the derailleur seems to be constructed exactly the same.
Obviously you have the new color and branding,
the knuckle is the same, I hope it doesn't have that much play in it as before,
the pinch bolt and the adjustment screws are now black
and otherwise everything that's moving here, all these arms are the same size.
Everything is the same, same.
The same type 3 clutch is used on both derailleurs
and as you move lower to the derailleur cage,
I think that's where most of the differences are going to surface
And yes, you have X-Actuation written on the old one
and Eagle Tech on the new,
but if you look carefully at the shape of the derailleur cage,
you're gonna see that it's different, it's beefier on the new one.
Also the area protecting that lower jockey wheel
is extended quite a bit.
On this inner cage, you still have the serial number written
just like in the past, it is different color
and down here you're gonna see 520%
kind of telling you that this is the new design.
You can see the shape of the cage wrapping around that lower jockey wheel
way more than before
and also if you look carefully here
you're probably going to notice that there is more offset
between your upper jockey and that pivot point.
The length of this cage is about 9.5 cm there
9.5 cm here, so they didn't touch that.
The offset though, this is about 5 centimeters
and the new one it's about 5.5 cm.
So they've increased the offset here by about 5 mm
Otherwise they seem to use the same jockey wheels as in the past.
For GX they use steel ball bearings on both
and the lower jockey still uses the same narrow wide profile like in the past.
So color and style, more offset of the upper jockey,
and the new shape of this outer cage,
those would be the main differences between the new and the old.
And with the changes,
SRAMbrought the design closer to that of the Shimano XT.
It looks kind of as premium, if not better.
You can see the shape of the cage which is the same.
The cage length is the same
but the new GX or the new derailleurs from SRAM
have more offset, actually about 1 cm more than the Shimano.
The installation is fairly simple.
I always use this cage lock to extend it,
then it's a matter of tightening your derailleur to the hanger.
They do have some sort of Loctite here
and SRAM recommends not to put grease.
The only trick here is that the end of this tab
is gonna have to go against your derailleur hanger
because that's what makes this whole B-gap adjustment work.
And talking about the B-gap adjustment, they provide this new tool.
I guess I'm going to have to document that in my next video.
Tightening bolt here is still 5 mm hex, 10-12 Nm.
With the previous gen gx we used to have a lot of play here in this B-bolt bushing
Well, this one installed gives you, I'd say 2-3 mm of play
which is kind of normal I think for all these derailleurs.
So maybe they fixed that as well.
As for the lunar gray color...
here's an Shimano SLX 12 speed ,
and you could argue that they first introduced that bluish gray,
you see it right here maybe a slightly darker tone.
I'm going to cover the installation of the derailleur
as well as adjustment using the new B-gap tool in a separate video
trying not to make this too long.
But I hope nobody is surprised if I say that
the new derailleur with the new cassette works perfectly fine.
First to easier gears...
And two harder gears.
So nice and smooth, but something that you would expect from a brand new piece of equipment.
And for those of you that watched my cassette video,
you know that the chain drops off of that 52T quite aggressively.
It seems to be doing it almost always at this point
so whatever the shape is of the teeth over there
that's what's causing it.
it's pretty aggressive, as I showed you on my other video.
See, my chain is totally jammed right now, so is the derailleur.
With the design borrowed from the current SRAM AXS wireless derailleurs,
I think this is gonna replace the old one everywhere
because it can swallow the 520% range of the new cassettes,
and also the old 10-50T cassettes.
I'm looking forward to testing that out,
also trying the new b-gap tool that's provided,
but I will leave that for my next video.
But let me know if you have any questions about this new derailleur,
I would love to hear!
If you found this useful don't forget to like, subscribe,
keep an eye on social media,
and until next time, hope to see you folks on the trails,
why not riding the new sram GX grouppo.
Cheers guys, cheers!