Hey everyone welcome back!
I don't know about you but when I find a SRAM branded box at the door it makes me happy
because it means more toys to play with!
Especially when it has a sticker like this that warns you that there's batteries inside.
So I don't know, 2021, SRAM and batteries what can this be?
And if you thought about SRAM AXS GX you're correct, that's exactly what this is.
But I'm gonna start with something that I probably don't do enough of, and that is to give
a huge shoutout to Worldwide Cyclery.
Thank you guys, I really appreciate the support all these years, you rock!
Keeping up with the new design and colors of the Lunar grey,
extended range Eagle drivetrains of last year, this upgrade kit uses the same white and red
color box. The actual label is on this side, and here you're going to see again the part number,
and that this is manufactured in Taiwan.
The few extra logos here are specific to the communication,
you can see clearly that this is using ANT+ for communication, and the batteries are Lithium ion.
But unlike the previous boxes where we had plastic and foam
everything is encapsulated in recycled cardboard, something that I applaud SRAM for doing.
The usual SRAM leaflet is included but this time is accompanied by a couple more that cover
batteries and wireless waves, I guess to comply with the different rules around the world.
This is a quick start guide for AXS that you may or may not need, and this is a pretty...
oh this is a coaster, and look at this this is cool, so SRAM AXS coaster that's going to
invite you to go to the app store and get the SRAM AXS App, and also to keep it on your table
while doing the work. Why not, great idea!
But back to the contents, obviously you're gonna get the derailleur,
you have what's called the controller,
you have one tiny battery here and the charger for it,
this will take a Micro USB and you have the cable for it,
so you do need a 5V source of power from somewhere because it's not included.
If you install the controller straight on the handlebar this is a one piece bar clamp,
you have the B-gap adjustment, you still need that,
and this is something that surprised me: it is branded SRAM and it's gonna say Eagle Technology on this end,
and guess what this is? This is a multi-tool maybe because this is an upgrade kit.
Whichever way it is, nice touch SRAM!
I've never had the more expensive versions of the controller but people say that the shape of this is exactly identical.
It doesn't really look premium, I mean you have plastic everywhere,
and this finish is not even the one that was used by the Lunar grey new generation components.
And this is the Lunar grey that I was expecting to see
which is absolutely identical with the mechanical Lunar Grey that was launched last year.
You can see bigger branding here on the derailleur but otherwise it seems to be identical at least the color.
Actually the bottom of the derailleur that includes the jockeys and the outer side of this cage seems to be identical as well,
it seems to use the same jockey wheels 12 teeth at the top, 14 teeth at the bottom.
And both of them use ball bearings as well.
The four pivots here are identical with the mechanical version, I hoped they would have used the X01/ XX1 version
which is a bit better sealed, maybe stronger.
But hey, this is the cheaper version of everything!
And everything else that you see from this point on has to do with the electronics.
Just like with the mechanical version they kept the Cage Lock, and that's very useful.
And also they have all the mechanical adjustments that you see here so that's the B-gap adjustment,
and you have the limit screws down here.
You have the B-gap adjustment right here, you can see it through this battery cover,
and then here at the bottom you're gonna have the limit screws.
You can access all of these without removing the battery or the battery cover
and by the way this battery cover is new for the AXS GX, it seems like a bit of an afterthought to me if you ask...
It has three clips all around and it comes right out, it didn't exist for X01 and XX1.
And here is pretty much the cable replacement, so this is battery,
that looks like a little gearbox with the clutch in it
and there's got to be a little motor here somewhere.
Here on the face of the derailleur you have this AXS button that you use to pair this with a controller,
and you have an LED that probably shows you the status of this device.
Battery is installed here, you can see a little lip that goes in first
and then you have a clip up top, you undo that and this battery filler comes right out.
And inside you're gonna see the battery contacts, and you see that squarish contour for it.
That is to provide that IP67 or whatever that is for dust and water ingression.
The inside portion of the cage is very similar to the mechanical version
and this differs from X01, that one is made out of aluminum, this is steel.
But serial number is still there, you'll see this massive offset for the top jockey
that means that it works just fine with 520% extended range cassettes.
520 is not written here on the cage anymore but believe me, they do work.
And here is all those certifications.
Interestingly you're going to see both ANT+ and Bluetooth logos,
meaning that the controller that's in here is able to communicate using both protocols.
All those certifications are again here at the back of the controller, you have the access button and an LED
and these are shipped with the old rocker that is the actual shifter paddles,
you can push on it here or here but you can also actuate it from the back so you can press here and you hear the click click click.
There is no need to charge this controller because it uses coin cell batteries, the CR2032.
And to open this up, okay I'm going to use the B-gap tool,
and here it goes. Has a nice red seal and the battery is already connected from the get-go.
Obviously you install it just the opposite of that, open and close here.
And this already works so if I press and hold you're gonna see that LED starting to blink.
You would have to charge this derailleur battery though, you remove the cover using that same clip
and if you look carefully here this is pretty interesting: you can flip that lever left or right just to show
whether the batteries that you have are charged or not,
I assume you would do that if you have more than one battery.
One is provided with the kit but you can buy additional ones and this would be the SRAM part number for it.
This derailleur looks and feels bigger than the mechanical version, let me put on the scale because I'm really curious now.
The derailleur by itself is 430 grams, that's 130 grams heavier than the mechanical version,
obviously you're gonna need a battery so here's your 455g.
If you add this optional battery cover that's another 10 grams,
so 465 grams versus the 300 grams of the mechanical GX derailleur.
But in order for this to operate you're gonna need the controller as well,
so here's the bar clamp and the controller and that makes it 545 grams,
so we're talking about a 50 grams compromise between the mechanical version and the electronic version of SRAM Eagle GX.
And I think my video is getting fairly long so I will put this battery to charge,
I'm gonna see the LED popping up there, and while that's happening,
I'm just gonna get to enjoy the beer and call this part 1, the unboxing of the SRAM Eagle GX AXS.
What do you guys think? Is this affordable enough for you to give it a try?
Did you find this useful?
Let me know in the comments below, as usual don't forget to like, subscribe, comment,
and until next time hope to see you folks on the trails,
why not riding some SRAM Eagle wireless drivetrains?
Cheers guys, cheers!