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SRAM Eagle Groupsets Compared! XX1 vs X01 vs GX vs NX vs SX [Video]

Words by: Liam Woods

Intro:

When looking at any drivetrain for your mountain bike, it's difficult to not put SRAM Eagle at the top of your list. It was the first to the 11-speed game, the first to remove the front derailleur and still have a range that allowed you to pedal up almost anything. Shortly after, they became the first to the 12-speed game as well. It’s no doubt that SRAM is at the top of the list when it comes to innovation. Plenty of brands have followed, but I don't think anyone does it as well as SRAM. With the newest generation of the higher end Eagle drivetrains, you get a 10-52t rear cassette. This gives you a massive range enabling you to pedal up practically anything. When SRAM Eagle first came out, it was only available in the top trims of X01 and XX1. Eventually, GX Eagle came out.

The launch of GX Eagle was really when Eagle gained traction and was then affordable for most mountain bikers. Soon to follow was NX Eagle and then SX Eagle. Once again, SRAM rocked the mountain bike world and released X01 and XX1 AXS, wireless electronic shifting. While not cheap, the wireless performance and ease of use took SRAM Eagle to the top, above any other brands, and we still haven’t seen anyone come close to matching the performance.

Recently, SRAM updated XX1, X01, and GX Eagle with a larger 52t cassette cog, which was previously a 50t max. Along with the extended range, the rear derailleur received a revision. X01 and XX1 saw new colors in addition to the rest of the lineup getting updated graphics. Now you can mix and match all levels of Eagle as well as the colors of the cassette and chains.

What is most impressive is how affordable SRAM 12-speed has become. A full NX Eagle groupset with shifter, rear derailleur, cassette, chain, and crankset is just $375! At that price, the NX Eagle provides an insane amount of performance. But the price creeps up from there, with GX Eagle sitting at $545, X01 Eagle priced at $1,275, and XX1 Eagle at $1,500. There are also the SRAM AXS kits, which are $1,000 for a controller (shifter) and rear derailleur, and that’s only if you wanted to upgrade your current mechanical drivetrain parts. It’ll cost you $1,900 for a full X01 Eagle AXS groupset and $2,000 for an XX1 Eagle AXS groupset. Let’s take a look at what the levels are from entry to high-end and also what you get when moving from one level to the next.

Hierarchy:

If you don’t know much about SRAM drivetrains, like most brands, the naming structure isn't the most simple thing to figure out. Let’s start with the premium products, SRAM XX1 and X01 Eagle. These are going to be the upper tiers when it comes to drivetrains. Technically, XX1 is a bit more expensive and lighter, but that is due to the fact that XX1 has a few more carbon bits. SRAM considers these to have the same level of performance, but they’re made for different riders. XX1 is for the weight weenie, cross country racer, or light trail rider. It’s for someone who is looking to shave grams, which comes at the cost of not being quite as durable. SRAM X01 is made to take more of a beating. With more alloy parts, X01 is made for the heavy trail rider or enduro racer. Both are the premiere products, just aimed at different riders. Next down is the working class hero, SRAM GX Eagle. It’s made to be both more affordable yet not sacrificing any performance. GX Eagle still gets the new wide range of 10-52t cassette, and a sleek look to match any color cassette and chain combo you might want.

The next two versions of SRAM Eagle are barely a step down. This is mainly from the rear cassette you will find on the SRAM NX and SX Eagle groupsets. SRAM NX Eagle slots in right below GX, at just $375 for a full groupset. For that price, the level of quality you get is pretty insane. SRAM SX Eagle, at the bottom of the hierarchy, is a not so common option, as you will most likely find this on OEM or stock bikes.

SX EAGLE:

SRAM SX Eagle is going to be the most entry level SRAM 12-speed mountain bike groupset you can get. While you can purchase a SRAM SX Eagle shifter, rear derailleur, and crankset aftermarket, they’re most commonly found as stock on a bike, or OEM. With SRAM SX Eagle you will be using the Shimano HG style freehub body, meaning that this is an easy way to upgrade an older or more entry level bike so you can put the cassette on your existing wheel. Unfortunately, this means you’ll only be able to have the 11-50t range.

Weights:

- SX Eagle Shifter: 129g
- SX Eagle Rear Derailleur: 337g
- SX Eagle Crankset: 694g

Specs:

- 1x Specific, 12-speed drivetrain
- 11-50t cassette range
- HG splined Shimano freehub body
- 3pc crankset (bb not included)

NX EAGLE:

SRAM NX Eagle will be the next full groupset you can get, and it’s a great option to upgrade if you are currently using a 2x or 3x system. NX Eagle will allow you to have 12-speed on your current wheels that might have 2x or 3x systems, as those typically use the Shimano HG style freehub body. That means the SRAM NX Eagle gets the 11-50t cassette range as the next level gets the bump up.

Weights:

- NX Eagle Shifter: 101g
- NX Eagle Rear Derailleur: 337g
- NX Eagle Crankset: 700g
- NX Eagle Cassette: 629g
- NX Eagle Chain: 271g

Total Weight: 2,038g

Specs:

- 1x Specific, 12-speed drivetrain
- 11-50t cassette range
- HG splined Shimano freehub body
- Trigger Shifter, or Single click E-Bike Shifter options
- $375

GX EAGLE:

SRAM GX Eagle is the next level up and what I would consider as the first step into the performance range, meaning GX Eagle gets you that premium performance and quality. GX Eagle is the first level to use the SRAM XD freehub body. If you have the Shimano HG style freehub body and you don’t want to upgrade it, you can always use the NX Eagle cassette with the rest of the GX Eagle components. But if you want the full GX Eagle groupset, you will need the XD driver so that can work. The newest version of SRAM GX Eagle also gets the 10-52t cassette range, or the extended Eagle.

Weights:

- GX Eagle Shifter: 122g
- GX Eagle Rear Derailleur: 300g
- GX Eagle Crankset Alloy: 649g
- GX Eagle Crankset Carbon: 555g
- GX Eagle Cassette: 451g
- GX Eagle Chain: 271g

Total Weight: 1,699g (carbon), 1,793g (alloy)

Specs:

- 1x Specific, 12-speed drivetrain
- 520% range (10-52t Cassette)
- XD Driver specific
- Trigger Shifter, Grip Shift, or Single click E-Bike Shifter options
- Carbon or Alloy Crank Options
- $545

X01 EAGLE:

SRAM X01 Eagle is going to be the premium, top shelf offering for any rider looking for the best performance combined with durability. X01 Eagle is aimed at the aggressive trail or enduro rider looking to get that snappy, precise shifting you love from SRAM while not sacrificing durability. The newest version of SRAM X01 Eagle gets the 10-52t range and can easily match any of the colored cassettes that SRAM offers with its new sleek look.

Weights:

- X01 Eagle Shifter: 117g
- X01 Eagle Rear Derailleur: 285g
- X01 Eagle Crankset: 463g
- X01 Eagle Cassette: 372g
- X01 Eagle Chain: 262g

Total Weight: 1,499g

Specs:

- 1x Specific, 12-speed drivetrain
- 520% range (10-52t Cassette)
- XD Driver specific
- Trigger Shifter, Grip Shift, or Single click E-Bike Shifter options
- Adjustable downshift paddle
- 4 color options for cassette and chains
- $1,275

XX1 EAGLE:

SRAM XX1 Eagle is the option for the cross country racer, weight weenie, or someone just looking to shave any gram possible. While at the same performance level as X01 Eagle, XX1 Eagle gets lots more carbon bits, like a carbon derailleur cage, carbon shift paddle and shifter cover, and the cranks also shave some weight over the X01. The newest XX1 gets a makeover by way of sleek, new graphics to match any colored cassette SRAM offers, as well as the extended 10-52t cassette range.

Weights:

- XX1 Eagle Shifter: 112g
- XX1 Eagle Rear Derailleur: 269g
- XX1 Eagle Crankset: 424g
- XX1 Eagle Cassette: 371g
- XX1 Eagle Chain: 262g

Total Weight: 1,438g

Specs:

AXS EAGLE:

SRAM AXS Eagle blew some minds when it first came out, creating the first truly wireless shifting for the mountain bike market. Offered in both SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS as well as SRAM X01 Eagle AXS, you can get the durable option, or the carbon option. Both follow the same recommended rider as the mechanical counterpart. If you want to just get the wireless AXS shifting for your current SRAM Eagle setup, you can easily just upgrade by getting the SRAM AXS Controller and SRAM AXS Rear Derailleur.

Weights:

- XX1 Eagle AXS Controller: 71g
- XX1 Eagle AXS Rear Derailleur: 350g
- X01 Eagle AXS Controller: 71g
- X01 Eagle AXS Rear Derailleur: 364g

Specs:

- Used on either 10-50t or 10-52t cassettes
- 20-hour battery life
- X01 and XX1 options for xc or trail
- Customizable controller settings
- Sync with SRAM App for details and battery life
- $1000 for upgrade kit (controller, rear derailleur)

Upgrading Options:

Before upgrading within the SRAM Eagle ecosystem, or even changing brands, there are a few things to consider first. I mentioned the use of different freehub bodies, or drivers. So for SRAM XX1, X01, and GX, you need to use a XD driver/freehub body. This is specific to the way the cassette mounts onto the wheel. If you currently have SRAM SX or NX Eagle, you will need to change out the freehub body. If you are going from GX Eagle to XX1 or X01, you won’t need to worry about this.

A big upgrade we see riders looking to do is ditching the mechanical SRAM Eagle and going with the wireless SRAM AXS components. This is pretty easy to do, and you just need the upgrade kit to make that happen. This will come with the SRAM controller and rear derailleur. Once you install these and adjust them, that is pretty much all the work to be done. It’s actually easier to install the SRAM AXS as you don’t need to mess with cables and housing and then adjusting it all with some fine-tuning. The SRAM AXS makes it pretty easy and also requires less maintenance, except, of course, to remember to charge your batteries.

Cross compatibility with SRAM Eagle is pretty good. You can pretty much use any level part with each other, with the exception of the cassettes and that really just matters according to what’s on your wheel. Technically, if you wanted, you could run SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS with a NX Eagle cassette, if that is what your wheel will take. You can pretty much use whatever combination of parts you can think of, as long as you have the right freehub body for your cassette. I often mix and match my parts. I'll go over what I prefer to run below.

Suggestions:

I mentioned mix and matching parts. You might want to do this when upgrading or if you have a more expensive version and break some part and want to grab the more affordable option. That can work, but I want to talk about the version I choose to run on my enduro bike for the best performance to cost. My enduro bike is my go-to bike when traveling (meaning it goes into a bike bag several times a year), and it’s also put through the ringer with shuttle trucks, rock smacks, and let’s face it, crashes that are more likely to occur because bigger bikes mean bigger trouble. Because of that, I want to, of course, have the best performance, but I also don't want to be out $500 if I clip my rear derailleur on a rock. So this is what I mix and match.

I start with the shifter, as that is what you feel the most, and I choose to use the SRAM X01 Eagle shifter. This is because I like the feeling of the more premium shifter, it's more precise and smooth, as well as the downshift paddle is adjustable. Also, by going with X01 and not XX1, you get an alloy shift paddle, which I prefer. Plus ,it is less likely to snap in a crash, or if the bars twist into your leg, you are left with just a bruise and not a broken shifter. I’ll take the bruise to continue riding.

Next, I run the GX Eagle rear derailleur. The GX Eagle provides smooth and quiet shifting, while being affordable to replace when, not if, I smash that guy hanging down near rocks. It sucks to be neighbors with a rock, but that is the job of the rear derailleur, plus bringing a spare with you is also easier when it's a bit cheaper. I always travel with spare rear derailleurs and chains. Speaking of chains, I typically run the SRAM XX1 chain, mostly for looks as they come in colored options and I dig that. For spares I get the SRAM GX Eagle Chains as they shift just as well, weigh only slightly more, but are affordable to keep as an extra in the travel box.

Cassettes, I use X01 or XX1. XX1 if I am trying to match my chain color, but both are going to be a significant weight and shifting improvement over the SRAM GX Eagle. This is because the cassette is machined out of a single block of alloy, instead of being forged cogs and pinned together. To me, the weight and shifting performance is worth the cost in this situation, and if you replace your chain often enough, cassettes last for a long time, even in the event of a crash.

Lastly are cranks, and if I am running SRAM cranks I choose to use SRAM X01 Eagle crankset, not the XX1. While the XX1 are lighter, the XX1 are hollow carbon arms while the X01 are foam filled. What does that mean? Basically the X01 arms are stronger and less likely to have any issues. Again, not something I want when on a trip and just want to rip some fun trails.

So as you can see I run quite a mix of parts, but it's all about the balance of price, performance, and weight. While some parts are more expensive, there are some performance improvements that I choose to take when I can, and then I choose to go cheaper on other areas that I don't notice or are more likely to have issues in a crash.

Biggest differences on the Trail:

If you were to blindfold someone and ask them to try to notice the difference between each level of Eagle, I think they would really only be able to tell the difference of NX Eagle from the rest as the shifter has a different feeling. As far as GX Eagle, X01 Eagle, and XX1 Eagle, it’s pretty hard to notice that difference. You do get a bit of a smoother shift with X01 or XX1, but that is the full combination from the shifter to the chain and cassette interface. If you mix and match parts, it's really hard to notice between the different levels. Durability also gets to a peak, topping out at X01, which is the most durable version of Eagle. It seems like the pivots and machined parts just fit together that much better, and you don’t notice the wear as much as say GX or NX Eagle. But I would say if looking to really get SRAM Eagle while not breaking the bank, SRAM GX Eagle gets my vote. It's a hard system to beat that really kicks most other drivetrains’ ass when you compare price, durability, and weight.

Final Thoughts:

SRAM Eagle is an entire drivetrain ecosystem, as all levels can interact with each other, but there are also five levels to this ecosystem. From SRAM SX Eagle to SRAM XX1 Eagle, there is an option for every rider in every price range. Looking for the most expensive option to flex on your buddies? Look no further than SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS, wireless shifting, with dreamy colors; it's the top shelf option. If you just want to get the best performing SRAM option without taking out a loan, SRAM GX Eagle really is a great choice as price and performance are spot on and I would be fine using this on my personal bikes, day in and day out. First to the 1x game, first to the 12-speed game, SRAM is constantly innovating, which is one of many reasons why we love and choose SRAM Eagle on our bikes.

This article was written / authored by Liam Woods. Liam has been in the bicycle industry for over 10 years as a racer, professional mechanic, service manager and as of late, media and content creator. Liam has ridden thousands of different bikes, ridden countless components, tested endless MTB apparel of all kinds and written reviews on it all. He's a key piece to the Worldwide Cyclery "All Things MTB" content creation puzzle. He also makes consistent appearances on the Worldwide Cyclery YouTube channel and Instagram.

If you're one strange human and would like to read the transcript of the video above, continue reading below!

Have you ever wondered the difference between all of the different sram eagle drivetrain variants? SX, NX, GX, X01, XX1 and the electronic AXS stuff? Well we spent an embarrassingly long amount of time dissecting every single difference between all of these things: weights, price points, features, everything. And in this video, we're going to explain all of it.

So right off the bat here, let's talk about the hierarchy. In case you don't already know which ones of these drive trains is the least expensive and which one is the most expensive and so on, the least expensive side of the table is sx eagle and this barely squeaked into the video and here's why: it's not technically like an after-market drivetrain they do sell some parts of it aftermarket but it's mostly what's considered oe original equipment meaning it comes on complete built bikes that you were to you know buy in a store or buy online. They don't sell all the individual pieces aftermarket as of now and they don't really actually sell a five piece groupo so we don't have a price for the five piece groupo for sx. To move up the ladder, NX - so when we're talking about a five piece groupo that gets you a crank with a chainring, a rear derailleur, shifter, cassette, and chain. NX comes in at 380 dollars, GX with alloy cranks 545 dollars, GX with carbon cranks 685 dollars, X01 $1285, XX1 $1500, X01 AXS $1900, and XX1 AXS $2000.

So now that you know what the hierarchy is, what do you actually get when you go from a 380 dollar five-piece groupo to a $2,000 five-piece groupo? There are a number of things and there's a few important ones. Later in the video we're gonna break this all out on a table so you can visually see every single price of each component and the weight that correlates with it and there's actually some surprising differences so stick around for that because it's actually pretty interesting. But a couple of important things to talk about right off the bat: NX, the cassette on that is an 11 to 50 and it works with the traditional hg shimano style freehub body that is a bit different than the rest of these kits because once you get to GX and above those cassettes are 10 tooth for the small cog and they go up to 50 or 52 tooth and they use sram's proprietary XD freehub body which is readily available on almost all higher and mid-level to high-end wheels these days so that's an important thing there. So a lot of people are upgrading to these drivetrains aftermarket and depending what freehub body you have on your bike now that's a big factor when deciding what fits your bike so keep that in mind and do pay attention to that little research. The other thing is like there's huge cross compatibility between all of this stuff. So something we see very commonly if you have a bike that has a shimano style hd freehub body you can use the nx cassette and then you can pair it with basically any gx x01 or xx1 parts as well and that all meshes together. There's a ton of cross compatibility between all the Eagle stuff so freehub bodies on the cassettes are really important.

What do you get when you bump up from nx to gx? Well, like most things in the mountain bike world as you spend more money things get made out of nicer materials and therefore they often get lighter and sometimes lighter and stronger simultaneously and weight is a is a pretty big factor on mountain bikes of course because you want the thing to be light you're pedaling it yourself so that matters a lot. GX now has just seen a recent revision in 2020 with a like total revamp of all of the components most notably the cranks they now offer them in aluminum and carbon it used to just be aluminum and frankly the kit looks so much better and for $545 for the alloy cranks and then $685 for the five piece groupo with carbon cranks it is a huge steal huge value and it's probably the most common variant right if you look at how many general mountain bikers are out there that have bikes that are sort of in that you know 2000 to five thousand dollar price point gx is gonna be an amazing drivetrain for those bikes that's reliable and like just has the most value hands down in terms of performance for the dollar. As you move upwards, what are you getting? X01 you know is extremely similar to xx1. I guess the classification was supposedly it was more enduro trail focused so the cranks are a little bit heavier and a little bit more robust and the derailleur has an aluminum cage versus a carbon cage which is 15 grams difference in weight but that's about it otherwise they're they're very similar and again you can mix and match all of this stuff right here so keep that in mind. As you get to xx1 it's more intended for cross-country so it's even lighter like I mentioned with that carbon derailleur cage. And then of course AXS right so AXS is fully electronic they only make one it's not called a shifter it's called a controller and that pairs with either the X01 or XX1 AXS rear derailleur. Yeah super super killer kit we made a whole video about AXS when it came out they also make a rockshox reverb AXS to pair it all together so you have no cables on your bike super impressive stuff. But when it comes to how do these things differ in terms of feel right so you see price you see weight how does that actually translate to when you're riding it? Because frankly there's really not like any major features I can give you guys, all of these derailleurs feature sram's clutch to kind of keep the chain quiet and stable. I talked about the freehub bodies in the cassette range so that's a little bit of a feature when you're going from sx,nx and then gx up. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story and i need all of you to stop what you're doing and listen oh real quick i actually did forget about a few tiny but somewhat important features that you might want to know uh the sx cranks are three piece meaning that they don't have an attached dub spindle that's a much cheaper and more old-school design that's much heavier and inferior in terms of stiffness and durability and everything like that nx and above does have two-piece dub cranks which is a pretty big difference. SX also does not have a matchmaker compatible shifter so you can't run a clamp that'll perfectly mate this to your sram brake lever. SX doesn't have the little rolly wheel so your cable has to stick out and wrap around it's just not as good of cable routing things like that the x01 and xx1 shifters actually have the paddle you can adjust the angle that it sits so if you wanted it a little further up or a little further down you can do that and it also allows you to remove that and put on a cool little upgrade like a pnw shifty which you can see here. What does it actually translate to otherwise? Are there any major features? Well I would say it's not really a quote-unquote feature but it's about the feel right? I mean when things are made out of higher quality, higher quality materials and the machining tolerances are tighter the feel of these things the feel in that shifter the feel of when that chain actually moves over um the crispiness the sound all of that it just feels much more high quality as you go this direction and that's not to say that you know sx and nx don't shift well. All of these shift amazing, I think drive trains for probably close to a decade now have shifted flawlessly and you know as long as you're not improperly shifting under load but even then these things still shift really well so shifting as long as it's adjusted perfectly is going to be great but the feel of that shifter the sound of that derailleur or the sound of that chain on the cassette those things definitely make a huge difference and again it's not like a quantifiable difference but it's a qualitative difference you can feel it if you were to hop on a bike even blindfolded really.

You could pretty quickly tell like oh yeah the feel and the sound of sx and nx versus x01 especially AXS right because that's where the feel really changes because you're pushing a button on a controller and it's just moving electronically which is amazing so that's kind of what I like to explain to people i mean again if you're really going like on a budget sx and nx if you want like just absolute value gx is incredible if you want creme de la creme the nicest stuff the fanciest stuff of course you can go AXS or X01 and XX1 for the most ultra lightweight stuff that just looks absolutely incredible. So now let's jump into the table and look at all of the weights and prices next to each other and go over some of the insights from that.

Alright keep in mind that all of these weights are from our own scale and not the quote unquote claimed weight which can sometimes be misleading. In the video description below the blog article that accompanies this video, we have photos of how we weighed all these individual components so if you're really curious on the weights and how we weigh things check that out. So there is an asterisk on the sx cranks because like I mentioned earlier those are three piece cranks which totally throws off how you weigh them versus all the other cranks. Here are two piece cranks which have the spindle attached to the crank arm so kind of a different thing for how you weigh those things. SX cranks are vastly heavier once you factor in the bottom bracket which has a totally different type of spindle so some really notable things when you look at this table. The gx carbon cranks are only $140 more and they're 94 grams lighter but remember it's not just weight here, carbon cranks have a much nicer and stiffer feel to them. There are big changes in price from gx to x01 - 740 dollars more for the x01 five piece kit versus the gx kit with alloy cranks. The x01 group is 294 grams lighter so that is where you're seeing the really big gap here in terms of price and weight. How big that gap is and if it's worth it it's frankly up to you. The x01 cranks are 39 grams heavier than xx1 - again the idea with x01 is to be a little bit more durable and enduroy and xx1 being a little bit more cross-country and weight focused. That goes into the other components as well. When you compare these two, the x01 shifter is 5 grams heavier because the xx1 has a carbon lever blade - the x01 derailleur is 16 grams heavier because of the carbon outer cage and that's only on the xx1 derailleur so xx1 ends up being 61 grams lighter for the kit and 215 dollars more expensive. 215 dollars, 61 grams damn it can be expensive being a weight weenie. Looking over at AXS - the AXS kits use all the same components for xx1 and x01 aside from the shifter and derailleur of course the electronic versions of the shifter and derailleur are actually heavier than their mechanical counterparts but do factor in with the electronic stuff you don't have a derailleur cable or cable housing and you kind of simplify your drivetrain in a sense and it's just a vastly different experience having an electronic drivetrain versus a mechanical one. You have a lot of different stuff in terms of all the data being tracked by an app of your shift points you can choose if you want the up shift or downshift click on the lever to actually upshift or downshift so a lot of different stuff that goes along with AXS. We have a whole video on AXS specifically so if you're really interested in how the electronic drivetrain is different from the mechanical stuff check out that video.

Well I genuinely hope that this video helped you out. Obviously mountain bike components of all kinds can be super confusing and if you're looking to upgrade your drive train or even just understand what's on your current bike it can be complex and the mountain bike world is full of tons of stuff. I hope this video helped you guys out and made you understand what's going on if you have any questions regarding all this stuff feel free to always contact us we're bike shop nerds and talk about this stuff all day and eat, sleep and breathe bicycles. We also made a video just like this for shimano drivetrains if you're interested in that. To sum it up, SRAM eagle is amazing. I mean we made this video before and this is a revised version of it since gx has a huge revision, AXS has come out and so has sx. Sram and shimano really lead the game in the mountain bike world, my personal preference is sram, I love the company, I love their components I love everything they do so super super stoked on what's going on here with the eagle stuff and that's about it. If you've watched it this long thank you so much you're really into this and hit that subscribe button see you guys in the next one.