SRAM X01 Eagle AXS Upgrade Kit [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

SRAM's AXS ecosystem is comprised of some of the most revolutionary components we've ever seen in the mountain bike industry, and their upgrade kits make it more affordable to attain high levels of performance. Our friend Nick has been putting the X01 AXS kit through its paces and has been loving it. Read on for more!

Overview

I waited for a little over 4 months before I put together a review for the X01 AXS Upgrade Kit. Well, after hundreds of miles across 3 states, a couple of races, and lots of smiles and PRs on the trail, I feel pretty confident in reviewing this kit. Short and to the point: It’s really expensive, and it’s really, really awesome. Is it worth it? It absolutely has been for me.

Set up is stupid easy, even when not using SRAM cassettes. It actually takes longer to take off the old parts than do the install. Not measuring cable and housing is AMAZING. I had some issues getting my cassette (a Garbunk 10-50) to play nice across the entire drivetrain, but after the chain settled in, shifting has been perfect, so I’m willing to say it might have been more connected to chain/cassette and not the derailleur/shifter.

Shifting is always the same - no matter in the Utah dust, PNW muck, mile 1 or mile 30. Nice to know when you tap the shifter, it's going to do what you want.

I like using the app to set up shifts when you hold the buttons, and I’ve gotten along really well with the standard buttons. Once you reprogram your brain, you won’t think about the ‘how’ to shift and it will just happen. Shifting speed is fine for me. It might be slower than fancy, new mechanical (XTR) set up, but I’m willing to bet once some cable stretch and grime get into the system, the difference is nothing. I feel going from low to high (and reverse) across the cassette is faster on AXS because you can simply hold the button, rather than click 3 times, and then repeat as needed on a mechanical setup.

The battery life is unbelievable. I don’t even track how many hours I’ve used before recharging anymore. I ride almost every day and go weeks without charges. I do recharge or switch to a fresh battery before a big ride/race, but that’s more for peace of mind than anything.

It's fun. If we are honest, bikes are just big toys, and anything that adds fun is great. As a guy who loves tech stuff, AXS absolutely has added to my fun.

It's solid. Having an expensive derailleur hanging out there was in my mind for the first few weeks. Now with some months under my belt, and rocky trails and a few bad crashes, everything is still shifting like day 1. I don’t worry about narrow sections of trail anymore, I just point and shoot down the trail!

Negatives - Nothing is perfect, and AXS is no exception. With that said, I think the negatives are fairly minor. You gotta remember a battery - I have yet to forget a battery before a ride, but I’ve just added it to my pre-ride checklist to check the battery (and charge). It's not as customizable as it could be, and this is actually my biggest gripe. Since the whole system is electronic, I would LOVE if SRAM would allow users more ability to customize the system. One place where I see this is with the ‘micro adjust’ in the app (which is compared to barrel adjustments on a standard system) Currently, this adjustment impacts the whole system, but it would be sweet if you could adjust each gear in the cassette individually. This might help with setups of non-SRAM cassettes and the like.

Another example would be to allow the system to act as a 9, 10, 11-speed system by flipping a setting in the app. For those of us who love bikes as ‘adult Lego’ this could really open up some doors, especially with the cheaper GX AXS out there now. SRAM: If this was a supported option, I’d be saving up for a GX kit RIGHT NOW. I don’t have high hopes for any of this, but I think about it often.

Final Thoughts:

$800 is a lot of money for sure. Pre-COVID supply crisis you could get a decent backup hardtail for that amount of cash to play with, or any other number of upgrades instead. I can’t still tell you if it's worth it to you. But I’m absolutely sold on the AXS system. Knowing what I know now, I’d still buy it—if anything, I wouldn’t wait as long as I did. I don’t NEED AXS, but I love it. I’m glad it's on my bike!