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X01 Eagle Shifter & Derailleur w/ XX1 AXS Cassette: 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.

Sometimes the parts you have just don't cut it. Our customer Nam was tired of his old drivetrain setup and upgrading big time, going full X01 Eagle paired with a fancy rainbow AXS cassette. This took his already sweet YT to a whole new level! Check out his review to hear more about his new SRAM Eagle drivetrain.

Overview

Having had my YT Jeffsy CF Pro Race for a few months now, I have come to learn that the Shimano/Ethirteen drivetrain was my least favorite bit on this bike. It never shifted perfectly or crisp no matter how perfect the adjustments were. And not to mention the weird backpedal chain drop issues it had. Needless to say, it was time for me to experiment. Coming from riding bikes with Shimano my whole life, I figured it was time to try out SRAM’s Eagle Drivetrain.

I ordered the SRAM XO1 Eagle Shifter, Rear Derailleur, and XX1 Cassette in the rainbow finish of course. This was part of my order, the rest was ordered later on, but to finish the drivetrain, I went with the SRAM XX1 Rainbow Chain as well to match the Cassette.

First Impressions

Shifter and Rear Derailleur seemed to weigh just as little as the Shimano XTR. One thing that threw me off was how big the derailleur was, but I’m sure that's due to how much it has to move with that huge range of gears. The XX1 Eagle AXS cassette, on the other hand, is out of this world. The rainbow finish is gorgeous and the 50T cog is probably the size of a dinner plate. The chain is extremely light and obviously, very colorful.

Installation and Adjustments

Install was very straight forward, the cassette was simple to install, shifter and rear derailleur went on smoothly just like any other. This was my first time adjusting my own derailleur and after watching your guys’ video, and SRAM’s video, the adjustment was a breeze. Very simple. Everything shifter precisely and very crisp to the touch. The included B tension gap tool was really useful. I feel like having that plays a big part in making this drivetrain shift well. The derailleur moving through all those gears really has to work moving from the massive 50T cog to the small 10T cog. The shifter has a very nice crisp shift whenever you hit the levers and the wide range of the cassette is really versatile for all conditions and terrains. The look of the rainbow cassette and chain really makes the bike pop!

First Ride

100% in love with SRAM Eagle. I was extremely impressed with how this drivetrain handled. On long steep climbs, it made the bike feel easier to pedal. Shifting through the gears was a breeze. I never missed or dropped and handled hard shifts really well! I no longer have to deal with those weird annoying issues the Ethirteen Cassette was giving me. Feels like SRAM really perfected this lineup and I really couldn’t find any issues with this setup. I will most likely start putting SRAM Eagle on all my bikes from now on! Most solid drivetrain I have ever ridden!