SRAM GX Eagle 12-Speed Groupset [Rider Review]

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SRAM is one of the biggest companies when it comes to drivetrains. Our friend, Dan, got his hands SRAM's GX 12spd Drivetrain. Now he's conquering every climb. Check it out!

Overview

The first time I went mountain biking in Utah my brother took me up a “puke hill” in Park City. Not being used to the elevation and not being in the greatest of shape it… sucked, but I was able to pedal my way up. I was on a Trek rental with a 12-speed eagle. This year during quarantine I drove out to Utah, this time with my steed in tow: A 2017 Lapierre Spicy 327 w/ a Sram Gx 11 speed. Again, my brother took me to puke hill and this time I did not stand a chance and found myself in the hike a bike line on the way up. I thought I was fitter this time around(maybe? Maybe not?), but I definitely blamed my 4-year-old 11-speed drivetrain :)

I didn’t like not being able to pedal up puke hill, so I immediately started looking into upgrading my drivetrain to a 12 speed and heard great things about the new SRAM gx 520%. I had heard from folks that it was an incredible value for the money. I’m someone who would much rather buy stuff that gives you a great bang for your buck than always getting the top of the line gear. Luckily my bike already had the XD driver body on it, so I was able to swap out the old 11 speed 10x42 with the brand new 12 speed 10x52 cassette. I also confirmed I was able to use my existing front chainring, so all I needed from WWC was the cassette, the derailleur, the shifter, and a new chain.

I ordered these parts from WWC along with a chain whip and a SRAM lockring tool and got to work! I am pretty new to doing repairs on my bike myself, but this was pretty easy. Sram provides videos on YouTube walking you through the whole process. Swapping out the cassette was a no brainer, just had to remove the old cassette and put the new one on, no adjustments necessary. The derailleur and shifter were easy to swap out, but required a little bit of fine-tuning that the Sram YouTube videos guide you through, like setting up the barrel adjuster and the limit screws. Sram also includes a tool to make adjusting the b gap screw much easier.

Additionally, my ride was smoother and my shifting was snappier thanks to a new cassette, chain, and derailleur.

Once I got everything dialed in it was time to take my new steed out on the trail! Unfortunately, I was back in California and couldn’t try her out on puke hill but I took her out to skeggs and was able to comfortably get up the steeps without getting out of the saddle.

Final Thoughts

In the end, this was a simple, and relatively inexpensive way to take my 2017 bike into 2020. I had been debating getting a new bike so that I could have a 12speed, but then was relieved that I could do this upgrade without having to get a whole new bike.