SRAM GX Eagle Groupset [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 Eagle Drivetrain has taken over the bicycle world by offering one of the highest ranges in a 1x option. At first only higher end versions were available but after some time, a more affordable GX version was introduced and it seems as though everyone jumped ship immediately. Our buddy Jason recently put a GX Eagle kit on his YT Capra. Let's see what he thought:

Jason's Review

I’ve been a Shimano fanboy for over a decade, adorning my rigs with XT & XTR bling bling. A friend once summed it up well, “Shimano feels like it’s made in Japan and SRAM feels like it’s made in China.” I agreed and repeated the mantra over and over to myself chanting, “the shifting is smoother, the shifting is smoother” as my pals spun up the hill in their Eagle gear while I suffered my 11-40 XTR cassette. Then along came 12-speed XT on my new Yeti and I was in MTB shifting Heaven! Until I wasn’t. Three derailleurs and two cassettes later I decided to branch out to something tougher when building up an aluminum Capra 29 rock smashing rig.

I had borrowed a new GX shifter and derailleur to salvage a ride on my Yeti when one of said XT derailleurs was on the fritz after I sneezed in its general direction and, low and behold when I hit the button it went click and I got a new gear to pedal, genius! This opened my eyes to the notion that there is a lot of good gear out there. It’s a great time to be alive and ride MTBs (if you can get one, #2020) because of this!

Thus, when it came time to build up my big 29r and I saw this new GX kit was available for about half the price of XT parts, I said to myself, “Hey self, go ahead and get that orange factory Fox 38 for this thing with all the money you’re about to save on the drive train.” I’m really glad I did! After two back to back rides down the Whole Enchilada and several runs up and down the Santa Cruz hills all I can say is I don’t even notice the difference. I’m too focused on enjoying the great suspension and brakes that I could afford by buying a value-priced drive train

Therein lies the epiphany: Mountain bikes are great because of the amazing combination of geometry, suspension, braking, and traction. I’m fat and so is my bike, so I don’t care if the drive train shaves a few grams with carbon this or that. For the vast majority of us, that pedal uphill to earn our turns, winching up the hill is something we do to burn off the beer and pay for the adrenalin on the way down. The new SRAM GX accomplishes that task with aplomb. Install and setup is a breeze with the included b-screw adjustment template and the SRAM tension stop for tire removal/chain installation should immediately be copied by anyone who dares to make a derailleur.

Conclusion

Finally, 520% reduction is really nice when you’re tired or want to see just how slow you can ride a wheelie, the dark grey aluminum is sexy and looks even better with rock scars, and when I eventually destroy it in a culmination of kinetic energy, hard surfaces, and lack of talent, it’s cheap to replace and available almost anywhere. What more do you want? Buy it, ride it like you stole it, repeat!