My bike came with full SX and I could never make it shift just right. I'm convinced that the whole derailleur had just way too much play. Then the main cage joint developed play, nullifying the limit screw settings, which even caused the chain to jump off from the 50t into the spokes. I recently upgraded the derailleur and shifter to the new lunar GX and installed a X01 chain. The difference in shifting precision is absolutely staggering.
My bike came with the PowerSpline version of the SX. I used it for 4000 kms without problems until the rear derailleur bent. Considering it is a cheap grupo I was pretty satisfied with it. After that I decided to upgrade to a GX 2021 shifter and rear derailleur as well as for a NX dub cranckset. Now everything works super crisp!
My bike came with powerspline too, can i ask if it's normal that the left side (left arm) doesn't have spacers? for the big space it has between the frame and the arm, it get's really dirty inside...
Had the older sram 11 speed sx with the powerspline and bike worked great for 5 years consistent riding about 3-4000 miles before the powerspline was worse for wear and tear but still continued to ride for about 2-300 miles considering getting a full new updated sram group set when more things start to go on it however this video has made me consider mixing and matching components, something I previously didn’t know thank you
Great review as usual! On my X01/GX mixed drivetrain on my Chameleon, I recently replaced the GX chain with an X01 chain (because of the same article you read) and my chain falling off the 50T cog while back pedaling issue has vanished.... no other changes. 3 years with GX chains, I could not get 1 full revolution without it dropping, and now I can back pedal all day. The X01 chain is far more laterally compliant than the GX chain and I can only guess that is the reason why?? Whatever it is, it's awesome!
I would use most of the SX parts except the derailleur and shifter, these parts i would actually choose GX or XO1 Edit: and probably some gold kmc12s chain for le bling
Great video, thank you very much. I have a new / mid 2020 RSD Middle Child that came with SX group... with minimal ride time over the course of ~8 months, the rear derailleur broke. Searching now for the upgrade to improve durability while limiting the need for other changes. Thanks again, very helpful!
@@Diego-oy6en If you can go to GX that would be better, but given that SRAM has modified the RD for 2021 model year hopefully that would resolve the issues that plagued the current -old SX RD.
Thanks for the detailed info. I want to get my wife a fairly cheap MTB that comes with the SX drivetrain. My new bike has a GX group, which has been great. My thought was to get the GX AXS upgrade for my bike and put the GX derailleur and shifter on hers. Based on your video, it seems like this should work.
I've heard nothing but bad things about SX, much better option is to go for Deore I think. Surprised to hear about the chains though. I thought more expensive chains were just lighter with hollow pins and links etc. I only use KMC SL and Shimano Hg901 chains and they do seem to last a long time.
My bike came with the dub SX crank and the rest are Shimano RD and Shifter. This is my first Sram and I won’t be upgrading since I really think that this SX crank is good enough for my need however I did replaced the chainring to aluminum and that’s about it. Thanks for your review on this SX dub crank. Keep up the good work
Nice video and good comments, I can add one piece of experience with the SX derailleur. It is not very durable a small branch got caught up and ripped it off my bike. The piece where it bolts to the hanger is plastic and broke even before bending the hanger which is designed to be the weak point. Replaced it with NX as that piece is metal on the NX, no issues since.
I had 2021 SX on my Focus Thron2...the deraileur was junk...it skipped from the small cog and snapped the Sram SX chain twice. I binned it and now run XX1 shifter and deraileur and a KMC chain and its smooth as butter.
The Scott si a great bike but I prefer the ones that comes with Shimano groupsets for 2 reasons: Shimano is cheaper and have better support and availability of pieces here in my 3rd world country (Colombia). Here Sram is ridiculously expensive. I didnt expect that when I bought the bike. Now the Scale 980 2021 version comes with Deore 1x12 and the 970 keeps the SX. The Only upgrade of the 970 versus the 980 is the Rock Shox air suspension fork. I strongly recommend the Deore groupset over the SX. Also the Deore comes with a better cassette range (10-51 vs 11-50 for the SX). Do we need more? I don't think so.
Very useful video, I wish I've seen this earlier. But this is exactly what I've made with my stock SX groupset, I've changed to NX derailleur and shifter. I wish I've studied more before starting and I didn't know that the cassette will work fine for GX derailleur as well. If I knew I would change to GX right from the start. SX derailleur is 100% plastic garbage just for one season to understand basics of 1x12 system. Wish everyone a good trails!
My 2022 Trek Marlin 8 came with the new revised SX Rear Deraulier. It and the shifter had major issues. Ended up just replacing the SX Rear Derauiler and shifter with GX Eagle.
Kinks in your cable... Yes! I had shifting problems with my GX derailleur. It turns out there was a kink in the cable inside the twist shifter where I could not see it. Cable was factory installed in the twist shifter, but maybe was kinked due to my installation? Once I got that sorted out, the shifting just fell into place! I used that same shimano cable housing, really good stuff.
Thanks for this. I'm buying a Scott Strike 930 and it has the SX/NX level SRAM kit. It is a lesser expensive eMTB, so later, if I get serious, I now know what is going to be necessary to change to.
Thanks for the great videos as always. Last year I bought xt 12 speed based off your recommendation and as it was a great group set a tiny bit smoother at shifting then the competition I’m going back to gx eagle as I prefer the shifter ergonomics, completely subjective it feels better quality and I like going from 42 to 50 tooth for a bail out gear. Reason I like the spacing better as I know when I’m in the easiest gear. I feel like shimano sneaks up on me and wanting more gear range because of it. At the end of the day amazing group sets. Also one thing I noticed is comparing xt and gx on a hard tail I don’t feel one shifts better then the next but noticeable on a full squish. Thanks again for sharing your experience with different group sets. I also noticed a lot of long term comment on shimano 12 speed are negative I can’t comment as I only have a season on shimano but price wise there killing it.
I have a full XX1 Eagle for arround 5000 miles. I used 2 XX1 chains and then i had to change the chain again. I was afraid that the cassette would not accept the new chain so i bought a cheaper NX chain. The good news is that the cassette accepted the chain. The bad news is that the NX chain is a piece of crap. It gains rust like nothing i have ever seen. I will try to do 1000 miles with that and then buy a new XX1 cassette and chain.
Always remember to anyone who’s been in the mtb scene for a while then being picky with parts is normal and needed, but if your a newbie like me anything better than what you can get for 400$ on offer up lol, then lower end stuff experienced guys don’t like will be a big plus to noobs haha great vid
I guess im asking randomly but does any of you know of a method to get back into an instagram account?? I somehow forgot the account password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me!
@Tadeo Keith I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im trying it out now. Seems to take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
Using this group on an Scott Scale 970 2021 (default groupset in 2021 model ), I live in Brazil and a lot of my trails here has dirt, big elvations and bad terrain... for sure, this group is fine for me... I used it in trails with about 50Km 70Km 3~4 hours of outdoor, last week I just ran about 200Km with this group and no issues found since I bought this in October 2020, I just go to the bike shop once to configure the rear derailleur that lost configuration in a couple of center up-down kogs. for 2021 maybe I will join an GX but for sure this SX is very good in my opinion... already get rain and a lot of mud in this no issues found... again I live in a tropical country so... the only thing I've done is keep it lub and clean after a big week of trainnings. Kr,
acho que a tua bike veio com SX 2021, peguei uma sense imp sl 2020 com sx e incomodou bastante ja, mecanico ja fez 4 regulagens, e a ultima vez foi uma desmontagem total e revisao geral do cambio, bike deve ta com 1500km.. pego muito estradao, qdo for fazer o up com GX pega o 2021+ não desrregula nunca mais..
@@ademirgoodjunior3371 opa era o modelo 2021 mesmo ! hoje ele ja foi substituido, um amigo se interessou pelo desempenho do SX e foi comprado por ele, rodando hoje proximo as 3k KM se comporta muito bem... porem hoje estou em um XX1 Gold, quanto a regulagem, tanto no SX quanto no XX1 não tive problemas, o grande diferencial que eu sinto hoje é a possibilidade de trocar de marcha pedalando em pé e nao sentir nada.... o gatilho do XX1 tem uma resposta absurdamente superior, plastico vs carbono... n tem muito o que discutir rs... vai ser substituido por um GX Axs em 2022... na proxima magrela.. boas pedaladas ! abs !
@@gabrielcalegari4717 que sonho meu, não tive oportunidade de testar o X01 nem o XX1, mas deve ser show poder mudar marcha sem aliviar o pedal. o GX eu ja arrisco as vezes, mas não facilito muito, valeu... tmj
I installed an sx groupset on my 2019 trek marlin 5. I had to replace the rear wheel but I got a deal on an Inine build and it sounds awesome. The groupset cost $325 cad and was a game changer. It works perfectly, crisp clean shifting, dead silent and it got my bike down to 28lbs. I've upgraded everything but the brakes, that still stop me on a dime.
Fabulous video! I have a 2021 Stumpjumper alloy, while the bike is great for my relatively gentle riding, the sx is a definite weak link in bike. Despite having it adjusted it shifts sluggish and not with snappy reliability of other bikes I've ridden. The local bike mechanic didn't think that the GX would make much a difference but videos like this make me think the upgrade might be worthwhile.
Not sure what component of the drive train your local bike mechanic is referring to but switching out your SX derailleur and shifter to GX and above makes a world of a difference. I have the same SX grupo and had shifting issues within the first 100 miles. After a couple trips to LBS for adjustments I ended up swapping out to X01 shifter and derailleur along with XX1 gold chain for bling and longevity but still using SX cassette and crankset and couldn't be any happier.
@@beejaysaenz3035 Thank you for additional information that will help me make a decision to upgrade from SX. I had specifically asked my LBS about swapping the SX derailleur for the GX--- they said it's not worth it and wouldn't see a difference. But clearly I'm reading plenty of evidence that it will. I'm thinking some bike mechanics, while good at fixing things, aren't so good at discerning the actual on trail differences in component performance. So yeah the SX isn't bad but it's slow and a bit sloppy compared to other bikes I've ridden. I like your idea with the XX1 gold chain also! Thank you!
Great video. Good info. I have the SX groupo on my $500 MTB. I did have to straighten the derailure. No issues except rear hub is this old style with 2 pawls for engagement so that large pie plate cassette has a lot of slack in the low gear before engagement. These huge cassettes need the new hubs with at least double the engagement or more. Wheels maybe my first upgrade. Obviously I don’t ride wicked trails with this MTB. I have 120 acres hay meadow I ride around for exercise when not on my $8000 road bike🙄. When it breaks I’ll know what too upgrade with. Thanks.
I had really bad experience with SX, I dnt do trails, just off road,at first it shifts ok, then starts to be noisy, then starts to shift ok again, then ghost gear changes, nightmare, the screws in the shifter just fell off, u cannot replace that type of screw, so i needed to wrap it with tape, I bought another bike with new GX 2021, and it doesnt even seen the same brand, shifts perfectly, already put more than a thousand km on it and it doesnt need to adjust... For my bike with sx I will do exactly what u did...
I had good luck with SX but my early NX had 3 pulley wheel failures, it fell out of the bike... SRAM eventually replaced it with GX and that GX lasted a few thousand miles until I sold the bike. The bike with SX had non drivetrain issues but SX ran great
@@LoveMTB when riding suddenly I felt a bang/pop from drivetrain. The upper jockey wheel was damaged, bent to the side severely on the first one. Second NX derailleur failed after just a few hours riding again but it totally fell out. Luckily I could pedal the bike in the 50T. With the cage lock and just one pulley. I got good at this. Third time again it fell out all the way. SRAM finally sent a GX. The next season I had a winter bike with SX it worked great.
A lot of info in this video , thanks!! Questions if you change derailleur to GX do you need to change cable as well ? Or does it work with the shifter and cable?
I did the same things you said in your review! I changed rear derailleur, shifter and chain with GX group, I only kept the cassette (cause my rear hub was a Shimano with the old freebody...) Good review as usual, thubs up! Cheers!
I did the same on the day when I received my Commencal 2020 which came with NX. I replaced the "rear derailleur, shifter and chain with GX group, I only kept the cassette (cause my rear hub was a Shimano with the old freebody...)." 2 years later and I am still very happy with the performance. And because of all of the mentioned reviews, my latest new chain is a Eagle X01.
recently bought a Trek Marlin 8 with the SX groupset, took the bike into the bike shop for its 1 month tune-up and on the notes, the bike mechanic wrote that the chain was at 50% wear, This is in 600km of riding, pretty poor life! and i look after my drive train, lubed fairly regularly.
@lucasvermet67 I've got a fabric chainstay guard so paint damage isn't an issue, as for the chain snapping, I frequently check the chain wear with a gauge, so it's unlikely it will just out of the blue snap. Still, I think I will upgrade to NX or gx derailleur (or maybe switch to shimano) as soon as it's an issue, but so far it's been smooth sailing.
@lucasvermet67 ok, right now I've sort of spent a bit more money than I should have on that x01 shifter and other things, but I'll swap my derailleur once I have the budget, I think you ride a bit harder than me. Maybe I'll get a Shimano derailleur, because I've learned from this channel that it'll work with a sram shifter, and a deore derailleur is a lot less than an NX, but is apparently actually made for mtb.
@@LoveMTB haha, hmm the SunRace cassette looks like Shimano, nice! I didn’t notice the wheels, but now i can see that you changed from Schwalbe to Bontrager at the back. Easter eggs in videos? I like that!
Seems like I am one of the “happy” SX users. My only annoyance is the derailleur that features no clutch, but shortening the chain by 2 links or shifting to a bigger cog on downhill sections helps a lot to avoid the cage slapping around due to the chain it has to hold. It seems like you didn’t mention it in the video, but the SX cassette is 100gr heavier than the NX. My NX PG1230 was 614gr and my SX PG1210 was 709gr. I’m waiting for my SX cassette to wear out to upgrade to the Sunrace CSMZ903, but availability in Europe isn’t great. A lot of online shops are out of stock with the 903, some still have the MZ90. But the 90 is heavy and still has the 8 tooth jump between the 42 and 50, which the 903 doesn’t have due to the Shimano jumps between gear (51,45)
I had the nx 12 speed groupset on my scott 900 elite(2020 scale 940 but in silver) and the whole bike was only 1300€, but the weight of the groupset and the rest of the components did not complement the xmf scale frame. Sx is probably as heavy because of the cassette.
On the trails of Niagara, I've seen riders snap their SX rear mech from use. It cannot handle constant fast shifting through rain and mud on a trail..dozens of guys have upgraded the chain and rear mech to NX and GX. Without issues in performance.
My SX grupset lasted 1year and 4 months of heavy XC traning and racing, i replaced the shifter and derailleur with Shimano SLX and replaced the power spline SX Crank with Deore. Sram Cassette and chain still have life left, but when they wear out ill be replacing them for shimano Deore. Overall i enjoyed the Sram gruopset, its a shame that it doesnt last longer. If the new derailleur last long it could be a better option as a entre level groupset but i think Deore still has better reliability.
@@edgarstudillo5649 sorry for the 21 questions I literally just ordered hope wheels and shimano deore 12 speed today is the bottom bracket any good it’s basically the final piece of my puzzle i just dont want to order the wrong size
the sram dub crank was a major reason why i went w shimano... the 54nm torque is ridiculous and the 29mm spindle limits bb compatibility... i also dont like how they marketed 12 sp as 'eagle'
Great Video. I can't stand my SX. Ive had it on my last two bikes and will be my next upgrade. A very temperamental device to say the least. This will get replaced before my charger 2.1 upgrade. That's how much I hate the SX....
Upgraded the SX SHIFTER and derailleur to NX. Positive difference. Would you recommend getting the NX (steel ring) or GX (aluminum) crankset.....or keep the SX cranks and just upgrade the brackett to BB hub? I ride easy medium bike parks on Trek Roscoe 7 hard tail.
My bike came with GX and within the first month my derailer wouldn't shift properly. Absolute junk, all the pins were bent to crap and I hadn't even dropped the bike on the rear mech. Replaced it with an SLX derailleur only to find that the pull ratios were different. Once I got a matching XT shifter it's been working awesome ever since. I personally try to stay away from sram but some of their stuff is still decent.
I just ordered a gx derailleur on my rockhopper expert with sx groupset should I go for xx1 derailleur and do you suggest I put ceramic bearing wheels in it?
The SX derailleur was terrible. Mine lasted less than a week before it went into the spokes. I replaced with Advent 9 speed parts and it works way better. I will sell the shifter and the cassette and probably never buy Sram again. Unfortunately the bike has the powerspline crankset so that will also be replaced when supply is better. Live and learn!
Great video, super informative. Believe i'm having issues with my SX derailleur and am leaning towards upgrading. One question though, how would one specifically diagnose the derailleur as the issue compared to other components in the drive train? More specifically, under tension and when backpedaling on the 11th gear, it will skip and readjust to the 12th gear. This has caused a near pants-shitting moment when I was pedaling hard when it skipped, almost causing me to lose control. I took it to a bike shop for basic tune up, chain replacement, and derailleur hanger replacement, but issue is still there.
Did you ever upgrade your sx derailleur? I have the sx on my Stumpjumper and I'm thinking of going to the GX or even x01. I just find that the sx comes out adjustment easily and does not shift quick and snappy. 1 shop told me that GX wouldn't be noticeably better but I'm interested in hearing other opinions. Thanks
@@justinhorsley1978 hey great to hear and thank you. Did you just swap the derailleur to a GX or did you swap out other components as well. Thank you again!
I have some issues with the SX crank set. I cracked the first bottom bracket after 1500 km - got it replaced under warranty - and now it feels like I've cracked it again, 1900 km after replacing the original. So, obviously, I'm seriously considering upgrading at least that part.
Do you share all those excess donated components with your subscribers? Weekly giveaways would be Awesome. Instead of stock piling them. Food for thought
Ok SX came on my 2021 trek rail ebike. The shifter and derailleur are very cheap. My bike has 900 miles and the SX derailleur broke in half while I was out on the trail. Oh I was expecting the derailleur hanger to be broken not the derailleur itself. And when I got home lucky I had already bought a new GX eagle 12 speed derailleur in anticipation of the SX breaking. The SX shifter I had to replace the cable and it got stuck so I had to take off top cover and shifter just fell apart in my hands. I found a GX shifter at very reasonable price on Amazon . Get at least GX and above.
I currently have slx brakes on my bike and sx in drivetrain. I'd like to change the shifter and derailleur from sx to slx, and keep the rest(crank, chain, and cassete). Is everything compatible? What's is your experience so far?
Cześć ! Ja zmieniłem w Trence 3 przerzutkę sx na xt m8100, łańcuch sx na gx. Wszystko działa dobrze.. Dzięki za fajny poradnik ! Pozdrawiam z Polski !🤟
thanks for the information, it is very useful. My case is having changed from 2x10 to 1x12. The chain line is not right, the crank set are from the old transmission, will it be necessary to change the connecting rods to correct the chain line?
My wife's Scott Scale 970 came with a SRAM SX Eagle installed, which she and me have been using for over a year, and I do agree with your conclusions: the rear derailleur is the weakest part of them all, Deore is hands down a better option for almost everyone (Shimano now has a microspline, QR hub in both Deore lineup and generic lineup, making it accessible to almost anyone) and, because of the derailleur, it is in fact not a group meant to be use off-road, at least in any moderate way. Throughout the year we both used it off-road: me more than her but no harder use than XC or lightweight trail: in my case I had many syncing issues and few chain drops behind the cassette when shifting from the 42T to the 50T under some pressure: I was pedaling seated, with acceptable cadence while climbing but the chain didn't align with the cassette and the chain went off. I had even syncing problems to the point where I had to align the shifts with the barrel adjustment 5 minutes after leaving home, as there were grinding and metallic sounds of the chain rubbing against the cogs even on a clean drivetrain. After several months of use from both us we got pregnant 👶 and as time went closer and closer for welcoming our baby I eventually switched to riding on road and shorter distances only, and on that scenario the number of issues reduced dramatically. I maybe had one or two chain drops, but even on that scenario I had to adjust both the B screw and the L limit extremely tight and using the SRAM tool to make it work as expected, and even after those considerations and usage scenario, there's one cog that rubs against the chain and nothing seems to have helped, looks like the cog has a factory fault but the LBS denied to change it. At least that's a minor problem compared with the initial ones we had, but still hard to justify on a bike that came out of the box installed with it and supposed to work with it. I'd love to say that probably it's only an issue related to me and our bad luck, but as you said there are many new bikes coming with this drivetrain, and my problems seems to be recurrent in many riders out there, both friends and people riding, in fact, I found myself a few times helping new riders on the road helping them because the chain slipped and got stuck between the cassette and the spokes.
@@LoveMTB thanks! 😁🎉and yes, I've heard that solves most if not all of the problems, in fact, I have a SRAM NX Eagle rear derailleur from a friend which is virtually new, was used like four times before it was dismounted and sent to me, hopefully it will solve all the issues. I haven't installed it since we're not using our bikes much now, and I wanna fully test it off road to see a difference, thanks for the advice 👍
I have a new cube analog rs 2021 bike with this “beautiful groupset” sram sx and planning to change derailleur with something better. I like variant with shimano slx. Please, say how it works with SLX. Should I change derailleur only or it is better to change shifter as well?
@@LoveMTB I bought shimano m6100 12 speed derailleur/shifter and install it on bike. I have problem with last big cogs. My cassette PG 1210 11-50. I don’t know about a chain should I change it or not because I can’t understand why b-tension is in incorrect position.(51t tip highest teeth on derailleur , distance is too big although screw is almost completely unscrewed). Maybe I should install longer chain...
@@LoveMTB nice video, thanks a lot. It seems to me that my sram chain shorter then needed. I have 3 links plus quick link but 4/5 recommended for mtb according to shimano documentation. Everyone says this derailleur m6100 must works well with sram cassette on 11-50. Ok, I’ll try again.
@@LoveMTB you maybe right cause I changed for old sram sx derailleur and had the same problem ( chain doesn’t go down from biggest cog but goes up perfect 👌🏻. If I try to adjust shifter screw then vise versa) . Very strange situation cable and rubber are new. After a huge amount of time I could adjust derailleur by minimizing b-tension distance.
I have sx groupset and sx deraillerium snapped so i changed it with gx should i also change to gx shifter? Will it shift smoother? Ty for awesome video.
Hi ! Very useful videos ! Thank you for sharing your experience. I have an ebike who came with Sx sram transmision and please give me an advice if it will be ok to buy a Gx asx wirless derailleur, keeping the sx 12 speeds casette, the chain ring and the X01 chain. After 7000km touring recebtly i changed the OEM chain with X01 but on the smalest 4 sprockets it skips sometimes. Maybe is from the cassette, maybe is from the chainring....i want to change the cassette and the chainring, maybe 7000km is to much for an mtb ebike and with this situation maybe i will change the SX derailleur with GX ASX wireless. What do you think ? Is a good ideea ? It will match all the components of the transmision ? Thank you for your help !
My trek scaliber 8 bike comes with sram sx as standard, I can tell you that after 1 year and a half of a fairly basic use the shifter has failed (it blocked) and the worst is many km from my house therefore I do not recommend it. greeting from Chile
Hi, i have a few questions about mix matching the drivetrain components. My bike has a sram sx eagle components and I am planning to replace my rear derailleur as I’ve noticed it is plastic. Im planning to replace it with a slx or a deore xt Rear derailleur, Can i use the slx or deore xt Rear derailleur with my sram sx shifter? Or do i need to also replace my shifter with a slx or deore xt shifter? If so, does the slx or deore xt Rear Derailleur and shifter work with the sram sx cassette?
I got the power spline version with my Marlin 8 and just a few weeks into riding I'm already having issues with shifting. Not sure if it was the fault of the shop I bought it from or sram but it's pretty unfortunate.
I have a trek dual sport 2 and i wanted a 1x12 so i ended up getting: Nx cassette Gx derailleur Nx crankset Xx1 chain X01 shifter So far im happy with how things work. Would you recommend any other combinations? Maybe return the gx derailleur and get an X01 derailleur? 100$ difference. Will improve shifting? (Gx seems pretty smooth)
Did Sram 11-50t 12speed cassete compatible with a deore 12speed rd and shifter or even the chain? Is it compatible? Hope you answer my question thank you.💯
I have SX on my new emtb, constant issues with indexing even after countless adjustments. Even professional mechanics can't get it working properly. It's just too flimsy, need a new mech asap I think. It just doesn't stay in gear under load.
I don't like the shifting of the SX Eagle set at all... From the beginning it felt clunkier than my 14 year old TREK on Deore 🤦🏻♂️ I'm not mechanic or anything, but it should not be like that for any new above 1k USD bike. I'm thinking of replacing the RD with Deore m6100 RD. Sometimes when going uphill the crankset just fails/slips and brakes the chain stretch/pedalling momentum... Or maybe it's a derailleur to blame. Anyone with the same issue on a new SX bike? Really don't know, such a disaster from the start. Hardly recommend SX, but comes with a lot of stock bikes these days 🤦🏻♂️
Hi! You're mentioning a possible upgrade of the rear derailleur by one from Shimano - Deore or SLX 12S RD. Just to be sure, you understand by that a replacement of the shifter too or do those RD's from Shimano work with Sram's SX shifter?
Hi! Your videos are great. I have a bike with sram SX group. Rear wheel is 135 OLD. The Crankset use a SX with power spline and the plate IS 30T offset 6 mm. Rear chain líne is 43 mm and front is,49. It is a Big diference. What can I do
Hi, thanks for the information here! I've been looking at upgrading my SX 12 speed cassette as it's all steel and feels quite heavy but the alleged weight is 615g and the Sunrace 12 speed cassette is 648g so actually heavier! Doesn't seem to add up, can you shed any light on this? Would be much appreciated!
HI, if you remember I asked why cycling backwards the chain went down from the 50...you said chainstay length ...yes, nx cogs , KMX 12 v chain, gx derailleur and gx shifter...I'm preparing a 27.5 instead of the 29wheel, and xd driver...I think the probelm should meet same defect but what you recommend as 12 v cassette ? gx ? sunrace or others? price/ quality...
@@LoveMTB thanks... With this new combination instead of the nx cassette mounted on the 29 wheel, if 27.5 with new gx cassette the derailleur must be adjusted or the position remain the same?
Hi..Thanks for the video. Now I’m using SX groupset with powerspline on my Specialized Chisel. Im planning to upgrade only my crankset to GX with DUB. Or maby should I just install BSA dub on my current Powerspline SX crank?
I see.. What is your sugestion? At first, I plan to upgrade my crankset to GX to reduce some weight and maby get better feel/quality...plus someone told me, DUB is better than power spline
@@LoveMTB if you only have 1 option to upgrade(crankset/rd/cassette) due to budget. To improve my performance in xc/xco style of riding, which one should I go first. Im sorry for this kind of questions. I couldn’t find any clear info on this
My bike came with full SX and I could never make it shift just right. I'm convinced that the whole derailleur had just way too much play. Then the main cage joint developed play, nullifying the limit screw settings, which even caused the chain to jump off from the 50t into the spokes.
I recently upgraded the derailleur and shifter to the new lunar GX and installed a X01 chain. The difference in shifting precision is absolutely staggering.
My bike came with the PowerSpline version of the SX. I used it for 4000 kms without problems until the rear derailleur bent. Considering it is a cheap grupo I was pretty satisfied with it. After that I decided to upgrade to a GX 2021 shifter and rear derailleur as well as for a NX dub cranckset. Now everything works super crisp!
My bike came with powerspline too, can i ask if it's normal that the left side (left arm) doesn't have spacers? for the big space it has between the frame and the arm, it get's really dirty inside...
@@esanchez47 yes it’s normal
Always great no nonsense content. Really appreciate it.
Had the older sram 11 speed sx with the powerspline and bike worked great for 5 years consistent riding about 3-4000 miles before the powerspline was worse for wear and tear but still continued to ride for about 2-300 miles considering getting a full new updated sram group set when more things start to go on it however this video has made me consider mixing and matching components, something I previously didn’t know thank you
Great review as usual! On my X01/GX mixed drivetrain on my Chameleon, I recently replaced the GX chain with an X01 chain (because of the same article you read) and my chain falling off the 50T cog while back pedaling issue has vanished.... no other changes. 3 years with GX chains, I could not get 1 full revolution without it dropping, and now I can back pedal all day. The X01 chain is far more laterally compliant than the GX chain and I can only guess that is the reason why?? Whatever it is, it's awesome!
Replaced my garbage SX RD with a lunar GX. Improved shifting by a lot, works great now.
I would use most of the SX parts except the derailleur and shifter, these parts i would actually choose GX or XO1
Edit: and probably some gold kmc12s chain for le bling
I started my upgrade on my Scott Scale 970 with changing SRAM SX shifter and derailleur to Shimano XT. Works perfectly 👌
Did you keep the cassette, chain and everything else from the sram sx eagle? How did the change work?
Great video, thank you very much. I have a new / mid 2020 RSD Middle Child that came with SX group... with minimal ride time over the course of ~8 months, the rear derailleur broke. Searching now for the upgrade to improve durability while limiting the need for other changes. Thanks again, very helpful!
hehe pretty accurate, would keep the group as is except the RD and the Shifter. I upgraded mine to GX works awesome thus far!
Was this a worthwhile upgrade? My local bike shop recommended this with a yearly tune up I am doing but not sure if it’s worth the $125
@@Diego-oy6en If you can go to GX that would be better, but given that SRAM has modified the RD for 2021 model year hopefully that would resolve the issues that plagued the current -old SX RD.
@@WGazeon Thank you for the reply, I’m going forward with the GX derailer but not the shifter, at least for now. This is for a Roscoe 7 2020
Thanks for the detailed info. I want to get my wife a fairly cheap MTB that comes with the SX drivetrain. My new bike has a GX group, which has been great. My thought was to get the GX AXS upgrade for my bike and put the GX derailleur and shifter on hers. Based on your video, it seems like this should work.
Will work just fine great plan👍
I've heard nothing but bad things about SX, much better option is to go for Deore I think.
Surprised to hear about the chains though. I thought more expensive chains were just lighter with hollow pins and links etc. I only use KMC SL and Shimano Hg901 chains and they do seem to last a long time.
My bike came with the dub SX crank and the rest are Shimano RD and Shifter.
This is my first Sram and I won’t be upgrading since I really think that this SX crank is good enough for my need however I did replaced the chainring to aluminum and that’s about it.
Thanks for your review on this SX dub crank.
Keep up the good work
Nice video and good comments, I can add one piece of experience with the SX derailleur. It is not very durable a small branch got caught up and ripped it off my bike. The piece where it bolts to the hanger is plastic and broke even before bending the hanger which is designed to be the weak point. Replaced it with NX as that piece is metal on the NX, no issues since.
I had 2021 SX on my Focus Thron2...the deraileur was junk...it skipped from the small cog and snapped the Sram SX chain twice.
I binned it and now run XX1 shifter and deraileur and a KMC chain and its smooth as butter.
I upgraded from sx to x01 shifter and gx derailleur, its so much sharper and cleaner than sx
Yup, to be expected
I have the SX on my Scott Scale 970 2020. I broke the SX derailleur and switch to Deore. I maintain the SX shifter. Is working great.
The Scott si a great bike but I prefer the ones that comes with Shimano groupsets for 2 reasons: Shimano is cheaper and have better support and availability of pieces here in my 3rd world country (Colombia). Here Sram is ridiculously expensive. I didnt expect that when I bought the bike. Now the Scale 980 2021 version comes with Deore 1x12 and the 970 keeps the SX. The Only upgrade of the 970 versus the 980 is the Rock Shox air suspension fork. I strongly recommend the Deore groupset over the SX. Also the Deore comes with a better cassette range (10-51 vs 11-50 for the SX). Do we need more? I don't think so.
Very useful video, I wish I've seen this earlier. But this is exactly what I've made with my stock SX groupset, I've changed to NX derailleur and shifter. I wish I've studied more before starting and I didn't know that the cassette will work fine for GX derailleur as well. If I knew I would change to GX right from the start. SX derailleur is 100% plastic garbage just for one season to understand basics of 1x12 system. Wish everyone a good trails!
My 2022 Trek Marlin 8 came with the new revised SX Rear Deraulier. It and the shifter had major issues. Ended up just replacing the SX Rear Derauiler and shifter with GX Eagle.
@@LoveMTB The shifter actually jammed and stopped working like a day before the race. So we scrambled to find a bikeshop. Luckily we managed to.
Kinks in your cable... Yes! I had shifting problems with my GX derailleur. It turns out there was a kink in the cable inside the twist shifter where I could not see it. Cable was factory installed in the twist shifter, but maybe was kinked due to my installation? Once I got that sorted out, the shifting just fell into place! I used that same shimano cable housing, really good stuff.
Thanks for this. I'm buying a Scott Strike 930 and it has the SX/NX level SRAM kit. It is a lesser expensive eMTB, so later, if I get serious, I now know what is going to be necessary to change to.
Thanks for the great videos as always. Last year I bought xt 12 speed based off your recommendation and as it was a great group set a tiny bit smoother at shifting then the competition I’m going back to gx eagle as I prefer the shifter ergonomics, completely subjective it feels better quality and I like going from 42 to 50 tooth for a bail out gear. Reason I like the spacing better as I know when I’m in the easiest gear. I feel like shimano sneaks up on me and wanting more gear range because of it. At the end of the day amazing group sets. Also one thing I noticed is comparing xt and gx on a hard tail I don’t feel one shifts better then the next but noticeable on a full squish. Thanks again for sharing your experience with different group sets. I also noticed a lot of long term comment on shimano 12 speed are negative I can’t comment as I only have a season on shimano but price wise there killing it.
Hi. What about your chain líne? Rear and front?
The frame is beautiful.
I have a full XX1 Eagle for arround 5000 miles. I used 2 XX1 chains and then i had to change the chain again. I was afraid that the cassette would not accept the new chain so i bought a cheaper NX chain. The good news is that the cassette accepted the chain. The bad news is that the NX chain is a piece of crap. It gains rust like nothing i have ever seen.
I will try to do 1000 miles with that and then buy a new XX1 cassette and chain.
Always remember to anyone who’s been in the mtb scene for a while then being picky with parts is normal and needed, but if your a newbie like me anything better than what you can get for 400$ on offer up lol, then lower end stuff experienced guys don’t like will be a big plus to noobs haha great vid
I guess im asking randomly but does any of you know of a method to get back into an instagram account??
I somehow forgot the account password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me!
@Cruz Payton instablaster ;)
@Tadeo Keith I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im trying it out now.
Seems to take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Tadeo Keith It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much, you really help me out :D
@Cruz Payton Happy to help :D
Using this group on an Scott Scale 970 2021 (default groupset in 2021 model ), I live in Brazil and a lot of my trails here has dirt, big elvations and bad terrain... for sure, this group is fine for me... I used it in trails with about 50Km 70Km 3~4 hours of outdoor, last week I just ran about 200Km with this group and no issues found since I bought this in October 2020, I just go to the bike shop once to configure the rear derailleur that lost configuration in a couple of center up-down kogs. for 2021 maybe I will join an GX but for sure this SX is very good in my opinion... already get rain and a lot of mud in this no issues found... again I live in a tropical country so... the only thing I've done is keep it lub and clean after a big week of trainnings. Kr,
acho que a tua bike veio com SX 2021, peguei uma sense imp sl 2020 com sx e incomodou bastante ja, mecanico ja fez 4 regulagens, e a ultima vez foi uma desmontagem total e revisao geral do cambio, bike deve ta com 1500km.. pego muito estradao, qdo for fazer o up com GX pega o 2021+ não desrregula nunca mais..
@@ademirgoodjunior3371 opa era o modelo 2021 mesmo ! hoje ele ja foi substituido, um amigo se interessou pelo desempenho do SX e foi comprado por ele, rodando hoje proximo as 3k KM se comporta muito bem... porem hoje estou em um XX1 Gold, quanto a regulagem, tanto no SX quanto no XX1 não tive problemas, o grande diferencial que eu sinto hoje é a possibilidade de trocar de marcha pedalando em pé e nao sentir nada.... o gatilho do XX1 tem uma resposta absurdamente superior, plastico vs carbono... n tem muito o que discutir rs... vai ser substituido por um GX Axs em 2022... na proxima magrela.. boas pedaladas ! abs !
@@gabrielcalegari4717 que sonho meu, não tive oportunidade de testar o X01 nem o XX1, mas deve ser show poder mudar marcha sem aliviar o pedal. o GX eu ja arrisco as vezes, mas não facilito muito, valeu... tmj
I installed an sx groupset on my 2019 trek marlin 5. I had to replace the rear wheel but I got a deal on an Inine build and it sounds awesome. The groupset cost $325 cad and was a game changer. It works perfectly, crisp clean shifting, dead silent and it got my bike down to 28lbs. I've upgraded everything but the brakes, that still stop me on a dime.
Sx fits on trek marlin wheel without replacing the wheel fyi
@@eilbron the m5 switched from a freewheel to a cassette in 2020. I got mine in mid 2019.
@@Mr.P.Griffith oh i see
Fabulous video! I have a 2021 Stumpjumper alloy, while the bike is great for my relatively gentle riding, the sx is a definite weak link in bike. Despite having it adjusted it shifts sluggish and not with snappy reliability of other bikes I've ridden. The local bike mechanic didn't think that the GX would make much a difference but videos like this make me think the upgrade might be worthwhile.
Bro kinda same. I just bought gx cranks and upgraded to dub bb from powerspline for my 2020 stumpjumper st
@@LoveMTB Thanks. Should I do the shifter as well or just go with the derailluer?
Not sure what component of the drive train your local bike mechanic is referring to but switching out your SX derailleur and shifter to GX and above makes a world of a difference. I have the same SX grupo and had shifting issues within the first 100 miles. After a couple trips to LBS for adjustments I ended up swapping out to X01 shifter and derailleur along with XX1 gold chain for bling and longevity but still using SX cassette and crankset and couldn't be any happier.
@@beejaysaenz3035 Thank you for additional information that will help me make a decision to upgrade from SX. I had specifically asked my LBS about swapping the SX derailleur for the GX--- they said it's not worth it and wouldn't see a difference. But clearly I'm reading plenty of evidence that it will. I'm thinking some bike mechanics, while good at fixing things, aren't so good at discerning the actual on trail differences in component performance. So yeah the SX isn't bad but it's slow and a bit sloppy compared to other bikes I've ridden. I like your idea with the XX1 gold chain also! Thank you!
Great video. Good info. I have the SX groupo on my $500 MTB. I did have to straighten the derailure. No issues except rear hub is this old style with 2 pawls for engagement so that large pie plate cassette has a lot of slack in the low gear before engagement. These huge cassettes need the new hubs with at least double the engagement or more. Wheels maybe my first upgrade. Obviously I don’t ride wicked trails with this MTB. I have 120 acres hay meadow I ride around for exercise when not on my $8000 road bike🙄. When it breaks I’ll know what too upgrade with. Thanks.
I had really bad experience with SX, I dnt do trails, just off road,at first it shifts ok, then starts to be noisy, then starts to shift ok again, then ghost gear changes, nightmare, the screws in the shifter just fell off, u cannot replace that type of screw, so i needed to wrap it with tape, I bought another bike with new GX 2021, and it doesnt even seen the same brand, shifts perfectly, already put more than a thousand km on it and it doesnt need to adjust... For my bike with sx I will do exactly what u did...
I had good luck with SX but my early NX had 3 pulley wheel failures, it fell out of the bike... SRAM eventually replaced it with GX and that GX lasted a few thousand miles until I sold the bike. The bike with SX had non drivetrain issues but SX ran great
@@LoveMTB when riding suddenly I felt a bang/pop from drivetrain. The upper jockey wheel was damaged, bent to the side severely on the first one. Second NX derailleur failed after just a few hours riding again but it totally fell out. Luckily I could pedal the bike in the 50T. With the cage lock and just one pulley. I got good at this. Third time again it fell out all the way. SRAM finally sent a GX. The next season I had a winter bike with SX it worked great.
A lot of info in this video , thanks!! Questions if you change derailleur to GX do you need to change cable as well ? Or does it work with the shifter and cable?
@@LoveMTB oh ok perfect thank you!
I did the same things you said in your review!
I changed rear derailleur, shifter and chain with GX group, I only kept the cassette (cause my rear hub was a Shimano with the old freebody...)
Good review as usual, thubs up!
Cheers!
I did the same on the day when I received my Commencal 2020 which came with NX. I replaced the "rear derailleur, shifter and chain with GX group, I only kept the cassette (cause my rear hub was a Shimano with the old freebody...)."
2 years later and I am still very happy with the performance.
And because of all of the mentioned reviews, my latest new chain is a Eagle X01.
Thanks so much for your informative videos man. Helped me a lot with making some choices on upgrades for my bike.
This is a great great video. Very informative! well done and thanks for the recommendations.
Thank you for this!
My pleasure!
recently bought a Trek Marlin 8 with the SX groupset, took the bike into the bike shop for its 1 month tune-up and on the notes, the bike mechanic wrote that the chain was at 50% wear, This is in 600km of riding, pretty poor life! and i look after my drive train, lubed fairly regularly.
@@LoveMTB it is the cheapest, but 1 month is nothing to be at 50%
Just the video I was looking for! Thank you very much for the tips and the details, very useful information. Good vibes from Mexico ✌🏼
I just picked up an x01 shifter for my sx drivetrain!
@lucasvermet67 I've got a fabric chainstay guard so paint damage isn't an issue, as for the chain snapping, I frequently check the chain wear with a gauge, so it's unlikely it will just out of the blue snap. Still, I think I will upgrade to NX or gx derailleur (or maybe switch to shimano) as soon as it's an issue, but so far it's been smooth sailing.
@lucasvermet67 ok, right now I've sort of spent a bit more money than I should have on that x01 shifter and other things, but I'll swap my derailleur once I have the budget, I think you ride a bit harder than me. Maybe I'll get a Shimano derailleur, because I've learned from this channel that it'll work with a sram shifter, and a deore derailleur is a lot less than an NX, but is apparently actually made for mtb.
6:30 Cassette changed from Sram to Shimano? MAGIC!!
@@LoveMTB haha, hmm the SunRace cassette looks like Shimano, nice! I didn’t notice the wheels, but now i can see that you changed from Schwalbe to Bontrager at the back. Easter eggs in videos? I like that!
Seems like I am one of the “happy” SX users.
My only annoyance is the derailleur that features no clutch, but shortening the chain by 2 links or shifting to a bigger cog on downhill sections helps a lot to avoid the cage slapping around due to the chain it has to hold.
It seems like you didn’t mention it in the video, but the SX cassette is 100gr heavier than the NX. My NX PG1230 was 614gr and my SX PG1210 was 709gr.
I’m waiting for my SX cassette to wear out to upgrade to the Sunrace CSMZ903, but availability in Europe isn’t great. A lot of online shops are out of stock with the 903, some still have the MZ90. But the 90 is heavy and still has the 8 tooth jump between the 42 and 50, which the 903 doesn’t have due to the Shimano jumps between gear (51,45)
I had the nx 12 speed groupset on my scott 900 elite(2020 scale 940 but in silver) and the whole bike was only 1300€, but the weight of the groupset and the rest of the components did not complement the xmf scale frame. Sx is probably as heavy because of the cassette.
Awesome video!
So much helpful info, instant sub.
I'm wanting to replace my SX derailleur soon and the GX is a straight swap or is a Deore better?
I would go GX or even NX straight swap
On the trails of Niagara, I've seen riders snap their SX rear mech from use. It cannot handle constant fast shifting through rain and mud on a trail..dozens of guys have upgraded the chain and rear mech to NX and GX. Without issues in performance.
My SX grupset lasted 1year and 4 months of heavy XC traning and racing, i replaced the shifter and derailleur with Shimano SLX and replaced the power spline SX Crank with Deore. Sram Cassette and chain still have life left, but when they wear out ill be replacing them for shimano Deore. Overall i enjoyed the Sram gruopset, its a shame that it doesnt last longer. If the new derailleur last long it could be a better option as a entre level groupset but i think Deore still has better reliability.
I was trying to see if i could swap my 12 sx groupset for a 12 speed deore what bottom bracket did you use for this, thank you
@@chrismayne5320 Shimano SM-BB52
@@edgarstudillo5649 sorry for the 21 questions I literally just ordered hope wheels and shimano deore 12 speed today is the bottom bracket any good it’s basically the final piece of my puzzle i just dont want to order the wrong size
the sram dub crank was a major reason why i went w shimano... the 54nm torque is ridiculous and the 29mm spindle limits bb compatibility... i also dont like how they marketed 12 sp as 'eagle'
Great Video. I can't stand my SX. Ive had it on my last two bikes and will be my next upgrade. A very temperamental device to say the least.
This will get replaced before my charger 2.1 upgrade. That's how much I hate the SX....
Great video just what I needed like everything 👍
Great vid! Thanks for the info
Upgraded the SX SHIFTER and derailleur to NX. Positive difference. Would you recommend getting the NX (steel ring) or GX (aluminum) crankset.....or keep the SX cranks and just upgrade the brackett to BB hub? I ride easy medium bike parks on Trek Roscoe 7 hard tail.
Really appreciate this video!
SX 🙌🏼
Don't tkknow about that...😏
I have a GX lunar RD, would you recommend it ? Or should I change it to SLX RD?
I really like your Videos and your Voice 😊
Thanks
Side note the octane looks fantastic. Much has happened to that frame since last video.
My bike came with GX and within the first month my derailer wouldn't shift properly.
Absolute junk, all the pins were bent to crap and I hadn't even dropped the bike on the rear mech.
Replaced it with an SLX derailleur only to find that the pull ratios were different.
Once I got a matching XT shifter it's been working awesome ever since.
I personally try to stay away from sram but some of their stuff is still decent.
I just ordered a gx derailleur on my rockhopper expert with sx groupset should I go for xx1 derailleur and do you suggest I put ceramic bearing wheels in it?
Good job😃👍
The SX derailleur was terrible. Mine lasted less than a week before it went into the spokes. I replaced with Advent 9 speed parts and it works way better. I will sell the shifter and the cassette and probably never buy Sram again. Unfortunately the bike has the powerspline crankset so that will also be replaced when supply is better. Live and learn!
@@LoveMTB KInd of stupid for Sram to "introduce" themselves with such garbage!
@@LoveMTB Agreed. I really like your channel!
Great video, super informative. Believe i'm having issues with my SX derailleur and am leaning towards upgrading. One question though, how would one specifically diagnose the derailleur as the issue compared to other components in the drive train? More specifically, under tension and when backpedaling on the 11th gear, it will skip and readjust to the 12th gear. This has caused a near pants-shitting moment when I was pedaling hard when it skipped, almost causing me to lose control.
I took it to a bike shop for basic tune up, chain replacement, and derailleur hanger replacement, but issue is still there.
@@LoveMTB yeah strongly considering the shimano derailleur. Worth a shot considering the reputation of the SX. Thanks!
Did you ever upgrade your sx derailleur? I have the sx on my Stumpjumper and I'm thinking of going to the GX or even x01. I just find that the sx comes out adjustment easily and does not shift quick and snappy. 1 shop told me that GX wouldn't be noticeably better but I'm interested in hearing other opinions. Thanks
@@andyfpt yes I did. It's worth upgrading I think. I'm glad I did, so far all my shifting issues have gone away.
@@justinhorsley1978 hey great to hear and thank you. Did you just swap the derailleur to a GX or did you swap out other components as well.
Thank you again!
@@andyfpt just swapped the derailleur, left all other components the same except for shift cable and housing. Of course man, good luck!
I have some issues with the SX crank set. I cracked the first bottom bracket after 1500 km - got it replaced under warranty - and now it feels like I've cracked it again, 1900 km after replacing the original. So, obviously, I'm seriously considering upgrading at least that part.
@@LoveMTB I believe it's the Powerspline. The description says Sram Eagle Boost48
Do you share all those excess donated components with your subscribers?
Weekly giveaways would be Awesome.
Instead of stock piling them.
Food for thought
@@LoveMTB you will be sponsored soon. Keep up the good work
Ok SX came on my 2021 trek rail ebike. The shifter and derailleur are very cheap. My bike has 900 miles and the SX derailleur broke in half while I was out on the trail. Oh I was expecting the derailleur hanger to be broken not the derailleur itself. And when I got home lucky I had already bought a new GX eagle 12 speed derailleur in anticipation of the SX breaking. The SX shifter I had to replace the cable and it got stuck so I had to take off top cover and shifter just fell apart in my hands. I found a GX shifter at very reasonable price on Amazon . Get at least GX and above.
@@LoveMTB read the first line of my post. Lol.
Had SX rear derailleur on my bike. There is no clutch which makes it a poor option for off road use. I recommend replacing if this comes on your bike.
I had problem on my SX groupset with SX derailleur and I replaced him with SLX derailleur
I currently have slx brakes on my bike and sx in drivetrain. I'd like to change the shifter and derailleur from sx to slx, and keep the rest(crank, chain, and cassete). Is everything compatible? What's is your experience so far?
Cześć ! Ja zmieniłem w Trence 3 przerzutkę sx na xt m8100, łańcuch sx na gx. Wszystko działa dobrze.. Dzięki za fajny poradnik ! Pozdrawiam z Polski !🤟
My opinion is if tight budget go for deore, unless you can afford x01 above
amazing vid. do you work in a shop? love your channel. thanks.
@@LoveMTB awesome!
thanks for the information, it is very useful. My case is having changed from 2x10 to 1x12. The chain line is not right, the crank set are from the old transmission, will it be necessary to change the connecting rods to correct the chain line?
My wife's Scott Scale 970 came with a SRAM SX Eagle installed, which she and me have been using for over a year, and I do agree with your conclusions: the rear derailleur is the weakest part of them all, Deore is hands down a better option for almost everyone (Shimano now has a microspline, QR hub in both Deore lineup and generic lineup, making it accessible to almost anyone) and, because of the derailleur, it is in fact not a group meant to be use off-road, at least in any moderate way.
Throughout the year we both used it off-road: me more than her but no harder use than XC or lightweight trail: in my case I had many syncing issues and few chain drops behind the cassette when shifting from the 42T to the 50T under some pressure: I was pedaling seated, with acceptable cadence while climbing but the chain didn't align with the cassette and the chain went off. I had even syncing problems to the point where I had to align the shifts with the barrel adjustment 5 minutes after leaving home, as there were grinding and metallic sounds of the chain rubbing against the cogs even on a clean drivetrain.
After several months of use from both us we got pregnant 👶 and as time went closer and closer for welcoming our baby I eventually switched to riding on road and shorter distances only, and on that scenario the number of issues reduced dramatically. I maybe had one or two chain drops, but even on that scenario I had to adjust both the B screw and the L limit extremely tight and using the SRAM tool to make it work as expected, and even after those considerations and usage scenario, there's one cog that rubs against the chain and nothing seems to have helped, looks like the cog has a factory fault but the LBS denied to change it. At least that's a minor problem compared with the initial ones we had, but still hard to justify on a bike that came out of the box installed with it and supposed to work with it.
I'd love to say that probably it's only an issue related to me and our bad luck, but as you said there are many new bikes coming with this drivetrain, and my problems seems to be recurrent in many riders out there, both friends and people riding, in fact, I found myself a few times helping new riders on the road helping them because the chain slipped and got stuck between the cassette and the spokes.
@@LoveMTB thanks! 😁🎉and yes, I've heard that solves most if not all of the problems, in fact, I have a SRAM NX Eagle rear derailleur from a friend which is virtually new, was used like four times before it was dismounted and sent to me, hopefully it will solve all the issues.
I haven't installed it since we're not using our bikes much now, and I wanna fully test it off road to see a difference, thanks for the advice 👍
Best thing I did was put a shimano slx derailleur and shifter on my eagle sx groupo
I have a new cube analog rs 2021 bike with this “beautiful groupset” sram sx and planning to change derailleur with something better. I like variant with shimano slx. Please, say how it works with SLX. Should I change derailleur only or it is better to change shifter as well?
@@LoveMTB thanks)
@@LoveMTB I bought shimano m6100 12 speed derailleur/shifter and install it on bike. I have problem with last big cogs. My cassette PG 1210 11-50. I don’t know about a chain should I change it or not because I can’t understand why b-tension is in incorrect position.(51t tip highest teeth on derailleur , distance is too big although screw is almost completely unscrewed). Maybe I should install longer chain...
@@LoveMTB nice video, thanks a lot. It seems to me that my sram chain shorter then needed. I have 3 links plus quick link but 4/5 recommended for mtb according to shimano documentation. Everyone says this derailleur m6100 must works well with sram cassette on 11-50. Ok, I’ll try again.
@@LoveMTB you maybe right cause I changed for old sram sx derailleur and had the same problem ( chain doesn’t go down from biggest cog but goes up perfect 👌🏻. If I try to adjust shifter screw then vise versa) . Very strange situation cable and rubber are new. After a huge amount of time I could adjust derailleur by minimizing b-tension distance.
I've just bought Trek X-Caliber 8 2021 with Sram SX. Do I need XT Driver to replace rear derailleur to Sram GX or maybe to Shimano XT?
I have sx groupset and sx deraillerium snapped so i changed it with gx should i also change to gx shifter? Will it shift smoother?
Ty for awesome video.
@@stefanbursac9780 ish…
Won’t be a huge noticeable difference but if you ever have any issue change the shifter also
@@LoveMTB Thanks man!
I think you should make a video on power meter available for such cranks!
@@LoveMTB Yes
has anyone upgraded to GX AXS on a SX group set? sounds like the SX derailleur is the weak point what would be a massive improvement. thanks!
Sorry, don’t understand that much. So u don’t recommend this SX right? I want to buy a new bike maybe from cube and it has a lot of SX components:O
Hi ! Very useful videos ! Thank you for sharing your experience. I have an ebike who came with Sx sram transmision and please give me an advice if it will be ok to buy a Gx asx wirless derailleur, keeping the sx 12 speeds casette, the chain ring and the X01 chain. After 7000km touring recebtly i changed the OEM chain with X01 but on the smalest 4 sprockets it skips sometimes. Maybe is from the cassette, maybe is from the chainring....i want to change the cassette and the chainring, maybe 7000km is to much for an mtb ebike and with this situation maybe i will change the SX derailleur with GX ASX wireless. What do you think ? Is a good ideea ? It will match all the components of the transmision ? Thank you for your help !
Great vid, do you have the link of the article of chain wear 2:38 ?
I just got my SX. can you make a video on how to put it correctly especially for the DUB BB. Im not sure I put it correctly. lol
My trek scaliber 8 bike comes with sram sx as standard, I can tell you that after 1 year and a half of a fairly basic use the shifter has failed (it blocked) and the worst is many km from my house therefore I do not recommend it. greeting from Chile
Do u suggest adding a chain guide on these setups?
can we use the flat tops chain by sram? i think its xx1
@@MrTrazz09 nope
Hi, i have a few questions about mix matching the drivetrain components. My bike has a sram sx eagle components and I am planning to replace my rear derailleur as I’ve noticed it is plastic. Im planning to replace it with a slx or a deore xt Rear derailleur, Can i use the slx or deore xt Rear derailleur with my sram sx shifter? Or do i need to also replace my shifter with a slx or deore xt shifter? If so, does the slx or deore xt Rear Derailleur and shifter work with the sram sx cassette?
My Eagle SX has been trash since the day I got my bike. It's so finnicky no matter how I adjust it or a bike shop adjusts it.
@@LoveMTB Yes! You always do great job on these.
SX derailleur is terrible. I have it on my beater bike and an X01 on my Yeti. SX shifting so bad. Looking to upgrade the SX to a GX derailleur.
I got the power spline version with my Marlin 8 and just a few weeks into riding I'm already having issues with shifting. Not sure if it was the fault of the shop I bought it from or sram but it's pretty unfortunate.
I have a trek dual sport 2 and i wanted a 1x12 so i ended up getting:
Nx cassette
Gx derailleur
Nx crankset
Xx1 chain
X01 shifter
So far im happy with how things work. Would you recommend any other combinations?
Maybe return the gx derailleur and get an X01 derailleur? 100$ difference. Will improve shifting? (Gx seems pretty smooth)
@@LoveMTB thanks for replying. I might just get the x01 to match it with the x01 shifter.
Did Sram 11-50t 12speed cassete compatible with a deore 12speed rd and shifter or even the chain? Is it compatible? Hope you answer my question thank you.💯
I have SX on my new emtb, constant issues with indexing even after countless adjustments. Even professional mechanics can't get it working properly. It's just too flimsy, need a new mech asap I think. It just doesn't stay in gear under load.
@@LoveMTB I don't understand?
I don't like the shifting of the SX Eagle set at all... From the beginning it felt clunkier than my 14 year old TREK on Deore 🤦🏻♂️ I'm not mechanic or anything, but it should not be like that for any new above 1k USD bike. I'm thinking of replacing the RD with Deore m6100 RD. Sometimes when going uphill the crankset just fails/slips and brakes the chain stretch/pedalling momentum... Or maybe it's a derailleur to blame. Anyone with the same issue on a new SX bike? Really don't know, such a disaster from the start. Hardly recommend SX, but comes with a lot of stock bikes these days 🤦🏻♂️
@@LoveMTB thank you for the reply! Will check, but these things on a new 1-2 months bike - pisses me off... Great videos overall. 👍🏻
Hi! You're mentioning a possible upgrade of the rear derailleur by one from Shimano - Deore or SLX 12S RD. Just to be sure, you understand by that a replacement of the shifter too or do those RD's from Shimano work with Sram's SX shifter?
@@LoveMTB thanks, I'll check it out
Hi! Your videos are great. I have a bike with sram SX group. Rear wheel is 135 OLD. The Crankset use a SX with power spline and the plate IS 30T offset 6 mm. Rear chain líne is 43 mm and front is,49. It is a Big diference. What can I do
@@LoveMTBthe problems is the chain. The chain slips off the largest cog when I ride backpedal There is too much differece between the chain lines
Excellent!
Mine came Full SX but with Truvative power spline, what are some dub with 34 chainring?
Hi, thanks for the information here! I've been looking at upgrading my SX 12 speed cassette as it's all steel and feels quite heavy but the alleged weight is 615g and the Sunrace 12 speed cassette is 648g so actually heavier! Doesn't seem to add up, can you shed any light on this? Would be much appreciated!
@@LoveMTB Thanks man!
Or change it for Microshift X, much better value and quality
cough* deore
in my vountry the m6100 is actually the same price as the sx.. so weird
I’m happy with my shimano 11 speed m5100 affordable group-set
Someone wants to buy my SX groupset and I’m planning to go for NX. Will it be straight upgrade from SX to NX?
What is the largest Chainring you can use ?
HI, if you remember I asked why cycling backwards the chain went down from the 50...you said chainstay length ...yes, nx cogs , KMX 12 v chain, gx derailleur and gx shifter...I'm preparing a 27.5 instead of the 29wheel, and xd driver...I think the probelm should meet same defect but what you recommend as 12 v cassette ? gx ? sunrace or others? price/ quality...
@@LoveMTB thanks... With this new combination instead of the nx cassette mounted on the 29 wheel, if 27.5 with new gx cassette the derailleur must be adjusted or the position remain the same?
Hi..Thanks for the video. Now I’m using SX groupset with powerspline on my Specialized Chisel. Im planning to upgrade only my crankset to GX with DUB. Or maby should I just install BSA dub on my current Powerspline SX crank?
I see.. What is your sugestion? At first, I plan to upgrade my crankset to GX to reduce some weight and maby get better feel/quality...plus someone told me, DUB is better than power spline
@@LoveMTB if you only have 1 option to upgrade(crankset/rd/cassette) due to budget. To improve my performance in xc/xco style of riding, which one should I go first. Im sorry for this kind of questions. I couldn’t find any clear info on this
@@LoveMTB just to add on, I already got my GX shifter cz my SX shifter has broken.