NX Eagle has landed

[Paulie_AU]

All this spurred me on to do is get a XD driver and X1 11 speed cassette as a upgrade. I have zero need for a lower gear than 34/42 I run now. Actually with a 10-42 cassette a 32 front ring would be a free upgrade.

 

[born-again-biker]

Having never owned a SRAM drivetrain I'm not so familiar with their line....

What exactly does the 'Eagle' designation mean?
(lighter?)
(... mtn bike specific?)

I notice there is a few drivetrains in the line-up between GX Eagle & XO Eagle.... so what is stopping punters from buying, say, the X1 1x12 (non eagle) system for example? Is it still a 1x?... or is that for roadies?
Or another way.. .. Are there any SRAM 1x options between GX Eagle & XO whatever Eagle?

If GX Eagle is roughly equivalent to SLX 1x11 (?)... and the price jump from SLX to XT is not huge.... I wonder why SRAM have such a big price jump from GX Eagle to X0 whatever Eagle?

(excuse my ignorance... I have stuck to modifying & upgrading my Shimano drivetrain because it's been easy to mix n match)

Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk

 

[Boom King]

Eagle is Sram's 12 speed range of MTB product.

 

[The Duckmeister]

Having never owned a SRAM drivetrain I'm not so familiar with their line....

What exactly does the 'Eagle' designation mean?
(lighter?)
(... mtn bike specific?)

Yes, MTB-specific 12-sp.

.... so what is stopping punters from buying, say, the X1 1x12 (non eagle) system for example? Is it still a 1x?.

What's stopping people buying a non-Eagle 1x12 is the fact that there is no such thing; everything with a "1" suffix is 1x, everything without an Eagle tag is at most 11-sp.

In terms of line-up, SRAM's ranking is:
XX 2x10/XX1 1x11/XX1 Eagle 1x12 at the top tech level
X0 (that's a zero, not letter o)3x9 & 2/3x10/X01 1x11/X01Eagle 1x12
Then it gets funny from here down.....
X9 numbering is used for 9 & 10-sp. systems, but the same tech level becomes X1 for 11 & 12-sp.
X7 3x9 & 2/3x10/GX 1x11/GX Eagle 1x12
X5 3x9 & 2/3x10/NX 1x11/NX Eagle 1x12
X4 3x9
X3 3x8

X5/NX is pretty ordinary; X4 & X3 are dreadful.

If GX Eagle is roughly equivalent to SLX 1x11 (?)... and the price jump from SLX to XT is not huge.... I wonder why SRAM have such a big price jump from GX Eagle to X-whatever Eagle?

Cassette manufacture primarily. SRAM's higher-spec cassettes are machined out of a single blob of steel with the exception ofthe two extreme sprockets. This is much more expensive manufacturing, so the cost has to get passed on to the consumer. Shimano cassettes use a more traditional method of producing each sprocket separately, then pinning them together, so even with the use of titanium at XTR level they're cheaper to manufacture. Shimano also share a fair few bits between XT & SLX groups, which contributes to the lower price difference.

The traditional correlation was X0 = XTR, X9 = XT, X7 = LX/SLX (the way SRAM presented that was that when viewed upside-down, "X7" read as "LX", and everything else extended from there), X5 = Deore & so on down the ranks, but where there are certain parallels at the higher end, I'd rate Shimano's middle & lower-grade stuff better by a decent whack. But when XX came in at the top of SRAM's heap, X0 became a kind of in between step, better than equvalent to XT, but not as good as XTR

 

[Nambra]

Great summary Duck, I've always wondered how all those Sram levels related to each other.

Brand biases aside, that X01/XX1 Eagle cassette is a work of art, being carved from a single chunk of steel. Although a modern CNC machine should be able to produce them fairly economically. I wonder whether they have a high manufacturing failure rate that keeps them expensive? Or is it just Sram's pricing policy?

 

[hifiandmtb]

With the cassette, I think the cost is mostly in the time taken to machine each item. They can't afford an unlimited number of machines, the machining time is finite therefore their production rate is limited. Ergo higher price.

 

[born-again-biker]

Yes, MTB-specific 12-sp.
What's stopping people buying a non-Eagle 1x12 is the fact that there is no such thing; everything with a "1" suffix is 1x, everything without an Eagle tag is at most 11-sp.

So what's the SRAM 1x11 stuff like ?
Is the X0 1x11 now a "relative" bargain ? ....and still a good option to save a buck and get a great drivetrain?
....or is it outdated / out-geared / not really cheaper etc ?

(I realise I have hijacked original topic a bit....but all in the name of general info for plebs like me)