THE GOODS
SRAM GX EAGLE | $495 (WITH GXP SPINDLE)
BIKES AREN’T CHEAP. GX EAGLE DOESN’T eliminate that, but it does bring massive range closer to the masses. Once a rider has spent time gently spinning that luxurious 50-tooth granny gear, bigger-than-an-old-DH front chainring, it’s hard to go back.
“But it’s so nice,” seems to be the resounding response whenever testers were forced to part with Eagle’s 500-percent gear range. A 2x11 drivetrain still will net you more range, but when you compare previous SRAM 1x11’s 420-percent, 500 is … 80-percent more FREE! Just like our favorite cereal boxes tell us.
What’s not to like? It does have a pinned cassette, which the fashion-conscious may deem unsightly, and the long-and-low cage could theoretically be more prone to striking things, though we have yet to witness it. It adds 238 grams in total over X01 Eagle, more than half a pound—but, and this is a big but, it is less than half the price of X01 Eagle. Most importantly, we found no discernable difference in shifting performance between X01 Eagle and GX Eagle. The true test will come months from now once we’ve accrued more miles on this group.
What does this mean to you, kind reader musing over a sea of options? It means that you will see bikes in Bible from $4,000 to $5,500 sporting this drivetrain. You almost can’t even find a $7,000 bike within these pages that’s full X01 Eagle devoid of its GX sibling.—Will Ritchie
FOX DPX2 | $550
our entire Bible. It’s understandable if you’re overwhelmed by confusing, metaphoric
