The same applies to those using Campagnolo chains or SRAM Red AXS, while SRAM Eagle 12-speed users are likely best off choosing the second-tier Hard Chrome X01 chain which tested to be equally durable and faster compared to its more expensive (but arguably better-looking) XX1 sibling. And this finding of the second-tier chain being faster goes against the trends seen in other chain brands. Can you add GripShift comparison to the table? And when it comes to understanding what makes a chain fast, theres arguably nobody on this planet that knows the space better than Jason Smith, formerly of FrictionFacts and now the Chief Technology Officer at CeramicSpeed. I mentioned the use of different freehub bodies, or drivers. The outside is vastly less important. One example Kerin provides is KMCs DLC (Diamond Like Coating) which is applied after the chain is assembled, rather than directly on the internal pieces which are most responsible for slowing chain elongation. Efficiency testing is extremely challenging to do properly, and is only valid when testing a complete system, Fowler said. At least for now, SRAM chains are best measured with backside-to-backside wear tools such as the Pedros Chain Checker Plus II and Park Tool CC-4, or better yet, with a pure elongation wear measurement. At least for Shimano, the efficiency does improve as you spend more. GX Eagle still gets the new wide range of 10-52t cassette, and a sleek look to match any color cassette and chain combo you might want. This had been a price point reserved for XT, but I dont see GX and XT as being comparable in terms of performance/weight. Your X01 crank weight is much higher than what sram.com shows. All Eagle chains use their Flow Link construction to remove sharp edges from the inside of the plates, making shifting smooth and quiet in both directions, and they all come with their Eagle-specific Power Link quick connect. Matt, I just added a price comparison table to the bottom of the post. What about X01 to XX1? Adam Kerin doesnt have to imagine it he did it. Cross-compatibility between models is a tricky game in the chain world. x01,xx1 just in case you want to spend more money. It was the first to the 11-speed game, the first to remove the front derailleur and still have a range that allowed you to pedal up almost anything. Its almost a universal law that there is no real cost benefit or functional benefit to any top tier group compared to 2nd rung (excluding Campy SR which is really a above an beyond factory tuned level). Once again, SRAM rocked the mountain bike world and released X01 and XX1 AXS, wireless electronic shifting. Going into this test, Kerin was expecting to find that the top chains from the major manufacturers were pretty close, and similarly when comparing the lower-level chains. Wippermanns test was run on a full-load machine (single speed, no rear derailleur) and the chains were worn to an oh-so-toast 1%. There arealso the SRAM AXS kits, which are $1,000 for a controller (shifter) and rear derailleur, and thats only if you wanted to upgrade your current mechanical drivetrain parts. It sucks to be neighbors with a rock, but that is the job of the rear derailleur, plus bringing a spare with you is also easier when it's a bit cheaper. Now that the SRAM Eagle 112 groups offer a complete lineup from entry level up to top of the line, we wanted to see what the difference is between NX, GX, X01 and XX1 groups. I only put USD, but the differences for and are similar, just using this for comparative purposes. While you can purchase a SRAM SX Eagle shifter, rear derailleur, and crankset aftermarket, theyre most commonly found as stock on a bike, or OEM. Additionally, I reached out to CeramicSpeed for access to their chain data. AUD The XTRs lifespan is still very impressive, so like always, I will simply have a dedicated training chain and another XTR chain fully optimised [for] race days.. - GX Eagle Shifter:122g- GX Eagle Rear Derailleur:300g- GX Eagle Crankset Alloy:649g- GX Eagle Crankset Carbon:555g- GX Eagle Cassette:451g- GX Eagle Chain:271g, Total Weight: 1,699g (carbon),1,793g (alloy). With lessons learned in materials engineering, metal treatments and design, many 11-speed chains improved in durability over 10-speed chains, and it seems the same applies for certain brands of 12-speed chains, too. Cassette are larger and heavier and chainrings have to do the same thing to keep gearing approximately equal. GX: Upgrades to a one-piece construction with all cogs pinned together, and increases to 10-50 range. A chain-only test on a cog or chainring that is not specifically designed for that chain is meaningless. Check out our individual coverage and first ride reports for each group at these links: Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. According to CeramicSpeeds data, the Eagle X01 chain (which sits at an average wattage of 6.27W with UFO V2 treatment) is approximately half a watt more efficient than the top-tier Eagle XX1 Gold chain. With exclusive access to Zero Friction Cyclings findings, we dive deep into the topic to help find the best bike chain you can buy. Its made to be both more affordable yet not sacrificing any performance. Itll cost you $1,900 for a full X01 Eagle AXS groupset and $2,000 for an XX1 Eagle AXS groupset. Offered in both SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS as well as SRAM X01 Eagle AXS, you can get the durable option, or the carbon option. So what can one do with this information? If you have the Shimano HG style freehub body and you dont want to upgrade it, you can always use the NX Eagle cassette with the rest of the GX Eagle components. The newest version of SRAM X01 Eagle gets the 10-52t range and can easily match any of the colored cassettes that SRAM offers with its new sleek look. However, variances in recorded roller diameter and wear rates of the rollers themselves forced Kerin to also adopt the more traditional method of measuring total chain elongation. Campagnolo users, regardless of the level of Campagnolo drivetrain used, should stick with Campagnolo Record chains. I have X01 cassette and chain then a Gx derailleur. But given the chain is one of the hardest-working components on a bike, why do we stop there? At that price, the NX Eagle provides an insane amount of performance. Next, I run the GX Eagle rear derailleur. Zero Friction Cyclings recommendations I wont get into what this all means as our chain wear article covers it in detail, but for the sake of transparency, the wear rates are listed as including roller wear (KMC digital chain wear checker tool) and as the pin-to-pin elongation (full length of 53-link chain section, measured under load). Still, Kerin is happy to call it a great chain. SRAM, of course, denies that its chains are slower than the competition, and Brooklyn Fowler explained that SRAM does indeed do efficiency testing and designs its products accordingly. Also, by going with X01 and not XX1, you get an alloy shift paddle, which I prefer. Speaking of chains, I typically run the SRAM XX1 chain, mostly for looks as they come in colored options and I dig that. Every drivetrain manufacturer will tell you not to run any chain other than their own, while the aftermarket chain makers just say trust us, its cool. And similarly, SRAMs Force AXS Flat Top chain is faster than the more expensive Red version. However, and as Kerin points out, the new chains feature a totally new plate shaping thats designed to improve shift performance, but in turn, makes it a poor fit for other drivetrains. Well, youre in luck. Otherwise great work TB and the BR staff! The launch of GX Eaglewas really when Eagle gained traction and was then affordable for most mountain bikers. CLP And those differences can be quite apparent, with thousands of kilometres separating the best and worst in terms of durability, and as much as a 4 watt (at 250W, 90rpm) difference in drag not insignificant figures. As far as GX Eagle, X01 Eagle, and XX1 Eagle, its pretty hard to notice that difference. That said, Kerin has tested a handful of KMC models, including the brand-new X11TT oil-slick (race day) chain, which actually posted impressively good durability results despite KMCs own claim it trades 5% durability for improved speed and so its not out of the question that Kerin got his hands on a bad batch of KMC chains. There are a mind-numbing number of factors that go into making a chain efficient, and thats no surprise when you consider there are over 38,000 unique instances of sliding friction involved every minute at 90 rpm. Thats the complete SRAM Eagle group overview. With SRAM SX Eagle you will be using the Shimano HG style freehub body, meaning that this is an easy way to upgrade an older or more entry level bike so you can put the cassette on your existing wheel. Right? And so its not hard to imagine that a chain with looser interfaces, although not as durable, could prove to be more efficient. I want to understand why bike companies are putting GX on $5500 bikes? Just like a chains lubrication and cleanliness it is what is going on inside the chain that counts. Weight also plays a factor in the price of a chain. Both are the premiere products, just aimed at different riders. They show 471g (175mm, 32t) and you show 520g. Dont get me wrong, Im a die heard 1x user. In most cases, 8, 9, 10 and 11-speed drivetrain users can mix-and-match between brands without too much concern as long as you keep with the right cog count (as covered in our drivetrain compatibility article). Those racing at the top-level on SRAM mountain bike drivetrains should consider alternative options (such as KMCs X12 chain, or a Shimano chain as suggested by Kerin) to get the most efficiency possible. This is explained by the Dura-Ace chain sample coming out of the box with a measured .12mm wear on the KMC digital chain checker, whereas the batch of Ultegra chains started at .05/.06mm measurable wear. Ill save you all the specifics of Kerins testing and testing protocol, but if youre interested, hang up your bike, call your family, let your work know youre feeling under the weather, and cancel all of your arrangements. And yes, that control chain proved repeatably stable, validating the results shared here. SRAM Eagle is an entire drivetrain ecosystem, as all levels can interact with each other, but there are also five levels to this ecosystem. Liam has been in the bicycle industry for over 10 years as a racer, professional mechanic, service manager and as of late, media and content creator. Black Ti-Nitride treatment reduces friction and helps prevent corrosion. The nickel PTFE coating on YBN chains get along extremely well with my favourite lube Mspeedwax with a treatment staying silky smooth for noticeably longer before starting to feel dry and their shift performance is perfect, Kerin said. These chains feature oversized rollers which require specific cassettes and chainrings to use. Not just total lifespan, but the performance will be better for longer throughout that lifespan, too. gx = best value Lets take a look at what the levels are from entry to high-end and also what you get when moving from one level to the next. Look no further than SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS, wireless shifting, with dreamy colors; it's the top shelf option. And Shimano users shouldnt see much reason to stray, either. The reasoning for this is less clear, but certain materials have improved, manufacturing processes have become refined, and new low-friction coatings have been added. Adam Kerin of Zero Friction Cycling is doing some impressive work in this space and has spent some 3,000 hours and over AU$15,000 of his own money to find the best chain. Perhaps the most glaring omissions from the list are SRAMs new Flat Top chains required for its Red and Force AXS road groupsets. Shift quality is subjective but durability and efficiency are not. However its not all rainbows for SRAM, and as Ill discuss in the next section, those tight tolerances are seemingly costing them watts. Glad that BR is going to video recap on complex posts. According to Kerin, its quite easy to see how the manufacturing tolerances, materials, metal treatments, and coatings directly impact on the durability, efficiency and even how well a chain gets along with a certain lubricant. Once youve done that, then read Zero Friction Cyclings chain testing brief and its lubricant test protocol. In fact, some of SRAMs newest chains (Eagle XX1) are sluggish enough that CeramicSpeed currently chooses to not offer race-day treatments for them. You might want to do this when upgrading or if you have a more expensive version and break some part and want to grab the more affordable option. With a business focussed on finding the best drivetrain lubricants and chains to sell through exhaustive testing, Zero Friction Cycling is certainly a unique, passion-fuelled commercial endeavour. When SRAM Eagle first came out, it was only available in the top trims of X01 and XX1. However, almost all other 11-speed chains showed discrepancies between roller-based and pure elongation wear. Want to know which 11- and 12-speed chains offer the best durability and performance? X01 Eagle While the XX1 are lighter, the XX1 are hollow carbon arms while the X01 are foam filled. Seemingly the two Eagle chains are structurally identical but with different coatings applied, and its the coating that seems to cause a spike in drag. And perhaps the biggest takeaway from all of this testing is that no matter how durable a chain is, the lubricant you use will play the most critical role in drivetrain durability. Its commonly thought that chains have become less durable as extra cogs have been added to the rear cassette, but seemingly, that is a misconception. On the reverse of this, CeramicSpeeds testing points to SRAM chains as consistently being the least efficient. Only the NX Eagle cassette fits on a standard splined freehub body. And that makes sense: if a lubricant is causing vast abrasive wear on metal, it has to be wasting energy, too. I often mix and match my parts. The vast majority offered the correct pitch of 12.7mm per link, however, there were a small handful of chains that overshot the mark. Ill take the bruise to continue riding. SRAMs XX1 Hard Chrome chain did great in this regard too, but as covered in the next section, its a tricky chain to measure. With exclusive test data from Zero Friction Cycling and CeramicSpeed, we dive deep to find out. Lets start with the premium products, SRAM XX1 and X01 Eagle. In this, he tested the top Shimano chains from each respective speed, and the results may surprise you. I have a X1 11-speed crankset and it has nice hollow aluminum crankarms. Specifically, Kerin notes the average lifespan of a chain tested to .5% with a digital chain wear checker was 2,200 km, whereas the average increased to 2,700 km (19% increase) when measured on elongation. Plenty of brands have followed, but I don't think anyone does it as well as SRAM. As recently covered in our deep dive on chain wear, there are multiple ways to measure chain wear (aka chain stretch). Eventually, GX Eagle came out. And lastly, tensile and rivet strength is a factor thats important but is currently unknown. X01: Upgrades to Hard Chrome plate and pin treatment to drastically increase total strength and reduce the wear thats typically considered chain stretch, and gets hollow pins to save weight. Similarly, the chain designs themselves have changed, and where 8- and even 9-speed chains would see the inner links turn solely on the connecting pins, newer chains typically see these forces shared across the pins and specifically stamped plates, too. While at the same performance level as X01 Eagle, XX1 Eagle gets lots more carbon bits, like a carbon derailleur cage, carbon shift paddle and shifter cover, and the cranks also shave some weight over the X01. Mixing and matching of components across different model levels is nothing new, but only recently did I hear an employee of Shimano state that if theres one part you should spend more on, its the chain. Because of this unexplained inconsistency, and the surprisingly good results of the brand new X11TT chain, Kerin plans to retest the DLC chain in near time, a chain that KMC claims to be its most durable 11-speed offering. I see GX as being more the SLX SRAM derivative. Thanks for the effort here, awesome stuff!!! Each chain was tested at least twice (53 links at a time), matched with a half-length of Shimano Ultegra control chain each time. Wippermann also only measured elongation wear, completely overlooking roller wear as a factor to consider (an area Wippermann chains didnt fare so well in with Kerins test). However, and if possible, you should most definitely swap back to the impressively durable SRAM chains in your training. The newest version of SRAM GX Eagle also gets the 10-52t cassette range, or the extended Eagle. You do get a bit of a smoother shift with X01 or XX1, but that is the full combination from the shifter to the chain and cassette interface. Kerin subjected 31 models of chain to his motorised Tacx Neo torture chamber, keeping the lube (White Lightning Epic Ride, previously tested to be a poor and abrasive lube) and contamination controlled, all while measuring chain wear along the way. - XX1 Eagle Shifter:112g- XX1 Eagle Rear Derailleur: 269g- XX1 Eagle Crankset:424g- XX1 Eagle Cassette: 371g- XX1 Eagle Chain:262g. - XX1 EagleAXS Controller:71g-XX1 Eagle AXS Rear Derailleur:350g-X01 EagleAXSController:71g-X01 Eagle AXS Rear Derailleur:364g, - Used on either 10-50t or 10-52t cassettes- 20-hour battery life- X01 and XX1 options for xc or trail- Customizable controller settings- Sync with SRAM App for details and battery life- $1000 for upgrade kit (controller, rear derailleur). Pricing shown for lowest priced option, which is typically the standard configuration with normal mountain bike spindle. SRAMs product managers told us the difference from NX up to X01/XX1 chains can be 2x the lifespan. Premium chains from most brands feature slotted (or drilled) plates and hollow pins for weight savings. Its a little more expensive, but that XO1 cassette is so much lighter. Im not cheap, im just health conscious! You can pretty much use whatever combination of parts you can think of, as long as you have the right freehub body for your cassette. X01 and XX1 saw new colors in addition to the rest of the lineup getting updated graphics. A micrometre gives one indication for why this sluggishness may exist, with SRAM chains revealing far tighter tolerances between components than is seen with many of SRAMs competitors. Is upgrading your shifter to xo and downgrading GX cass to NX still have the same shifting feel as a X0 group. Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves finding new travel adventures to share with his family and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter. I also think that shifting is even a bit better than the already great Eagle chain it certainly isnt worse., Compatibility is, of course, an issue worth considering with such a combination, and as Kerin admits, the Shimano-compatible chainring does prevent him from using the incredibly durable SRAM Eagle chain. Maybe I should just eat less. The cassettes have the most dramatic differences, using three different construction methods across the four options. Durability also gets to a peak, topping out at X01, which is the most durable version of Eagle. XX1 Eagle , Currency: While not cheap, the wireless performance and ease of use took SRAM Eagle to the top, above any other brands, and we still havent seen anyone come close to matching the performance. The NX shifter isnt the only one with a normal bar mount; I have a GX which attaches directly, no Matchmaker required. Lastly are cranks, and if I am running SRAM cranks I choose to use SRAM X01 Eagle crankset, not the XX1. One of the main reasons why I run SRAM. Its a question I posed to Kerin after the previous testing was done, and he got the Zero Friction Cycling torture machine up and running again to find out. The GX Eagle provides smooth and quiet shifting, while being affordable to replace when, not if, I smash that guy hanging down near rocks. Other chains that showed wear noticeably faster via a chain wear checker than pure elongation were Shimano Dura-Ace, YBN E-bike chain, SRAM PC1170 and SRAM PC1190. Our data shows that our drivetrains perform comparably to the competition, sometimes slightly above and sometimes slightly below, usually within +/- tenths of a percent (0.x%) of efficiency.. Technically, if you wanted, you could run SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS with a NX Eagle cassette, if that is what your wheel will take. 8 vs 9 vs 10 vs 11 vs 12-speed durability SRAM GX Eagle is the next level up and what I would consider as the first step into the performance range, meaning GX Eagle gets you that premium performance and quality. Kerin believes this is a batch variance, and that its quite possible (even likely) the Dura-Ace chain can offer improved durability. Coming in just behind, and reaching the .5% wear mark at near 3,000 km were the Shimano Dura-Ace (HG-901), YBN SLA Gold, Campagnolo Chorus, Campagnolo Record, and YBN Anti Corrosion. That all said, Kerins data does suggest the Shimano Ultegra HG-701 11-speed chain offers better durability over the more expensive Dura-Ace HG-901 model. Support us! With all the data to hand, I dont see major reason to move away from the drivetrain manufacturers recommended chain a chain thats surely been optimised to get the best shifting performance from your cogs. But the price creeps up from there, with GX Eagle sitting at $545, X01 Eagle priced at $1,275, and XX1 Eagle at $1,500. You can pretty much use any level part with each other, with the exception of the cassettes and that really just matters according to whats on your wheel.