Maybe you’ve heard - new bikes will be hard to find this year. While we currently have a pretty good supply at Contender Bicycles, we’re prepared for the predicted shortage that has hit some shops harder than others already.

With that in mind, if you can’t upgrade to a new bike, how does upgrading your drivetrain sound? Not only can you do that with the new SRAM GX Eagle AXS upgrade kit, but we have a limited run of these kits in stock now and ready to upgrade your ride. 

SRAM just launched their latest drivetrain - GX Eagle AXS - and it could be the perfect way to affordably take your current mountain bike from its old mechanical system to a wireless electric system. Priced at just $600 for the upgrade kit - which includes the GX Eagle AXS derailleur, remote handlebar shifter, battery, and charger - you can add an excellent drivetrain and instantly improve their riding experience. With a few additional components, this is a great option to shed an old 2x10 or 2x11 drivetrain as well.

SRAM GX Eagle AXS seamlessly integrates with any SRAM Eagle (12 speed) components making it work with any combination of SRAM Eagle components so you don’t need a new crank, cassette or chain. There’s even a new impact-protecting battery cover as an optional add-on that fits any SRAM AXS battery and helps prevent lost or damaged batteries while you’re hitting the hard trails.

While the SRAM GX Eagle AXS drivetrain is priced as an entry point to wireless electric shifting, its performance is far beyond “entry level”. Let’s take a look at the new SRAM GX Eagle AXS kit piece by piece.

The heart and soul of the GX Eagle AXS upgrade kit is the rear derailleur. The point behind AXS is to have precise and lightning-fast shifting and that’s exactly what the GX Eagle AXS provides. Built with a rugged Overload Clutch to limit the amount of stress and strain you inflict upon it, the derailleur is dependable and engineered to mirror the XX1 and X01 Eagle AXS derailleurs. Compatible with both the 10-50T and 10-52T cassettes, can help you shift up or down at a moment’s notice and ensure you waste as little effort as possible when the trail pitches up or you’re sprinting to the finish line and need every last watt to pull away for a victory - even it’s just against your friend back to the trailhead.

Wirelessly connected to your controller, the GX Eagle AXS derailleur can pair with the SRAM AXS app on your smartphone to give you a gear-by-gear history of your rides. Data nerds can see exactly how many watts and what gear you were riding when you hit the switchback or surged past the rest of the field on a flowy section of cross country speed.

SRAM’s Overload Clutch might be our favorite detail with the GX Eagle AXS drivetrain. The design allows the derailleur to sense impact and help prevent damage by disengaging the motor gearbox. This gives the derailleur freedom to move out of harm’s way, so to speak, and then slides back to its active position for a virtually seamless - and busted derailleur free - ride on the roughest of trails.

Ultra-responsive and lightning fast, the GX Eagle AXS Controller puts you in total control of your ride with only the flick of a thumb. We’re not kidding, either. The new SRAM GX Eagle AXS Controller is customizable in ways you probably never considered but might come to appreciate.

Using the SRAM AXS app on your smartphone, you’re able to assign touchpoints just the way you like it. Want to push up to shift down or vice versa? That’s your prerogative and GX Eagle AXS allows you to do just that.

SRAM’s AXS shifting allows you to dial in the pressure settings so you have fewer accidental gear changes. Put the wireless controller on the left or the right side of your handlebars. Use the included AXS Discrete clamp or, if you prefer, ride with the tidy MatchMaker X clamp. Mix it up and ride.

The ergonomic touchpoints are swappable with other AXS paddles if you have a preferred option. In fact, the GX Eagle AXS Controller is compatible with all SRAM AXS mountain bike derailleurs so if the only thing you need for your XX1 or X01 drivetrain is a new controller, you’ve got an affordable replacement part that fits the bill.

Overshifting has been addressed with single click shifts to prevent changing too many gears too quickly and putting your derailleur and chain under unwanted strain and pressure. Shifting under load now comes without adjusting your grip on the bar when riding the roughest trails, the tightest uphill turns or when you’re putting the hammer down and shifting into a bigger gear for the final sprint.

Weighing just 70 grams, the GX Eagle AXS controller packs an incredible amount of functionality in a tiny little package that will make your riding experience better. Did we mention it’s wireless? Yep, no extra cables or housing to deal with. Just mount it to the handlebars, pair it with your derailleur and let it rip.

Offering approximately 20 hours of ride time per full charge, the SRAM AXS Battery requires only one hour to fully charge from empty and is swappable with any SRAM AXS drivetrain componentry. In fact, SRAM has made the battery ‘hot swappable’ so you can use it with your GX Eagle AXS mountain bike, your RockShox Reverb AXS dropper post, and your eTap AXS road group. 

Oh, yeah. The AXS Battery weighs only 25 grams and is tightly secured with one simple click.

An optional Battery Cover is also available and adds only a few grams of weight, but provides an extra layer of impact protection and security to your battery housing.

SRAM bills the new GX Eagle AXS upgrade kit as “your partner for all rides, all the time, all day.”

We at Contender Bicycles are excited about GX AXS. We know an entirely new bike may not be in the cards this year with supply chains still messed and everything from tires to frames are on backorder and ETAs can range from a couple of months to some time in 2022, maybe.

If you’re hoping to upgrade your SRAM GX equipped bike but not sure you’ll find a new bike, the GX Eagle AXS upgrade kit will breathe new life into your current bike while instantly making your rig more responsive and your ride more rewarding.

Have any questions? Visit us in store, call during business hours, or send us an email any time to info@contenderbicycles.com.