Every part of the drivetrain is brand new. I didn’t use the setup tool, but did (try to) set height, yaw and limits per Sram’s videos. Sounds like I should get one of those setup tools…
Yeah, get the tool. I don’t have one, but started from a shop setup, so didn’t need to move the derailleur. When I do wind up taking it off eventually, I’ll get the tool.
-Tim
It’s important too to make sure you have the appropriate wedge/spacer between the FD and frame to make sure there’s no gap, that can brace against the FD. But agree with all above… very tight tolerances. I haven’t had any issues in several months and I shift quite a lot.
Just adding some data points here as a AXS user on multiple frames and groupsets.
Supersix evo with complete Force out the box - Flawless
Same Supersix adjusted after crank change - Constant issues with outside drops, never quite got it right again. Was using a wedge behind and sram into to adjust.
Factor Ostro with Red and Carbon Ti rings - Pretty good initially, no wedge, mostly eyeballed it. Pure dumb luck perhaps, but did I readjusted and got it near perfect after a few rides, again eyeballing after adjusting height per SRAM specs.
My feeling having fiddled with these a lot is the alignment of cage to chain line is often not what it seems, especially after torquing down the FD. Experimenting with the cage ‘tail’ angled in or out proved successful with the Ostro, though not with the Supersix for whatever reason. Good luck!
Bike came prebuilt and hasn’t dropped a single chain somehow. Rival AXS with the 48/35 chainrings. I even messed with the screws to get the lower end a bit quieter.
Recently got a Supersix Evo with D2 Force AXS and the front shifting has been perfect thus far. Same as Ultegra Di2 and Super Record EPS I have used.
Brief update: Got the setup tool, did the setup with great care some mild profanity, shifting now seems very very good. I haven’t fully stress-tested the thing (mud, gravel, shifting under load etc.) but it seems GREATLY improved. Fingers crossed it remains so.
One interesting finding: In addition to this setup I was also swapping out my PM spider. I did this, did the setup carefully, and shifting was way way worse! Dropping chains outboard nearly every shift, or else just not shifting at all and leaving the chain grinding against the inside of the big ring. WTF?! So I double checked everything and realized I’d installed the inner ring 180 degrees from the correct orientation. There’s a tiny metal nub on the inner ring that’s supposed to be aligned with the crank, I had it rotated to the opposite side.
Fixing this totally fixed shifting. This was somewhat surprising to me as I generally think of the outer ring’s ramps/pins as the key determinants of front shifts, but there’s clearly some subtle shaping to the inner ring teeth that needs to be in phase with those ramps to cleanly release the chain. For those with poor shift performance, do the setup with care but also double check this if you’re using a separate chainring/spider combo.
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I don’t use the setup tool. I find it puts the FD too high and not well aligned with the chainring. I use the marks on the cage. I like the height at 2-2.5 mm. Then I adjust the limit screws 1/8 turn at a time and do many, many test shifts after each adjustment. Usually 3-5 in each cog, varying the load on the crank. It’s slow and methodical, and no bike shop mechanic would do this. But my chain doesn’t drop.
I just repeated your mistake with 180° rotated inner ring. Shifting went from terrible to great. Used markings to align FD, but getting straight line of sight was not easy.