I’m sure somebody out there is doing this…how is it working? I have two eagle cassettes and a slew of chains, would like to switch to T-type without buying all of that stuff again. I’ve read “it works” but would like to hear other opinions. I know it’s “not recommended”, real world experience would be most appreciated 
Joe
I haven’t tried it, but to me it seems like you’re giving away the perks of both systems… Eagle is quicker shifting, which has its place, while Transmission is slower to shift, but the shift under load is just so solid. I guess you’re gaining the UDH which is handy.
I’ve never tried (sorry my no real-world), but I’m almost positive you can’t just swap eagle/transmission wheels (ie cassettes) because the cassette position is further out on transmission. Maybe there is enough adjustment to get eagle aligned and I’ve seen a guy on reddit say they put a spacer behind the eagle cassette (not on an XDR driver) and made it work (thanks, but no thanks). The transmission cassettes are narrow/wide in all cogs except one and that was a big part of making it shift the way it does (both the good and bad aspects). Eagle is only narrow/wide in the 2 largest cogs (if memory serves). There is also a clocking thing in the transmission cassette that tells the RD the point of rotation to shift at (why it’s a little slower when dumping the gears quickly). This is a bit of a judgement thing. People will get it to work and post it on the internet. I personally don’t like hacked up systems that haven’t been used/tested in huge numbers in the wild. But if someone wants to run/test it, more power to them.
I just got my first transmission bike and bit the bullet on additional chains and a cassette for my other wheels. Yeah, it’s painful. Also, chainrings (and chains sized for each chainring) are another thing to think about if you like swapping rings for different courses. And the threaded chainrings for the XX powermeter crank go for $128/each retail and require a special tool for removal. So yeah, I bought the bike and then dropped a bunch for chainrings, extra cassette, a bunch of chains, and the tool for chainring removal. Transmission is an improvement, but I probably wouldn’t upgrade from working eagle AXS. It works great, but so does eagle in my opinion.
Ha ha, OK so you completely understand my question! I see your logic, I think I’ll go the same way. Problem “solved”!!!
Joe
I was lucky and picked mine up at 50% last November. Absolutely no way is it worth full retail for a consumable. If it came with my new bike, cool. Dropping almost 3k for a heavier groupset that is marginally better? I’ll pass.
What’s nice… there no hanger or adjustment screws. Shifting under power is nice and it is a solid, good looking groupset (I have XO)
The not so nice… it’s noisy af. Like clunks and crunching I only got when making a bad shift. But here it’s normal. It is heavier, needs batteries for shifter and derailleur, is finicky to set-up and cost a lot. And we all know the shifts sometimes (most of the time) are slower.
The nice is nice but is it worth the trade offs? Personally I’d save the money and ride what I got til it is time to upgrade the whole bike.
On a personal note, I love electric shifting on my gravel bike. Night and day upgrade. On the MTB though… honestly I think I prefer mechanical.
why is this? Shouldn’t electronic vs. mechanical be consistent between bike types?
Joe
not sure if it is @jolyzara’s point of distinction, but to me the use of fully internal routing in many gravel/road bikes makes mechanical undesirable.
Agree that it’s noisier than eagle (which is kind of noisy also), but I actually like the noises that transmission makes. Every shift is firm and precise.
I’m only a couple weeks into my new transmission bike, but have been riding it daily. My biggest adjustment from eagle is the way transmission waits for the cassette to be in the right position before shifting. I’m so conditioned from years of riding SRAM AXS and Shimano di2, that I time my shifts to happen in the soft/easy spot of the pedal stroke. With transmission, you don’t know if the shift will happen immediately or after some rotation of the cassette. But I’ve already gotten used to it, you just need to get over the habit of trying to shift at light load. Just shift and keep pedaling and there isn’t any disruption to power transfer when the shift actually happens. The only real negative I can point to with transmission (besides cost) is the inability to jump up/down many gears as fast as I can press the button. Not a huge deal, but it will take some adjustment in certain situations.
In what way did you find it finicky? I was actually surprised how easy it was and SRAM takes all the guess work out on chain sizing and B screw. No limit screws and they have replaced the “B” adjustment (and plastic fitment dohicky) with a simple procedure to set the cage at the perfect place. It’s basically doing the same thing the B screw did, but in a way you can’t mess up. I always found that it took some additional playing with the eagle B screw to get shifting perfect.
For me… mechanical (I have XO1) shifts well, needs no battery to worry about, is lighter and is cheaper. During a race there is something about the tactile feeling of what gear you are in and knowing I can dump a bunch of gears quickly if needed.
AXS is the exact same performance as mechanical but heavier and needs a battery. It’s nice, I like it, especially on my gravel bike. But no real performance gains (for me) on the MTB.
As for transmission finicky set-up, the shop set it up the first time (and did something wrong obviously) as the derailleur would grind into my 52t cog. Went through the set up again myself, had to put the perfect tension on the chain and retorque which ultimately fixed it. Torque needs to be perfect and set up redone every time you take the wheel off. It’s annoying.
I know some like the crunchy gear shifts… For me some shifts are so quiet (rare) and others sound destroying my cassette and chain (common). It is growing on me but not the “revolution” or “smooth as bitter” shifts influencers hyped it up as. I guess it’s my fault as I bought into their sales pitch.
Not sure what you mean by this. I’ve taken my rear wheel off a bunch of times and never had to adjust anything. It works the same every time. If the derailleur mounting bolt is correctly torqued during installation then removing the through axle has no effect on the derailleur position. You do want to torque the through axle reasonably tight to take out any compression (and width change) in the hub parts. But that is true for any shifting system. I have even upgraded the axle of my Chris King hub without needing to adjust anything. BTW- the upgrade of the axle wasn’t due to a problem with the hub. CK changed the endcap to be thread-on to make it less likely to get stuck in the cassette and pop off when you remove the XD cassette- something that has happened to me with more than one hub.
Good to hear your experience is different. If my thru axel isn’t torqued exactly (15nm) it works, but not as it should. Maybe something off with mine but I just see a $2600 value here for a consumable. I respect others feel differently, I just prefer the performance to value of mechanical.
Tangential to this thread’s topic, has anyone done or seen a way to run a T-Type chain & cassette with a normal Eagle derailleur? I have an older hardtail that is not UDH-compatible, so it won’t ever run Transmission, but I’d love to be able to swap wheels between it and my Transmission bike. If it’s just pulleys, it seems like it would be a doable conversion, but I’m less confident about chainline compatibility working out.
I’m not claiming to be an expert on transmission, but that really sounds like something is off with your install. Mine certainly doesn’t work that way and I’ve played with the install/setup enough to have a decent understanding of how it works (at least I think so). The only reason you have to loosen the thru axle when setting the RD is so that it can swing freely for setup. Once it’s set by tightening the RD mounting bolt, I can’t see how axle torque would affect shifting. It would affect how much force it takes to swing out of the way in an impact (or to push it back into position), but I don’t think that’s what we’re talking about. Again, not an expert and I’m not saying you are wrong, but I just can’t see how axle torque would have any effect on shifting as long as it’s not loose. The SRAM folks aren’t idiots and rear wheels are changed all the time and there is no way people are torquing them to spec at races for wheel swaps. Any chance yours could have been installed without lining up the marks between the knurled ring and RD? Of all the stuff in the setup process, this seems like an easy thing to get wrong if you aren’t paying attention when torquing stuff down.
Thanks for the tip. The lines are matched up. Something was off at install and going through the install process & retorquing everything again, along with proper tension on the chain did help with the biggest issue (the derailleur into the cassette).
Next I’m going to demo a bike with transmission to compare.
@Joe I posted this back in the original Tranmission thread, but there’s a Reddit post from someone who has been riding their Eagle cassette with transmission for a year now with zero issues.
To the point above about it not being in the correct position, the poster says to just use one of the 1mm spacers that come with every cassette. I plan to try this soon on my 2nd wheelset and let you know how it works for me.
After my first install it was loud and clunky, but I read a number of posts from MTBR recommending that you complete the install procedure set in the middle of the micro-adjust / trim settings, which I believe is 7. After I installed in the middle of the trim and instead of how it came out of the box at 0 trim it’s been relatively smooth and quiet. I probably have done a micro-adjust here or there while riding, but it’s just as smooth and quiet now as my previous AXS Eagle.
I don’t have my thing installed yet but I took some weights and for the total (batteries, cables (XXL frame), dropouts, derailleurs, and shifters), XO1 cable is 501 grams and GX transmission is 530 grams. When you pick up that chunky rear derailleur it seems like you are adding a ton of weight but “all-in” they are surprisingly close.
Joe
I got a good deal on a new, non-returnable GX T-Type kit, pulled out my cables, took off my derailleur, took off the dropout, went to put in the plastic spacer thing and…WTH??? IT NO FIT!!! GAK!!
So apparently the 2022 TY Izzo isn’t UDH compatible, despite it being “close” and on their chart. DANN IT!
I’m gonna check with YT tomorrow (Monday) and see if I can get a new seatstay/dropout assembly and just replace mine. But assuming that isn’t possible, let’s make a plan!
-Stay with cable, sell the new stuff, lose a little but whatever (Booo!!!)
-Buy a new bike or frame…which sounds like a lot of fun!
I really like the Izzo because it’s a soft, forgiving ride but I am racing Leadville and the Breck Epic (using the term “racing” very loosely LOL) so a marathon XC bike would probably be a better choice. I don’t want to spend a zillion dollars but the budget does have some flexibility.
There is an XL epic evo on eBay right now for $3500 or a new canyon lux trail is about the same. I have light wheels, bars, saddle, and the GX transmission kit in addition to the Izzo so I can start with a lower spec bike. New is fine, used is fine, what do you guys think?
Joe
You can also buy a new epic frame for 3800, but then would have to shell out for a fork as well. The only non-s-works frame they have is a pro “evo”, but the epic evo and epic 8 use the same frame, so you can set it up either way depending on the fork you put on it. The prior epic evo is pretty darn close in geometry, so I’m not sure a new frame makes sense compared to a complete bike for 3500, but you get the in-frame storage and it’s new with full warranty vs. used.
Is there a specific reason you want T-type? If it’s just to go electronic then the previous gen Eagle AXS is still really good and upgrade kits are pretty cheap.
T-type is better when I have really crappy shifts under load, but overall I think it’s only marginally better.
Yeah I really like the way my buddy’s bike shifts with it and I’m just sick of the hanger and limit screws and I want to just hit a button vs the shift lever. It’s a completely reasonable question but “I just want it”.
The idea of the epic 8 frame is kinda interesting….i could use the fox factory 34 along with the rest of my parts from the izzo. Then I think….4k plus the gx kit I mean what the hell?? How bad do I want this??
Joe
