SRAM XX Groupset
I have recently jumped on a 2011 Pivot with SRAM XX groupset and been on enough rides now to warrant a review. If you check out the SRAM site linked here you can get all the tech talk.
First of all the XX groupset looks sweet! Very clean, no over the top colours or logoing, polished alloy and lots of it is always a winner.
The first thing I noticed is how ‘light’ the shifting felt with minimal effort or sweep of the thumb. This can be attributed to the 1:1 ratio EA (Exact Actuation, love a good acronym) technology. Which basically means for 1 unit of cable movement you get 1 unit of derailleur movement.
This also meant that halfway through the 6 hour when I started to get cable stretch, on the fly adjustments were easier with the barrel adjuster at the shifters.
While Shimano is very very smooth the Sram felt a little more ‘positive’ as it went into gear without being clunking.
This is my first time on 2x10 and I think the days of triple chainrings are very numbered. The wide ratios on the rear meant I never felt lacking in gears and on the front I felt like I was shifting less between chainrings because of it. Chainsuck seems to be less also but ask me again in a couple of months.
The brakes are mint. I felt in control and able to feather the brakes when needed without them grabbing and my wheels disappearing from under me. Adjustability is good with variable lever position and pad contact point.
With the double chainrings up front my legs felt nice and close with good power transfer. For those of you (like me) who scuff their cranks up with their shoes, the scuff point seems to be 1-2 inches higher than on regular cranks so use lots of protective skin.
Having come off the Fox fork which is great, but has a lock out that seizes up all the time, the XX hydraulic fork lock out rules! It is a no-hassles push button unit, the only thing being that you push the button in/on to make the fork active and release it to activate the lock out….In my head it is the other way round….If you know what I mean…In any case it doesn’t take long to figure it out.
So overall 10/10 thumbs up. The test will be now to see what the longevity is like.
