Many riders have debated why to buy expensive XX1 or X01 AXS, when GX AXS has essentially the same performance for much less money, and at a measly weight penalty. Now Ratio has your answer… don’t do it.
Ratio Eagle AXS replacement derailleur cage
Ratio Technology has been making waves with a lot of more affordable ways to get more out for your existing drivetrain, from our favorite Budget Mullet conversion making your mechanical derailleurs shift big Eagle cassettes to an upgrade kit to run Campy 13 gearing with old SRAM mechanical shifters, to their latest prototype knuckle to convert old mechanical derailleurs to the forthcoming SRAM Direct Mount standard. But with a lot of cages designed to upgrade existing derailleurs, they didn’t have a replacement cage for riders already running Eagle AXS derailleurs.
Customers asked, and Ratio delivered. “A lightweight, high-quality replacement derailleur cage for Eagle AXS derailleurs.”
And since the 3 SRAM Eagle AXS derailleurs share the same shift motor, electronics, battery, and cage attachment – one cage will fit all 3 as a replacement, or as a significant high-value upgrade for GX.
Weight savings
Ratio says their machined alloy Eagle AXS replacement cage with pulleys weighs just 79g, compared to the 144g of the standard GX AXS steel cage. That’s a savings of 65g, not coincidentally the same savings SRAM gets with the X01’s alloy cage.
Looking back at SRAM’s derailleurs, interestingly that weight penalty is pretty much the only tangible performance difference between the three levels of Eagle AXS rear derailleurs, and SRAM has conveniently removed the weight claims from their website. Bikerumor to the rescue though, we wrote the all-inclusive Eagle AXS breakdown between the wireless three, including their real weights. SRAM XX1 AXS at $753 / 831€ weighs the least at 374g with ceramic pulley bearings & titanium bolts. X01 AXS at $538 / 573€ adds just 13g at 387g in the switch to the same steel bearings & steel bolts. So, GX AXS at $390 / 406€ delivers pretty much identical performance at 452g.
So swap the Ratio Eagle AXS replacement derailleur cage onto your current GX AXS derailleur and be the same weight as X01 or within 13g of XX1.
Tech details
The Ratio Technologies Eagle AXS replacement derailleur cage is machined in-house by Ratio in the Lake District of the UK. The 7075 cages plates carry a pair of smooth & quiet, CNC-machined Delrin jockey wheel pulleys. They spin on labyrinth-sealed stainless steel Enduro bearings, and all held together with stainless steel bolts.
Ratio Eagle AXS cage – Pricing & cost savings
The secret here is that the Ratio Eagle AXS replacement derailleur cage sells for just £90, or ~ $92 / 84€, with international shipping from £11.
Buy a new GX AXS derailleur for $390/406€, add the Ratio cage and it’ll cost you a total of $482/490€. You get the same weight as X01, but for $56/83€ less. PLUS you have the original steel cage as a spare in case you crash down the road. I can’t really see any reason to buy an X01 AXS derailleur at this point, and I’m thinking my own GX AXS gravel mullet setup is in due for a weight-saving upgrade now!
Or, if you’ve already crashed and broken the cage on any XX1 AXS, X01 AXS, or GX AXS derailleur, this is much cheaper than having to replace the entire derailleur since SRAM doesn’t sell a replacement cage, and pretty much the only other option had been an inordinately expensive oversized pulley wheel upgrade from the likes of CeramicSpeed, Kogel, etc..
