SRAM Force AXS Long Term Review

Here it is! The long-awaited sequel to one of my most popular reviews. Here's the link affiliate I mentioned:

https://competitivecyclist.g39l.net/JrL4R2

SRAM was nice enough to send me this group right before all hell broke loose in 2020, but this is not a sponsored review. This is my honest take on what I thought was one of the best values to hit the market in a long time.

And If you’re wondering what took so long, it’s this: I didn’t want to give you the typical marketing-speak fresh-out-of-the-box commercial...no, no...I wanted to see how Force AXS performed over time. I wanted to try to break it. I wanted to neglect it and see if SOMETHING went sideways in the middle of an all day epic. Well, I’ve kicked its butt for almost a year...it’s been on a gravel bike and a road bike, my conclusion is this: it’s probably the most dependable and worry free kit I’ve ever used.

The Levers are substantial without being bulky, and to my hands the controls feel identical to both the first generation of eTap and the current generation of Red AXS. The hood shape feels bigger and more comfortable than my Dura Ace hoods, actually. They’re also super easy to install and sync to the derailleurs and the Bleeding Edge technology makes brake setup equally simple (as long as you have the right tools. I’m still using the original brake pads, but it’s a few rides past time to change them - and I’ve heard the same from other SRAM disc brake users, so my recommendation is to install fresh pads every 6-8 months on a gravel bike and 8-12 on a road bike.

And as long as you do that, there’s PLENTY of stopping power and modulation available. Honestly, it’s on par with the Dura Ace 9100 brakes on my Cervelo.

Now, the derailleurs - more specifically, the speed of the shifting - is something that a lot of riders and reviewers complain about: everyone says it’s not as fast as Di2. NEWS FLASH: it isn’t, and it doesn’t matter because you’re not egan bernal or chris froome, and you’re not getting dropped on the local climb because your shifting is 50 milliseconds slower than the other guy’s. In the year I’ve had Force AXS, it’s never missed a shift or dropped the chain, or even hesitated slightly to go from cog to cog. And it’s nowhere NEAR as finicky as my Dura Ace derailleurs - which can be terribly frustrating to micro adjust if you’re a DIY mechanic like me.

And of course, no review of ANY AXS group would be complete without some commentary on the flat-top chain and the tighter “X-Range” gearing. My gruppo has a 10-36 cassette with 46/33 chainrings and that truly covers all the bases. That’s the same gearing I had on the Red group I reviewed last year, and aside from a few steep off-road climbs, it has every gear I need from 2 to 45 miles per hour and the gaps between gears are mapped out perfectly to keep you from jumping massively from one cadence to another.

As for the flat-top chain, it does exactly what it’s supposed to do: shifts smoothly, and operates quietly. I highly recommend using a wet lube, though, as it tends to get noisy when it dries out - but what’s really cool is the amount or type of lubricant has ZERO bearing on the shift quality. Which is nice if you’re riding long, dry, dusty gravel epics.

The only thing I can say I’d change is the cassette: it’s a freaking brick. It’s so heavy I’m afraid to put it on a scale or even LOOK at the advertised weight. And, I’m not even a weight weenie. If you’ve got extra budget and it’s available - do yourself a favor and upgrade to the Red version right off the bat.

SRAM Force AXS is priced around the same as Shimano GRX Di2 and Ultegra Di2: I found deals on all three from $2300-$2600 - which is around a grand less than Red. And, Force is featured on bikes from all the big brands in the 6-8K range so for me - it’s a no brainer: Buy Force or the Force bike, and spend the grand you saved on a nice wheel upgrade or a smart trainer. Blindfolded, you’ll never know the difference between Red and Force, and it goes toe to to with Shimano’s offerings as well.