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SRAM Eagle AXS drivetrain shift paddle orientation preference

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For Eagle AXS drivetrain owners, which shifter paddle do you prefer to shift which direction?

  • Upper lever for upshifting, lower lever for downshifting

    Votes: 20 53%

  • Upper lever for downshifting, lower lever for upshifting

    Votes: 18 47%
  • Total voters
    38
1 - 20 of 60 Posts

Sparticus

· Out spokin'
In cog? Neato!
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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Image



So, I joined Club AXS.
I had no intention. SRAM's GX AXS 'upgrade group' went on sale so I bought it as a surprise gift for my girlfriend.
Installed it on her bike while she was off at the climbing gym.
When she came home, she'd have nothing to do with it. Felt invaded. Demanded I remove it from her beloved Ibis Mojo 4 immediately.
Ummm... okay... hmmm... hey wait a minute, I can use this on my Trek Rail.
Yeah, that's the ticket!

So I put it on that bike after getting an XD-compatible DT freehub body from @mikesee at lacemine29.com.
Thanks, Mike.
It was easy to install. WAY easy. Both the DT freehub body switch-out AND the SRAM GX AXS upgrade group.
This stuff shifts AMAZINGLY well. Easy. Precise. Fast.
I've been a Shimano fanboy ever since I was forced into their camp 3 decades ago when Shimano put Suntour out of business. I hated Shimano for that (loved Suntour), but couldn't deny that Shimano stuff kicked butt. In recent times I've worked on SRAM drivetrains and they're okay but I wasn't impressed.
NOW I'm impressed.
Why didn't you guys tell me AXS is this good?

BUT...
The paddles take some getting used to. When attempting shifts, my thumb went to familiar places -- the paddles weren't exactly in those familiar places.
And to make things worse, SRAM pre-programmed the upper paddle to upshift and the bottom paddle to downshift.
Makes logical sense, doesn't it.
UP paddle = UPshift.
DOWN paddle = DOWNshift.

Not so fast.

If you use a traditional cable-driven derailleur, think about which paddle you press to move the der in a given direction.
IMO SRAM's factory up/down programming is backward.
Whenever I DOWNshift the chain moves UP the cassette (into bigger cogs), so in my mind it makes sense that the upper paddle would shift into those cogs.
And the lower paddle would shift down into the smaller cogs.
First couple of rides, I tried to get used to the way SRAM shipped this thing.
By ride #3 I was asking myself why I'm fighting with it.
The good news is we can have it either way we want it. Digital programming makes it easy, so I switched mine to the way I prefer.

Now I'm curious to find out if I'm in the minority or if other riders feel the same way.
If you have AXS, which up/down shifting pattern do you prefer?
=sParty


Admin edit: Photo added for newsletter
 
#2 ·
What paddle does the GX come with now?

When I got mine a year ago it was coming with the V1 paddle and I quickly swapped it to the V2 paddle that came on my X01 AXS.

much better ergonomics, IMO.

Either way, I set mine up to mimic what the chain is going to do on the cassette. If I push up, the chain moves up the cassette. If I push down, the chain is moving down the cassette. That’s the way it made sense in my brain.
 
#3 ·
As far as people who discuss such things on the internet, I think I'm a bit of an outlier, as I prefer the standard paddle in the standard shift orientation. In my brain, I push up and shift into a harder gear, push down to ratchet down the intensity. Very comfy to me.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
mlloyd007 said:
Up to go faster, down to go slower.

The elephant in the room is the girlfriend's reaction, however...
Click to expand...
  1. She doesn't like gifts (except consumables) -- I knew this in advance
  2. She's not crazy about surprises, either. Some folks just aren't
  3. She has issues about forgetting things. Things like batteries -- forgetting to charge them and forgetting the batteries themselves
  4. She likes her bike the way it is. She researched it, she spec'd it, she bought it -- on her own. I have to admit that I knew altering it in such a huge way without discussing doing so with her was a bit of a stretch
  5. She's not your typical girlfriend. (I'm using "your" in a comparative societal way :))
=sParty
 
#7 ·
Sparticus said:
  1. She doesn't like gifts (except consumables) -- I knew this in advance
  2. She's not crazy about surprises, either. Some folks just aren't
  3. She has issues about forgetting things. Things like batteries -- forgetting to charge them and forgetting the batteries themselves
  4. She likes her bike the way it is. She researched it, she spec'd it, she bought it -- on her own. I have to admit that I knew altering it in such a huge way without discussing doing so with her was a bit of a stretch
  5. She's not your typical girlfriend. (I'm using "your" in a comparative societal way :))
=sParty
Click to expand...
Sounds like you were aware that she would reject your technological advances and you decided to proceed anyway, knowing that you could keep the new toys for yourself while attempting to be generous/thoughtful.

I think you need a therapy session. Maybe they can help you with your paddle dilemma

🤣
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
006_007 said:
Sounds like you were aware that she would reject your technological advances and you decided to proceed anyway, knowing that you could keep the new toys for yourself while attempting to be generous/thoughtful.

I think you need a therapy session. Maybe they can help you with your paddle dilemma

🤣
Click to expand...
I can't deny that there might have been some of that in there, too. :)
"If she doesn't like it, it won't go to waste."
But honestly, that was nothing more than a safety net.
I truly expected her to love it.
Ha! Look how things turned out.
"Guys, I couldn't help it -- I HAD to put it on my bike! What else could I do?!?"
Now I love it!
=sParty
 
#9 ·
I’d become well-adapted to the standard AXS “up for a bigger gear” too when I got a fat bike with mechanical GX, which is the opposite. Going back and forth between fatty and MTB, my brain couldn’t adapt and I was shifting opposite of what I needed. Solution: get the AXS app on your phone.

I already had the app set up for our road, gravel, and MTB’s, when I finally got fed up with the MTB being opposite of the fatty I’d ridden the last couple of rides. I pulled out my phone, opened the app, connected to the bike, and reversed the paddles. Fixed it in under a minute.
 
#10 ·
I feel for you that you had to re-install the cables.

As well, I cannot remember which is downshifting and upshifting. My system is as factory set, press the paddle up to go to smaller cogs, down to go to larger cogs, which ever is up or down. Its effectively the same as my XT Di2 system, so easy learning curve.

I have an HT with the XT Di2 group on it. Cannot say which I prefer more, I also like the individual paddles of Shimano, but in truth they both work equally well. The AXS system was significantly cheaper than an equivalent Di2 XT system, that was nice.

A big plus to SRAM as the AXS system was so bloody easy to install, took like 20 - 25 minutes. I am sold now on the idea of wireless connection shifter to derailer. I had to do some drilling on my HT with Di2 to get the e-tube cables thru the frame, I'm certain I voided the warranty.
 
#11 ·
After 3 bikes with XTR derailleurs I recently purchased a X01 AXS groupset and had about five days to play around with it before 3 feet of snow arrived. By default it was 'up shifts up & down shifts down' and since XTR is the opposite there was no way I was keeping it like that! Thank god it's customizable.

Is anybody using the multi-shift feature?
 
#12 ·
NeedleBanger said:
After 3 bikes with XTR derailleurs I recently purchased a X01 AXS groupset and had about five days to play around with it before 3 feet of snow arrived. By default it was 'up shifts up & down shifts down' and since XTR is the opposite there was no way I was keeping it like that! Thank god it's customizable.

Is anybody using the multi-shift feature?
Click to expand...
Yup, hold button and shift to infinity. I rarely use that option, but it is there... I usually go blip blip blip

And, I'm an up to upshift, down to downshift paddler.
 
#13 ·
Get the V2 paddle. Its cheap and just gives you some more options. I'm coming from GS so, I've got no intuitive shift motions. Honestly, I'm just trying to mimic analog shifters so that I can swap/demo bikes and feel at home. If you're starting from zero, why not?
Right now, using the V2 paddle, the upper paddle shifts into a harder gear, the lower shifts into an easier gear. is this how analog shifters work?
 
#15 ·
snow snakes said:
As far as people who discuss such things on the internet, I think I'm a bit of an outlier, as I prefer the standard paddle in the standard shift orientation. In my brain, I push up and shift into a harder gear, push down to ratchet down the intensity. Very comfy to me.
Click to expand...
I do as well. As someone with limited mobility in their wrist, I find the v1 paddle works best.
 
#16 ·
Sparticus said:
So, I joined Club AXS.
I had no intention. SRAM's GX AXS 'upgrade group' went on sale so I bought it as a surprise gift for my girlfriend.
Installed it on her bike while she was off at the climbing gym.
When she came home, she'd have nothing to do with it. Felt invaded. Demanded I remove it from her beloved Ibis Mojo 4 immediately.
Ummm... okay... hmmm... hey wait a minute, I can use this on my Trek Rail.
Yeah, that's the ticket!

So I put it on that bike after getting an XD-compatible DT freehub body from @mikesee at lacemine29.com.
Thanks, Mike.
It was easy to install. WAY easy. Both the DT freehub body switch-out AND the SRAM GX AXS upgrade group.
This stuff shifts AMAZINGLY well. Easy. Precise. Fast.
I've been a Shimano fanboy ever since I was forced into their camp 3 decades ago when Shimano put Suntour out of business. I hated Shimano for that (loved Suntour), but couldn't deny that Shimano stuff kicked butt. In recent times I've worked on SRAM drivetrains and they're okay but I wasn't impressed.
NOW I'm impressed.
Why didn't you guys tell me AXS is this good?

BUT...
The paddles take some getting used to. When attempting shifts, my thumb went to familiar places -- the paddles weren't exactly in those familiar places.
And to make things worse, SRAM pre-programmed the upper paddle to upshift and the bottom paddle to downshift.
Makes logical sense, doesn't it.
UP paddle = UPshift.
DOWN paddle = DOWNshift.

Not so fast.

If you use a traditional cable-driven derailleur, think about which paddle you press to move the der in a given direction.
IMO SRAM's factory up/down programming is backward.
Whenever I DOWNshift the chain moves UP the cassette (into bigger cogs), so in my mind it makes sense that the upper paddle would shift into those cogs.
And the lower paddle would shift down into the smaller cogs.
First couple of rides, I tried to get used to the way SRAM shipped this thing.
By ride #3 I was asking myself why I'm fighting with it.
The good news is we can have it either way we want it. Digital programming makes it easy, so I switched mine to the way I prefer.

Now I'm curious to find out if I'm in the minority or if other riders feel the same way.
If you have AXS, which up/down shifting pattern do you prefer?
=sParty
Click to expand...
I went the opposite of the default. And I got the dual paddle looking things. Using the app, I also enabled multi-shifts across the cassette. Being a bike wrench, I couldn't believe how easy this was to put together either. It took longer to yank out the old cables than it was to install and get it shifting perfectly.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Huh... until now I didn't even know there are various versions of controller paddles out there.
I've already overspent on this project. While I'm glad I've got AXS, I'm not interested in shelling out another $150-250 for a new controller.
Yet.
The real expensive part will happen once I decide that I have to have AXS on my other 2 multi-speed mountain bikes, too.
Sheesh.
It never ends.
=sParty
 
#18 ·
The "upgraded" or new rocker paddle is available for $20 seperately. I tried it and prefer the original like many others that have posted here. I found I had to move the controller too far away from my grips to get clearance with the new paddle.

www.sram.com

AXS Rocker Controller - EC-AXS-ROCK-A1 - SRAM

AXS Rocker Controller, EC-AXS-ROCK-A1, SRAM. The newly redesigned Eagle AXS Rocker Paddle gives the rider a traditional, familiar interface for their cutting-edge electronic control. Effortless e...
www.sram.com www.sram.com
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
mnpikey said:
The "upgraded" or new rocker paddle is available for $20 seperately. I tried it and prefer the original like many others that have posted here. I found I had to move the controller too far away from my grips to get clearance with the new paddle.

www.sram.com

AXS Rocker Controller - EC-AXS-ROCK-A1 - SRAM

AXS Rocker Controller, EC-AXS-ROCK-A1, SRAM. The newly redesigned Eagle AXS Rocker Paddle gives the rider a traditional, familiar interface for their cutting-edge electronic control. Effortless e...
www.sram.com www.sram.com
Click to expand...
Ah, I get it -- I can change just the paddle, don't have to buy a whole new controller.
Thanks.
=sParty
 
#20 ·
Sparticus said:
  1. She doesn't like gifts (except consumables) -- I knew this in advance
  2. She's not crazy about surprises, either. Some folks just aren't
  3. She has issues about forgetting things. Things like batteries -- forgetting to charge them and forgetting the batteries themselves
  4. She likes her bike the way it is. She researched it, she spec'd it, she bought it -- on her own. I have to admit that I knew altering it in such a huge way without discussing doing so with her was a bit of a stretch
Click to expand...


and then.....


Sparticus said:
I truly expected her to love it.
Click to expand...

Were you drunk? Tripping balls?
 
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