Nine reasons you need AXS

01 It’s 12-speed

The advent of 12-speed cassettes for SRAM means not just adding another sprocket but reinventing how we think about bike gearing. By re-assembling the ratios with more of a split towards the wide range at the back, it means chainring sizes can be reduced. So unlike traditional 11-speed systems, the largest chainrings in the AXS world become 50/37 as a match for 53/39.

Instead, chainring sizing is set at 48/35 and 46/33 for double and a 43/30 in the WIDE system, plus 1x options of 40t and 46t. Cassette options vary between the AXS range too, but Rival comes in 10/30 and 10/36 options. The range that these options offer when compared to standard 11-speed systems is impressive, with the key element that the jumps between the core gears that