SRAM AXS derailleurs are known for bushing wear that can degrade the shifting performance. If you’re tired of chain skips and mis-shifts, Southern Oregon company Madrone Cycles has developed a line of replacement links, cages, shims, tools, and other small parts that allow riders to rebuild and upgrade their SRAM derailleurs.
In addition to the replacement parts, Madrone also offers a rebuild service, should you want to have them repair your AXS rear derailleur. Although they no longer offer services for mechanical derailleurs, as a new derailleur is cheaper than their components, they made an exception for us so we could try (we have yet to go wireless) the upgraded shifting performance of their cages, pulleys, links, pins, and super shims. That said, the super shims and pins are available should you want to turbocharge your GX mechanical derailleur.
A complete rebuild by an experienced tech takes around 25 minutes. In the video, we cover some highlights of the process in upgrading and supercharging the GX mechanical derailleur and put it through its paces on our Specialized Turbo Levo eMTB. They also offer how-to videos on their technical support page.
In addition to their replacement parts, Madrone is also developing a complete mechanical rear derailleur, using the experience and knowledge acquired from upgrading the SRAM units. Adaptable to UDH or conventional, it will also be compatible with both SRAM and Shimano shift units and feature compatibility with various drivetrain via different cable cams.
Learn more at MadroneCycles.com.