Friday News And Views

NX Eagle- "Ease Of Entry" Component group, or just cheap?

Entry Level, Cheap, Budget Priced 1 X 12:

SRAM predictably dropped the quality of materials and manufacturing techniques enough that a full price range of Eagle components are now available. SRAM apparently is trying to spin the new NX Eagle as being an "ease of entry" group, but let's face it- it's a cheaper Eagle. Call it "budget", entry level, or whatever, but doing some new way of saying "this is the cheapest level" is kind of goofy. We get it- it costs less for a reason.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not bagging on SRAM, or NX Eagle. I just don't think their "marketing-speak" is genuine. The parts should be awesome. I've been thrashing 11 speed NX for two straight Winters on my Ti Muk and I see no reason why NX Eagle wouldn't be pretty much the same experience. It is what it is, so do not expect the most crisp, fastest shifting, great looking parts, or the lightest weights. You won't get that at this little amount of money. (You can buy the entire NX Eagle group for less than a top end Eagle Power Dome cassette.) What you will get is a good, yeoman's performance for a decent price.

To my way of thinking, Eagle only makes sense if you haven't already gone 1X, and/or if you need the range this group can give you. It isn't as good as the GX Eagle or above, because NX doesn't have the 10T fast cog. It fits Shimano cassette bodies though, so it can retrofit to older non-SRAMed rear wheels. So, on one hand, that could be a benefit to this, or it could be a bummer if ya gotta have that 10T cog.

Purrrrrrple!

My favorite color is purple. This happened to come about for me when I was young. I lived on a highway and it was the zenith of the muscle car era. I saw them all- Chevelles, Novas, GTO's, Road Runners, 'Cudas, Challengers, and Mustangs. Even the rare Daytona would come zooming by once in awhile.

Well, the Chrysler Corporation ran these special colors on their muscle cars like "Slime Lime", "Hemi Orange", and who could forget "Plum Crazy". Those purple machines were my favorites, and that matched up with my early love of the Vikings football team. But they let me down big time in '68. That's another story........

Of course, the 90's were famous for anodized colors and purple was the king of that for a while. I had a 1996 Bontrager Race which was Plum colored, a darker hue, with a yellow panel with red lettering. I had Paul MotoLite purple brakes, and a purple American Classic seat post on that rig. Yep! I love me some purple ano!  I even had the purple ano Surly hubs, and I still rock a purple Chris King head set on my Ti Muk.

Now Paul Components is going to do another special anodized run of parts and this time they are running with purple. Hmm.......maybe I should get some Purple Klampers for the new BMC MCD rig. We'll see. The thing is that the delivery of these parts isn't until late July/early August. I'd hoped to be done with the build by then. But still. purple ano........ 

These are the 650B Carbon Aon GX wheels, but 700c ones will be here today.

 The Pink Puzzle Update:

Building up a bike from a frame and fork is like piecing together a jig-saw puzzle. You need a LOT of different parts and pieces to make it work, and what makes things worse is that certain things are predetermined and certain things are wide open to interpretation. 

One of the puzzle pieces will arrive today in the form of a wheel set. I have been testing wheels from Irwin Cycling recently on RidingGravel.com and I have been thoroughly impressed to the point that I am buying a 700c set for my Pink Puzzle Build. These wheels feature nice hubs with 3.75° engagement and a super smooth set of bearings. But I am most impressed with how these wheels are precisely molded and that transfers to getting a great seal on the tubeless tires.

I've been beating the snot out of both wheel sets Irwin sent to have reviewed and I haven't killed them, or even put a dint in their "armor", besides a few cosmetic scratches from being plowed through mud holes I normally wouldn't ride through on my own equipment. So, I am thoroughly satisfied that they will hold up and be great wheels for several years.

There will be more updates on the Pink Puzzle Build coming soon....

In the meantime, have a great weekend and Happy Father's Day to those fathers out there!