SRAM Groupset Levels Explained:

SRAM MTB Groupset Hierarchy

SRAM's claim to fame is their Eagle mountain bike groupsets. SRAM cut their teeth in the 1980s mtb scene and revolutionized the mountain biking world with their 1x drivetrains. Though they lack the climbing prowess of 2x and 3x derailleurs, 1x setups are better for keeping your chain in place and streamlining the components on your bike.

Though there’s a price difference in SRAM’s highest end components, XX1 and X01, SRAM advertises them for different purposes. XX1 is lighter and intended for fast cross-country races, whereas X01 is designed to take a beating on burlier enduro trails. You’ll often see GX on bikes as the working man’s hero, providing excellent performance at an affordable price point. As of 2021, GX even comes with electronic AXS shifting for those who want precise performance without springing for the pricier groupsets.

It’s worth noting that mountain bike groupsets do not come with brakes. The brakes and shifting are not integrated on a mountain bike as they are on drop bar bikes, so the components are all sold separately. Mountain bike brakes are the one instance where SRAM is not as intuitive as Shimano, as they created different names for their brake lines. For SRAM brakes, the hierarchy goes: Code, G2 (formerly Guide), and Level.

 

SRAM Road Groupset Hierarchy

SRAM is better known for their mountain bike groupsets, as they’ve been around since the 1980s. SRAM didn’t introduce their first road offering, SRAM Red, until 2007.

There is usually some overlap between road and gravel groupsets, which you can see with SRAM’s XPLR series that allows some customization to their road groupsets. You can generally expect road bike groupsets to have larger chainrings with fewer teeth, emphasizing speed on smooth terrain.

Note: because of their lever design, road and gravel bikes have integrated brakes and thus follow the same hierarchy as the groupsets above. Road biking is also the only cycling discipline to still utilize rim brakes, though SRAM offers a hydraulic disc brake option.

 

SRAM Gravel Groupset Hierarchy

SRAM doesn’t currently offer a gravel-specific groupset, but they do offer a few key gravel components under their XPLR collection. The XPLR 1x12 derailleur, 10-44t cassette, and cranks and an eTap AXS electronic shifting system fit within the Red, Force, and Rival collections. Gravel-specific features like chain management and a 10-44 tooth cassette are made to optimize their pavement setups for dirt roads.

SRAM Brakes