Ever since SRAM first launched its electronic AXS drivetrains for MTB about five years ago, it’s offered a wireless gear shifter. The brand has been through various shapes and designs of what it calls its AXS controllers, but all have essentially involved some kind of rocker paddle (or split paddle on the EC version) that tips up and down, rather than a two-button design (even if the paddle depressed two separate switches underneath). The first-generation SRAM controller was very concave, and quite angular, then SRAM came out with a more rounded/tilted Rocker paddle that aped the mechanical cable-operated shifter designs and was designed to appease the old guard brought up on staggered, two button designs.

The two-button Pod design can be used either side of the bars, and with a Bridge mount directly on the shifter, or an Infinite clamp that gives greater flexibility.

Neither really cut it for me though, to the extent where it became 100% natural to change gear as instinctively as on a traditional cable shifter. But that’s all changed now with this much more adjustable Pod design.

The Infinite clamp is incredibly slim, so doesn’t take up excessive space on the bars, and can be used on either side thanks to the 22.2mm diameter bore.

Design and specifications

Lighter and much more adaptable, the AXS Pods are symmetrical, so they can be flipped and used on either side of the bars – which means they’re cheaper to make as SRAM doesn’t need to manufacture side-specific designs. The left one typically activates an AXS Reverb dropper post, and the right one will be set to shift gears on an AXS rear mech. Just like the previous generation, you can customise the Pods in the SRAM AXS app and have either button shifting up or down the cassette to taste, or even one side shifting up and the other side shifting down. I go opposite to SRAM’s standard setting, and configure the lower button for a stiffer gear and the upper one for an easier one, as that seems to represent the way the chain moves up and down the cassette in my head.

There’s also a Rocker Pod controller that offers a more traditional, mechanical feel.

The ‘click and fire’ two-button set up requires a simple push rather than a rocking motion to activate the shift, and the whole thing is held onto the bars with a clever double loop Infinite clamp that requires just one T25 bolt to tighten. To swap orientation, or flip sides, just loosen the T25 bolt and twist the Pod in the lower loop to taste, or pop it out completely. There’s a really wide range of mounting angles on offer, and index lines for repeatable set-up. Because it’s possible to rotate both the clamp, and the POD within the clamp, it’s pretty easy to place the trigger buttons exactly relative to the grip and brake lever.

The Ultimate Controller has subtly different pads that can be customised.

The Pod unit is powered by a common CR2032 watch battery, and there is also a ‘Deluxe’ version where you can add interchangeable concave or convex buttons. As well as each individual button clipping into place – so you can replace it if you lose or damage one – SRAM’s design also allows you to replace the whole front section with a newly designed Pod Rocker Controller for people that prefer the older rocker paddle shape (that’s me! – Ed).

Rotate the Pod to whatever angle suits, and remove it completely by lining up the arrowhead with the split clamp.

Performance

The best thing about these Pods for me, is that shifting gear became totally second nature again. After decades riding mechanical shifters, my old brain had become so hardwired to shifter trigger placement, and the action required for mechanical shifts, I sometimes still made mistakes and missed, or misfired, a shift on the older paddle-style AXS controllers.

No matter what I tried, there was always something about the position and set up that didn’t feel quite right, and in the heat of the moment – like sprinting off the line in an enduro race, or panic shifting approaching a steep climb – I sometimes found myself fumbling, or worse still, shifting in the wrong direction by accident. I also wasn’t a fan at all of the rocking motion of the dished-out first generation AXS controllers, as I was so used to pushing.

Whether you choose the two-button option, or the Rocker paddle, the new AXS shifter is an improvement on the old design.

Since using these Pods with the excellent GX AXS T-Type Transmission, for example, that never happens and I simply haven’t missed a shift. The main reason being I can position these Pods almost exactly where my thumbs and hands have been used to moving for years with cable gears, and the action of the button just feels much more intuitive and straightforward to me.

The shifters cost £160, which means you’re getting a sharply-finished ANT+ wireless unit for roughly the same price as a high-end SRAM mechanical shifter, but it is cheaper than the bulkier previous-generation EC AXS controller. And speaking of older AXS controllers, if I already had those on my bike, I’d be seriously tempted to bung it on eBay or something and swap out to these new Pods – they save weight, and are simply that much more intuitive, ergonomic, and all-round superior to me.