Got to handle XX1 in person tonight at the JensonUSA tech demo. I figured I'd share what I learned, from sort of a neutral stand point, treating all hype with a healthy amount of speculation.
The Type 2's cage "tension" just feels crazy high. I was thinking it was "locked" (I never handled it before, even a XO or X9 version), until I gave it much much more force to open it up. The cage lock button is a very cool idea. You use it when you want to install/remove your wheel, by pushing the cage forward and you press the Lock button, which is actually a pin, which goes into a cut-out in the cage, and holds it forward. The 12T jockey wheels kind of stand out. They aren't made of the slick Delrin material I'm used to seeing, but instead a hard plasticy composite material, with the "X-Sync" tooth shaping like found on the chainring. Also only the outboard half of the cage is carbon it seems, with the inner half metal.
The cassette feels so light for how massive it is. I've used an XX cassette before and this didn't fail to impress me yet again, with how artfully crafted it is. The difference here is how it locks onto the hub's cassette body. It presses up against it, yet not flush like a normal cassette. Instead, you use a lockring tool to screw it on, and it pulls itself into the grooves. Super simple.
SRAM rep gave me some numbers and the prices seemed higher than what I've been paying for XX (I tend to bargain hunt). How cheap they said the XX1 chain's MSRP is, was kind of shock, with how low it was, especially after how they claimed it lasted 4x longer than their previous chains ($59). They say it lasts 4x longer due to some "hard chrome" coating they put in the inner bits. It looked pretty narrow. That's one thing I'm looking forward to on trickle down. The chainrings were kind of expensive, $90-125 or so, depending on how many teeth it comes in. They say they're CNC'd 7000 series alu, with a special hard wearing coating.
Not sure if I'd pair it with triggers, personally. I tried riding pseudo 1x, by simply keeping it in the middle ring, and found myself dumping massive number of gears unnaturally. That made me look forward to checking out the twist action of the GripShift, and how it feels jumping through multiple gears. Thought that it felt really light and smooth at pulling cable, with distinct clicks between gears, but felt like the clicks were more like big speed bumps when releasing cable.
I was shown what looked to be a XD Driver body made for a SRAM hub, with its pawls missing. It had a sealed bearing hanging out on 1 side and a built in rubber flap where it meets the hub shell. Looks like the end cap doesn't press fit on, but is loose and is held by the thru axle. Can't really judge other brand's version on the one I saw, but they claim that a lot of brands have signed on to create their own hub bodies that are compatible with the XX1 cassette.
One of the Jenson guys added in an anecdotal story about SRAM carbon crankarms (XO, in this story), saying that they felt stiffer than XTR crankarms, which successfully converted a heavy hard-riding Shimano die hard. They say it comes in 168? and 154? Q-factors and I think it comes with heel rub tape pre-installed.
The rep claimed SRAM to have shipped out only 1000 groupsets globally for their November shipment (~400 to the US), and plan on ramping up production to double that figure each month.
Looks like you're gonna have to basically buy an entire gruppo, as they're all designed to work together. $1450 MSRP. While they might have said that to get the finest experience, you must run things together with their older gruppos, they really emphasize it for this one. Someone asked the rep if you can put the XX1 chainrings on a non-XX1 crankset and she said no, and then corrected herself saying that not compatible at this time.
Looking forward to seeing this on complete bikes, particularly ones that are designed specifically for it, no FD and no compromises for fitting triple crankarms and also allowing tire clearance. Maybe we can see some lighter 29ers that feature tighter rear ends. A lot of naysayers might just be sold on it come 2014, when this actually gets out under more riders and the word spreads. It has quite a bit of promise and, from what I can tell, it looks like it can deliver. If a 1x system was a maybe, for your bike, fitness, and trails, XX1 might make that "maybe", if the hype can be believed, into a "why did I wait so long to go for a proper quality 1x setup?" There are those that feel like there's no chance that 1x would work for them, and I don't think XX1 will work well for them. It seems to target a limited number of riders, particularly those who "trail ride", rather than ride up and down mountains.
I didn't get to see it installed on a bike, so I'm not sold on it yet (I'd like to ride on it first), but the SRAM rep said that there might be a surprise at a future tech demo when she gets a truck and heads down to San Diego. Would've at least liked to feel the chain tension. Already seen it in action in the vids and can't really judge shifting action in a bike stand.