Any benefit over a triple with only a middle ring? Narrower Q factor? Wider choice of chainrings?

I guess lighter if you use a direct mount chainring, if available. But performance wise, very little. If anything a triple will give you more choice of rings as they then to be a more standard BCD rather than the proprietary single ring ones.

Struggling to think of moving away from 3×9 as anything other than a waste of money, currently.

Ah, are we talking 1×9 vs 3×9 or a triple crank with a single ring vs a single ring specific crank?

Well I was idly pricing up a move to 1x – new shifter, possibly new crank, new mech and new cassette. Then I thought, what’s the point?

No front mech, more simplicity
More ground clearance
If you were looking at a new mech and cassette, 10speed stuff is around the same price as 9 so opens up clutch mechs to you. Def worth it
Lighter
#bangontrend

10sp.. perhaps.. not a lot of range though. As a fat git I need low gears for climbing, but high ones for putting down my awesome power on the flat.

1x will eliminate the ‘fat git’ nature of your problem.

Struggling to think of moving away from 3×9 as anything other than a waste of money, currently.

+1

Haha what Tomhoward said

Existing 9 speed makes it a bit of a ballache to switch over, wouldn’t be in a rush to do it myself. That’s unless there’s some bodging possible to get a 10 speed clutch mech working with a 9 sp cassette.

Maybe if you wait till the drivetrain is bolloxed, then you’re just looking at the cost of a new shifter and a percentage of the cost of a new mech over what you’d be paying anyway.

It’s not just numbers and ratios. Single ring biking feels like biking the way it’s meant to be. It’s simpler, riding without thinking of two sets of gear changes, occasionally trying to remember what front ring you’re in, mad downshifts on both sides at the same time that fling your chain into mangled confusion, trying to clean that stuff that gathers between the chainrings and behind the front mech, another cable running along your frame and shifter to ensure works properly.

1x just makes it much simpler. One finger to shift, one finger to give instructions if you’re not in the right gear. And t’other finger solely to control what that seatpost is doing!

Ok, if you only do technically simple stuff and a lot of fast flat pedalling I’d not bother as you probably want a high range of gears thrown in with some low ones, but if it’s climbing for the sake of getting to the top, then having fun down, I’d definitely do it.

You’re easily fit enough to go 1×10 Molly.

think of it as a new challenge, relatively cheap way of making your bike interesting to ride.

Well, 1x would give me a simple way to offset the larger wheel factor. But I could just pedal harder as mentioned 🙂

I won’t throw out working kit, but I might change when stuff wears out.

well, next time you need a cassette buy a 10speed, and a wide/narrow middle ring and shifter, and you’re good to go.

it’s fun

Make sure if it’s a 29er it’s a 29″ specific crank

stop it, you bad man

When your 9sp dies do it then, no need for a crank.

This might be seen as a slightly weird suggestion, but when I first went 1×9 I just removed the front mech and shifter, and left all 3 chainrings in place on the crank so I could still change manually, say at the bottom or tops of hills. I actually found I never did this, not because it was a pain to do, but rather I never ran out of gears with just sticking in the middle chainring and using the cassette. Might be worth a go to see how you get on with a 1x setup without having to spend anything.

Struggling to think of moving away from 3×9 as anything other than a waste of money, currently.

Don’t. It’s really not mandatory. Next time it makes some kind of sense to change your whole drivetrain, go for it. They will be 1×11 SLX by then, and you’ll be shiny and chrome.