Just trying a few things at the moment, i have a 34narrow wide chainring on a deore crank, a kmc chain, a sunrace 11-42 cassette, and a XT sgs rear mech.

This is on a Carbon Superfly frameset.

Now however i set this up the drivetrain is very noisy, and the shifting isn’t particularly great, it works but feels a bit agricultural.

And looking at the chainline when in the two extremes of the cassette, it is pretty crap, in the big sprocket the chain really does look like it is being forced to flex.

Is this a fact of life, the combination of items etc. Are there CHEAP solutions. would changing the rear mech to a m7000 or m8000 be better, (i am assuming they will shift over a 10spd cassette).

I’d stick one of those mini top guides on and wear earphones. If it works…..
You’re going to get faster wear from a 1x setup regardless of how it’s setup. The mini guide should give you a longer more secure chain life.

When I initially did 1x 10 with an 11-42 Sunrace cassette and a nw 32t superstar oval chainring it was really noisy no matter what gear it was in. After a few rides it quietened down. That had a Sram chain not kmc and a Sram GX 10 speed derailleur.

My 1×11 now though has been silent from the start and I’d say it’s a little bit slicker shifting.