Not sure which to go for, is there a noticeable difference between the two.
Any experience would be great thanks

Cassette size, wheel size, fitness, type of riding and size of hills to be tackled?

what are you used?

33 if you cant decide..

and before some smart arse comes along.. i know

XT 11-36, 26″ transition bandit, decent fitness do around 80-100 miles a week on roads, problem is terrain, one is very xc orientated Castlewellan, the other is Kilbroney loads of climbing then all downhill back to carpark.

It’s 2 teeth

Probably my most overused pic but useful to give you an idea of the changes

fudge9202

XT 11-36, 26″ transition bandit, decent fitness do around 80-100 miles a week on roads, problem is terrain, one is very xc orientated Castlewellan, the other is Kilbroney loads of climbing then all downhill back to carpark.

34 then.

i think id rather push up a really steep hill than do 120rpm on the road or down a mountain.
34!

Looks like 34 then if all goes pear shape can always sell it on here.
Many thanks

If at first you find it hard, you won’t after a few weeks

Really depends on you. 34 is good for me. Many friends have 32, and even the extended range cogs.

A lot is down to fitness, and what and where you ride.

I worked it out based on moving from 2×10 and what gears I was using. Then I played around with Sheldon’s gear ratio calculator and decided I would lose two gears from top and two from bottom if I went 1×10 with the same cassette (11-36) and I wasn’t using those two either end so much, so worth a shot. Been fine everywhere, even in the Alps (though a lot of uplift there), though the Lakes were a struggle at times.

I was in the same situation. I just don’t think I can remember a time when I’ve ever span out and worried about it – maybe descending a tarmac road?

I’ve never spun out in top gear of 32t x 11-36 on singletrack. I think you’d have to be going aaron gwin speeds to manage that.

Whereas the hills can always get steeper!

There’s also the change in how the suspension behaves with the chainring size – the smaller, the less the pedal bob. I have a 34t on my 26″ hardtail and 32t on my 27.5″ full-sus which works out at about the same gearing.

You can tell if you have the right size chainring from how much time you end up in either the biggest or smallest spocket. If it’s about equal then you’re bang on.

You need to figure out how much time you spend at the limits of your current gearing, i.e. small chainring to largest sprocket and large chainring to smallest sprocket. You aren’t going to get quite the range with a 1x setup, typically you’ll lose the equivalent of a gear or maybe two at either end of the range.

I’ve a 30T NW on a 29er, at first it felt hard work but I’ve got used to it so for general XC hacking I could go to 32T but for the steeper stuff in the Lakes and Peak 30T feels right for me. I’m not too bothered about spinning out – by the time I get to that speed I’m happy for gravity and momentum to do the work 😆 By the time I’m struggling on the climbs I’d be wanting to get off and push. I reckon I only spend about 5% of my riding time in either of the extreme gears and another 5% in the next pair in so it’s probably right.

To get equivalent ratios for 27.5 wheels I’d need a 32T and for 26″ a 34T. It just so happens that the ratio between the wheel sizes is close to that between the chainring sizes.

I’m only in granny ring when climbing to the top of Kilbroney which is a seriously long time and steep, but once up never in it again as it’s down and fast all the way. 32 would seem to be the best way to go but plan to run a t rex 42 expander sprocket so do you think I’ll spin out or should I stick to original choice of a 34 front ring?

Gone 32 on a 26″ Norco Sight, 11-36 10spd cassette. Do 99% of my riding in the Lakes and haven’t really found it an issue. When first fitted I tested it up Garburn from the Troutbeck side. There was a la’ll bit of swearing but made it. Seems to be getting a bit easier and the torque seems to make technical climbs easier, less spinning out. If you do most XC I would go for a 34 and maybe buy a 32 to swap if doing steeper stuff. It’s a 5min job to change a chainring.

Both my bikes now run a 38T, mostly because that’s how they came, not how I built them. It was silly hard at first… but somehow seems OK now. You just get used to whatever you have available really.

Ran 34t for ages on the trail bike with 36-11 cassette, popped a 32t a while back as that’s what was in the spares box, can’t say I really noticed the lack of a bigger gear. Usually just put in a pedal stoke here and there on the downhill bits and 32/11 seemed to be plenty for that. On the xc race bike though I do swap between 32 and 34 depending on course.

You know the gears you currently use though, I’d just stick it all into the sheldon brown gear calculator and see how the various combinations compare.

fudge9202 – Member

I’m only in granny ring when climbing to the top of Kilbroney which is a seriously long time and steep, but once up never in it again as it’s down and fast all the way. 32 would seem to be the best way to go but plan to run a t rex 42 expander sprocket so do you think I’ll spin out or should I stick to original choice of a 34 front ring?

You won’t need an expander ring. Last year I did Kilbroney starting at Yellow water, up to the river crossing then down the red. Then into Kilbroney, up to the top (via zig zags), down into Bally Ed, up the tractor trail to the mast. Down the black, then back up and finished the red to YW. All done with an 11-34 cassette and a 34t chainring. I was doing zero commuting or midweek miles at the time.

32×11-36 is a very light gear, if you’re doing 100 miles a week on the road the climbs around Kilbroney should be fine. If you can’t do it without an expander I’d be looking at my bike setup and climbing technique.

Doesn’t the chainring size sometimes mean you need to use a different length bolt to fit your cranks? I think a 34T plays nicer with 104BCD cranks, while with 30 and 32Ts you need to fiddle a bit.

Could be completely wrong mind you. I use a formerly XT triple cranks with a 32T chainring for SS and all it required was some shorter bolts. Reading up on using a 30T chainring seemed to suggest it was a bit of a faff as you’d need a certain length bolt to get a good enough interface with a Hope retainer ring.

E.13 do a 33 tooth , then get a top guide on. No need for a clutch.

Anyone running the superstar components ring seem good value what is the wear like at £25 seem good value.

Thanks to everyone who posted opinions and recommendations I’ve gone for a raceface narrow wide 34t if it goes pear shape it’ll be in the classifieds
Cheers fudge

Right, got everything I need so just got to set the bike up and head out for a test run, will report back how I coped later.

By the way I have a spare 16t cog for a shimano cassette in the classifieds if anyone wants one.

30t, no need for one of those range extender cassette things then

30t, no need for one of those range extender cassette things then

30t with 42-11.

Works fine for me and that’s all that matters to me.

Renthal SR4 come in loads of flavours.

I thought the concensus of opinion when running a 42t expander socket was to change out the 17t sprocket to a 16t sprocket to make things smoother?

30t with 42-11.
Works fine for me and that’s all that matters to me.

I wish I lived somewhere hilly enough to need all those cogs

34T on the lung buster at Kilbroney will be fine, I used one on my 1×10 Meta.

I just bought an Absolute Black Oval NW 32T, running on a Anthem 29er with 1×11 XX1. Given my trails/terrain I’m using only the bottom half of the cassette as I don’t have any proper mountains local. So should have bought the 34T at least, maybe even the 36T!

Decision should be based on the ratios you use currently for your riding, hindsight for me 🙄

Hej mikewsmith; do you have an extension to that chart with X0 9 speed ratios?

If you are bothered about spinning out on a tarmac descent perhaps you might be into the wrong branch of cycling?

If you are bothered about spinning out on a tarmac descent perhaps you might be into the wrong branch of cycling?

What a stupid comment, not everyone drives to a trail centre every time they go riding. Some of us, shock horror, ride there an back, so gears that also work OK on the road make sense.

Looking at all these threads on trying to get the right chain ring size and faffing with expanders, makes me think the Shimano probably have it right with doubles for 90% of riders.

What a stupid comment, not everyone drives to a trail centre every time they go riding. Some of us, shock horror, ride there an back, so gears that also work OK on the road make sense.

100rpm at the pedals gives comfortably over 20mph even with 26″ wheels and skinny XC tyres and 32t-11. Yes, unless you’re a great spinner you’ll have to stop pedalling downhill once you’re much past 30mph but I can’t see how that’s a problem when it comes to getting to/from the trails?

But using the 11t is horrid, due to the bad chainline. MTBs used to be versatile machines, now people are coming along and saying if you do anything on the road on them you are in the wrong?!!

Feel free to use whatever, but for me I’d rather a double running smaller gaps between the ratios, such that most of the time was spent around the middle of the cassette, where you get a straighter chainline.

dragon – Member

…people are … saying if you do anything on the road on them you are in the wrong?!!

no they’re not, they’re questioning the ‘need’ to carry on pedalling past 20mph.

people are coming along and saying if you do anything on the road on them you are in the wrong

Not at all – I only start to spin out using 30-11 when on a slight down slope so at that point I might as well enjoy the benefits of gravity as I’m quite happy with the speed I’m going at.

With ten gears I spend most of my time in 3 – 8, a little time in 2 & 9 and somewhat less in 1 & 10, in percentage terms: 90%, 7%, 3% (roughly).