I’ve got it in to my head that a single ring setup would work for me after my front mech decided not to play ball tonight and did the whole ride in the 24 front and 11-36 at the back.

I only really span out on the road sections had fewer rock strikes as I was throwing pedal strokes in faster and actually quite enjoyed the higher cadence on the downs.

Anyway, threw all this in to a gear ratio calculator with a 42 range expander thing vs the 11-36 and decided that a 26t narrow ride chain ring was what I would need to still get me up round the Peak without dying too much. Sorted.

I feel rather emasculated to find that Raceface only do 36
-42t chain rings, am I that weak? Blackspire do a 26t (and half the price) so I’ll go with that and a 42t.

I’m just unsure if i’ll have to ride on my own from now on for fear of being mercilessly ribbed.

In a similar vein, who the hell rides with a 42t ring up front?! uplift monkeys?

Edit: seems i cant read CRC too well 😀

who the hell rides with a 42t ring up front?!
Me and most of the people I ride with.
Never been on a uplift,

I think you’ve answered your opening question.

Yes you are weak, mtfu and ride bigger gears

32 front with 11-36 will be fine up the peak… If you splash out on one of the 40-42t rear sprockets you can run a 34 front no problems unless you really need helping up hills…

If you stick to the 32/11-36 get a narrow wide ring from works/superstar etc ditch the mech and if you hate it it’s not cost a lot (assuming you’ve got a clutched mech).

Yeah you’re a pansy. Either that or your maths is out.

26t front + 42t rear sprocket is (pretty much) the same ratio as 22t up front and a 36. I.e. the most granny-ring-ish setup that has ever existed on a mountain bike. Since that gear is basically like going backwards, you really don’t need it.

You can get a 30t RaceFace narrow wide chainring, that’s the smallest ring that’ll fit on a standard 4-bolt 104mm bcd spider. Having said that, a friend of mine uses a 28t inner chainring (from a 28/40t double setup) as his only sprocket up front. Looks a bit weird – the sprocket isn’t actually attached to the crack spider, it’s on the granny ring bolts so the chainline is a bit rubbish. I think this is worthy of relentless mocking but he allegedly finds it OK.

Race Face do smaller narrow wide rings than 36 tooth….I’ve got a 32. They go down to 30.

Previously I ran a 34 tooth which was fine in the dry but I found it hard work in the wet. You’ll be fine with a 32 tooth ring and an 11-36 cassette.

When I went 1×10 I spent the preceding couple of months exclusively riding my single speed. When I went back to. Y geared bike rather than missing the granny or big ring, I had a whole 9 extra gears I wasn’t used to and it was ace!

who the hell rides with a 42t ring up front?!
Me and most of the people I ride with.
Never been on a uplift,

Single ring?

Works components allegedly do middle rings to fit Sram cranks down to 26 but I’ve sadly not seen any in stock as I think a 28 would suit me perfectly with a 11-36 cassette.

OK so i’m a pansy, I get up everything in my 24/36 and wouldn’t want anything smaller to drag me and the Mega up the hills.

24/36 gives me a ‘winch’ gear of 17.8 inches which is the same as 28/42 – does that sound right?

Here’s them hills :/

Your question does depend on your wheelsize to some extent, as you will need a bit lower gearing for a 29er…but really, 26 or 28 ring with a 11/42 cassette seems comically low. 30 up front on a 29er is a good choice, and fits the middle ring position.

The cadence on a 28/42 gear might be amazing, but you’ll be going so slow you could hardly balance!

I went with 30T on the front and 11-40 (the usual 11-36 standard cassette with 40trex replacement) on the back. This is on a 29er. Only used it a couple of times but I’m running out of steam by the time I get there!

I’m on 32 front with an 11-42 (and 26 inch wheels)… That’s pretty low tbh, generally lower than I need the first or second times up a hill but once it gets to the end of the day I’m glad of it.

32t 12-36 on a 29er for me and I manage fine including a stint in the Sierra Nevada where the ramps get up to 30%. I’m no powerhouse either. I don’t see the point of the huge 42t cassettes as you have to sacrifice something in the middle, which means the jumps between the gears you spend most of your time in are bigger. Seems silly to me.

The cadence on a 28/42 gear might be amazing, but you’ll be going so slow you could hardly balance!

But anyone with a triple and standard gearing have had a lower gear for donkey’s years!
I get plenty of use out of my 22/34 granny on a typical peaks ride (26 wheels).

11-36 and 34T up front for me. Pretty much anything I could ride with a triple I can still ride but sometimes with more effort. Anything that was too steep is still too steep. All good for me.

You’re a pansy. I do that on 32:19 (29er – was 32:16 on the 26er).

Pansy.

To be honest I use the 22/36 combo frequently on my 2×9 setup so I don’t think you are a pansy. I guess it comes down to riding style but the fact is that on a FS bike, mashing high gears is a massive waste of energy, not to mention bad for your knees!

Meh, ride what you like! I have a 30 at the front and 11-36 at the back, works for me… You can always embiggen the front later.

I’m a pansy too! (well, I’m old, fat and slow!)

30 N/W up front and 11-42 on the back. I can climb most things my compatriots can, just not as fast (did I mention I’m slow?)

Most of my riding tends to be up one side, down the other. Even with a double I’d be in the small ring up front for the climb then as soon as it started to go down again I’d have to shift to the big ring as well as shift down the cassette. It’s just one thing less to worry about if things get rough as soon as you set off.

My application for membership of the pansy club is in the post.
22/34 on a 2×9 26″ is probably the gear ratio in which I spend the most time (NB time, not miles).

36 with 11-42 and i still get up everything i could with my triple, will be trying to go 38 soon, not because i spin out often, simply to trick myself fitter!

nbt – Member
You’re a pansy. I do that on 32:19 (29er – was 32:16 on the 26er).

Pansy.

You’re a gnome riding a tiny, singlspeed, rigid Scandal. If it took me twice as long to get up the hills as you i’d still got to the bottom of the other side first. Screw you lot, i’m going to ride what I want 😉

😆 😆

Heres my application to the pansy club… 28 tooth front (on a sram crank @Gribs^-Wolf tooth) and 36-11 on back…spinners are winners …remember that folks

ride what you like I’m still runing a 24/32/42 triple and 11- 32 cassette at the back. Granted i rarely use the big ring so a 2by up front and a wider cassette will give ish the same spread of gears.

I’ve got it in to my head that a single ring setup would work for me

im inclined not to agree. you sound much more suited to a double up front and a sensible cassette.

just imagine how much weight your bike will lose, ditching a front mech, a shifter and a short run of gear cable.

Heres my application to the pansy club… 28 tooth front (on a sram crank @Gribs^-Wolf tooth) and 36-11 on back…spinners are winners …remember that folks

Thanks for that, They’re even slightly cheaper so I’ll soon get to see if I can cope with a single ring.

34 on 11-36 is fine for me and I’m hardly super fit. I think you are thinking in the wrong way though. Ultimately you can’t really have a 1×10 set up to save weight and simplify things without having consequences. You can’t be all XC and spin at a crawling pace uphills anymore, you have to be more aggressive. I think a change to 1×10 requires a slightly different riding style on the hills but you very quickly get used to it.

34 on 11-36 for abt 18 months now, went with this set up on the HT for 6 days in the NW higlands – challenging to say the least and in hindsight rather tiring. However, whatever you get you will be fine (in the long run!)

pedal, push or hike whatever is needed to get to the top. Descents = grin factor

1×9, 11-34 put back, 32t up front. Gets me around the Peaks ok, albeit with foul language in foul weather!