Uhm confused 
OK so from what i can tell...
1x10 - for fit people
2x10 - for racing?
3x10 - too many gears!
Currently running 2x9 with a road cassette - building a new bike and totally confused? Definitely going 10spd and want it to do a bit of everything from flat land Sherwood to scotland to the Alps
Do i go proper 2x10 or 3x10 and replace the outer ring with a bash and chain device? What's the real world difference in doing this?
Cheers Ben
A bashguard?
I'd go 1x10 - having a front mech is faff on your bars and most of the time more gears than you need..... if worried get a 34 tooth rear cassette.
get a chain device if your doing lots of bumpy trails and decents - get a bash guard if your running a front in 1x10.
nothing more annoying than dropping your chain - i havent had a bike other than a road bike without a chain device for years.
superstar do replica e13 ones that i find cost bugger all and are silent and dont drag (the e13 version i have isn't as good)
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=56&products_id=363
difference between 2x10 and 3x10 (with bash) is the spacing on the spider.
so with a 'proper' 2x10 chainset, you can use all of the cassette in either ring, whereas on a 3x10 with the outer taken off, you shouldn't be using the smallest end of the block when you're in the granny..
Dave
Im definately not fit and I run 1x10 32 tooth front 11-36 rear and havent encountered any problems I mainly ride swinley, south downs etc but was up the peaks last week and did ok for the limited riding I did.
Great thing about 1x10 is the lack of faff and clutter 
1x10 puts you very "on trend", it'll go a treat with wide bars and brightly coloured (matching) gloves and shorts 
I run 2x10 on my XC/singletrack bike. I use the all the gears and I spin out on the fastest trails and road. The low gears are handy when I'm tired and make it viable for the better half to use the bike too. I don't care about the spinning out though I wouldn't want to drop any more high gears at the mo.
1x10 is tempting and I'll likely try it sometime but I think 2x10 does what I need. I wouldn't go back to 3xanything.
so with a 'proper' 2x10 chainset, you can use all of the cassette in either ring, whereas on a 3x10 with the outer taken off, you shouldn't be using the smallest end of the block when you're in the granny..
But you can, and it makes sod all difference, having used M970s and Lightning cranks converted to doubles and XX and M985 'pukka' doubles.
It's about the gears you use and what works for you. I found a 22t too small to be of use, and a 44t too big, so went double, on a 2x10 I had 28/42. A lot of people find no use for the 44, but like the 22 as a bail out, and thus like 22/36, often with a bash.
I personally found myself in the 42 the vast majority of the time, but right up the top of the block, ie crossed over, so I've changed to 1x10 with a 36t ring and find that spot on. A lot of people do it for weight saving or to reduce clutter on the bars, where as personally I just found the gearing what I was after, with those as happy by-products!
If you're going for 10 speed get an 11-36 cassette, otherwise 10 speed is pointless, stick with 9.
Basically... work out what gears you use and what you don't, then think about what would suit you best.
1x10 with an 11-36 will give you a greater range than your current 2x9 with a road cassette.
It's a common myth that 1x10 is only for hardcore people. With a 1x10 you only lose the bottom 2 and the top 2 ratios from a full 3x10 setup. Unless you regularly use your bottom 2 gears, or your top 2, 1x10 makes a lot of sense. It gets rid of a lot of complications, and it saves weight. Also, a 32x36 bottom gear really is low enough for anything unless you regularly ride up and down Snowdon or Ben Nevis every ride.
Make the change, you'll love it!
1x10 with an 11-36 will give you a greater range than your current 2x9 with a road cassette.
Depends on the ratios, but 28/42 with 12-27 is a wider range than 36t with 11-36.
"having a front mech is faff on your bars"
I bet it is. Trying to work out what it would be for up there ..
A front gear shifter on the bars however is really no more a faff than a rear gear shifter. Doesn't look as good granted
"1x10 - for fit people
2x10 - for racing?
3x10 - too many gears!"
Depends on where you ride, how (fast) you pedal, how hard you want your bike to be to ride, if you'd like to ditch a few components?
3x10 gives less range of gears than 3x9 (all within the range of 3x9*), just more overlapping gears. If you find 9spd casettes a bit spread out gear wise you might be able to get a touch closer block with 10spd (thouth 11-32 9spd to 11-36 10spd will give you the same block spacing IIRC)
*Is there a 9T bottom gear casette out yet or not?
1*10 over 1*9 gives an extra half a gear or so of gear range (11-36T casette over 11-34T casette)
2*10 cranks are supposed to have better chainline to use more gears than 2*9 cranks?
"Also, a 32x36 bottom gear really is low enough for anything unless you regularly ride up and down Snowdon or Ben Nevis every ride"
Depends on how fast you pedal? If you manically spin over rough stuff rather than grind away uphill 'a pedal at a time' it can make a big difference?
From what you've said you'll be using the bike for OP I reckon you need a broad range of gears to cover a broad range of riding.
so 2xn? If you want to cover plenty of bases go double (doesn't have to be a specific double chainset) but exploit the fact that you can have a 14t difference between your Chainrings...
2x9 - 11-34T cassette with either 24/38 or 26/40 (depending on how strong you reckon you are.
or
2x10- 11-36 Cassette with 26/40 or 28/42 ...
both use the broadest spread available on both front and back cog collections and give you enough gears for just about anything you might want to do depending on what sort of rider you are, from the fact that you presently use a 2x9 drive with a road block I'd assume you've got good strong legs, might be worth while investing in a wide 9spd cassette and some different chainrings as the cheapest way to see what suits before you spend on a whole new drive...
Right Sheldon Browns calculator has spread some light on this for me now
I'm running a 12-26 9 speed cassette and 24/36 rings up front - I can get identical (almost) gear ratios running a 10 spd 11-36 with a 33 ring up front
That's it good bye front mech!
Cheers people
Or 34, which gives you a better high gear than you have now and a very comparable low gear. Do you find yourself spinning out, or wanting easier gears more?
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