So..in a well known MTB magazine (I read in shop and didn’t buy..cough cough) ..it had an article about making your chain set 1x by simply putting on a new narrow/wide chainring at the front and then removing all unnecessary parts e.g. lever, front mech, cables etc..

Does that actually leave a fully functional, rideable spread of gears, setup? My head says it wouldn’t. Also, if it’s that easy why all the complete chain sets or cassettes etc for 1x on sale?

Does that actually leave a fully functional, rideable spread of gears, setup?

Aye. You don’t need a wide range cassette or a rear mech with a clutch, but they may be beneficial.

Depends how fast you wanna go and how steep hills you’re riding.

I found it fine on a general trail bike, but needed an expander for the Lakes.

If your legs are able to cope with the gearing it gives you, of course it should work.

Unless you are my wife, in which case I obviously needed the complete new XT set up……

You lose a few gears at the top end that you’d only use on wide, smooth, flat out descents and a few from the bottom end that you only need if you’re a bit of a mincer. You’re left with a much simpler set up that’s lighter and still has all the gears you really need. Win all round.

We were running 1×9 like this before you could get 30t cassettes, 30t rings, clutch mech etc, needed chain guides though. Managed to ride most stuff in the Peaks that we had been riding with a double

So if I’m running 2x now…if i put a narrow /wide on the front what would the lowest gear be like in comparison to my current setup? Or is this a pointlessley hypothetical question?

Or, could I pretend to be your wife @morecashthandash and just get a new xt set posted to me? 😀

If you really want to pretend to be my wife, email in profile 😉

Could be an education for both of us.

@egb81 – I think this is where I’m curious. The simplicity appeals and if it so simple to convert, why not try it…

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

My eldest is running 1×9 with a 30 tooth NW chainring only, 11-34 cassette.

Just done a gear inch comparison, I’ve not had any complaints in moving from his triple on 24″ wheels, 7 speed – think the lowest on that is 28 = 20.8 GI, whilst 30×34 on 26″ is 21 – so nothing in that really.

My theoretical (as I’ve not tried it) problem is the top end, potentially spinning out 30/32/34 x 11 or 10 on raod legs but I think that isn’t as much of a concern for many (and may well not be for me when I work it out).

The best way to try 1x gearing is to leave your chain on the middle ring and ignore your front shifter. If you get on well with that then remove the shifting rings, mech and shifter, possibly a few links from the chain, and put a narrow wide on.

Yes. The trick is to choose the size of your chainring to suit your riding. It’s quite hilly and steep where I am so I geared towards the lower end (28T on a 29er) which means I do spin out quite quickly on the downs, but as the downs are quite steep too it’s not too much of an issue. Clearly if you’re in a flat area then you’d go for a larger chainring. The 10spd 36/11T cassettes give more than enough spread if you’re willing to make a compromise at either the low end or top end. If you want it all then you can go for a wider range cassette with the 40 or 42T cogs, but that increases the cost.

I have been playing with the idea of going 42T on the rear which would allow me to go to a 32T chainring up front and would give me the same (near as damn it) 1st gear but a higher 10th gear, but that would be a quite pricey swap so can’t really justify it.

There will be a compromise on ratio’s somewhere with 1×10, less so with 1×11, but it’s not much of a compromise.

The spread of gears will be fine unless you are having a bad day, you are six hours into a ride and in survival mode, you are not very fit, or like me you are a bit of a mincer.

You could simplify still further and just go single speed I still some times ride mine and I am a bit of a mincer.

It Depends, like everyone says. My scandal had just an 11-36, because it weighed nothing, had fast tyres and while it did some long days- GT7 frinstance- it’s usually not on really bad ground. Whereas my trailfox got an 11-42 because it’s heavier, it’s got proper fat knobbly tyres, and it’s the bike I use for grinding out bigger mountain rides etc. It’s also the one that gets pedalled faster so I can’t lose the top gears to add lower.

I’m reasonably strong tbh but there’s a limit there- people say “I can get up anything with gearing X” but it’s not just this one climb you need to get up, sometimes working hard in a higher gear grinds you down a bit too fast over several hours.

Also, you can always gear down the front but then maybe you run out of higher gears too.

I’ve just done exactly this to my Dune. I’ll let you know how it goes on Sunday!

A lot of cyclists don’t realise they can produce plenty of power at much lower and much higher cadence than usual because they’ve always had more gear range than they need.

It’s 25% off everything at Superstar today, why not just get a N/W ring and a 40t expander.

I’m sure you’ll be fine, unless you’re well out of shape or do a lot of fast pedalling on the flat.

And if you are out of shape, it’ll help you get fitter quicker.

That’s exactly what I’ve done and loved it so far.

On a typical 1×10 setup with an expander ring you’ll lose about 3 gears in range when compared to a 3×10 setup. It’s up to you where that loss goes: half and half; more from the top end; more from the bottom end. Which you chose depends on what the terrain is like where you do most riding. Wheelsize (sorry) also has an effect, very roughly a 30T on a 29er is equivalent to a 32T on a 650b and 34T on a 26″ assuming the same cassette and extender are used.

I started with a 30T on my 29er but moved to 32T when the first wore out. I don’t think I’d have liked to have started with the 32T, you need a bit of rule #5 to begin with.

The 10spd 36/11T cassettes give more than enough spread

Pretty much what I’ve found. It does get a bit ‘grindy’ on long days, but it’s just motivation to get fitter

😆

Cheers for all the advice. I won’t do the Superstar ‘Black Friday deal’ because need to look into it…I’d say I’m happy with my strength and fitness (obviously always working on getting fitter!), but because I often ride big mileage over 5/6 hour, in hilly terain with a lot of ascent and descent, I need to work out what might be a good starting point front chainring wise…I definitely like the appeal of it though..

All I did was stick on a N/W sprocket on the front and remove shifter, mech, etc.
No problems with a 32 on the front and a 11-36 on the rear. I’m not the fittest rider and it took a few weeks to get used to it, but eventually you man up and it’s all good.

Tom KP