Im running old XT cranks and Hope Pro 2 Hubs (not evo‘s).
I need to change my chain and rings due to wear. I was wondering, can i change my 2×9 setup to a 1×10 or even 11, without loosing my lowest gear?
I currently run a 36/22 up front and a 32-11 cassette.
Many Thanks

With a 30t front and a 42t rear sprocket it will be 2.5% higher i.e. Not much different

A starter…

Depends on what and how
1×10 with an expander gives you 11-42
Shimano gives you 11-40 or 42
SRAM 10-42 but you need a XD Freehub and maybe some more bearings.

1*10 would be relatively easy to do. You’ll need a cassette and nw chainring, and a new chain, but you need that anyway.

On top you’ll need a shifter and rear mech, ideally a shadow+ clutch (assuming Shimano, other brands are available)

That’s the base level to do it. It’d give you a 30/36 lowest gear (0.83) if you get a 30t chainring. Currently you have a 22/32 = 0.69, so your lowest gear would be substantially harder, equiv to 22/27 so about your current third gear on the rear cassette.

Could you get by on that? Why not try it?

If not then you get into extender cogs, which do work well. A 40t extender decreases your lowest gear to 0.75, so about gear 2 on your current setup, or as above a 42t extender gets you pretty close. However, ime a 40t works without major shenanigans with b limit screws, etc; a 42t MAY need a derailleur cage offset thing to work smoothly. Others MMV.

Or, you could go straight to 1*11, and get the range ‘built in’ without resorting to aftermarket fixes. But that’d cost a fair bit more and may need new hub / freehub body. I’m no expert on 1*11 to know what level it’s reached so far and how backward compatible bits are though, someone else will answer that better than me.

I’m in the same quandary…. Do I skip 10 speed and go straight to 11? To go SRAM 11 speed you need an XD free hub and that won’t fit straight onto your non EVO pro 2 without a lot of changes. Last time I priced the parts up it up it was cheaper to buy a complete Pro 2 EVO hub than the parts needed to upgrade the non EVO.
The Shimano XTR 11 speed is 11-40 and a 45 expander is available. 11-45 on the rear will give a really wide range for 1 x 11. However I’ve had conflicting advice on the XTR 11 speed cassette fitting a standard pro 2 freehub body.

11-45 on the rear will give a really wide range for 1 x 11.

Think I’m reading the chart right but 10-42 gives you a bigger range than 11-45?
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Why not stick with 2×9 if you are happy with it?

Many thanks, thats great infomation. I havent got much time to look into detail now but I will this evening. Looking at this, I feel I wil need the following;
10 spd shifter
10 spd rear mech with clutch
11-36 cassette
NW chainring (30t gives low gear similar to what I have now but I guess I will lose high gearing).
42t extender cog
RAD Cage or similar

Not sure of costs yet but is it al worth it?

Think I’m reading the chart right but 10-42 gives you a bigger range than 11-45?

You are correct but the OP’s existing hub won’t take the XD driver to allow fitment of the SRAM cassette without a lot of expense.
By going up 10% on the front chain wheel he will get broadly the same range with 11 – 45.

ProII and ProII Evo are the same shell so it’s an axle conversion and then the freehub. Not sure what the expense is in that but it does get you the bigger range. The Shimano solution still involves spending more on extra cogs etc. So costs not that clean cut.

so whats the big advantage of dumping the versatility of 3×9 for less gear range, i just dont see the need/advantage to the majority of riders

so whats the big advantage of dumping the versatility of 3×9 for less gear range,

Basic quick summary…
3x has a heap of duplicated gears the range is bigger but not necessarily all useful. If you don’t pound out long road commutes or fire road sections it’s more gears than you will ever need. At the big range 10-42 it gives you 90% of the useful gears for lots of people with a single NW ring that retains the chain really well. Drops a front mech and shifter, avoids the massive gear jumps that changing chain rings gives you and cleans it all up a bit.

The modern double (24/38 or 39) with a 10sp 11-36 just about made the triple redundant anyway.