As above, about to go single ring on the front of my Scott Genius, but can’t decide between 34t or 36t. It will be run with a 12-36t cassette, and current set-up on the front is 22/32/44t.

I don’t live in a hilly area, but do go to places such as Cannock and the Long Mynd (which are more hilly than here!).

Any advice welcome!

Go 36 first, then if it’s too tough, you can take a bit out yer chain and go 34.

32t on me full suss, 32t on me hardtail. Both with 11-36 cassette. Both get a bit spinny on long flats or downs, but they provide ample mincing gears for the steeply upward stuff.

Get a 35 then. E13 do them.

I went 33

I do all my guiding and mountain riding on a 32 – 11/36. 32/36 will get you up pretty much anything; maybe with the exception of long and technical single track climbs..

It’s a bit of a stab in the dark really as you don’t describe how strong you are or what you normally ride around in gear wise. Get a cheap deore 36t ring and see how you get on. 36-36 is still a pretty hard gear for steep up hill for the vast majority of folk.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=83369

I’m on 33t on my Covert, wouldn’t fancy climbing in much bigger than that – if you’re on a whippety bike then YMMV.

Dave

I’ve tried a few but settled on 32T- reason being, too high a gear is dismal, but too low a gear can be dealt with by furiously spinning, which feels cool 😉

Everyone fixates on steep climbs but you can muscle up them in a higher gear. It’s the long, draggy, slightly-steep ones that kill me. Highlands fire roads and the like.

My enduro is 32 ring 11-36
Been to fod and local rides and not had any issues
Not sure I’d want a bigger low gear but every one is differant
Just try some and see

I would say I’m a relatively strong rider and I spend most of the time in the big ring on both bikes (44t on the Genius and 40t on my Spark). I really want to get a Work Components chain ring as a) they’re stepped like XX1 and for my riding, I’d get away without needing a chain guard and b) they’re cheap AND from a UK-based manufacturer.

I think I’m going to go with a 34t option (Works Components offer 32/34/36t options) and see how it goes.

I wouldn’t use a 12-36 cassette on 1×10, 11-36 is a usefully wider spread. The 32:11 top gear is higher than a 34:12 top gear whilst allowing you a noticeably lower bottom gear for climbing.

Ride your current drivetrain in the middle ring for a good few weeks and then you’ll know what works for you.

That is a good point – I’ll swap the chain/11-36 from my Spark to the Genius.

Thanks for all the replies – getting me thinking about things I hadn’t considered 🙂

If its flat where you live (and you are strong) then 36t may be ok.
I have a friend who was using 36t front no problems, he is stronger than me. However, we went riding recently, his fitness has dropped and he struggled with it. He also said that he didn’t ever use the smaller cogs on the rear.

Personally I use a 30t front ring with 11-36 rear. I started with 32t but I lost fitness and started to find it a bit of a drag on long climbs. I don’t find it too spinny on the dh.

32T with 11-36 FTW

but can’t decide between 34t or 36t[/quote

Go 35 then. I did, by fluke, was the only chainring I could get my hands on that was suitable at late notice. I find it fine, although the front of the bike does try to lift occasionally.