Hello all,

Well i’m now in the position to sort out what gearing I want to run on my Ellsworth Specialist which I’m building up into an aggressive trail bike.
I’m considering opting for a single ring up front however I’m learning that by doing so would, on the plus side, allow me to run a rear mech with a short cage however on a negative side, if I do decide that I require another ring up front, a new mech would also be needed…..am I correct in this thinking?
What size rings up front would folk recommend? For those in the UK, my main trail will be around Woburn with Cannock being another option.
Would it be feasible to get away with a single ring up front and if so what range should I be looking for from the cassette?

can anyone help with suggestions please?

Don’t know about your fitness levels but guessing they’d have to be decent to run 1×10 or 1×9..
Can’t really advise regarding specific gear ratios.. I’ve always just run 3×9 although have recently been thinking of going 2×9 or 10 with a bash..

I run a short cage rear mech with a full 11-34 rear mech and triple chainset, sure it dosnt work for the extremes (44-34 and 22-11) but it works fine for the gears you actually use. Had this exact set-up for over 5 years, done Trans-Wales, Kielder 100, multi-day rides and much more.

For a single front ring it totally depends on how many hills your expecting to climb. People do fine climbing most things single-speed so you could try a 36t front with a 11-36 rear. Id prob go for 32t though as im weak :0)

For Woburn and Cannock I’d probably go 1×9 (or 10) with a 34t front, maybe a 36.

I have a 456 with a single 34t front ring and a 11(?)-34t cassette. I’ll ride it anywhere. I’m not fit. I run 2×9 Anthem X with 36/22 at the front and a 32/16 singlespeed.

For 99% of my riding one front ring is enough.

thanks for the replies 🙂

STATO – its good to hear that there’s a chance I could get the short cage rear mech to work with a double up front (albeit with a couple of gears being inaccessible).
I think I’m set to run a single ring first and then if need be opt for a second ring.

_tom_ – thanks for the suggestion for Woburn and Cannock. matching this information to what ‘TroutWrestler’ has said regarding he’s 456 looks like I could be onto a good platform to start from.

Now to start looking for some cranks!

34 up front with 11-36 on the back works fine for me. If you can’t get up a hill on that then it is not much slower walking.

Is it worth going 10 speed or will 9 speed suffice?
Currently I’ve short listed saints for 9 speed and SLX stuff for 10 speed.

Can anyone suggest any other drivetrains I should look into?