I ride lots of Lakes stuff singlespeed (but admit it isn’t for everywhere). Happily ridden Spanish Sierra Nevada 1×9 (in 2001 before 1x was fashionable). 1×7 in Austrian Alps and planning 1×10 for Pyrenees this year.

I still seem to have knees that function but guess sometime I’ll be using a few gears on a more regular basis.

Purely anecdotal, but the 3 people I know with knackered knees are due to football / running / standing at a lathe for 40 years. Massively low gears are a relatively recent thing, and we don’t seem to have a legacy of crippled old roadies from the days when they rode anything and everything fixed or with a handful of close ratio gears.

I can also remember when my relatively top end 1990 mtb came with 26t granny and a 28t max sprocket – i.e. a ratio higher than the 32×36 of a typical 1×10.

The point of 1xwhatever for me is where I would rather be singlespeed but need to add a few gears to get the best out of the area I’m riding in (but have no need whatsoever for +20 gears).

Just built up a new bike with X01, coming from an old 3×9 setup the thing that stands out is the simplicity in only having one shifter where up is up and down is down, no overlap or thinking about what you are doing at the front.

Went from 26″ wheels on 3×9 to 29 1×11, ended up doing my calcs and picking a 30T front and it is fine, lost about 1 gear at the lower end and a few at the top end that I am not fit enough to use.

I’m happy with standard 36/46 and 9sp 12-28 on my CX and rarely get into the big ring now I’ve made the switch. Standard compact and 11-32 was insane for that bike.

I still have a 3×10 HT that doesn’t get out much so I’ve never looked too closely at it.
Main HT is 1×10 with a 34 Hope IBR and 11-36 plus Zee mech and no guides. No worries with that bike. 🙂
Bouncy bike is 2×10 with 24/36 and 11-34, again no guides and SRAM t2 mech. I tend to view it’s front shift as ‘climb’ and ‘descend’. I have considered a polycarbonate bash and taco on this bike but never actually done it. So few dechains it hardly seems worth it.

Real 2x chainsets (not chucking the big ring) have a potential advantage in Q factor for pedal stance, and can cause issues with some triple FD’s and shifters due to ring offset being different. Possibly a true single ring chainset could do this also but I’ve never come across anyone running one.

Personally, I like the simplicity. As others have said, after an initial ‘OMFG there’s no granny’ it’s surprising how little you miss it. I won’t be looking at anything 11x this year of probably next as I have too much decent kit that works.

My riding tends to be around the Dark Peak and the NYM, but can and has ended up many other places including the Lakes and Highlands. Gradients haven’t been any bigger a problem than with triples.

TBH, as questions go it’s so far into personal taste land it might as well be ‘FS or HT’, ‘Alu/Steel/Carbon’, ‘What tyres for…’, ‘wheel sizes…’ in my opinion… Ride whatever makes you happy. 🙂

For me, it’s the lack of additional shifter and front mech and the hassle it is to position properly on a full sus

When I just had a hardtail if the mech was set up ok then it wasn’t touched for a year or two. But it constantly seemed to rub on my full sus no matter what I did or how I had it set up. I then went 2×9 with a bash and the chain kept jumping and eventually I snapped the shifter arm trying to change gears (after another jump)

So I either bought a stinger and a new front shifter or went 1×9. Once I’d tried 1×9 and realised I could still ride most of the hills I realised that 1×10 was actually doable. Wanted a 32t front ring but ended up with 34 and then got used to it

Now I won’t go back. No noise, no hassle with front mech, looks good and was surprisingly easy to transition to. And if the hill is too steep or too long I have no problems getting off to push. I seem to be doing it more now I’ve stopped commuting on my single speed tho so think I need to go back to that next

Btw – commute is a 250m vertical climb over 2.5 miles. Great coming home tho

I rode the lakes 1×9 before it got fashionable on a 36t, it was hard work I was lighter and fitter and you know what I carried a lot but that was the riding we were doing really. I went back as 1×9 didn’t offer the range.

Now the house has 2 1×10 bikes with 40t on them and a 1×11 X01 setup. not really looking back, not in the lakes anymore but plenty of hills to test it on.

Right chaps! After yesterdays discussion, I thought I’d have a little experiment last night on the way home. I’m running a standard 3×10 set up, so I thought I’d do one of my usual routes home (14 miles. 1000ft of climbing), and see if I could do it staying on the middle ring. I’m normally up and down the gears like the proverbial whores draws, as there are precious few flat bits.

So… first I’ve got a road slog up up from Burnley to Clowbridge. Its a big climb, and bloody steep. Normally where it kicks a bit I’d drop onto the granny. This time I didn’t, and just ground up it. It wasn’t actually as hard as I thought. Strava informs me its my fastest time up there!

But then I turned off road onto the Pennine bridleway. Different story completely here. The first climb is a real bitch. There was absolutely no way its doable in the middle ring. Not be me anyway! Dropped onto he granny and winched up it. I reckon on 1×10, you’d be pushing up here.

After that its uppy/downy, but its muddy. Very muddy. And this is where the other issue comes in. Traction. Or lack of it. There are a few really steep narrow little climbs. The back tyre is spinning a lot, as I’m struggling with grip. Dropping down to the granny gives me more range for the conditions, to try and get the weight over the back, and find some traction on the steep sloppy stuff. Out-of-the-saddle grunting up them isn’t a viable option. You’re off and walking again, I reckon.

When I get over the top and drop down to lumb. Here the surface improves and it opens out. I pretty soon find myself spinning out on the middle ring, and bang it up onto the big ring to take full advantage. I kept this going on this as I turn onto the tarmac for another couple of miles down the valley. Back off road down the Irwell and its the same thing. Traction. Its filthy and boggy, and you just need a full range of lower gears to keep any kind of momentum at all

it was interesting. Yesterday I was asking about how you deal with gradient. After last night I have to ask: What kind of trails are you lot riding? How do you get through axle deep filth on 1×10? Or are you off and pushing. I can see the advantage at trail centres etc, if you’re riding hard packed, well-drained stuff. But Is it possible to ride natural trails in wet muddy conditions, and get a similar amount of traction as you do with 3×10?

I understand that its horse for courses, but do any of you ride steep trails on 1×10, where most of the year its a quagmire? On last nights experience, that really would be bloody hard work!

There was absolutely no way its doable in the middle ring

Your one maybe.. different ring or cassette might change that.

Or it may just not be for you and what you ride. I don’t think anyone has been stupid enough to say it’s right for everyone.

That’s the thing, with a decent set-up and a 42t sprocket on the rear you aren’t missing anything like that whole granny ring. Try the experiment again but instead of avoiding the granny ring entirely, just don’t use your very lowest 1 or 2 gears in the granny. Now can you manage?

What pleasure is there in ‘riding’ through axle-deep filth anyway?! Sod that.

I’ve never walked a climb I thought would be doable if I’d had a lower gear, in fact I’m struggling to think of any I’ve walked full stop. If I was doing that, I’d not use 1x drivetrains. Simple. YMMV.

binners – Member

When I get over the top and drop down to lumb. Here the surface improves and it opens out. I pretty soon find myself spinning out on the middle ring, and bang it up onto the big ring to take full advantage. I kept this going on this as I turn onto the tarmac for another couple of miles down the valley.

hang on, i’ve spotted your problem, you’re riding this loop the wrong way round! 🙂

I briefly ran 1×9, before some scrote stole the bike. With a 32 chainring (because that’s what I had on the bike when it was SS), I found the lowest gear with a 11:32 cassette to be a little too low. I don’t think I’d need lower than a 1:1 ratio if I went 1x again.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been riding along time, so remember 28t granny rings and 11:28 cassettes being pretty standard?

I’m considering going 1:9 on my Inbred, because I’m finding the SS far too spinny on the road now that I’ve got used to having gears on my cross bike.

How do you get through axle deep filth on 1×10?

this (and snow) could be more of a problem, it’s certainly a problem for SS, but as you have a much lower gear on 1by then I’m guessing it’ll be doable, you’ll just have to keep your momentum up, lose it or don’t attack with enough commitment and you’ll be off. Like SS it’s upto you whether the trade offs are worth it, either hit stuff harder and faster or get off and walk, but with 42T cassettes now available the trade offs are pretty minor.

What pleasure is there in ‘riding’ through axle-deep filth anyway?! Sod that.

with all the moorland riding round here my local trails are only a valley or two away from binners) if you want to keep riding over winter patches of axle deep mud are pretty much inevitable. obviously route choice will reduce it but if you want the good stuff and/or avoid roads some bogtrotting will occur.

I find traction is easier to keep with a harder gear, I find if you use anything too twiddly the torque is often the problem and causes you to spin a wheel when a harder gear and a bit of body weight will keep it moving.

As mentioned above too, you don’t lose the entire granny, you lose maybe the top one or two ratios, so when you say you were dropping into the granny ring, where were you on the cassette? surely not twiddling away 22×36?

Glad you gave it a go to try it out though, and I reckon if you kept at it and developed a good pig-headed ‘I’m not using the granny ring!’ attitude you’d find yourself getting further and further each time.

Perhaps it’s because I’ve been riding along time, so remember 28t granny rings and 11:28 cassettes being pretty standard?

28/38/48 rings and 14-28 in six sprockets was normal when I started. A modern 3x set-up has lower gears in the middle ring than that did in absolute granny gear. I’d not go back to a 1:1 first gear but 32:42 is fine on 26″ wheels.

I reckon I’ve got it 🙂 those of us who have gone 1x get it and like it have got the idea, the rest of you don’t so stop thinking about it 🙂

amedias – you’re bang on. There are climbs I’m doing in my granny ring now (like bits of the big road climb last night), where I’ll be sticking pigheadedly in the middle ring from now on, and stop being a lazy sod! I was miles faster up there

But with some of the sharper slippery climbs last night, they really are quite brutal. And I was using all the granny ring gears

njee20 – like Donk said: round these parts, if you don’t like axle deep filth, then you’d better really really make the most of the 2 days a year you get to ride locally. I love riding whenever. Its only mud! 😀

My 1×10 is missing about half a gear at the low gear side of things and missing several from the high gear side. For an off road optimised machine, this is fine, but if I was going to use my bike like binners describes above, I think it would present some limitations on tarmac.

On the odd occasion I do use tarmac I’m happy to work with What I’ve got and tootle along. I not known for wasting energy on boring bits.

But with some of the sharper slippery climbs

its just a matter of technique

Get out of the saddle and stand up – its harder to do when the torque is greater but you soon pick it up. Need a lot more control through your hips and its tiring initially but you get used to it

Thing is, 1by is all about chosing a sensible front cog to put the “spread” of gears across the speeds at which you ride you bike!

For example, lets compare a typical 2by in bottom gear, with a 1by in bottom gear:

2by: 24/36 = 1.5 ratio
1by: 32/42 = 1.312 ratio

Now ratio’s don’t mean much to most people, so by way of comparison, here’s how many times you will turn your pedals around to travel around 100M

2by = 70 times
1by = 62 times

Not exactly a big difference, and so far, i’ve been able to get up everything i could previous pedal up when 2by now that i am 1by.

Of course, as mentioned a million times, if you want BOTH an equivalent granny AND and equivalent TOP gear, well, you can’t. (11spd xx1 of course helps this to some extent at a large cost penalty). But what i think most people are saying on this thread is that actually, they haven’t really missed having the large top gear in reality, as that is not really how they use their MTB.

Up to a point, traction is generally better in a higher gear as you can’t apply sudden spikes of torque (like driving in snow or mud by setting off in a higher gear). This works OK singlespeed but obviously has a limit where you stall out and can’t apply enough torque to get up a very steep slippery slope which you could maybe manage in granny planted in the saddle and led flat to try and balance front / rear weight and traction.

Coming to 1xwhatever is much easier if you spent plenty of time singlespeed. SS teaches you lots about conserving momentum, moving bike through and over stuff with your hips / bodyweight, rapid tactical back pedal to stay on the power stroke etc.

I think weight also plays a big role in “acceptable” gears for big hills. I’ve been very glad of super low gears when fully loaded touring, tandem touring, towing trailer with 2 kids etc.

Genuine Question – What’s the point of 1*10 or 1*11 setups?

This question is back to front. My experience is they work fine, in which case why run more kit on your bike then you need?

I get on with mine, but then again I’m a fashion biker as I ride a Banshee.

I run a 32 tooth chain ring with an 11-36 cassette and can get up most things willpower depending. There have been climbs that I’ve pushed up and kept pace with granny ring spinners so wasn’t really that bother. Place wise its pretty vaird – locally Cannock because its the nearest fun spot but lots of trips to Wales, the Peaks, Swaledale etc.

Everyone is getting all huffy and defensive about their low ratios but is the high ratio enough? Do you not spin out going downhill?
Why not MTFU and go SS?

Not really because I tend to avoid fireroads! I’ve not ridden with a ring bigger than 36 teeth for years now.

it was interesting. Yesterday I was asking about how you deal with gradient. After last night I have to ask: What kind of trails are you lot riding? How do you get through axle deep filth on 1×10?

If you’re up to you’re axles in mud…how do you pedal? Sureln on the down stroke you’re feet will be under the mud? Sounds pretty grim to me.

The spinning out is solved by the 10-42 really. 11-40 is still a compromise over 2x for me but worth it for the simplicity.