I’ve run 1x nearly 20 years – I did dabble with a front mech on a build I did a few years ago but that was with a road block to get a very close ratio set of gears – was utterly pointless and went quickly back to 1x. big steps are fine so long as they’re pretty even and I can deal with a bail out big cog but a front shifter is just a pita.

If it’s steep enough I need to be in less than a 34/40 I’ll get off an push – it’ll be faster and I’ll use some different muscles.

Each to their own.

interestingly, SRAM aren’t going to bring out 13 speed because of the unlucky number connitations, so they are already working on a 14 speed cassette

Like a few on here I’ve tried all the options and currently just managing with a 1×11 changed from 32 to 26×10/42. I ride mostly in the Peak district and can get up most climbs (just) are the climbs here typical or extreme ?

I too think the 2×11 would be perfect now

I too think the 2×11 would be perfect now

Full of gears you would never use or massively overlapping? Unless your 11sp is a narrow ratio?
Peaks ain’t that steep, just about getting used to it.

Don’t worry, triples will back soon

They won’t they really won’t. Neither will 26, elastomer forks and flex stems.

Thing is if you are going to have a front mech it costs nothing to add an extra chainring. Weight is negligible and it’s really useful.

38/26 – 38s not really good enough for road transitions or decent fire roads, 26 isn’t exactly alpine. 38 is quite big for a lot of single track (I wouldn’t race on 38) and 26 is pretty useless for that so you’re in no mans land a lot of the time.

42/32/24 – leave it in the 32 (the most popular 1x chain ring) for everything apart from road/fire road/descents or steep climbs. Think the granny on my XTR M980 weighs about a fart.

Going to the Pyrenees so have re-fitted the front mech

If I was heading for proper mountains I’d probably just fit a ghost granny admittedly I can’t do that on my current cranks without buying a spider (and new ring) but still. If you’re doing a race ghost probably isn’t going to work for you, but for a riding holiday I reckon it’d be fine.

I’ve never ridden one, but aren’t these wide range cassettes really ‘gappy’?

you’re probably gonna get 50/50 split on people answering that. Years ago I had an 11-34 9spd cassette and didn’t like the gaps on hard climbs, my 1×11 feels ok to me. 1×10 with 40T expander on another bike does have a big jump in the middle, noticeable but not too much of a bother TBH, it’s not when you’re on the rivet so less annoying. Better off going to http://gear-calculator.com and checking current vs prospective setup. That’s what I did before switching from 2×9@26 to 1×11@27.5, made sure range and gear spread was very similar and it’s been fine, very happy with it, just need to see how longevity/running costs compare

interestingly, SRAM aren’t going to bring out 13 speed because of the unlucky number connitations, so they are already working on a 14 speed cassette

I heard that has a single cassette, duplicated somehow, with a microadjust shifter…

Thing is if you are going to have a front mech it costs nothing to add an extra chainring.

yeah but a lot of us dropped big rings wayyyyy before 1x was a thing. My local trails aren’t lakeland gnar but there’s still enough steppy stuff to catch a big ring on and this is what lakes locals do to big rings 🙂

But yeah horses for courses, if you’re riding suits it, triples offer a lot of range and you still get the 32 middle ring “sweetspot” for most riding

What a shock. I can hardly breath.

The optimum gearing for Cambridgeshire is not the same as for the Alps ? 😉

26T chainrings & 42T cassettes? What are people climbing up? Everest?

One downside that I haven’t seen mentioned is that these big rear sprockets mean that the rear mech is really close to the ground and more vulnerable to rock/stick damage.

My XX1 rear mech is possibly coming up to 5 years old now, its been battered over approx 10,000km or general riding, DH racing, enduro racing, summer seasons in Whistler etc. It still shifts fine.

Reality is, it’s lasted longer than any other mech i’ve had. Being slightly longer is a non issue IMO.

I’ve a 28T chainring with a Sunrace 11-42T cassette on my fat bike. Feels about right for that bike in the snow, would be way too spinny on the HT.

Done just over 9,000Km in 3 years on my hardtail on the same rear mech (XT), still working fine. I’ve replaced the jockey wheels twice during that time.

Hob Nob – Member
Reality is, it’s lasted longer than any other mech i’ve had. Being slightly longer is a non issue IMO.

It’s definitley getting smashed by a rock this weekend now you’ve said that 😀

I reckon two bikes might be better for Cambridgeshire and the Alps.

oldnpastit – Member
32/26, and 11-42. I couldn’t be bothered to take off the 42, but it’s probably unusable in practice.

26/42 is only 0.62 gear ratio. My 2×9 set up used to be 34/20 on the carank and 12/36 cassette. I was very happy using 20 granny and 36 on the cassette around Lake District. And that was 0.55 gearing ratio.

Very usable. Just depends what you prefer…

Cheers!
I.

Been riding 1x on my bikes for over a year now. I got my Trigger 29 out of the bike store to get it ready for sale I realised how good 2×10 can be. I have no problem with bottom end in my area with with 1x uphill but I’m usually spinning out on the downs. Doesn’t happen with 2x.
Can I get the front mech to stop just rubbing though? Can I buggery!

adsh +1

Tried 2×10 24/38 for a couple of rides on my latest build and it’s the 14t jump that pisses me of, so for the riding I am doing I might as well go back to a triple 🙂

stumpy01 – Member

I’ve never ridden one, but aren’t these wide range cassettes really ‘gappy’?

No, you’d reasonably assume so tbh but actually they’re extremely similar to a 10-speed 11-36 or a 9 speed 11-32. I was kind of astonished by this.

Sram 11 speed:
10-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36-42
Shimano 10 speed 11-36
11-13-15-17-19-21-24-28-32-36
Shimano 9-speed 11-32
11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32

There’s basically a single jump that’s different by 1 tooth.

42t front on MTB. I think some folks local terrain would be suited better to a cross bike.

This thread just might help me shift those front derailleurs in my FS box..

Well, this thread finally pushed me to do the gear calcs.

I’m looking forward to 12sp when I wear out an 11sp setup.

As 12sp, I can run 36×10-50. That’ll give me 0.72:1 to 3.6:1

That’s so close to my old 2×10 26/38 11-34 rig (0.76:1 > 3.45:1) that I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. Right now I’m giving away some top running 32×10-42 (0.76:1 > 3.2:1)

That said, gearing is a personal choice and if OP wants a double, then that’s fine.

2×9 is the sweetspot

this may have been said in jest, but all the 10 and 11 speeds I’ve ridden never shifted as well as 9 speed did

2×9 for me also

2×9 here and suits me fine. I have ridden both xt and slx 1×11 but as tehtehteh said I found the shift quality awful. My xt 9 speed is way quicker and sweeter.

tehtehtehteh – Member

this may have been said in jest, but all the 10 and 11 speeds I’ve ridden never shifted as well as 9 speed did

Best I’ve ever had is 1×10 with saint and xt shifting. Still got 1×9 on one bike and it’s trouble-free but never as sharp. My 11 speed’s never been as good as either, but I suspect that’s because I made bad parts choices rather than anything to do with 11 speed, I wouldn’t buy the same agin tbh

Well, it would seem that an ounce of experience is worth a pound of theorizing.

Went to Woburn today.

Used the 32t once on a brief section of fire road. Everywhere else I used the 26t, which was fine.

There’s no way I’m going to spend many hours every day slogging up giant Alpine mountains saying to myself over and over again, “I wish I’d removed that front mech and shifter” as I slowly lug those completely unnecessary bits of plastic and metal up to the top of the next col.

Also having the dropper post lever on the right-hand side is making my brain hurt. My thumb knows it needs to press something, but it’s hit-and-miss which lever I get. Not just dropping the post, but also trying to shift with the dropper post lever.

Best I’ve ever had is 1×10 with saint and xt shifting. Still got 1×9 on one bike and it’s trouble-free but never as sharp. My 11 speed’s never been as good as either, but I suspect that’s because I made bad parts choices rather than anything to do with 11 speed, I wouldn’t buy the same agin tbh

my guess with 11 speed is that they’ve crammed so much on the cassette that the sweet spot is much finer therefore that bit harder to set up

also had the reusable power link with 9 speed but not 10 and 11

if I saw some old XT 9 speed stuff on the shelf in a shop I’d buy it up!

also the trend these days is for tiny chain rings, but when 9 speed was around you could get up to 48t chainrings and stuff, loved it

tehtehtehteh – Member

my guess with 11 speed is that they’ve crammed so much on the cassette that the sweet spot is much finer therefore that bit harder to set up

Nah, I’ve ridden 11 speed that’s excellent, I’m just not that much a fan of the XT shifting.

KMC powerlinks are reusable for 10 and 11 speed btw. INot sure if they’re supposed to be but who cares about that.

You rode Woburn in your granny ring? Do you have the legs of Stephen Hawking?

You rode Woburn in your granny ring? Do you have the legs of Stephen Hawking?

Tin Hut area.

It seems pretty steep to me, but perhaps you are just more awesome than I am?

I’ll be more sensible, didn’t you find that you upper speed was limited on the trails at Woburn? If it’s worthy of a low gear for climbing then surely the downhills benefit from a suitably high gear

26t chainring with 11t smallest sprocket means I can get a tolerable speed – perhaps 15mph if I’m really spinning like a loon.

(Usually I’d have a 30t or 32t which is mostly fine, this was an experiment to see how annoying 26t would be).

Most of the stuff at Woburn (at least the bits we did) are steep and twisty. Gravity does most of the work, and I have a body which has been finely honed over the years to maximize that particular force….

26t x 11/42 seems perfect. Still lots of pushing. Living up to my forum name!

oldnpastit – Member
26t chainring with 11t smallest sprocket means I can get a tolerable speed – perhaps 15mph if I’m really spinning like a loon.

If you can only get to 15mph, then you’re not really spinning that high an rpm – anyway, I use a 26T oval and 11-42 cassette on my 301. And that’s with a 26″ wheel. It seems a perfect set-up for the riding I do. I’m old and past it too, mind.

26:11 would be a pretty high gear for a singlespeed. You can clip along in 2:1.

2×9 is the sweetspot.

3×9 is actually the real sweet spot 🙂

And dead cheap too.

You do get some chain slap, but not dropped a chain yet.

I don’t really miss 1x?? tbh

I’m still on 3×9 as it’s what came with the bike which was cheap enough to begin with and it works so can’t be bothered spending money on it.

When it eventually dies I’ll prob go 2x but then by that point 3x will be back en vogue any way 🙂

Now we know the real reason wheel sizes are getting bigger.

It’s so that you guys can fit cogs big enough to stay 1* and still be able to climb hills 🙂

Brand new XT 3×9 cogs & rings on my HT was half the price of 1×10 on the FS.
It is going on 22 years old, so doesn’t look out of place.

Brand new XT 3×9 cogs & rings on my HT…

where from?

Pushys & Mountainbike Direct.
Might have been the last ones in stock.