Those of you as long in the tooth as I will remember 8 speed coming out. This iirc was a different cassette width than 7 speed and the chains were the same width.

Then when 9 speed came out it needed a narrower chain for fitting 9 sprockets in the same width as 8 speed. We all cried that they would be too weak and flimsy.

Then 10 speed came along “way too thin it’ll never catch on” chains will snail every other ride etc.

Then 11…

Sram Eagle 12 now.

Where do we think this will stop? Can we forsee a 13, 14 then 15 speed cassette coming in the future with super boost hubs to give a bit more space keeping the whole 1x setup evolution going?

Incidentry I’ve just made a conscious decision to always be 1 step behind the latest kit now to save some money.

Who knows. I’m still on 8 and 9 speed.

I predict that someone will invent a way to have multiple sprockets at the crank end of the chain and a way of moving the chain from one to the other whilst in motion.

Shimano filed a patent for a 15 sprocket cassette years ago…

Still happy with my 9 speed. Quite happy to keep on replacing things as and when they break, which evidently isn’t very often.

It will tail of if/ when gearboxes go main stream I reckon.

Then we just start another “arms race” entirely.

I agree, it’s all a little disheartening. Wheels, hubs and seven tyre size is all in flux these days.

I am reaching a point where even buying second hand will become unsustainable at some point.

When that happens I will finally give up the chase and go for a less is more approach to biking in general.

I’m on 9 speed on the MTB – it works great. 10 speed on one road bike – it works great. 11 speed on my “good” road bike – that works great too.

To be honest the 11 speed is just because that’s what came with the bike. 9 and 10 speed are just fine and if I was buying parts not a whole bike I’d stick with the older options – it’s plain cheaper !

Oh, and I bought 2 off 9 speed Deore rear mechs and shifter sets from Halfords for £5 each a little while ago – one set used to replace worn out SRAM X9 parts and still another set tucked away for spares. Bargain!

I stayed with 3×9 for a long while and then lost the largest front cog for local riding (too much damage from rocks/roots etc and no need of the gearing).

Went 1×10 with an expander and once I wore out that set went to 1×11 as cheaper than buying a 10 speed drivetrain and expander.

Now renewed my 1×11 but went up to 32 front with a 11-46 rear (29er) – enough gears for everything I do.

I don’t need greater gear capacity, if I lived somewhere flatter I probably would (for the extra top-end/road etc).

I’ve got a mixture on various bikes. Was just wandering where it will stop.

I’ve got 2×11 on the road bike (great range of gears)

1×11 on the trail bike (lacks a bit of a really easy skinny gear for long technical climbs)

2×9 on a hardtail for mucking about on in flats.

2×10 on my xc race type hardtail (love this gear set up but it does sometimes drop a chain).

I should mention that by far my favourite is 1×1 – it’s only goo in hills though as you power up stuff and freewheel down – useless where I live now though – just spins out at 15mph!

markwsf – Member
I should mention that by far my favourite is 1×1 – it’s only goo in hills though as you power up stuff and freewheel down – useless where I live now though – just spins out at 15mph!

I know what you mean.

I accept the spinning out these days as I need the lower gear more (unfit/ over weight).

That said I really only notice it on the roads on the way to the natural trails I ride so not a big issue.

On the road more gears give me closer ratios not a wider range. This is a good thing if like me you spin not mash. The only difference going too 11 speed has made is that the 11-28 replaced the 11-25, so can stay on for all terrain.

Off road, my cross bike is 1×9 and my mtb is 1×1. Standing and mashing are more the norm, and big jumps from 13-32 for the nine speed are fine.

When I ride the cross bike on the road, it is 38 front and a 10 speed 11-23 on the back. Works well for the Surrey Hills, if you don’t mind coasting downhill.

“On the road more gears give me closer ratios not a wider range. This is a good thing if like me you spin not mash.”

this x 100.

it seems that mtbers only care about having a low enough winch gear to drag them to the top and a low enough bottom gear so that they dont spin out when shreading gnar with little thought to the gaps between gears being so big they could drop another cassette inbetween.

still on 3×9 on my mtb for this reason . being able to spin the same cadence all day is important when riding alongways

it seems that mtbers only care about having a low enough winch gear to drag them to the top and a low enough bottom gear so that they dont spin out when shreading gnar with little thought to the gaps between gears being so big they could drop another cassette inbetween.

Yep, mainly cos I don’t want to get off and push. 🙂

Last week I rode three times:
16 miles & 2500ft
20 miles & 4000ft
20 miles & 3500ft

Ability to climb is very important, more important IME than have close-ratio gears.

I would like to see how 1×12 works as a road bike set-up.
1×11 with a 10/42 SRAM cassette and the right front chainring can give you the same, if not slightly wider, gear range as a 2×11 system with a compact chainset and an 11/28 at the back. The only issue is the big gaps between gears.
Hopefully a 1×12 with a 10/42 cassette would be able to fill the gaps a bit as it were and make it more useable for road riding.

I remember when 7 speed came out :((

I remember half step and granny 😈

It’s pretty interesting now i think because the single ring setups really are doing something different, so there’s much more obvious benefit. Whereas any advantage to 11 speed for 2 or 3 rings is purely about closeness of ratios and not everyone actually wants that (and most people I think just don’t care much either way)

Me, I actually really dislike close ratios, on any bike- my cross bike came with a 12-25 10 speed and it just meant I did a lot of double shifts to get the gear changes I wanted) But I’m vaguely aware that my opinion isn’t the only valid one.

I think SRAM and Shimano both really admitted this when 10 speed came along and they both decided not to offer clutch mechs or 11-36 cassettes for 9- the meaningful benefit of 10 speed wasn’t the number of cogs at all, it was the other tech that they released along with it.

(wide ratio cassettes are kind of the same bullshit- Sunrace have changed the game a bit there but Shimano and SRAM used it to push people to 11 speed rather than rolling it out to 10)

So I have 11-42 10 speed on 2 bikes and 10-42 11-speed on 1. I like the wider range of the 11 but I don’t care about the ratios at all. I’d be happy with a 10-42 10 speed. And I’d like the wider range of Eagle but I don’t need that to be 12 speed either.

futon river crossing – Member

I remember when 7 speed came out :((

I rather liked when I switched to 2×9, 18 gears seemed like a totally valid number.

I’m vaguely aware that my opinion isn’t the only valid one.

GET OUT OF HERE!

“I remember half step and granny“

Yep ! My first touring bike had 30/46/50 chainrings & a 12-28 7sp cassette. Back when 7sp was new & exciting.

22/34 and 11-32 9 speed means i rarely push either- obviously climbing to camban bothy I’ll push but I’d challenge macaskill to ride that without a dab or two 😉

I love my 1×11 setups. I still have 2×10 on my trigger 29 and that seems to fit the bill for riding i do on it. I do love the ease of my SS commuter. 55/22 with a belt. No thinking, just riding.

I’m making a move back to 2x.

currently 1×10, 34 to 11-36. small enough grind gear for me, and just enough for all but the quickest of roady sections. However, the gaps meant I always seemed to be in slightly the wrong gear for the undulating singletrack stuff, the stuff that makes me smile the most.

so, 2×10 it is, 26/38 and a 11-32. that should sort it.
(well I did double check the ratios to what I was using when I was 3×9 and it kinda fits nicely)

for me, the range of 11-40/42/44/46 is a bit twiddly, and if I scoped the lowest gear to be useful as a bailout, I’d have bigger gaps to deal with.
Fitting an 11 speed road cassette and sizing a chainring down to say 30T would mean closer ratio’s but I’d lose the top end, which doesn’t suit where I ride most often.

I remember when 7 speed came out

took mine out for a spin the other day
2×7 11-25 with 42-52 up front
with downtube shifters, you don’t change gears every time cadence changes by +/- 2 rpm, so I reckon 2×2 would be perfectly valid. or 1×5, just like the olden days.

currently have in my dining room…
2×7
3×8
3×9
2×9
1×11