For me it makes it feel like more of a workout than sitting there spinning. And being fat, I need all the workout I can get!
Bike Forum
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Is a single chainring the way forward for general trail riding?
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Posted 1 year ago #
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Steven - righteo - next pentlands ride you make it to we will find a speshully extra hilly route for you only
Posted 1 year ago # -
i got a 38/26 double set up with a 11=34 cassette and its great for trail riding and xc done the london to brighton off road with it today. find i usually have enough to pedal up an down with this set up.
Posted 1 year ago # -
rode my ss all winter up to the middle of July, only rode my geared bike once and that was up at Loch Muick and even then it was more about longer forks and bigger tyres. Done plenty of hilly rides on Wed evenings on the singlespeed, don't think anybody had to wait on me. Also did the ride up at Pitlochry and don't think anybody had to wait on me that day either. Rob seems to have been doing quite well on the hilly routes recently anyway, don't think you need me along to make them any hillier. If I have to walk a climb on a wed night chances are I won't be the only one and won't be the slowest either.
Posted 1 year ago # -
steve - only teasing.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Thing is how did we manage before full suss, or long travel forks, or hydraulic disc brakes etc, we just did and still had fun. Same thing with gears. if you only had nine or ten you'd still manage up most of what you do now. And mostly with a smile on your face. Just get out and ride.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Kinda gone off the point here, the OP was asking about a 1x9 on 5/6" travel bike not what if any gear people 'needed' to go up hill.
For general trail riding on a 5/6" travel bike, which is what you asked about 3x9 or 2x10 surely has to be better than 1x9. I've never ridden anything as big as 5 or 6" travel, but I would imagine that to get the best out of such a bike it would necessitate a good range of gears? Wether it be a granny ring to dance it up a boulder strewn climb or a big ring to hoon it home down the hillside on.
What you can do on a singlespeed is a whole other story, but you're preaching to the belivers on this site.Posted 1 year ago # -
Thing is how did we manage before full suss, or long travel forks, or hydraulic disc brakes etc, we just did and still had fun. Same thing with gears. if you only had nine or ten you'd still manage up most of what you do now. And mostly with a smile on your face. Just get out and ride.
Can't argue with that, totally true.
However the technology is out there to be had if you want it. My cynical view is for who's real benefit is that technology?
I've been guilty of buying the next new thing in the past, but I like to think I'm a bit wiser now.Posted 1 year ago # -
Depends on what is meant by general trail riding, to me, for what I consider general trail riding then 1x9 would be fine. Did get a bit sidetracked by ssing but my point was that for me I'll happily ride pretty much anything on a ss so wouldn't have a problem with 1x9. But each to their own, which is one of the reasons I love mtbing.
Posted 1 year ago # -
This is just the next fashion thing, like bashguards. The Are Not Needed If You Can Ride A Bike Properly
Posted 1 year ago # -
And to be fair, elastomer suspension and cantis were the pits.
Posted 1 year ago # -
"djglover - Member
This is just the next fashion thing, like bashguards. They Are Not Needed If You Can Ride A Bike Properly"
What a strange post. You realise that the entire point of 1x9 or 1x10 is dispensing with things That Are Not Needed? And why do bashguards show you Can't Ride A Bike Properly? Do you never catch a chainring? Or is the sort of riding where ground clearance runs out Not Riding A Bike Properly?
Posted 1 year ago # -
_tom_ - Member
'...a light, 3 speed hub gear would be the ultimate set up...'
Same here, want to get something like that for my road bike eventually, although it might be hard finding one that's 120mm spaced or whatever track dropouts are!The S-A S-RF3 is available in OLDs 108, 117, 127mm. I have one on my general purpose Pompino.
richcc - Member
What I'd like is the aforementioned 3 speed sturmey archer with 6 bolt disc mountWhat you want is the S-A CS-RK3 and the bonus is it has a cassette freehub so you can also run a derailleur and have a silly amount of gears. Available in black or silver.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I got rid of my big ring a few years ago and use a 34t 'middle', a 22t granny ring, 11-34 9 speed cassette and a home-made bash ring (which has had some bashing). The granny ring is a steel Blackspire Chuck ring which has lasted for a long time.
Removing the big ring gives a usefully improved ground clearance for rocky trails and logs.
I don't use the granny ring very often, but I can't see any reason why I should totally remove it. It hardly adds much weight and does give the option of a couple of lower gears (fitness not great at the moment).
Posted 1 year ago # -
Aristotle - removing the granny also removes the front mech, cable and shifter. Add a few grammes back in for the chain device, but most people end up saving 350+ grammes, which is pretty significant.
I only weigh 60kg so I have found that bikes feel really hefty above 28lb, so I do tend to keep an eye on weight. I've added an uppydowny seatpost and fatter tyres recently so any loss is a bonus.
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The main reason I'm interested though is simplicity. I find I don't really bother with biggish gears, and I'm definitely a spinner.
Once I get paid, I think I'll take a punt on the Widgit chainring in a 28t size - then maybe add 10sp once we get the other side of the winter.
I'm open to it not working, but I fancy giving it a go. Once you look at the gear ratios and you realise that a double and bash only really gives 13 usable gears, it does seem a lot of faff to have all that extra kit for those 3 or 4 extra gears.
I'm also interested in how people get on with the Alfine 11 and how high a torque it can cope with. I don't want to give up my granny gear, but I am pretty happy (at least in theory) giving up pedalling above 22mph.
Posted 1 year ago #
Topic Closed
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