Been out on my bike today riding in middle ring all day which is a 32t ring, and running 9 speed on the back which is a 34 to 11, i only tried this to get a feel for what 1 x 9 was like on a 32t as i want to go 1 x 10 on my new build, it was ok, i found that the hills were slightly harder but i was climbing faster, wasent as bad as i thought, i think what im going to do is get a 32t ring on the front and get a 10 speed casette on the rear 11 to 36 as that extra bigger ring should make it a bit more easier, anyone else agree to this for my new build ? thanks.

I hioe it’s ok, it’s what my setup will be when my crc order arrives.

I’ve been using a 34t up front with 34-11 on the rear.
I’m going to try an 36-11 on the rear and some technical climbs have been a bit much but could use the extra 2 downhill.

I used to run 1×9 with 32tooth chainring and 32-11 cassette. It was fine.

Now running 1×10 with a 34tooth chainring and 36-11 cassette, just to get a bit more top end speed if needed, but also a marginally lower bottom gear.

i think if i go for the same ring up front which is 32t and just get a 11 to 36 it should be fine because today i just managed most hills and that was in the snow as well! so it should work well together

Do it you won’t regret it!

I run your intended ratio on my enduro 32t front and 11-36t cassette, spin out on fireroad and road descents but I don’t care about that to be honest, not often I ride my enduro on smooth stuff!

spin out on road decents? how fast do you want to pedal down a road decent lol?
and philbert ill prob go for it ill let ya know

Depends on the weight of your bike aswell I guess……

I run 34T chainring / 11-36 cassette on my 29er hardtail and find the range spot on for trail centre duties.

If I had a FS – think I’d drop to a 32T.

95% of people won’t need a bigger gear than 32t front by 11t rear for off road riding. Topped out in that gear you’ll be doing over 20mph which is more than fast enough for the vast majority. You can easily go faster as well by letting off the brakes.

95% of people won’t need a bigger gear than 32t front by 11t rear for off road riding. Topped out in that gear you’ll be doing over 20mph which is more than fast enough for the vast majority.

If you can’t spin a 32:11 gear to 30mph downhill then you’re not trying hard enough! 😉

I ran 36/22 11-34 for a while, switched to 32/22 and realised I didn’t seem to need the granny, so I tried seeing how many rides I could get through without it. Was pleasantly surprised how much better I climbed staying in the middle ring! Went 1×9 shortly after, and then swapped the 1×9 drivetrain onto a bike for my wife and went 1×10 on mine.

32t and 11-34 on one bike (1×9) and
32t and 11-36 on another (1×10)

Don’t miss the high gears at all, ever. If you need higher gears then it’s not a ‘downhill’ – it’s a road 😉

Sometimes I could do with a tad lower at the end of a big ride but it’s rare, and I’m fitter nowadays so that helps.

Have a look on Sheldon Brown’s site (RIP) for his gear calculator

A 1×10 running 32 front and 11/36 rear has almost the same range as a 22/32/44 triple with 11/32 9 sp cassette

You lose the lowest and highest two ratios so you’ll only really notice on tarmac’d roads and longer steep stuff. The long steep stuff is all in the head anyway 🙂

If you can’t spin a 32:11 gear to 30mph downhill then you’re not trying hard enough!

I’m not a spinner so I do struggle a little. I’m on 36-22 on 11-32 9 speed. I’m currently wondering how to go 1×10 lowest I’d probably go is 34 up front. I did 1×9 with a 36 up front for a year was tough going when I got back to the lakes.

built up this last week:

[/url] DSC02755 von nordofjura auf Flickr[/img]

32 front with 11-36 cassette. could only test it in snowy conditions so far, but did’t outspin once, not even on the downs. I like it’s simplicity.

I went 34t up front as it seems like a decent compromise. I don’t think i could manage uphills with a 36t and 32t just wasn’t enough for the faster stuff. Working well so far.

If you can’t spin a 32:11 gear to 30mph downhill then you’re not trying hard enough!

Might be right on that but I prefer a couple of solid pedal strokes over a half-dozen maniac ones.

Might be right on that but I prefer a couple of solid pedal strokes over a half-dozen maniac ones.

The difference between 32:11 and 34:11 is a massive 6% – e.g. pedalling at 106rpm rather than 100rpm. The difference between 30t and 36t up front is pretty big but a two tooth difference is tiny. Obviously if you can climb everything with your lowest gear then there’s no reason to go for a smaller chainring, but if you can’t then a smaller chainring plus some pedalling practice (which is more brain stuff so quicker to improve than leg strength) will give you the same top speed as before but an easier climbing gear too.

I’m not a spinner so I do struggle a little.

It’s just practice though, isn’t it? When someone who’s new to cycling gets on a bike they turn the pedals at about 60rpm – how many of us MTBers pedal that slowly all the time? Ride more in a lower gear so you force yourself into spinning and gradually your spinning out speed in top will get faster and faster. It’s not like you need to be able to manage multiple turns of the cranks at that speed, you just need to be able to push the pedals fast enough that you can get some power into the bike.

Don’t miss the high gears at all, ever. If you need higher gears then it’s not a ‘downhill’ – it’s a road

I think this hits the nail on the head. I ran a 32T single ring up front for a while and off-road I didn’t miss the bigger gears. However I was really struggling to keep up with my mates on the road sections linking the trails. I think if you do “traditional” XC – with road sections – a bigger gear does help.

I ran a 32T single ring up front for a while and off-road I didn’t miss the bigger gears. However I was really struggling to keep up with my mates on the road sections linking the trails. I think if you do “traditional” XC – with road sections – a bigger gear does help.

I’m sure most of it’s in the mind!

32:11 on a 26er gives 18.7mph @ 80rpm cadence. At 90rpm that’s 21mph, 100rpm that’s 23.4mph. Unless you’re determined to go as fast as possible down tarmac descents I can’t see the problem?

Unless you’re determined to go as fast as possible down tarmac descents I can’t see the problem?

Nothing to do with descents. This was on the flat road sections where I was struggling to keep up with the boys with their bigger gears. I’m quite happy to freewheel the road descents on my MTB if I run out of gears.

A quick question about the chain: doesn’t running the chain across such angles cause premature wear of components/the chain?

You wouldn’t run on the big ring at the front and rear for example.

How is a single ring up front with such a range at the rear any different?

Just asking 😕

Generally a single ring will sit in the middle ring location and therefore will be fine covering the whole cassette width.

Nothing to do with descents. This was on the flat road sections where I was struggling to keep up with the boys with their bigger gears.

32:11 on a 26er gives 18.7mph @ 80rpm cadence. At 90rpm that’s 21mph, 100rpm that’s 23.4mph.

How fast can anyone ride an MTB on flat tarmac? I’m sure you can pedal at 80rpm+, it’s really not that fast, in which case you can keep up with a bike cruising at close to 20mph.

The difference between 32:11 and 34:11 is a massive 6% – e.g. pedalling at 106rpm rather than 100rpm.

Again, probably true (too lazy to check 😉 ) but i noticed the difference straight away after swapping. Works better for me on the other gears too.

I generally ride like i’m on a single speed (bmx background remember?) and only change gears when my legs get tired. Great for strength and quick bursts of speed but endurance suffers. It’s something that i’ve been trying to address these last few rides.

I was out yesterday on my 2×9 bike (36/22 + 11-32) and stayed in the bigger ring for the whole ride too, not intentionally I was just fortunate enough that the steeper/longer climbs on my route were on tarmac, having that Granny ring makes a difference to me if there’s some serious uphill graft to be done…

The setup you suggest OP is pretty typical of the kind of 1×10 drivetrains a lot of people are using now and getting on well with…

TBH the only reasons I’m still using 2×9 is the cost of binning a perfectly good drivetrain and that 1×10 wouldn’t give a range of gears quite as high or as Low as I find I need, however if it works for you then I say go with it…

…in which case you can keep up with a bike cruising at close to 20mph

That’s just it, I can “keep up”, but I’m working quite hard and they’re cruising with minimal effort.

i run 1×9 with a 40t chainring and 32-11 rear. i am rubbish at climbing but i have yet to come across a hill i can not get up with this gearing. most of the time on steep up hills i will be in the 28t at the back. but i dont like spinny gears

I don’t buy all this XXRPM @ XXMPH, I can wrap my brain around gear inches as an indication of how hard a gear would be to push and when it might be useful, I can relate that number back to my own experiences of using a bike in a given gear in the real world, but that’s just me…

The thing is most people don’t choose a gearing range (1/2/3xN?) based on what achievable cruising speed / cadence they calculate is possible on the flat, very few of us will want to be spinning at 100RPM+ for significant periods of time, especially on the boring flat bits.

Your gears should be chosen based on comfort and application, generally derived from a bit of experience and experimentation…

Spreadsheet monkeying might give you some indicative numbers, but if you can’t relate that back to real life what’s the benefit?

I went 32 11/36 on the Ragley, I thought it’d be too low and arguably it is but it turns out it’s fun to spin like a madman, and seems to be faster than my usual pedal mashing too.

It’s not so much about top speed/spinning out for me, as much as it is about forcing your choice a little. If you like pushing a big gear, it’ll possibly annoy you.

Thing is- you already have a 32T ring? So try it! 11-36 is the default cassette size IMO and will suit most people regardless of chainring size, some folks don’t like the gearing gaps though.

Your gears should be chosen based on comfort and application, generally derived from a bit of experience and experimentation…

That would be fine except for a lot of people kidding themselves about how big a gear they actually need.

I totally accept that if your riding takes in a lot of tarmac, then 32×11 may not be big enough, especially if you’re fit.

What some of us are suggesting though, is that off road, that gear is more than big enough for the significant majority of mountain bikers. For some reason, a lot of people still think they’re going quick enough DH to warrant a 36t front ring (which is what most Pro-DH racers would be using.)

Most off road instances where you might want more speed, but would be limited by 32×11 can be solved by simply letting off the brakes.

Spreadsheet monkeying might give you some indicative numbers, but if you can’t relate that back to real life what’s the benefit?

I don’t agree with that; it may seem geeky and it may not be what floats your boat, but it’s a more fact based, analytical approach to riding that is helpful if you want to find out where you can go faster and how you can improve your bike set up.

What surprises me more is that I’ve clocked myself at over 25mph on some big descents in the Peak and Wales and still not been spun out on 32×11. I also know that 25mph is about as quick as I am comfortable going off road/rocky. I also know that falling off a mountain bike at 20mph can easily shatter a humerus 😥

Nah I think you’ve miss-interpreted me, if you like riding alot of Flat Tarmac on an MTB then having a proper big ring 40T+ makes sense (maybe a triple or a higher range double? something that gives you 90-110 inches), but that’s not what I’ve gone for, or why…

the Bias of my riding is still towards Downhill, and I want to go faster (on certain DH sections) than a 32t ring allows me to. for that I require a bigger ring (36T is what I settled on). I also need to pedal the same bike back uphill, and as I’ve chosen slightly taller “Primary” gearing, I’m just going to have to bite the bullet and have a granny ring, My need is simply for a broader range than 1xN can practicably give me…

Actually My DH bike does use a 36T Ring with an 11-28 cassette (8Spd), So yeah my Trail riding HT essentially has the same gearing range as my DH bike, but it also has another 4 or 5 useful ratios beyond that to get me uphill…

It’s certainly not machismo, probably the polar opposite, I’ve got a long range trail mincing machine…

I don’t agree with that; it may seem geeky and it may not be what floats your boat, but it’s a more fact based, analytical approach to riding that is helpful if you want to find out where you can go faster and how you can improve your bike set up.

I’m affraid it’s precisely what floats my boat, I’ve whipped up plenty of excel based mini calcs relating to the mechanics of bicycles for my own use…

But why would you work from from some unsustainable cadence figure?

FWIW, my DH bike has an 11-28 with a 36 front. But I reckon I pedal the trailbikes more on descents, the dh bike is usually taking a straighter route down the hill. So it’s probably not a totally useful comparison.

i run 1×9 with a 40t chainring and 32-11 rear. i am rubbish at climbing but i have yet to come across a hill i can not get up with this gearing.

Clearly you’re not rubbish at climbing then no? 😕

I must say that whilst I know all the stats I do find myself in 36/11 on the road most of the time whilst riding to the trails. Yes you can spin like a loon, but I am slower than with a double, not averaging >20mph, and my average cadence is 90-95 (on the road bike). That said its not enough that I care, but I think I’d find a 32t limiting in that respect.

I ride 36/11-32 on my 1×9 set up. a 32t was just a bit too small, I was down the bottom of the cassette most of the time, the 36t suits me much better. I can ride it round Cwmcarn ok but if I’m going somewhere with long steep climbs such as Rhayader then I take a different bike with the appropriate gearing 😉

I don’t buy all this XXRPM @ XXMPH, I can wrap my brain around gear inches as an indication of how hard a gear would be to push and when it might be useful, I can relate that number back to my own experiences of using a bike in a given gear in the real world, but that’s just me…

The cadence:mph unit is just another unit, and one which is proportional to the (deeply arbitrary) unit that is gear inches. I’ve found it useful because I don’t have a computer on my bike but I do track my rides with GPS and have a watch on my arm so I can work out cadence in retrospect.

But why would you work from from some unsustainable cadence figure?

What’s unsustainable about it?! Just to make it clear, I’m not a roadie, I’m not an XC racer, I’m not a track racer, I’m not a BMX racer – I own a BMX (mostly for commuting) and an MTB (for a mix of XC/enduro/DH type stuff). Back in 2011, about 6 months after wrecking my ankle, I participated in a Ph.D. study on critical power – we did seven sessions, four on a turbo, three on the track. Initially we did a VO2max test and then did a three minute, seven minute and twelve minute power test, all on the turbo. Then we repeated the 3/7/12 minute tests on the track. That was riding with one of those fancy computers on the bars (only the second time I’ve ridden a road bike!) with a power meter in the BB. I found I produced maximum sustainable (for the test duration) seated power at a cadence of 100rpm. I was a bit borderline fitness-wise as a test subject (I was asked what training I did and I just said I don’t, I go out and play on my bike!) so it’s not like I’m some great pedaller, though I’m better now than back then.

I generally ride like i’m on a single speed (bmx background remember?) and only change gears when my legs get tired. Great for strength and quick bursts of speed but endurance suffers.

BMX jumps/tricks rather than racing? It was reading about and watching BMX, and then getting my own, that got me more focused on producing power across a wide range of cadences. Likewise the track stuff in the Olympics. The huge power all the pros can produce out of the gate and then the crazy speeds they can spin up to seem like such great tools to have for MTBing – meaning you’d rarely be in the wrong gear whether your stomping slowly or spinning like mad.

I don’t know, maybe it’s the musician in me? Pedalling is a fairly fundamental part of mountain biking and it’s not just about fitness, there’s a lot of technique. Getting stronger at low cadence is mostly a case of grinding out heavy pedalling on a regular basis (an uphill BMX commute is good for that!) or deadlifting and stuff like that, but getting stronger at high cadence is easier really – teaching your brain to move your legs faster more than anything. I don’t know how quickly I can spin for very very short bursts but I’ve pedalled at about 35mph downhill on tarmac which equates to 140bpm for a short while, on flat pedals. I understand that pro BMXers see spinning as 200 rpm plus!

Generally a single ring will sit in the middle ring location and therefore will be fine covering the whole cassette width.

Cool, thanks.

This is the kind of thing I mean – ride smarter, not just harder!

Why “working harder” isn’t always the answer…

Yep Focus and Intensity are different factors.

As I’m off the bike I’m doing power monitored/based workouts on the turbo (calibrated trainer power curve) now the numbers might not be right but the repeatability is. I can do 60 RPM at 95% of max power for long intervals, and can also get up to about 90rpm at max for similar times. Currently I can’t spin any faster and get the power outputs. My legs don’t work like that. I’m tying to improve my spinning but until then I’m not swapping to a 32 ring as it doesn’t work for ME (the important part) I DGAS if people can whinch up in 40t gears or ride at 40mph in 22t rings. If it doesn’t work for me there is no point.

Your setup is your setup. It’s been a good insight into what I can/can’t do using the trainer and putting some science/facts into what I do and choose to have.

I was pondering 32 or 34 (or maybe 30) with an 11-36 maybe with a short zee as I’ll be down to a 25T difference.
I ran 28/42 11-36 2×10 on that bike last year and apart from commute duties which I’m taking away from that bike basically only used the 42 in places where a long travel hardtail was not appropriate, (playing with roadies for instance) so I’m simplifying and MTFU’ing this year!
The best advice I’d had so far was start with a 32 and see if I want a bit more or less, and it was suggested to go look at betd for chainrings…