Cassette chain and two front rings need replacing so thinking of going 1×10 as opposed to 3×9 again. Mainly for reliability and simplicity but also cause I don’t much use the granny much if at all. Now I don’t know if that’s cause I ride the pancake flatness of hertz most of the time of course. Going to the south downs on Wednesday and Brecon beacons at the end of the month so thinking of testing it by never going granny and see how I get along .

Anyone done it? Is it too hard work mtbing on 10 gears? Would you rather have stayed with 27/30 gears?

Thanks!

If you get an 11-36 10-speed cassette and run it with a 32t chainring then you’ll basically be sacrificing the top two gears and the bottom two gears from your 27-speed setup. If you can live without those then go for it.

I have not done it yet but plan to when current parts wear out.

im running 1×9 with a 34t chainring and an 11-32 cassette, never run out of gears yet and that includes an epic in the peaks and differing conditions around dalby forest!….can imagine i may beed a bigger cassette if i go scotland however!

If I hadn’t missed the postman while sat on the bog this morning, I’d be doing it right now.

Depends on your riding but IMO you need 36/11 to make sure you don’t spin out too early. If you are riding mainly flat stuff, 36/34 lowest gear might be OK but again depends on you and where you ride. I run 2×9 11/34 and 22/36 which is all I need, but if and when I go 10 speed 11/34 and 24/38 would be absolutely perfect.

If you get an 11-36 10-speed cassette and run it with a 32t chainring then you’ll basically be sacrificing the top two gears and the bottom two gears from your 27-speed setup. If you can live without those then go for it.

How do you figure that? I thought I was losing a lot more than that…

slightly off topic, but….If you are running single up front and 10 speed at the back, how does it affect the wear on cogs/chain due to increased angles, or is it a sacrifice worth doing for the simplicity and less components to buy/wear/replace?

How do you figure that?

Assuming the 27-speed setup you are running is a shimano 11-34 at the rear and 22/32/44 at the front…

Your big ring is giving you the following ratios:
1.29, 1.47, 1.69, 1.91, 2.2, 2.59, 2.93, 3.38, 4

and your granny ring is giving you the following ratios:
0.65, 0.73, 0.85, 0.96, 1.1, 1.29, 1.47, 1.69, 2

If you are running a 11-36 shimano 10-speed cassette with a 32t chainring then you get the following ratios:
0.89, 1, 1.14, 1.33, 1.52, 1.68, 1.88, 2.13, 2.46, 2.91

Look at the highest gear that the 1×10 setup gives you compared to the highest gears on the big-ring, and the lowest gear compared to the lowest gears on the granny ring. You can see you’re only losing approximately two at either end.

slightly off topic, but….If you are running single up front and 10 speed at the back, how does it affect the wear on cogs/chain due to increased angles, or is it a sacrifice worth doing for the simplicity and less components to buy/wear/replace?

I would guess that pretty much everyone out there is happy to use the full spread of the cassette when in their middle ring. In general it’s only in the big or small front rings that people don’t use the whole of the cassette. So 1’d say you’re getting no more wear on the cassette than when using a triple ring setup. The chainring is of course getting more wear in a 1×10 setup though.

Ok yes I see! Thank you I will try the calculations with a 36 on the front cause it might suit me a bit better due to the flatness of where I ride.

That helps a lot thanks!!!

The shimano 11-36 cassettes have the following sprockets on them:
11,13,15,17,19,21,24,28,32,36
(should help with your calculations)

Look at the highest gear that the 1×10 setup gives you compared to the highest gears on the big-ring, and the lowest gear compared to the lowest gears on the granny ring. You can see you’re only losing approximately two at either end.

Exactly this.

IMO the advent of the 11-36 10spd cassette has been a revelation. I know we had 11-32 and 11-34 9spd cassettes before, but just a couple of teeth extra (and an extra ratio) really makes a big difference. I was worried I might not be able to deal with “only” a 32:36 bottom gear having got used to 22:32, but the reality is you just man up slightly, and get out the saddle a bit more on climbs.

It also depends what kind of rider you are. Do you sit and spin religiously no matter what (like I used to), or are you happy getting out of the saddle a bit? If the former, then you’ll miss the 2 lower gears you’re losing, if not you won’t miss them at all. Depending on how much road riding you do though, you may want slightly taller gears once in a while, but I find on the flat on the road I’m usually spinning along on 32:13 and occasionally when it goes down a little I’ll dip onto the 11T cog on the back, which I can spin out pretty quickly on a down on road but really it’s not an issue. Though if that matters to you and you can live with a 1:1 bottom gear (essentially meaning you lose 3 ratios off the bottom and only one off the top of a full 3×9 setup) then go for a 36T ring.

FWIW I’ve so far managed lots of climbs I previously thought I “needed” a 22:32 bottom gear to ride with my 1×10 setup with the 32T ring that I think for a lot of stronger/fitter riders, or people who just don’t use the granny ring ever, it’s the way forward!

I am happy out of the saddle most of the time really 🙂

Thanks packer and mboy you made that decision so much easier for me 🙂 1×10 it is ! I have a functioning 32t front ring so will try that for a while. If I feel the low is not low enough will keep it that way and man up if the high is not high enough I will buy a 36t. If the whole experiment fails I will get a new triple front. No drama. STW hive mind gives the answer as usual, thanks a lot everybody!

Make sure you’re running an unramped SS or DH style chainring, not just the middle ring off a normal triple setup. Also you’re going to need some kind of chain device to keep the chain on the chainring at the front too.

For chainrings check out Renthal, Blackspire, E13, On One, Surly, Gusset, MRP, Middleburn etc.

For a chain device, check out E13, MRP or Superstar for their top cage only style devices.

EDIT: And make sure the 10spd rear mech you buy is medium or short cage, not a long cage. Shimano only do XTR and XT in medium (not SLX), not sure what SRAM do but I think they do short in XO at least.

Let us know how you get on with it!

The chainring is of course getting more wear in a 1×10 setup though

That is true but you can use an unramped ring and reverse it when worn. Unramped rings also tend to be a bit cheaper as well so you’ll reduce your costs.

I’m running 1×9 and will go to 1×10 once it all needs replacing. What I’d be interested in is if anyone sells 10 speed rear shifters as single unit rather than as pairs. Judging by the amount of 1x threads on here there must be a lot of front shifters in peoples spares box.

Edit
I’m still running the ramped middle ring and a long cage mech and haven’t shortened the chain at all and it’s been fine for xc riding. I’ve a bash ring and an old light bracket bodged as a jump stop.

What I’d be interested in is if anyone sells 10 speed rear shifters as single unit rather than as pairs

Yep, Chain Reaction Cycles do for one.

Your big ring is giving you the following ratios:
1.29, 1.47, 1.69, 1.91, 2.2, 2.59, 2.93, 3.38, 4

and your granny ring is giving you the following ratios:
0.65, 0.73, 0.85, 0.96, 1.1, 1.29, 1.47, 1.69, 2

If you are running a 11-36 shimano 10-speed cassette with a 32t chainring then you get the following ratios:
0.89, 1, 1.14, 1.33, 1.52, 1.68, 1.88, 2.13, 2.46, 2.91

Look at the highest gear that the 1×10 setup gives you compared to the highest gears on the big-ring, and the lowest gear compared to the lowest gears on the granny ring. You can see you’re only losing approximately two at either end

So you’ve gone from a range of 0.65-4.0 to 0.89-2.91.

It may only be “approximately two at either end” but in percentage terms, your range of gearing has been limited by around 40%.

It hadn’t realised it was that much.

And actually those calculations show you lose just over 3 from both ends, not 2.

I run a 36 ring with 11/36 and really like it. Do find myself lacking top end on the road to the trails though. I’d still stick with a double for a more ‘trail’ type bike I reckon.

It may only be “approximately two at either end” but in percentage terms, your range of gearing has been limited by around 40%.

This is misleading though, the percentage range of ratios is not the important bit here. The important bit is how often do you use your very lowest 2 gears, or your very highest?

If never, or almost never like a lot of people, 1×10 will give you a good spread of usable gears, with nice gaps between the ratios and no duplications of ratios.

Also consider that you don’t get 27 different usable ratios on a 3×9. You can’t trim the front mech with modern indexed shifters which restricts the number of gears on the cassette you can use with each ring as the chain rubs the front cage. And there’s plenty of overlap in actual ratios when using the different rings.

And being a simple sort I just like the ‘harder button’ and the ‘easier button’, if they don’t move, then I need to speed up or brake. None of this ‘which chainring am I in’ malarky!

And actually those calculations show you lose just over 3 from both ends, not 2

I disagree. It’s two and a half from the bottom, and almost exactly two from the top.

Well your bottom gear is between 3 and 4, so not 2 however you look at it! Ditto the top, although I concede it’s only a tiny bit shorter than the 3rd biggest with a triple.

Mboy duly noted and packer I most definitely will 🙂