Need inspiration to go back to 2×9 after trying 1×9 for the last few months. I’m missing my granny ring on the climbs. What ratio works for you? Ive got a spare 10 speed front mech and a 9speed shifter, will that work?

Go 10 speed and get a 36t rear cog. Or maybe even 11 speed (bit pricey though).

Tried a few different setups over the last few years.
22/32, 22/36, 24/36, 22/34 with 34t and 32t cassettes.
Finally settled on 22/34 rings with 11/34 cassette, works well for me, might not for you 🙂
Edit ^ that’s on my 5″ full suss. Gone 1×10 (32 ring, 12/36 cassette) on my hardtail which is OK, steep hills can be hard to get up but I spin out very quickly on the flat.

Do you mean go 1×10 geetee?

Not helpful BUT I’m running 2×10 with 38/24 and 11-36.
I find it a great range. Couldn’t ask for more either side- dosent spin out and climbs can be as easy as you like. I’d imagine you could get similar ratio with 2×9 if you don’t want to upgrade it all.

Recently gone 2×9 with 34/22 and 11-32t, seems fine and definitely not missing the big ring

36/22 here and 11/32 cassette – fine for Dartmoor. Have also gone for SLX Shadow Plus rear mech with the 6mm spacer bodge to use it with XO 9sp shifters and that works well. The only issue is that the on-off clutch switch on the mech hits the bottom of the chainstay before it goes into the 11t sprocket but that’s a frame/Shadow Plus issue not the bodge.

Actually – just got that ^^^ sorted – hadn’t adjusted it properly…

22/32 with 11-36 here. Happy with it, no hill I can’t climb, and can still hit 30 on the down so not a major problem.

Stock setup on 2011 Pitch Pro – 24/36 with 11-34T – seems fine to me.

22, 36.

One for up, one for down.cassette isn’t properly tight, but it isnt a massive one

Yes meant 1×10. I rode 1×9 for maybe three years with 32t front 34t rear and that was manageable but the lack of a lower gear meant I was off a walking quite a bit on longer climbs. The additional 36t rear makes a difference but its still not quite perfect for really long grinding climbs if you want to ride up everything rather than walk.

I still maintain that 99% of people don’t need a bigger gear for off road riding than 32×11 the those that do warrant the bigger gear either do so because they’re doing a lot of rod riding in between trails or they are seriously quick, like national competition quick, down hill.

i found i span out on singletrack with a 32, quite easily. Hence the 36. tis bob on!

Not 2 x 9 but 2 x 10 – 38/26 front 11/34 at the back; can’t imagine wanting anything less on the front (in terms of a high gear) for road transitions etc, and 26 is enough of a ‘granny’ for me.

I’ve been running 2×9 since Christmas after having. 1×9 setup fit the previous year on 29er HT
1×9 was a 32 up from and 11-34 at the rear but found that it lacked something on long flat sections.
Changed to a 2×9 with the same 11-34 out back and 38-26 up front. Feels great and has been used locally as well as Peaks, BORS and HOTS. Works well for me but that’s no guarantee that it’ll be right for you 😛

11-34 and 27/40 on one bike, 29/42 on another. The 27/40 (middleburn) is really nice, but my FS bike does accommodate climbing out of the saddle if needed, which not all do so well.

Running 22/32 with an 11-28 cassette. I’ve set up the front mech so that it trims in the outer ring as I was getting chain rub on the cage.

Not found I couldn’t get up any hills I could before, and the closer range cassette feels a lot nicer pretty much everywhere.

If I was doing it from scratch, I’d probably go 22/34 instead of the 32 just to give a bit more top end, but that’s only really for road and long, fairly straight descents.

Soul has 2×9… 36-22 front, 11-34 rear. XT cranks, XT 770 GS Rear, SLX double specific front for neatness and clearance.

All 9spd:-

My 29er (and the 26er that pre-dated it) race/fast XC bike is 26/36 & 11-34. I purposely chose these ratios as it works well for me in the peak district (and the ring sizes are conveniently cheap deore).

My 456 is running 22-36 with 11-32. This is based around what is available in the spares box when it comes time to replace a part.

The other halfs new bike is 11-34 with 22/32 up front.

EDIT – all running standard triple 9 speed front mechs fine. I could never get a 10speed double front mech to index right.

26/40 11-34 9 spd. seems to work most of the time.

i found i span out on singletrack with a 32, quite easily. Hence the 36. tis bob on!

You must be flying then. 90rpm in 32×11 is around 21mph, which is quick by anyone’s standard for single track. I can easily reach 25mph in this gear and have clocked 30mph on some fast open descents in Wales.

22/36 here with 11-32 on a ~32lb, 16″, 456 SS built up with a 4″ fork and a dropper.

I spent a while using 32/22 and I’ve also used 11-28 and 11-30 cassettes, but I’m pretty much settled on the 36/22 & 11-32 it’s abroad enough range for all my riding without having any major jumps…

I don’t believe I’d personally gain very much from going to an equivalent 2×10 setup right now (although when I do eventually replace the drivetrain it will probably be with a 2×10) even the broadest 1xN setup doesn’t quite have all the ratios I want so I’m going to be using 2×9 for a while.

But that’s just me, a lot of people seem to manage nicely with 1×10 at the minute, and others using 3xN are perfectly happy.

Currently running 26/36 and 9sp 11-32. Seems to be ok for Cannock Chase which Is where I do most of my riding. I went from a triple with 11-26 cassette, used Sheldons ratio calculator to get where I am now. http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/gears.html
The jurys out on the 36 chainring. I don’t have the legs to push it 36,11 yet!
My biggest issue was getting the chain line right.

I too am 26/36, with 11-32 at the back.
I was 22/36 for a bit, but the difference in gearing was annoyingly too large i.e dropping from 36->22 meant I needed to shift a few at the back also, in order to smooth out the change.
36->26 is now bang on…

DrP

Standard 3×9 with the big ring replaced by a bash plus a chain guide, same setup on both bikes

26/36/Bash + 11-34T cassette, works well for me.

You lose the “quicker to walk” gears at the bottom end and the “Road descent only” gears at the top end.

Honestly guys, apart from on the road, when do you EVER use your 36×11 gear?

Just switched back to 2×9 from 1×9 for an upcoming trip and….I hate it!
Rattly, clanky and keep dropping the chain off the front ring despite a bashguard and a Blackspire Stinger… 👿

Can’t wait to go back to 1×9-11/36.

Honestly guys, apart from on the road, when do you EVER use your 36×11 gear?

I’ve got 11 rear and 40 front and I use it, on the road aswell as during races. OK, flat out fire track sprints but does get used.

As I’m here,

my F/S has dbl crank with dble XT derailer worked by triple sram shifter
and
H/S has triple crank (inner and middle only) with triple derailer(limit screw adjusted)worked by triple sram shifter.
both 40/27 on 11-34 cassette.

But then I race XC and Enduro.

on the road aswell as during races.

and

But then I race XC

Exactly. This is where you need the bigger gears, not on single track or anything more technical than a fire road.

Honestly guys, apart from on the road, when do you EVER use your 36×11 gear?

Well, using my bike on the road is often a requirement to getting to off-road places…
Plus, plenty of double track descents round ‘ere where you can top out a 32 tooth ring..

Just because you don’t agree, doesn’t make it wrong…

DrP

Honestly guys, apart from on the road, when do you EVER use your 36×11 gear?

Some Faster, Open Downhill trails do certainly make use of that 36-11 ratio…

That and chopping along on the road (which I do actually have to do from time to time)… Have MTBs been banned from Tarmac now?

I totally understand the need for the bigger on the road. My point, specifically, is that the majority of people just don’t need the bigger gear going down hill.

There’s a descent down into Rhayader, runs sort of parallel to the main road down Coed Cwm Coch. On 32×11 I topped out at 30mph. If I had wanted to go faster, I would have needed a bigger gear granted but really, 30mph is more than fast enough I think for most people outside of a DH race.

It’s not a big deal, but most people still running 2 by X do so because they claim they can’t get a low enough gear with a 36t ring when if they went to 32t or even 30t (one of my mates runs 30t front and he’s seriously quick) they could lose a pound and still have all the gears they need.

Do you reckon a granny, shifter, and mech, weigh a pound?
Genuine question..

DrP

Ok, so weight weenies and other sites suggests an XT setup can lose about 380-400gm
-mech 146gm
-shifter 142gm
-cable about 40gm
-26t ring 36ish gm

Fair enough..

DrP

I still maintain that 99% of people don’t need a bigger gear for off road riding than 32×11 the those that do warrant the bigger gear either do so because they’re doing a lot of rod riding in between trails or they are seriously quick, like national competition quick, down hill.

Honestly guys, apart from on the road, when do you EVER use your 36×11 gear?

Yes quite a lot, though I’m not one of life’s fast peddlers. I can put the power out but not at 90rpm. My legs are much happier down in the lower ranges so I’m happier to push a bigger front ring.
I was off the bike for 2 months over christmas and did a lot of work on the turbo with trainer road linked up so I could see power/rpm outputs and I really did better at the low speed stuff rather than fast stuff. So for me it works and works a lot better for me that a 32.

My setup is with a standard 11-32 but would probably go for a bigger cassette and lifting the granny up a bit when I get to 10 speed.

Riding 32/22-11/34 for about 8 years now, on all my bike. Teh only time I am “under-geared” is on tarmac, when the road is going down. Never felt under gear on the trail.

32/22(+bash) on 11-34 has been fine for me though it’s for no better reason than what was left when I dropped the (99.999% unused) big ring and stuck on a bash.

I did try 36/22 and hated it but I was pretty unfit and even so am never going to be a mountain goat. Having done quite a bit more riding this year, I could see the benefit in going for 34/22.

SRAM X.0 39-26 chainset
Shimano XTR M987 modified front mech
SRAm X.0 medium cage rear mech
SRAm PG990 11-34 cassette

22-36 with an 11-34 cassette. Works for everything. I probably could tweak it so it is even more useable, but I am lazy and also not that fit.