Just curious, people running single ring on their cyclocross what size are you using?

I’ve sen XCNeil running single ring CX, I think he’ll be racing at Shrewsbury today so he might be on later to advise.

Single, 42 tooth.

Raced all season on it, works perfectly with a 42 tooth sized rock ring.

i use a 38t with a 11-28 8 speed out the back.

i use this bike for everything, racing, commuting etc works great for me.
fwiw i used to run it with the 39t the cranks came with, 38t fits me better when tired on the sdw for instance, i wouldnt want to be tired in the middle of the sdw with a 42t

I used to run a 39 x 11-27 but I only ever used the bottom three sprockets, so I now happily run a 34 x 11-27 and only ever spin out on the road.

38t and an 11-28 out back.

As LeeW says i run single ring on my second bike which is a 38 with 11-28 block i have tried a 36 but much prefer the 38

But im also running a double chainset 46-36 on my best bike i like to have lots of options like todays cx race was flat and fast so i’d be spining out the single ring as i found out last time i raced at this venue hope this helps

In the good old days it was a 42 as all you could get were those and a 52 so you just used the inner ring. That with a nice big 28 on the back will get you up anything. If not maybe runing is called for.

Cheers all think i’m going to try a 36 tooth to start with.

I have a 46 and a 34 on the front and 11-27 on the back. I’ve never used the big ring during a race.

I much prefer to spin so always go for lower gears and high cadence.

Don’t race cyclocross, but I’ve just got an off-road ring for Peregrine 1 x 9. (48T on the road)

Like you, I wasn’t sure what would be best up front. I plugged the cassette and a few options into Sheldon Brown’s gear calculator and compared the gear inches with my 3 x 8 mtb set up, then took a stab at which end I’d rather keep my options.

(FWIW – as a non-racer, on a non race bike – I went 38T, with the existing 11-32 at the back, enough to get up anything I’d want to, but not losing much to top gear on the mtb. And I got in the post today. Cheers, Charlie!)

I’m also a non racer nedrapier, my cx has mainly been used for road duties but since i’m getting a full on road bike I want to put it back to cx duties for local stuff and pottering about on.

Fair enough, I should have read your post properly! as per usual! Had my idea of what you were asking skewed by all the race chat.

Have a play with the gear calculator, it takes account of wheel & tire sizes etc, so if you know what works on your mtb on your local stuff, you can find the right compromise for a single ring with the cassette on your CX bike.

Isla Rowntree runs single ring mostly. In the Midlands Champs at Sundorne both 1st and 2nd – fellow Stourbridge CC riders Hannah Payton and Louise Robinson – were too. Isla was 4th behind Lucy Garner.

@xcneil, how did you find the course at Sundorne?