Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 56 total)
  • Single/double/triple…. Pros and cons of each.
  • renton
    Free Member

    Looking at changing my raceface triple chainset for something shimano but not sure on what to go for to be honest.

    Do you need to be really fit to cope with a single ring at the front ?

    How much weight would you lose going from a triple set up to single ring.

    What are the pros and cons of each type ?

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Have a look at the gear ratios of each set up then you will pretty much answer the question for yourself.

    For a lot of riders its not so much a weight saving, more a saving of the whole front Mech and shifter, which makes sense when using a dropper.

    If you get that, then go 1xsomething. If you don’t, then just pick 2xsomethng, but you really need to understand the ratios first.

    Have a look at Sheldon’s gear ratio web page to get an idea.

    http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gain.html

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    Why are you changing the race face chainset,is it worn out ?

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    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Single with sram 10-42 is 2 gears less than a 26/38 double so not that much fitness change.
    Shimano less gears in 1×11
    Doubles give good range for extra weight triple has so many overlaps it’s not worth that much.

    taxi25
    Free Member

    Going to single saves a bit of weight and looses a few moving parts so thats good. You’ll a gear or two off the top and bottom though and there might be some bigger gaps between some of the gears.
    You’ll get some people on here telling you they ride the Lakes/peaks with 34/36 low gear and their not particularly fit. Their liying or get of and push a lot 😀

    renton
    Free Member

    There is nowt wrong with the raceface set up but I’m a bit of a shimano fan and just prefer their cranksets. Probably get slated for that but oh well.

    I would like to drop some weight from my bike but don’t want to at the expense of rideability. I prefer to try and ride up hills rather than push.

    Would I need an expander ring on the back ?

    br
    Free Member

    Anyone can ride with a single-ring, it’s just that they may need to use such a smaller cog (based on fitness and terrain) that they will run out of top speed.

    Simplest way is to on use your middle ring of the triple and see how it rides, if you need a lower gear then you could easily add a cassette expander. Once you’ve worked out what is best for you, then look for a N/W ring for the front.

    Once all the rest of the drive-train is worn out, you could then buy either SRAM or Shimano 11-spd in the correct ratio’s for you.

    I put 1×10 on my FS about 9 months ago (30t front and 40t expander), works great. Once my HT’s 9-spd is fully worn out I’ll put XT 11-spd on that.

    br
    Free Member

    And sod replacing the crankset for the sake of it, wait ’till you’ve broken it.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    All up to you Renton, are you going 10 or 11?
    What do you run and where do you run out of gears, what you going to do. It’s really quite personal. But a standard 11-36 cassette will be harder work than an expanded one.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    It’s easy really. Next time you’re out, note how often you have to reach for the bottom ring in granny gear (and maybe the next one up), and the two or three top gears in big ring. Those are the ones you’ll potentially lose in a 1xwhatever setup.

    To my shame, I end up using the former pretty regularly even in the Dales, and the latter on virtually every ride.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    As pointed out above – next time you ride your bike just don’t use the lowest one or two gears.

    If you can cope with that you can pretty much go 1×10.

    TheBrick
    Free Member

    Learn to spin (well not even spn, more not mash) and you can easily loose teh big ring on a mtb, everyone should be able to loose the big ring on a mtb unless you have slicks on and are powering along the road. The lower end is up to and how strong a climber / the terain you ride.

    Dibbs
    Free Member

    I was thing about this on yesterdays ride, I was in top gear (44-11, 26″ wheel bike) for approx two and a half of the three and a half mile road descent home from the top of the Quantocks.
    Even allowing for larger wheels some thing like a 38 chainring (or smaller) is always going to be a compromise.

    gazhurst
    Free Member

    I’ve just gone back to a double (38/28) set up on my 27.5 XC race bike.

    I found that I was struggling to keep up with the 29ers on the flatter stuff when I ran a 32 or 34 single but a 36 or 38 was a bit too big to push up the climbs sometimes (ok when just riding but started to hurt when trying to go flat out and stay with a group).

    I now find I can stay with (and sometimes pull away from) the 29ers with the 38 but I also have a bail out with the 28 should I need it.

    I raced at the Southern XC yesterday where it was particularly flat and I did find myself almost topping out along the straights but didn’t need to use the granny.

    I should point out that this is XTR 2×11….

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    If you’re mainly riding trail centres or completely off-road routes, then I agree, big ring can probably go. I still have plenty of road sections to get through (and part of making them ‘entertaining’ is to push as big a gear as
    possible), and quite often spin out my 32 ring on pedally descents off-road.

    If you’re the kind of rider who doesn’t mind pootling a bit on road or easy track descents, 1x has plenty of other advantages.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Simplest way is to on use your middle ring of the triple and see how it rides, if you need a lower gear then you could easily add a cassette expander. Once you’ve worked out what is best for you, then look for a N/W ring for the front.

    Exactly. If you can ride everything happily in the middle ring then go 1×10. If you sometimes need to switch to the granny and use the 3rd lowest gear then a 40t expander cog will get you that same low gear. If you sometimes need to use the lowest two gears in the granny then stick with 2x or 3x.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    If you can spin reasonably fast you should be able to hit 40mph whilst still pedalling on a 1×10 set-up.

    ransos
    Free Member

    I was thing about this on yesterdays ride, I was in top gear (44-11, 26″ wheel bike) for approx two and a half of the three and a half mile road descent home from the top of the Quantocks.

    Is freewheeling on a road descent a huge compromise?

    whitestone
    Free Member

    +1 to using just the middle ring to work out if you can cope with a 1x setup. It takes a little while to get used to it so don’t do it for just one ride but for a month or two.

    I’m on a 1×10 (cheapo system using XT cassette with 40T extender) and reckon I lose about 1 1/2 ratios at either end of the range. Depending on what your riding priorities are you can shift this around a bit by changing the front ring. So smaller chainring if you aren’t bothered about spinning out on descents, larger chainring if you don’t have many steep hills about.

    On a 29er with 32T chainring and 11-40 cassette I spin out somewhere in the mid 50kmh range, by which time I might as well do a bit of coasting/freewheeling.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    Triple:
    Pros:
    . lots of flexibility of gearing for different terrains.
    . Won’t spin out so quick so can go faster on any part of the ride on road or hard pack fireroad stuff.
    . Comparatively cheaper: chainrings, 2nd hand cranks/front mechs etc.

    cons:
    . isn’t fashionable.

    😛

    amedias
    Free Member

    I was in top gear (44-11, 26″ wheel bike) for approx two and a half of the three and a half mile road descent

    were you pedalling?

    90RPM in that gear is ~27mph
    Same speed as 36×10 @100RPM, and only a couple of MPH slower if you stuck at 90RPM.

    over your 2.5 miles the difference is negligible so I don’t think it’s much of a compromise unless you regularly use your MTB for raod riding.

    Anyway, I normally find that if you reach that point, and it really is a descent then you’er better off just tucking and coasting.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    If you can spin reasonably fast you should be able to hit 40mph whilst still pedalling on a 1×10 set-up.

    Bikecalc has a 34×11 at over 160 cadence for 40mph. I think my poor old knees and hip joints would implode if I tried to hold that for more than about 10 seconds. 44 ring would give you 120-odd, which I can manage.

    30mph is probably a more meaningful speed for MTB though, so I take your point.

    nickc
    Full Member

    There’s compromise in all of them really.

    I’d suggest that for most folk who aren’t racing, then a 40-42t big ring can happily go, OK, they’re handy for long fireroad sections, and roadie grinds, but for most off road riding it’s a toothy bash guard. If you’re happy to keep the left hand shifter then a double makes a lot of sense, lots of chainring options to customise your ratios, a granny ring bailout for the last hill can be welcome. Single ring, less to go wrong, less mud collection, with a wide range cassette you can still get up most things.

    I’m happily on single ring 32t front and 11-36 back (10 speed) I spin out at the top end rather than run out of gears at the bottom, I ride in the Pennines. I like climbing though.

    renton
    Free Member

    Merlin have a zee chainset on offer currently.

    Would I still need a nw chainring ?

    br
    Free Member

    I found that I was struggling to keep up with the 29ers on the flatter stuff when I ran a 32 or 34 single but a 36 or 38 was a bit too big to push up the climbs sometimes (ok when just riding but started to hurt when trying to go flat out and stay with a group).

    Have you tried an oval ring?

    Merlin have a zee chainset on offer currently.

    Would I still need a nw chainring ?

    Mate, don’t waste your money on a new crankset. And as said try just riding with the middle before buying a N/W.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Would I still need a nw chainring ?

    For single ring? Yep I would, and a clutch mech

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Quick point: with 1x setups it’s worth mentioning wheel size as well as chainring size as it makes quite a bit of difference.

    Very roughly (there’s about 1% difference) the following are equivalent and give about an 80″ top gear (11T):

    26″ with 34T
    27.5″ with 32T
    29″ with 30T

    renton
    Free Member

    Br can you convert a triple into a single ring setup then.

    What nw would you recommend?

    petersnell
    Free Member

    Just converted my gyro 29er to 1×10 using the standard triple raceface crank (think it’s the same as yours?) Used hope 30t chain ring and a 40t expander. Lost a bit of top end but not enough to worry about. First ride out yesterday was 45 mile mixed ride and coped fine.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    I’ve used a Race Face one and a Hope one. Not noticed any difference TBH so I’d just buy whichever one you find in your LBS or a good deal on.

    renton
    Free Member

    Petersnell have you noticed much weight saving ?

    rocketman
    Free Member

    Do you need to be really fit to cope with a single ring at the front ?

    Yes an absolute trail legend

    How much weight would you lose going from a triple set up to single ring.

    A fair bit of scrap metal and cableage going double-to-single, offset slightly by the almost plastic nature of the RF N/W

    What are the pros and cons of each type ?

    You just get used to not having any more gears left and man up. Also a super-quiet and smooth drivetrain

    nickjb
    Free Member

    There is a loss in range with 1x but you can choose whether to take this off the top, bottom or a bit of both. I’ve found that’s more than made up for by being in the right gear more often.

    antigee
    Full Member

    “jekkyl – Member
    Triple:
    …………………
    cons:
    . isn’t fashionable”

    what goes round may well come around, maybe not the traditional triple but I’m willing to predict that bikes with long mechs, huge cogs on the back and horrible chain lines will be eclipsed by some sort of must have front shifting revolution in the foreseeable future

    fasthaggis
    Full Member

    what goes round may well come around, maybe not the traditional triple but I’m willing to predict that bikes with long mechs, huge cogs on the back and horrible chain lines will be eclipsed by some sort of must have front shifting revolution gearbox in the foreseeable future

    🙂

    ahwiles
    Free Member

    recently fitted a 30t NW ring, so it’s early days, but…

    it turns out i like using a front mech, it’s a quick way of making a big change in gearing. 1 click, done.

    with a single ring at the front, i need to do a lot more shifting with the rear mech to get the gear i want, it (feels like it) takes ages, i’m finding it a bit frustrating tbh.

    engaging a climbing gear has gone from:

    ‘click’

    to:

    ‘click-click-click-releaseshifter-click-click-click-releaseshifter-click’

    i’m sure i’ll get used to it, i’ll have to, one of the reasons i bought a NW ring was the cheaper cost compared to 2 new chainrings and some bolts (it’s complicated). i’m committed to it now.

    but 1x is not the no-brainer, no-argument win, that 2x was.

    frood
    Free Member

    what goes round may well come around, maybe not the traditional triple but I’m willing to predict that bikes with long mechs, huge cogs on the back and horrible chain lines will be eclipsed by some sort of must have front shifting revolution in the foreseeable future

    Along with 26″ wheels because they are “more robust, lighter and more responsive”.

    whitestone
    Free Member

    I’ll use the middle six sprockets most of the time; the next two (2 & 8 ) occasionally and the outer two (1 & 10) slightly less than that. So I don’t have “horrible chain lines” very often

    There will be more wear on the chain ring as there’s no sharing of the load as there is with a double or triple but I got 3000Km out of mine and the same out of the cassette but used two chains over that period of time. The 40T extender wasn’t really worn so I’ve continued with that.

    That’s about 15 months worth of riding through all sorts of conditions. Not sure how it compares with a 3x setup for longevity.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    Which do you think are the climbs round our way which you’ve missed the granny the most? I can think of one or two which I clear now where I’d be close to taking a walk without the granny – not sure how much MTFU I have in reserve.

    nickc
    Full Member

    eclipsed by some sort of must have front shifting revolution in the foreseeable future

    I understood that the move to single ring has in part been driven by the needs of suspension design, especially for LT29ers? I appreciate that single ring up front has been around for ages, but it’s largely been confined to a minority of riders, wider 1×11 set ups, I thought, were developed by SRAM to get over some design issues. I can’t see the return of front mechs in a hurry.

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