Silly question can I use my current XT cranks triple and convert to a single or will I need a new crank set

yes just leave one ring on it and its a single ring
Often need new chainring bolts for the middle one though the bolts from the granny ring may work

It will work but you’ll need shorter chainring bolts. The granny ring bolts will be short enough but the backs which the bolts threßd into will need to be shorter single ring versions too or they’ll stay loose. You could always use spacers on the normal bolts but it might not look pretty. Your other option is to fit a bashring to take up the space

Get it done, it’s the future!

It’s not without faff but perfectly achievable by a home mech. You should get an expanded cassette (11-40, 11-42, 11-46). Note some spacing inward of the single chain ring (most likely 104 BCD) may be required by washers and/or moving the BB spacer to the opposite side and/or longer/shorter chain ring bolts.

The best solution would have a medium cage clutched mech with Rad Cage mod (if 10 speed) and NW chain ring!

With a centred chain line, correct chain length and B tension it works perfectly, without these it doesn’t!

Ok sounds good what is my best option for chainring a bit lost looking

Spend money and end up with a less useful bike?

Sounds great.

Didn’t mean to sound so negative, but have a think before you spend anything.

It’s not going to make any real difference, except be a bit lighter and a lot more fashionable.

People must have short memories or never rode in really wet conditions – I used to run a 2×9 XT transmission and it was chainsuck hell, so much that I had to frequently abandon rides in winter. Since converting to 1x haven’t had to stop a ride. Maybe lacking a bit for not having a big chainring, but hills are ‘free’ speed

Yep, memory must be awful, I’d completely forgotten that you had chainsuck.
🙂

If you push up hills.
Freewheel down them.
Get easily confused.
Have too much money.
Believe that the weight of a 32lb hardtail is fine, but the weight of two chainrings is unacceptable.
Like paying more for less.
Believe what you’re told.
Have grown a beard in the last few years.

Then crack on.
🙂

Rusty,
You forgot one..

If your dropping chains on a triple setup 😀

So is there a benifit to a single or should I stick with the triple

Lots of benefit. You need to put a bigger range cassette on as well to get the most out of it but that’s cheap and they need changing periodically anyway. Nothing to do with weight or fashion so ignore rusty’s ramblings.

So what are the benefits then?
🙂

Not having a front shifter, so (more) room for the dropper control and not having a front mech… surely they are the only real benefits? No way I’m changing all my stuff just cos the mags say triple is no good anymore.
As for “dropping the chain”, I’ve known since about 1999 to shift into a gear which keeps the chain tight.

Been contemplating it a lot and have spent a small fortune recently overhauling my current and building new bikes.

My steel 29er which is a real distance bike for munching miles is going from 3×9 to 3×10 as I already had the bits new in boxes. Wear on a 2x or 3x system is lower due to better chainlines and parts are cheap. A properly set up 2/3x system is fine.

My long travel play 26″ hardtail is going 1×11 – it’s built very light gets thrown down anything I have the balls for and the narrow range cassette 3×9 was annoying me on it as the last thing you want to do is change front ring when on a techy bit. I can live with less range on that bike and the 26″ wheels and light weight meansI don’t need a really low ratio and will just stand up and grind up the hill.

My 160/140 650b full susser is also going 1×11 but with a more expensive wider range cassette.

I opted against 1×10 as shimano 10 speed mechs are not designed for the extended range and adapting them was either a bodge or more expensive than buying an 11 speed one and with the advent of 46T 11 speed cassettes the range of 11 speed has surpassed extended 10 speed.

I could have gone Sram but I can’t be bothered with XD drivers, expensive cassettes and new cranks and BBs etc.

surely they are the only real benefits?

not in my experience. Lots of little benefits. As often comes up in these threads those of us that have switched spent many years with triples so we know both sides.

No way I’m changing all my stuff just cos the mags say triple is no good anymore.

I don’t read any mags. Do they say that? I’d say a 1x system is better for the riding I do, that doesn’t mean the triple is obsolete. Also you only need to change wear bits that need changing periodically anyway.

So what are all the little benefits?

So far we have:
More room on the bars.
Not having to use both thumbs at once.

Less mud clogging , simpler maintenance, and contrary to most on here you don’t NEED an extender cassette, same as you could ss and have no gears if you wish. Most steep stuff 32+11 is enough to go fast enough to kill yourself and 32+36 is fine , most climbs become pushes by a combination of gradient and roughness

When has mud clogging the front mech, but nowhere else on a bike, ever stopped a ride? 🙂

Simpler maintainance?
I reckon my front mech has had a couple of cables in ten years.
Absolutely no idea how I’ve coped. 😀

I must admit, I’m a bit confused by this trend. Gears are a good thing. They were invented to stop your legs getting sore.

I don’t push up hills,
I don’t free-wheel down descents
can work out how to change gears thanks
does anyone? (no idea what it’s got to do with gears)
no idea what the weight of a bike I don’t own has got to do with my drive train layout
Haven’t paid any more for my drive train choice, haven’t had to buy a front mech or changer though
We were told we needed more gears not so long ago, still believe that?
I think you’ll find the beards are still riding SS fatbikes

Then Crack on

Thanks, I will, I’ve either been SS or single ring for years, great thing these days is I don’t need a chain device, which is nice.

OP, if you fancy 1x, a quick way is just dump the stuff at the front, I think most decent riders are held back by worrying they won’t be able to climb stuff, but I’m no fitness nerd and there’s nothing I’ve found I can’t climb. I think the only real downside for me is I reckon with 2 or 3 rings on the front you can dump a bunch of gears with one click, If you’re banging along and hit a small steep rise, it’s nice just to be able to go down a ring at the front sometimes, but that’s pretty much the only situation that I’ve experienced.

Gears are a good thing

Yes they are. Has anyone said otherwise? Just saying you may not need 30 of them, many of which you don’t or can’t use.

So what are all the little benefits you mentioned then?

I’m not having a pop, I just don’t see the point.

The OP already has a front mech and a triple.
What benefit would he actually have by changing to 1*?

What benefit would he actually have by changing to 1*?

dunno, might be, y’know; fun? 😆

changing stuff on a bike is fun, it keeps things interesting, I went SS “just to see what it was like”, and y’now? it was fun and challenging and made riding more interesting, when I went back to gears it felt like cheating, and that was fun too…

That’s why we do this, isn’t it?

Our ideas of fun obviously differ quite radically.
😀

or you’re just scared of trying new things…

😀

🙂 Not scared, just cynical.
To me, 1* is a very successful method of charging more for less.

I can see the point if you only drive to trail centres, are very fit or live somewhere flat.

But my days out usually include big hills, some of them on road and I’m not very fit.
I like to be able to enjoy myself pedaling up and down those too.

Other pros.
Ground clearance.
More freedom for frame designers.
Lets face it even the very best front mechs aren’t as good as rear ones.
Lighter weight.

I can see the point if you only drive to trail centres, are very fit or live somewhere flat.

Ah that’s always a winning argument 🙄
I’ve erred on the low gear side (as I live in the Peaks) and never miss a high gear off road (don’t tend to descend on fire roads or anything). On the few occasions I descend on the road, my mates with 3x can beat me. Oh the shame.

You say charge more for less, but really, One-by is free – if you want to tweak it to go beyond the normal range it adds about £30. Hardly expensive.

Well FWIW I went from a tired 3×9 to XT 1×11 earlier this year. Kept the cranks, just lobbed a narrow/wide ring on the middle.

So far I have found that:

– I can still ride up everything I used to ride up
– I can still ride down everything I used to ride down
– I can still dump a couple of gears with a single push of my thumb if I have to
– the (admittedly not very complicated) gear selection thought process is marginally simpler than it was
– it’s a teeny bit quieter
– maintenance is a tiny bit simpler (no front mech clag-zone to clean post ride)
– my chain has been prefectly well behaved
– I slightly prefer the looks of a bike with a single ring

Sure I can spin out in top on a road descent, but if I wanted to ride fast on the road I’d use a road bike. According to Strrrrraaaaaavvvvaa I’m still capable of setting/beating PBs set on the same bike as a 3×9

Would I go back from 1x to 3x? Don’t see the point, 1x works fine.

Would I change from a perfectly OK triple to 1x? Probably not, I only did it as there were a few things that needed changing at the same time and I was going to re-cable anyway so the extra cost/faff of 1x wasn’t that much.

Ground clearance.

Eh?

Lets face it even the very best front mechs aren’t as good as rear ones.

At what?

More freedom for frame designers.

You say this like it’s a good thing?
🙂
Actually, yep, I’ll give you that one.

Lighter weight.

But weight doesn’t matter anymore, all those frame designers keep telling us so.

thepurist – Member

Sure I can spin out in top on a road descent, but if I wanted to ride fast on the road I’d use a road bike.
Fine.
I like going as fast as possible down tarmac descents, whatever bike I’m riding.

…and I’m not very fit.

ah right, you’re not cynical, you’re just busy trying to justify the fact that you think you haven’t got the legs for a single ring.

which no one really cares about (apart from you clearly)

EDIT: Oh, and I live in the Pennines, and there are “some” hills around here, and there are folk plenty fitter than me. 😆

1x is definitely a bigger improvement when riding more technical terrain. The simpler shifting and greater ground clearance makes more impact there. If road riding and mile munching is more important to you then the triple probably is better. Horses for courses.

nickc – Member
…and I’m not very fit.
ah right, you’re not cynical, you’re just busy trying to justify the fact that you think you haven’t got the legs for a single ring.

Must be why I’ve got the singlespeed as well then, eh?
😀
And I’m not the one getting defensive btw.

If riding something techy, cant you kust keep it in the middle ring and pretend its a single ring set up?

a stupidly expensive cassette

£40? Yes I’d rather spend deore money but its not exactly a lot more and I’m sure prices will keep coming down.

£60.00 for a wide range XT 11 speed from CRC, isn’t it?
Which is what I’d need to maintain a reasonable low end.

About double what I usually pay.
100% price difference.

And I’m not the one getting defensive btw

apart from justifying your entry into a thread about single rings by dismissing them because you’re not fit enough and are clearly bit sore about it. 😆

But y’know, “crack on”

Ground clearance.

[quote]Eh?[/quote]Sorry – you obviously live somewhere flat or only ride trail centres 😈

But weight doesn’t matter anymore, all those frame designers keep telling us so.

You’ve really lost me on that one

The OP asked if it was worth changing from a triple to a double.
A question which I’ve attempted to answer.

I could quite happily live with a 1*11 set up, but for me, it offers no advantages and quite a lot of disadvantages.

Are we not allowed to point out that new things don’t always benefit everybody?

AlexSimon – Member
Ground clearance.
Eh?
Sorry – you obviously live somewhere flat or only ride trail centres

😀
The Pennines, funnily enough.

I’ve never had issues with chainring clearance.
Maybe once, when lifting over a gate.

You’ve really lost me on that one

Well, most people don’t seem to care about weight anymore.
Apart from when it’s used to sell us something new and unnecessary, when it becomes important again.
Make your minds up.
🙂