Seems the trend now is 1 x or 2 x up front but I like my top gears and being able to crank a high gear on flatter trails. I am running a ridged 29er built for speed, adventure racing and bikepacking

I feel like I am the uncool kid in town (made worse by the fact I am still on 9 speed)

So who else seems to be bucking the trend and if so why?

Yep I still have 3×9 (all XT) on my 29er hardtail, for the simple reason that I’ve not run out of spares for it yet.

Me as I cant get the gearing I want otherwise .Still 9 speed and 26inch as well

Still got a 9-speed triple on the Blur (not that it’s used much)
Still got a 10-speed road triple on the Amazon
Just fitted a 9-speed triple that I already had to a new Ragley Marley.

Fatbike and B+ are both doubles.

Dunno what the fuss is about. I can set up and use a front mech but I can see why 1x works for the mechanically inept and for those that can’t co-ordinate shifting when it involves two hands.

yup.

unlike many people, i don’t get confused by all the buttons and levers and switches cluttering up the bars.

I like triple chainsets and see no reason to ditch them. I’ve always had one, ever since my first mountain bike and something that serves a purpose doesn’t suddenly cease to serve that purpose because something new comes along. I’ve never personally had a problem with the way a front mech functions. It’s basic, sure, but it works. There’s the aesthetic consideration too; whatever the technical advantage, I hate the look of the new kit with a tiny chainring and chainring-sized sprockets on the cassette. I’m probably in a minority there but you like what you like.

I don’t really get it either. I miss my 3×10 now my new bike only has 2×10.

I’ve never had the problems with a front mech that seem to be ‘resolved’ with the trend for 1x setups. Rear mechs are much more troublesome in my experience.

3×10…. very happy with it and the granny ring still gets plenty of use.

me……3 x 10 xt on my tourer and 3 x 9 slx on my mtb.

i shit heavier than the weight saved by going 1 x.

actually I have 1×9 but with 3 different 1’s and a clever trigger based shifting mechanism to let me select which 1x I want to use whenever the terrain changes 😉

Me, for the same reasons as you! 3 x 10 on my Kinsesis Sync

Though my new bike is 2 x 11, but only because it’s 29+ and a triple won’t fit

Me too. Had a go on my friend’s Capra 1×11, it was great but it wouldn’t go up the really steep stuff that my granny gets me up.

My better half

Yep, along with a quill stem, canti brakes and toe clips.

Hey look it’s Joe Murray.

Seems like I am not the only one bucking the trend 🙂 Its not the granny I would miss for riding near me, its the big ring.

I do have another bike thats 1×9 but that is only because I didn’t have the parts when building it up to do anything else and I don’t like it so thats moving back to a beardy chin stroking single speed.

Me , because new bike came that way.wont be changing till this one wears out.last bike I converted to 1×10 and will probably do it again.

Its not the granny I would miss for riding near me, its the big ring.

+1

I always stripped my big ring out of my chainsets and replaced it with a bash.

Draw full of big rings in my garage as a result. Never saw the needful a big ring.

I am tempted to pop my granny ring and a front mech and shifter back on though as 1-10 change from 2-9 was a mistake IMO

Its not the granny I would miss for riding near me, its the big ring.

Yeah the scraping over the rocks, dinging teeth an all that 😉

The 39 on my double was close enough to a 42 (or 40 that you get these days) was good enough. My 32×10 gets me close to 38×12….
with my 32×42 coming in at about 24×32 (low 2×9 gears)

Amazingly the range is good and not as limited than most people think. Not sure I own a crank that I can fit 3 rings to anymore

Have 1 x 11 on my capra, really like it, can get up pretty much everything i need to in the Alps, done 1000m climbs on it.

Just had to replace the chainset on my soveriegn and was going to go 1 x 11 or 2 x 10 on that but ended up just ordering new chainrings from bikediscount as the outlay for the full drivetrain when nothing was really wrong with it seemed pointless. Trying to save for a holiday at the end of the year to NZ biking, rather do a holiday than have a fancy drivetrain on a bike that is basically just for training.

I ride to and from the hills (or to the train station that’ll take me there). 3x just makes more sense in that context. I don’t want to be twiddling along any slower than I have to. It might be different if I was only loading the bike in and out of a car at a trail centre. The point of the bike is to expand my options, not limit them.

The point of the bike is to expand my options, not limit them.

Out of interest what are your extreme ratios?

I only have triples (apart from the rohloff). Certainly couldn’t lose any range off the bottom end, would rarely miss the top gear but it does see a little use.

Out of interest what are your extreme ratios?

Outwith what I’d get with 2/1x setups.

I can see how they’d work fine for some types of riding, but I’m happy enough sticking with 3×9 while my shifters, mechs etc are working well.

Ah ranges with no numbers 😉

Just saying the numbers give you hell of a range that most people seem to underestimate. Happy enough to spin in and out of the trails on mine.

As i said before, a 32/11 gives you 20mph at 70-80 rpm. So 23-24 mph is perfectly pedallable. So why the need for 3x? Likewise, 32/42 is the same gear size as 24/32 (ie 3×9).

So, 1×10 or 11 gives you the same extremes as a typical 1×9 set up, with no overlap, less weight, less maintenance, easier cleaning, less clutter, and it feels intuitive and a very down to earth system, the way bikes should be. More clearance riding over logs too.

Sometimes it’s nothing but good to embrace change!

I never really saw the point of 2x as it doesn’t let you get rid of anything. 1x might have some advantages in getting rid of a front mech and shifter (albeit with a loss of gear range), although I never seem to have the mysterious problems that some people have with these – the rear mech causes more problems IME. I can also see that 1x is good for manufacturers – less bits means the bike’s cheaper to make and you get to sell a (consumable) cassette for the price of a groupset whilst claiming latest and greatest. But I’m sticking with 3x.

I never really saw the point of 2x as it doesn’t let you get rid of anything.

The big ring that catches on rocks and knackers quickly and replace it with a bash. When I started riding a triple was 22/32/42 with an 11-32 cassette. My last double was 26/39 with an 11-36 cassette.
As I said it’s now 32 with 10-42. Hardly any loss over the years.

Hardly any loss over the years

25% of your gear range. Whether that matters to you is going to be a personal thing and depend on where and how you ride.

Dunno what the fuss is about. I can set up and use a front mech but I can see why 1x works for the mechanically inept and for those that can’t co-ordinate shifting when it involves two hands.

Lolz…. 😀

I can shift just fine with a front mech and am perfectly mechanically ‘ept’?….thank you.
Still would much rather be without it all though. Google image search chainring injuries for one reason… 🙂

I have no intention of ditching it. I use 1st and I use 27th as well as plenty in between. I had KOM on this section for quote a while and there’s no way I’d have got that time with 1×11

the advent of 2x and 1x didn’t make all my 3x perform worse

so I’m sticking with it and enjoying the cheap maintenance

I’ve still got two bikes running it. I’m about to transfer the wife’s 3×9 onto her new rfx.

Yep I still have 3×9 (all XT) on my 29er hardtail, for the simple reason that I’ve not run out of spares for it yet.

This. I still have 3×9 on my 2001 and 2006 bikes and will continue to use the system until I run out of spares, partly because it is a minimum of £250 each to replace with 2×10 or 1×11 to same level, and partly because it suits the older frames.

At the current rate of attrition of spares I’ll be riding the M960 equiped 2001 hardtail on 3×9 for another 10 years (hopefully I’ll still be able to ride in 10 years)

Yep I’ve still got 3×9 and 3×10..
It works, not worn out or broken so it keeps on going…
If i need to change the chainring and the front mech gets covered with mud I stop, find a special tool called a stick and remove the mud..

On draggy mountain bike tyres the only time you could miss a big ring must be smooth down hills surely?

When I was running 2x the bash ring took some hammering, a big ring would of been ruined. Never missed it, even on road sections.

1x now, and no chain drops since.

The point of the bike is to expand my options, not limit them.

that basically

Out of interest what are your extreme ratios?

Outwith what I’d get with 2/1x setups.

that too

Ah ranges with no numbers 😉

We did the numbers the other day on the other thread (and mine was a cut+paste from before)

Give me a 9-56 tooth cassette option, and then I can have the range and ditch the overlaps that aren’t really overlaps unless you are clumsy enough to change a front ring and then crank the chain back 5-6 sprockets.

Current 1×11 approximately make me lose 1-2 bottom ratios, lose the big ring ratios entirely, and in the case of XT, lose the fastest ratio of the middle ring. I could nudge that a bit either way but what you gain back at one end you lose at the other.
I use 1st and 27th too, and lots in between.

So I have a 1×9 plus a few bonus lower gears that I can select with a button when I go up. And a few bonus higher gears too, also selectable by a button, for when I go down.

Me.

On my MTB and Road Bike. Although personal pride means that I don’t use the granny ring on the Road Bike, although it is nice to know that it is there.

On the road-come-rough stuff bike, yes.

The Cube came with it – still has it, keeping it.
The YT doesn’t though!