[Closed] 32t front by 11t rear is more than big enough for anyone here?

I'm certainly starting to think so, as if I'm going anywhere near 20mph down hill on rough stuff I'd be wanting more than an XC helmet, shorts and a top to protect me from the inevitable high speed crash 😀

So, is 32t by 11t big enough for the majority of people outside of a DH/Enduro race?

No, how are you meant to train for XC, or even just fitness, when you're top speed is limited by your gears rather then your power?

Also, when you're ragging it dh, you don't want to have to spin a silly rpm to get a bit more speed, you want a higher gear so you can just do half a rotation or something, and get something out of it.

I find letting go of the brakes usually gives a more rapid rise in speed than pedaling.

Opposed to what, holding on to the brakes and pedalling lol?

Well exactly.

I think there's quite a bit of misconception/plain old BS about just how big a gear you need for general trail riding.

i could not get up many hills in the lakes with that SS ratio personally I am impressed you can

No, how are you meant to train for XC, or even just fitness, when you're top speed is limited by your gears rather then your power?

Yes this I would agree with.

Also, when you're ragging it dh, you don't want to have to spin a silly rpm to get a bit more speed, you want a higher gear so you can just do half a rotation or something, and get something out of it.

And in principle I agree with this (to a point) but (and this is a big but) 20mph is pretty fast mate. Are you really going that fast on technical trails?

I think there's quite a bit of misconception/plain old BS about just how big a gear you need for general trail riding.

I'd agree, to an extent. Don't see why anyone needs bigger then 40t chainring, especially if you're not xc racing. Unless you have a long stretch of road to the trails?

I really don't understand why 44t seems to be the standard.

Although I would argue that 32 is too low, at least for me.

i could not get up many hills in the lakes with that SS ratio personally I am impressed you can

LOL yes quite. Although I did ride with someone the other day who did 4000ft of vertical over seriously rocky/steep trails on a single speed with 32t front 20t rear and he rode probably 75% of the climbs.

So, [i]32t front by 11t rear is more than big enough for anyone here[/i] if they're happy to limit their riding accordingly?

Well, you might have a point....

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but I'm buggered if I can see it.

20mph?

We managed 31mph on our last night ride.

I really can't agree with you, its all about mechanical-advantage - and quite frankly I can't spin like Armstrong...

Although I would argue that 32 is too low, at least for me.

Realman, where do you ride and which trails would you need something bigger on?

We managed 31mph on our last night ride.

yes but what kind of trail was it - a fire road?

And in principle I agree with this (to a point) but (and this is a big but) 20mph is pretty fast mate. Are you really going that fast on technical trails?

So from your OP, at 32-11 you spin 90rpm at 20mph. Which I would say is too high a cadence to be useful. To get a burst of speed on a descent (like I mentioned) I reckon you would want to be spinning about 30rpm, if only for a second or two. Which means you need a bigger gear.

Whether the trail is technical or not is beside the point. Especially as you haven't really defined technical.

Whether the trail is technical or not is beside the point. Especially as you haven't really defined technical.

Yes, that is the crux to my argument and I haven't really defined it.

Let's say something that a lot of people know - the drops in the Peak called The Beast, Jacobs Ladder and the drop down to Rowarth Mill.

I used 32 front in the winter and 34 in the summer with an 11-34 rear for years,rode all the S-Wales taril centres and loads of local trails,loved it,Nice and simple,E13 or Gamut up front,11-34 rear.

yes but what kind of trail was it - a fire road?

Sounds like you want to limit people to a certain speed on fire roads lol. I don't see why people wanting to put effort in all the time is wrong.

Some people like to put effort in all the time..

Sounds like you want to limit people to a certain speed on fire roads lol. I don't see why people wanting to put effort in all the time is wrong.

Oh goodness no, sorry yes that is probably how it sounds, but it's not what I meant.

The problem with my argument is that I pressume that on smoother easier descents everyone would, like me, just be OK to cruise. I see why that's not the case.

Let's say something that a lot of people know - the drops in the Peak called The Beast, Jacobs Ladder and the drop down to Rowarth Mill.

Useful, as I don't think I've ever been further north then Birmingham, and that was only a day trip to watch a badminton tournament.

😀

think it is the biggest ratio I have on my FS and I dont feel the need for anything bigger.
I tend to not pedal downhill as gravity is quite good at making me go fast enough

I pressume that on smoother easier descents everyone would, like me, just be OK to cruise. I see why that's not the case.

I don't particularly understand this in mountain bikers, unless its just out of laziness. Cruising is boring. Its just saying, I could go faster, but I can't be bothered. Same attitude leads to watching eastenders rather then going for a ride in the first place.

yes but you are a roadie and if it does not hurt you dont think it is riding some folk may just not enjoy pain and just have fun instead

32T is nowhere near enough for me.
Currently on 26-38T and have spun that out on occasions, going to 28-40 when these rings wear out.
Other issues for me is that 32-11 even with a short chain leaves the chain slapping around, I don't like that.
Guess it depends on where you live, but I wouldn't fancy a jaunt around Salisbury Plain with only a 32T ring.

I think to a large extent is depends on where, and what trails you ride.

If I'm off for a trip round a trail centre, I can pretty much guarantee that I'd never need anything taller than 32/11. Besides, with a 44T outer ring, you effectively only gain an extra 3 taller gears (the 14, 12 and 11T cogs with the 44T ring).

But if I'm going on a longer distance ride, on smoother trails, maybe with some road involved, or fireroads, I'd definitely take a bike with skinnier faster rolling tyres and a 3 ring setup up front...

Of my 4 bikes, I still have 2 with 3 ring up front, mainly cos I hate spinning out on smooth trails and roads. Though I'm contemplating putting a 24/36 setup on my full sus, as with a 36T instead of a 32T I reckon it'd be tall enough to not miss the outer ring at all.

I don't particularly understand this in mountain bikers, unless its just out of laziness. Cruising is boring. Its just saying, I could go faster, but I can't be bothered.

Well I can see that point of view.

I guess where I'm coming from is that I don't see it as a challenge so I'm not so worried about the speed. That's not quite the attitude that leads to watching Eastenders though as I do tend to put the effort in elsewhere and we try very hard to avoid loosing altitude on these kinds of descents.

You could argue, that it's more of an effort to 'spin' at 90rpm+ anyway no?

yes but you are a roadie and if it does not hurt you dont think it is riding some folk may just not enjoy pain and just have fun instead

Yes but you are a lazy mtber and don't realise you can pedal without pain, and that pain can be fun sometimes too..

Cruising down a fireroad at 20mph, it doesn't take much effort to get fair bit faster, and then you get to the next trail quicker, and you can ride more as you will have wasted less time on fireroads.

« Marco, perché vai così forte in salita?» «PER ABBREVIARE LA MIA AGONIA.»

You could argue, that it's more of an effort to 'spin' at 90rpm+ anyway no?

Well spinning at 90rpm on a fireroad is easy (assuming a comfortable gear of course). But when you spin out, you can't really put much power in. You can make yourself look like a fixie rider riding down a steep hill, but that's going to hurt a lot, with not much reward. If you want speed and a better increase in fitness, you need a bigger gear (shocking, that).

32 11 certainly isnt a limiting factor when i race xc 1x9, bizarley when ive done it singlespeed my times arnt much different either though which is odd, only joe average though.
i also use 38 - 12 on my cx bike on the road, and only sometimes run out on some descents

nice try but I still class myself as an ex roadie rather than MTB'er.
i dont disagree it is just that some folk do
propbably stll do more miles road but more hours mtb

I maybe don't use my 36-11 much on the singletrack but I enjoy going fast down fire roads too! Having said that I was in top gear on singletrack yesterday. As said above its not about spinning at 90rpm downhill but a burst of high-torque-low-revs power out of corners etc.

I don't like the idea of 1x10 as I think 32/34-11 is too low and I really like a super low 'winch' gear for the steep climbs. I'm too posh to push...

but a burst of high-torque-low-revs power out of corners etc.

Your cranking out of corners at 22mph?

**** me who are you Rachel Atherton 😯

"Well exactly .
I think there 's quite a bit of misconception/plain
old BS about just how big a gear you need for
general trail riding ."

36:18 works for many, high and low.

great for all you 1 x whatever guys...I find the extra 2 chainrings and front mech don't ruin my rides.

well i spin out on 39-11........ so yeah if your racing you need more and deffo need more when im out riding
Bruce

At the moment the only bike I have has a Rohloff so it's not relevant but hopefully my new Boardman may turn up tomorrow and I'm going to start by only using the middle ring and see how I get on. 32 x 11 should be fine I like spinning the gears and I get scared at anything over 20 anyway. 😳

I'm not sure about the ups, I'll have the same as my current 4th gear as the lowest on the middle ring but I'll have around 7 less pounds of metal to drag up the hills.

I ride alpine trails all year and I use a 32 with 12-36 10 spd... if I spin that out on singletrack then I am going bloody fast...too fast, and I can climb every where with that ratio.

If it was mainly DH/FR then I would probably use 34 front with 32-11 on the back

I'm a casual trail rider not an XC whippet or massive jumper. It's fine for me.

Have been using a 32 tooth up front and 11 at the rear since I started mountain biking 5-6 years ago, but just recently have started to find that a bit limiting at certain trail centres, mainly llandegla, glentress and innerleithen.

So have just swapped to a 34 up front, I think this will do me fine.

Geetee - i understand what your getting at...kinda, however i think the main point from others is that they dont want to have to spin up to near 90rpm in 32-11 to 'catch up' with the gear from freewheeling to gain speed (which would happen even at 15mph). They'd rather have a bigger gear engaged and just crank the pedals over once to gain speed.

Me i've got 32-11 as my biggest gear, as i like spinning 😀

90rpm is the maximum rpm really?

Im pretty shit at spinning and i can manage 170.

What I understand now that I didn't before is that while 32x11 is big enough for the majority of riders on technical terrain not everyone rides on technical terrain exclusively enough to warrant only have a 32t front ring.

There was a guy who said that it would no way be big enough for Salisburry Plain and having driven through there I really do see his point!

I've been running 32/11 as the biggest gear on the Soda for a while, but found it a bit limiting, so put the 44 back on, which is definitelY OTT. 36/11 is spot on for me (on the rest of my MTBs). Rare that I spin it out, but its that bit usefully taller. I'll go 36/22 on the Soda too when the chain/cass/rings finally die.

It's kinda my problem with the whole 1x thing. I want the 36 to make the DH's right, but 36/36 is simply too high for Peaks & Lakes riding on technical climbs.

I should say that I try and avoid fireroad descents like the plague, and road descents if absolutely necessary are just recovery time

On a road or fire road it's not that quick

I think this answers your own question. I'm certainly not lucky enough that my rides are all technical singletrack and ups/downs. I invariably need to ride a bit of road, a bit of fireroad, some flat and non-techy off-road. I find myself struggling to keep up with friends with triple rings with my 36t chain ring. They're cruising at comfortable revs and I'm having to spin like mad (relatively speaking) to keep up. Quite the opposite of "taking it easy".

That said, I AM tempted by a 1 x 10 setup.

I tend to agree a 32t is fine for local loops or trail centres (though I use a 34t 11/34)

At the last XC race I did (one of the southern XCs) I attempted to be a bit competitive in my group and started near the front. It was a flat out sprint to the single track and I was cranking 44/11 to try to keep up. Admittedly it didn't continue at this pace - but made me glad I hadn't changed to a dual 26/38 setup for that race

There's enough top XC racers using single rings of 36/38t that suggests you don't need a 44, or anything like it, to be good at XC (Gareth Montgomerie, Oli Beck, Ade Lansley, Dave Collins spring to mind).

I think the thing for me is about the most commonly used gears - I could probably do 95% of my off road riding no slower on a 32t, but I'd be at the bottom of the block the whole time whilst the top of the cassette would go to waste. Conversely the same is true of using a 40 (for arguments sake) I'd always be at the top of the block. Ergo something in the middle makes more sense and offers the most versatility.

Agree with GT. Have 32/11 on a 2x9, a 34/11 on a 1x9 and a 32/11 on a 1x10. Only need more on smooth surfaces and then happy to cruise.
All problems solved (if there are any) with Hopes 36 or 34-9 cassette that should be coming soon.
Single ring up front is nice and quiet and doesn't collect mud. Only have a 2x9 because it is a big bike and needs winching up hill.

I'm running a 36T biggest ring on my proper mtbs and it's a slight compromise, I don't often spin it out offroad but I do often spin it faster than I would given the choice. That said it's a good compromise.

But, my rigid bike is single ring 32T and that's where it starts to bite more- it's not such an issue on the rigid as it's just naturally slower but I still spun it out good and proper at innerleithen the other day.

Definately don't agree that 32/11 is some magic ratio that everyone should be happy with, any more than I agree with the people who say 22T grannies are useless.