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Ok long story short. after a long hiatus i'm getting back into riding and have dragged my old Turner 5spot out of storage. It still rides really nice and is the sort of spec that is well beyond my means now but is of course worth SFA these days. Anyway, I was wondering if I could go 1x on it. I'm terribly out of the loop on new standards, but from a bit of googling it looks like I could fit an 11 speed cassette (it's a goldtec hub/shimano freehub).
Beyond that, I don't know. Its all standard stuff for a bike built up in 2009 - XT Hollotech cranks etc, but i'm confused by chainline issues and the like.
Assuming I could actually get the parts these days, will it work, and what do I actually need?
Thanks as always
Definitely works.
There are 12 speed cassettes that will fit your freehub (SRAM SX and GX). Whatever chainset you get, you want non boost spacing.
Why do you want to?
CRC have microshift Advent X rear mech, shifter and cassette for about £70 all in
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/s?q=microshift
You could then measure the bcd of your chainring and get a single narrow wide replacement like a sunrace ms00.
It will no doubt be fine as it is too
Do you want a bag on your head?
I'm joking..I still run 9 speed on one of my HTs. 😂
It will be fine. I am using a 3x Xt chain set that I bought in 2007. It has been on at least four bikes and has been 3x, 2x and now 1x according to what other kit was on that bike. Everytime I see a fancy dedicated 1x chainset that I lust over, I have to ask 'why'?
Just pick your speed and gear ratios and it will work fine.
Is it a Horst Link Turner? If so, I remember reading an article where Dave Weagle said that the Horst Link design by fluke rather than design, worked fantastically well with a triple.
3x9 still works. Another thing to consider is that a larger cassette needs a larger mech putting it closer to the ground. Not an issue on 29" wheels but could be on 26" depending on the terrain you ride.
Having said that, if 1x11 lights your fire and gets you riding more, then do it, it will work.
What advantage would you get? Expensive to convert.
Personally I wouldn't but I am old.
What you will lose is the simplest moving part on a bike. The front mech. Virtually never goes wrong unless it is user error and in that case the user is a dimwit who shouldn't ride a bike. You'll also lose nice close gears and a fairly short rear mech that won't dangle on the ground and cost a fortune to replace as it is more complicated than needed. You will probably save some weight (depending on spec) and you won't cry every time you have to replace a chain or cassette let alone a mech.
What you won't get is the feeling that you have been conned by the manufacturers or that you are cool and trendy.
Anything that consigns the front mech to the pits of hell where it rightfully belongs is alright by me.
You can use the existing chainset. I'd put a new narrow-wide chainring on. Chainline will be fine. After that it's a new cassette, chain, rear mech and shifter. All quite cheap if you shop around and mostly wear parts you change anyway. Well worth doing. Lots of pros, very few cons.
What are the pros?
If it's worn, yeah, why not give Microshift a try? It'll probably be cheaper than trying to replace 3 chainrings anyway.
If it's not worn and it's working then why bother?
If you don't mind sacrificing a bit of range you can do it on the cheap with your existing 9spd mech and shifter
11-40 cassette £22
Goat link £5
Narrow wide chainring £9
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154747425386
I used this exact combo on my wife's town bike and it works a treat
Although the microshift setup above looks like a great option
9?! Fancy! I am on 1x8
That's 8x more than the perfect number of gears
As others have said - Microshift from Chain Reaction. Less than a £100 for mech, shifter and cassette.
I've fitted it to one of my bikes. What you get for what you pay is great. Yes there's a compromise in weight, but quality is great, shifting spot on and range is wide enough for most normal humans.
What are the pros?
Better ground clearance, better chain retention, fully sequential shifting, single shifter (easier to use and frees up LHS for dropper), better mud resistance, and a whole load more incidental benefits relating to not having a front mech (rubbing, alignment, failure modes, etc)
Better clearance at the BB - worse at the rear wheel
worse mud resistance with the finicky shifting of 1Xsystems
all the stuff you claim about front mechs never happens to me.
all my bikes are either hub gear or 2X. I see zero advantage to going 1x and plenty of disadvantages including the big gaps between gears. I have mine set up well and use them as a low and high range
Ah, ok, you weren't really interested, just spoiling for an argument. I've been riding 3x for 30 years and 1x is a significant improvement but I'm not forcing you to change so don't worry about it 🙂
In your opinion not mine. Ive ridden pals bikes with 1x12 and found them much worse.
worse mud resistance with the finicky shifting of 1Xsystems
None of the 1x systems are any more finicky then any other system IME. You just need to learn the detail and tricks of how to set them up. (Just like everything else really) Certainly I've experienced better mud resistance, for me the mud collector was more likely to be the front mech rather than the rear.
.
Definitely do it. I did the same on a 2005 bike getting back into the sport five years ago. So much cleaner having only one shifter, one less cable to faff with.
I did something similar with my '09 Flux (DW link).
Moved to 1x11 (11-42) with NW chainring (34) and clutch rear mech. Never dropped a chain so didn't try to fit a chain device.
This freed up space on the bars for the dropper post remote.
Big improvement from my perspective and worked really well.
Stick with 3 x 9 or 8! I’ve serviced all types and the way the chain on a 1x grates on the sprockets, well! It just grates! Front mechs shouldn’t be a mystery to you.
44 x 11 in between bridleways is very nice.
I was riding 1x back in the 90s so there's no reason it won't work. It's probably a good opportunity to update and refresh the drivetrain at the same time.
In response to TJ, I did try 2x With a wide gap between front rings and an 11-32 cassette to try and get as little overlap as possible on a Trance I had a while back and it was a pita in comparison to 1x anything and I've been 1x since 9 speed. Mud collecting, chain dropping and heavy piece of c***. Maybe the ones you've tried have just been badly set up? After all it's not the front mech that makes the rear mech worse.
I think more really well set up 9spd with XTR mechs. Also riding style. I use it as a low and high range so only very rarely shifting at the front. 36 chainring for flat and downhill. 22 tooth for all climbs
I also use good mudguards so no mud collection on the front mech
I think the much longer rear mech on 1x12 and the smaller gaps between the sprockets on the rear means its much less forgiving to set up 1x12. also mechs develop more slop.
Don’t forget the grating when on big/little ring and when you back pedal to get optimal foot position to get over a step or a root and… doh, its dropped 3 cogs?
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worse mud resistance with the finicky shifting of 1Xsystems
what? 1 chainring is far superior in mud and 1 x is more finicky than a triple front mech? I think you need to take the bike to your LBS for them to set it up properly
its not about the chainrings. Its about the rear mech. a 12 spd rear mech is more finicky than a 9 spd. everything needs to be perfect to get good shifting due to the longer mech which amplifies slop and the closer together rear sprockets mean there is less tolerance. the slightest knock on a 12 speed mech means your shifiting is all to pot. 9 spd is much easierto set up..
Obviously I can set up a 2x9 properly as I don't get any of the issues people claim with a 2x setup
Shall we overlook the increasing scarcity of decent 3x9 spares? We're still running one 3x9 bike and spares are definitely getting harder to find, so going to something that's going to be easier to look after makes some sense.
(Awaits people posting links to places that are awash with 3x9 kit)
There are still 9 speed parts from Shimano available via the fantastic official importer, Madison/Freewheel! I advertised front mechs on here for nominal amounts, still got some if you’re interested!
If you don’t mind sacrificing a bit of range you can do it on the cheap with your existing 9spd mech and shifter
11-40 cassette £22
Goat link £5
Narrow wide chainring £9
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154747425386I used this exact combo on my wife’s town bike and it works a treat
Although the microshift setup above looks like a great option
^^This^^ would be my course of action (plus a 10 or 11 speed chain, they mesh much better with the N/W rings IME) oh and fresh cables/outers of course.
It's essentially a cheaper "try before you buy" option that's completely reversible. Clutch mechs aren't essential as the N/W ring does most of the retention.
I have a couple of 1x9 bikes still making use of old Shimano mechs and cheapo N/W rings, no guides or anything else, they chug on just fine.
Spend the summer on that, then if you decide you like it, maybe look at posher versions. You may decide more range and increments are required in which case 1x10/11/12 are all options at various price points. You may miss the granny ring in which case you can re-commission the 3x or opt for 2x.
But definitely don't just go out and buy a whole new shiny 1x drivetrain without trying the £40-50, 1x9 'hacked' version first.
Oh yes... No more chain suck 👍
a 12 spd rear mech is more finicky than a 9 spd. everything needs to be perfect to get good shifting due to the longer mech which amplifies slop and the closer together rear sprockets mean there is less tolerance. the slightest knock on a 12 speed mech means your shifiting is all to pot. 9 spd is much easierto set up..
nope its not unless its a cheap sram mech with the dodgy pivots, which would be a warranty issue. 9 to 12 speed is all the same, they all pull some cable and you match it to the sprockets. if a slight knock on your mech sends the shifting out have you checked your hanger for damage as it sounds a little fragile
a 12 spd rear mech is more finicky than a 9 spd.
You really don't seem to know what you're talking about here. Perhaps you need read up on how to set it up properly or get a bike mechanic to show you properly if you find it difficult. Once you know what you're doing it's no harder than any other.
the slightest knock on a 12 speed mech means your shifiting is all to pot.
If you're having those sorts of issues, be less clumsy about what your mech is hitting. Both my bikes have 12 speed SRAM and I really don't recognise any of the issues your talking about, and unlike you, I'm not a bridleway bimbler. I know you're a fan of Rohloff but there's really no need to bad mouth other systems just because you don't get on with them or find them hard to set up.
Nice personal attack. I thought yo had given up on doing that. You are so busy concentrating on attacking me personally you fail to take 2 mins to think about what i am saying
Its about understanding the engineering and my experience. . When the sprockets are closer together the mech needs to be much more precise. When the mech is longer it will have more slop and free play as the levers are longer
I don't own a 12 speed. it was mates brand new bikes Maybe low end stuff suffering in comparison to 9spd XTR
Look at all the posts we have on here about folk struggling to set up 12 spd
I could equally well claim you are unable to set up front mechs properly.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/12-speed-shifting-issues/
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/indexing-xtr-12-speed/
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sram-nx-12-speed-shifting-issues/
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/xt-12-speed-shifting-problems/
You should change your forum name to “bit etweenmyteethagain”
I’ve had no set up issues with 1x11 in 20,000+ km. I didn’t choose to start a thread about it, as no doubt many other didn’t.
Can you accept that there are other opinions and not have to have the last word?
“bit etweenmyteethagain”
🙂
Of course there are other opinions
I just got irritated by the personal attacks and the outright denial that 12 spd is finicky when clearly many folk have issues with it so I felt the OP was being given poor advice.
Point taken tho - I should have been bigger and walked away
Apologies.
I converted my 2010 Hardrock from 3x8 to Shimano Zee 1x10. Was well worth doing, though parts prices are much higher than when I did it 6 years ago. Just sold it this week as I wasn't really using it much, but can't believe how a lot of lower end bikes are still 3x8 etc.
As others have said, some really interesting SRAM options that'll work on the same HG hub.
I reused the original cranks (octalink) and bought a new narrow/wide chainring.
Getting good shifting on my 3x9 XT setup was a complete sh!t. When it was shifting fine, I would still drop chains frequently when they bounced off a front or rear sprocket.
Conversely my 1x11 SLX and 1x12 XT have been flawless - and they have taken a lot more abuse than my 3x ever did. The mechs have bounced off rocks and generally been used hard. Even ran a deore mech for a while and it was very good. In fact my 1x9 was better after I ditched all that crap up front and put a decent narrow wide ring on the front.
There are still 9 speed parts from Shimano available via the fantastic official importer, Madison/Freewhee
True but they're asking 55 quid for a Deore rear mech, so it's more expensive than the equivalent 11sp mech. I've got a few front mechs stashed but they don't tend to fall that much - recently got a rear mech off ebay, and middle Deore ring from sjs but there will come a time where it's just easier and cheaper in the long run to switch this bike (MrsPs commuter) to 1x.
I don’t own a 12 speed.
So why are you here? It wasn't a personal attack, you just (again) chose to read it that way Otherwise you'll have noted that I said 12sp was "no harder" than any other system, and I can equally recall this forum being filled to the brim with folks who couldn't set up their 8, 9, 10, or 11 speed systems. Folks will always find ways to cock it up.
1. adjust cable tension (like every mech)
2. set limit screws (like every mech)
3. adjust b tension to the correct distance
4. Errr that's it, may as well have a cup of tea
If you find turning an hex key "finicky" then definitely stick to gearboxes.
FWIW, and it’s subjective
I went from a Triple to 1x on an old bike, 3x9 to 1x11 and had zero regrets apart from not changing sooner. It (for me) also ran considerably better shifting.
I found 12x took a little bit more work to get dialled in, the tolerances just seem tighter, once it’s in its excellent and smooth however. I actually prefer running Deore 1x11 on my hardtail/bike packing bike as it handles abuse better than the XT 1x12 that’s on my full sus.