[Closed] Cheap 3x9 to 1x11

Covers my current dilemma too so hoping that you get some decent answer that I can poach..........sorry.

Sounds about right (can't comment on brake mounted shifters). I went through this late last year, when a destroyed 3x9 setup coincided with the Black Friday sales. I put an XT 11-42 cassette onto a 11 year old Hope Pro 2 hub, and a NW ring on the middle position of a 3x Deore crankset (with short bolts).

The medium cage XT mech works fine with 32/11-42, but personally with hindsight I'd go for 34/11-46, to get a slightly higher top gear without losing the low end. The transition to 1x was largely painless, with two caveats. First, the lack of high gears can be a ball-ache on long XC-type days, especially with linking road sections. Second, last weekend the clutch basically seized up while away in Wales; I switched it off then stripped it down and greased up the clutch barrel once I was home - not overly impressed given that older non-clutch XT mechs were essentially maintenance free for years.

Thanks @Montgomery.

I gave up on the I-spec B/II to I-spec A thing (I found you can get adaptors or bodge something but looks more faff than it's worth).

The lack of high gears is a real concern as I don't have a car and typically go away for a weekend by taking to the train to a mainline station then crunching road miles.  An good example was last weekend riding back to Taunton from the Exmoor marathon with 15km of steady descending from Elworthy spinning out at 60km/hr in places trying to catch the train 😀  Ball ache was actually the phrase that sprung to mind when I thought about 1x11 during that ride!

Having said that I just ordered a super cheap 32T NW oval ring (£7 incl. postage from China!) and 11-42T cassette (£14; all steel and probably weights 600g+) to see how I get on  (give them away if it doesn't work out).  Perhaps I just need to rediscover a smoother high cadence stroke from single speed days!

You just need an i-spec B shifter and this bolt/nut thing -  http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-i-spec-b-bolt-nut-unit/rp-prod141531

In fact you only need the bit in the bottom pic.

I just did this same as you, got a 34t n/w ring and the 11-46 sunrace cassette, med cage xt mech. I had to mount the ring on the inside of the spider and also add a small spacer to get near the best chainline.

I'll actually be cycling over to Exmoor today. While Mikewsmith will shortly be along to post lists of gear ratios and tell us we're dinosaurs, for the kind of riding you and I do, getting to locations by riding and training it, lack of higher gears IS an issue. Here are the numbers I crunched comparing 3x9 to 1x11, expressed as kph rather than gear inches/ratio:

So far I'm sticking with 1x due to lack of chainslap/chainsuck/tyre buzz against the front mech, plus easier cleaning (but see caveat above about clutch seizure). Might go for a double crankset when this set-up wears out, though.

I know it’s not in keeping with the cheapest 11 speed theme but Aram GX Eagle would get you closer to where you want to be with an10-50 cassette and bigger front chain ring I’d imagine.

As joe said, what's the budget? There is mixed feeling on the 11spd shimano cassette due to the ratio changes on some of the cogs.

sram gx 11 speed 10/42 gives a good balance of top speed and climbing, plus you will get a new freehub for the XD cassette.

good SRAM upgrade kits on bike discount.de or bike24.de. Chain, cassette, mech and shifter as a bundle

a super cheap 32T NW oval ring

As per Montgomery, oval rings tend to wear the clutch mechanism, it's a simple service every year or so. So not a massive ball ache, but something you have to think about, I guess.

Second, last weekend the clutch basically seized up while away in Wales

In my opinion: the shimano clutch thing is great.

But correct - not maintenance free. Every half year: take the cover of the clutch off and slap some pm600 grease onto the unit. That's all.

He'll struggle putting an XD Driver on his Shimano hub I'd have thought so forget Sram.

1) Yes

2) Yes, okay being the correct word.

3) https://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/shimano-i-spec-a-b-and-ii-mounts-explained-44410/

4) Yeah it works, be careful of chain lengths though, you get less and less 'spare' chain these days with new chains.

He’ll struggle putting an XD Driver on his Shimano hub I’d have thought so forget Sram.

Isn't the cheapest SRAM Eagle cassette "normal" not XD?

Hi all,

Thanks for the help.

I haven't got a max budget but it's an 11 year old 26" frame.  Happy to spend cash on components I'll use long term (e.g. M8000 shifters/mech) but am not completely sold on 1x11 yet so keeping it cheap.

I hadn't picked up on the oval chainring - clutch wear issue.  Maintenance doesn't sound a big deal though.

@papmountain - thanks I hadn't noticed this ("Alternatively, this kit can be used to fit I-Spec B shifters to I-Spec A brake levers.") and annoyed to miss it!  (Unfortunately I already ordered bar mount shifter)

FYI -Trying to sort my seized clutch recently I found the whole disassembly and re grease a right fiddly pain and it still didn't work v well (Oval chainring currently so interested to hear that may be a factor).

FYI -Trying to sort my seized clutch recently I found the whole disassembly and re grease a right fiddly pain and it still didn’t work v well (Oval chainring currently so interested to hear that may be a factor).

Really?! I thought it was laughably easy, take off cover, slide the little mechanism off, give it a wipe with a rag, spot of grease, slide back on.

I ran an oval for a bit, didn't seem to hurt it, I mean yeah you can see it puling on the cage as you pedal, but it's nothing compared to the battering it gets in normal use, I doubt it's a factory really.

<div class="bbp-reply-author">BillOddie
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<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Isn’t the cheapest SRAM Eagle cassette “normal” not XD?</span>

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Cheapest SRAM 12s cassette is the NX, which is non XD, but lacks the 10t smallest spricket. So you lose some rang,e but 11-50 should be wide enough

You could also do sunrace 11-50 11 speed cassette.

Biggest turn off of eagle for me is the loss of index finger shifting that you get on shimano.

No doubt SRAM is more likely to get shifting right on big cassettes though, can't wait for shimano 12 speed to trickle down and for a hope micro spline free hub.

The lack of big ring is annoying on road sections and I really miss the speed. I got over this concern by having 2 bikes. 😁 went 1x11 on the 26" which is now trail only or low amount road XC and got a 29er which I've put 3x9 on with a big old 44t big ring on which is used for big XC which can include a lot of road and general tracks. So in summary....n+1

You could always leave a 44 ring mounted to the outer position. When you get to the road, manually hook the chain on. Same in reverse when you get to the trail head. Chances are you've got to stop for a gate anyway. If you use a chain lube like smoove, you won't even get your fingers dirty.

Someone will follow this up by then suggesting a mech and shifter...however, what I describe above does mean you still benefit from the n/w retention.

ispec mounting bolt - nip down to Screwfix and get some M4 bolts with square nuts. It cost me more in fuel to go there than buying the pack of ten. (I think the nut needs to either 6mm or 8mm square)

IME you don't really need a clutch mech if you are using a NW chainring. I've left my clutch mech in the "off" position and not dropped the chain. Granted there'll still be a very small amount of extra tension. The one time I have needed it was when I had to use a triple chainring because my NW had worn, without the clutch engaged I was dropping the chain at regular intervals.

Oval chainrings: not an issue with clutch mechs, as above, normal use batters them more. If you are going to bigger oval rings then check that you have clearance at the chainstay: Absolute black state that the minimum dimension is the same as a round ring 2T less than the stated size and the maximum is 2T more. I.e. a 34T oval is the size of a 36T round at its widest.

34T on a 26" wheeled bike gives very similar ratios to a 30T on a 29er and I find that size fine for long distance (>100 miles) rides.

You can also mix it up. Shimano (or compatible) cassette, SRAM mech (NX or GX for cheap), SRAM shifter. Though better with SRAM brakes with the MX stuff, though you can get third party adapters to mix SRAM shifters and Shimano brakes.

NX cassette also an option but it's heavy.