Looks like I'll be doing a custom build soon and I've been searching around here and other places for the pro's & cons of going from my current 27spd/3x9 setup to what seems to be a more in vogue 2x10.
Can't remember which bike mag did a thing on this a few months back but essentially would I get the same top and bottom ends of the ratios?
I regularly use my granny gear as I'd rather try and cycle up anything regardless how steep it is. Also being a lover of high speed downhills I wouldn't want anything where I'll be sacrificing top speed from my current 42 big ring and standard Sram 9speed cassette (can't remember the exact ratio on smallest ring at back).
Never had any mechanical or chain issues and I've been using my 27spd setup for years but keen to hear any comments on the 2x10 in comparison. Thanks in advance for any input.
Depends entirely on the sprocket/cassette sizes.
Check out Sheldon Brown's [url= http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/ ]gear calculator[/url] to see how your figures work out.
I went from standard 3x9 to 2x10 (11-36 & 26-38 combo) and it's fine. You loose the very extreme gears but I've never missed them. I can still spin up everything I could before and pedal fast enough down everything I could before
im thinking of doing exactly the sane thing.. i too use the granny to try and get up the steepest stuff, so wouldnt want to sacrifice it if i went to 2 x 10.. watching this post.. 🙂
If you go for an invogue 26/38 chainring setup, your new 26x36 bottom gear is only a gnats hair taller than your current 22x32 bottom gear, so much so you'll barely notice it. Or you could go for a 24/36 chainring setup, giving you a 24x36 bottom gear (actually slightly lower than your current 22x32 bottom gear) and still a 1:1 ration on the biggest cog on the back with the middle chainring, so it would feel very similar to the ratios you run now.
You're going to lose a little off the top end with either setup suggested above, but be honest now... How often do you use your current big ring on the 11 and 13 tooth sprockets on the cassette? If the answer is, as I suspect, either never or only on the very steepest roads at 30+mph, you won't miss it at all. with a 38 or even 36T middle ring, on the smallest 11T cog on the back it will still be taller than your current big ring on the 15T cog (7th on a 9spd cassette) which is more than tall enough for most people, certainly offroad.
If you weren't bothered about the bottom end so much, and wanted to retain a bit more top end, you could go for a 28/40 chainring setup which would lose you a tiny bit off the bottom, but lose you less speed at the top, or even a 30/42 which would make it a bit harder still climbing, but you'll still have all your top speed left.
If that all makes sense?
2x10. You lose the big gears for if you ride on the road before, during or after your off road fun. You also lose your twiddly gears for when you're absolutely cooked on an epic and just need to get home.
I'm convinced it's marketing bullshit and we'll be sold the new amazing 3x10 setup in a couple of years.
Please wake up and smell the coffee guys!
2x10. You lose the big gears for if you ride on the road before, during or after your off road fun. You also lose your twiddly gears for when you're absolutely cooked on an epic and just need to get home.
I'm convinced it's marketing bullshit and we'll be sold the new amazing 3x10 setup in a couple of years.
Please wake up and smell the coffee guys!
LOL
When a lot of us started riding offroad, a 28/38/48 chainring setup with a 12-28 cassette was the norm, and we managed. Top Gear of bang on 4:1 ratio, bottom gear bang on 1:1 ratio. A total spread of exactly 400%.
FFWD a good few years to when 22/32/44 in a 9spd setup had become the norm, and you've still got a 4:1 top ratio, but you've now got a 0.6875:1 bottom ratio to help you get up the hills, or even lower, a 0.647:1 ratio if you've got an 11-34 cassette instead...
Have the hills got any steeper in the meantime? We have got used to a 581% spread of gears by now (or 618% with an 11-34 cassette) though, approximately a 50% greater spread than most of us started out with.
FFWD a couple more years and plenty of (very clever) people have started to realise that you don't need in the region of a 600% spread of gears, and started to offer alternatives. A 26/38 setup with an 11-36 cassette, which is pretty standard for a 2x10 setup now, offers a 478% spread of gears, which to all intents and purposes, is wide enough for most people. Certainly it's a wider range than most of us started riding on many moons ago!
You will also notice that plenty of people get on just fine with a 1x10 system with an 11-36 cassette (and some even hardier people just fine with a 1x9!), which offers a 327% spread of gears which based upon your chainring size, you put them where you want in the range. Back when I started riding offroad, I rarely used my 48T ring back then, and I wished for lower gears already, but it wasn't the 400% spread that irked me. That's why most of the time these days I'm fine on my 1x10, with a 32T chainring as it has a low enough gear for most of my riding, and a top gear just about tall enough for anything offroad.
Or would you prefer I left the maths and the science out of it, and agreed it was all just marketing bollox? 😉
I went from 3x8 to 2x10.
Was: 42/32/22 11-32 (1.3-7.4)
Now: 42/27 12-36 (1.5-6.8)
The difference is noticeable, but I rarely was in granny gear anyway (I basically lost my two very lowest gears, and a fraction off my top gear). However the advantages of less jumping up and down big rings make it worthwile to me - just need to get fitter so I don't need the ultra-low gear.
I couldn't live without my granny ring gear. I could sacrifice the very top gears, since I agree that I use it very seldom. But missing the granny ring would be a deal breaker for me. Even slightly higher gear would put me off - seriously steep climbs on my home trails.
Johnhe, you just pick different chaining sizes then.
I went from a 3 x 9 (22,32,44 + 11-32) to a 2 x 9 (26,36 + 11-34) and that works fine for my riding style. i find i stay n the 36 up front must the time and the 26 up front gets me out of trouble on some long steep climbs.
Next time you ride make a note of which gears you use and how often you change up front. I was always shifting between the 32 and 44 on the tripple. Now i rarely shift up front.
Thanks for the help.
Think I'll probably stick with the triple chainset. I live near the South Downs so although I like to get to the Surrey Hills most weeks and trips to Wales, I tend to do some pretty quick descents down the local hills. Up to and over 50mph is not unusual so I really want to keep as much top speed from my gears as I can.
One question though, is a 10spd Cassette any more of a pain than a 9spd one? I'm thinking gears quicker to start jumping about if not 100% spot on or covered in mud etc? Also are they more expensive and would a chain be likely to cost more/last for a shorter amount of time?
Cheers - Chris