Well had my Scott Spark now for about 2 months and loving it!
Just a few things though. Did my first MTB race on Sunday after 16 years away and was wondering! The course was a mud bath. I was on and off the little ring all race and it got me wondering if I'd be better with a 2x10 instead of a 3x10?
The gears at the moment are a 24/32/42 with a 11-36 at the back. If I went 2 x 10 with a little ring of 26 as they seem to be, am I still going to get up those steep banky hills that are just not quite steep enough to make you walk up, but are quicker to ride?
Or should I stick with what I've got as you are usually sticking to the middle ring anyway in 'normal conditions?
The other thing I was wondering is at the moment I am running Latex Tubes with my Rocket Rons (which were rubbish in the wet), would I notice a significant difference if I went tubeless over the latex tubes? And how easy is it to swop tyres once you do? Do you have to go through the whole sealent thing each time?
Cheers!
If you were using your very bottom gears then a double won't work for you, if you were just flitting between the middle and inner constantly and could forego your 2 easiest gears then a 28/40 double would give you something in the middle.
Latex tubes do offer most of the advantages of tubeless, but tubeless is more puncture resistant and you can run lower pressures still. You need to put sealant in each time, but I transfer it between tyres, once a tyre's been on once they seal more quickly too. Well worth it.
Cheers, perhaps the double is not worth the cost to change then. Is the advantage just the weight saving?
Not a great deal in weight saving either.
No there's not, it's about the ratios. I found the outer ring a bit too big to be of use and the middle a bit small. Swapped to a double and spent 95% of time in the outer, and just dropped for the steep climbs. Worked for me. Now use 1x10 and that's even better. YMMV!
if you do it buy id still buy a 2x10 with smaller inner cog...but that prob requires sram crankset if going for top end. Reason - if you ever go on holiday somewhere with big climbs ..or so an mtb stage race abroad in decent hills or mountains ......youll wish you had. I use 36/22 on race 29er so id recommend a 24 for a 26er ...x36....
I wouldnt bother though -on my race mtb 26er i left the 3x front as makes little difference to winning at mid level...better off spending the money on going tubeless if havent already... or eating decent pies on the way home...or going on that mtb race somewhere sunny...
tubeless is worth it...bit of a faff sure ... and you do get punctures occasionally whatever anyone says ..eg i got two in the andaluciabikerace... but then you just stick a tube in if latex didnt auto seal it... however... was much much better feel in the race. I could run lower pressures which is essential for grip in gravel/summer in my view on a 26er
I'll not bother with the double then. Still curious about the tubeless though. Do I just need the Stans No Tubes standard kit for a set of Alex XC 44 rims?
Whats the internal rim diameter?
One of the main reasons to go double is so that you can fit a decent bash ring, I removed the big ring on mine and now run 22-32 on the front and 11- 32 on the cassette with a decent bash guard and chain tensioner.
I could probably do with upping the 32 to a 36 but at the moment I find it does what I want.
One of the main reasons to go double is so that you can fit a decent bash ring, I removed the big ring on mine and now run 22-32 on the front and 11- 32 on the cassette with a decent bash guard and chain tensioner.
Again, that depends on the ratios and the bike use. I'd never use a triple, but I've no desire to fit a bashguard either 🙂
Bash guard has saved my ring ( 😆 ) many a time, depends on the terrain you ride I suppose 🙂