[Closed] the big ring??

All right, currently got 24/34/44 on the front and 11-34 on the rear. Going to change to a double, what do I go for?
38-26T or 40-28T?

and 11-36T, 11-34T or 11-32T?

What's most important to you, top end or climbing?

On my full sus bike I went for 24/36/Bash and don't regret it, there's nowhere I've thought "what if I had a 38 or 40T chainring instead", and even though I rarely use my lowest 2 gears whilst on the 24T (most climbing done in no lower than 24/28), the lower gears are there if I need them. That said, my other bike has a 32T single ring with 11-36 on and I manage fine pretty much everywhere on that too, I just have to force the issue a little more on the climbs.

Whichever way you go though, get an 11-36 cassette. No point in going 10spd otherwise, as you're not gaining any extra gear range over a 9spd setup, and that's the main advantage of 10spd on an MTB.

To be fair I never climb in the granny ring, preferring to push rather than struggling to balance at such slow speeds.

It sounds like the 28-40; 36-11 combo may do it then. Thanks

CaptainSlow - Member
Anyone here using 24/38 with 11-34? or 22/36 with 11-32?
Running 9 speed here and amy try 2x9 when I need some new cogs.

i want to keep the granny ring as a bail out or for short steep muddy climbs.

Dont really want to go 10 speed as it'll mean new shifters n rear mech as well.

Going from 3x9 to 2x9 is easy to work out. Stick with what you are happy with for small and add 14t to get the next ring 🙂 use whatever cassette is on the bike and f the maths.

I've just fitted the two new rings, 26/38. First issue is weight, the two new rings weigh the same as the three old ones.
Then dropping the front mech was an issue. To get it lower it has to go over a bottle boss. I wont use a 'low mount' mech. And it won't sit that low anyway as the cage fouls the stay.
Finally it looks gopping.

That said I'm looking forward to using these ratios.

Did somebody say BIG ring....?

[img] [/img]

CaptainSlow - Member
Anyone here using 24/38 with 11-34? or 22/36 with 11-32?
Running 9 speed here and amy try 2x9 when I need some new cogs.

i want to keep the granny ring as a bail out or for short steep muddy climbs.

Dont really want to go 10 speed as it'll mean new shifters n rear mech as well.

I've just done this, 2x9 36/22 with 11-32, the 36 is a revelation, don't know why i didn't do it sooner considering I spent all my time tooling around on the 32 middle. contrary to opinions above i'm switching to ten speed, not for the extra range that a wider cassette would give me, I'm quite happy spinning away in 22/32, a ten speed 11-32 is a closer ratio box, so more likely to have a comfortable gear for any given situation, I'm finding I keep dropping into the jump between 18 and 25 on the 9 speed 11-32 xt cassette, which is where you get your extra gear on a 10 speed 11-32

Trying it out for the first time tonight.

Got a gpx of your local trails that have more than 1500m of climbing in 70kms? Not that I don't believe you or anything but I must visit this mountain mecca.

Malaga/Cadiz - 45km to 55km would put you in that range of altitude gain. And they aren't even "proper" mountains.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/192369569

Any gears are fine as long as the pedalling continues 🙄

the last bike that i owned with a big ring (although it wasn't as big as my old 1992 marin eldridge grade 48 tooth i think?) was my 10 anthem x2 with 3 x 9 xt.

i now have 2 x 10 sram x7 on my 2011 charge duster mid bike (don't know what the big ring size is tbh i think 42?).
i love 2x10 now 🙂

Going 2x9 for my trip to Ciclo Montana next week.
I'm going to stick with 22/32 with an 11-32 out back for cost and simplicity stakes for this trip, as it's a heavy bike (33lb) and the local terrain is either insanely up or insanely down with big rocky drop-offs - which is why the big ring is coming off.
I don't recall using the big ring last year, but i didn't want to stick a 36T ring into the mix and not get on with it whilst on holiday.

I still use a triple on my main bike as I do lots of Tarmac miles to get to the fun bits
The bike is a 29er with 26-36-48 rings as suits me and my riding and that's the main thing

It's not right or wrong it's what works for each of us

It was great. It got a thorough going over as well as we met the Spirit racing guys on their matching LOOKs.
The nicest thing was getting my sweet spot mid range knowing I had four or five either side if I needed them
I'd quite forgot how nice a whole new drive train is as well,

Use the big ring alot.....having said that its only 40t these days! 😀

I have a 44t Chainring with a bash guard, paired with a medium cage rear mech. It works very nicely at keeping the chain nice and tight for the bumpy bits.
Only sacrifice is you cant use the 44t for the higher gears but that's duplicated by the 32t anyway.
Its good fun pedalling downhill to go as fast as possible..
I wouldn't want to be without it.

All right, currently got 24/34/44 on the front and 11-34 on the rear. Going to change to a double, what do I go for?
38-26T or 40-28T?
and 11-36T, 11-34T or 11-32T?

What's most important to you, top end or climbing?

On my full sus bike I went for 24/36/Bash and don't regret it, there's nowhere I've thought "what if I had a 38 or 40T chainring instead", and even though I rarely use my lowest 2 gears whilst on the 24T (most climbing done in no lower than 24/28), the lower gears are there if I need them. That said, my other bike has a 32T single ring with 11-36 on and I manage fine pretty much everywhere on that too, I just have to force the issue a little more on the climbs.

Whichever way you go though, get an 11-36 cassette. No point in going 10spd otherwise, as you're not gaining any extra gear range over a 9spd setup, and that's the main advantage of 10spd on an MTB.

To be fair I never climb in the granny ring, preferring to push rather than struggling to balance at such slow speeds.

It sounds like the 28-40; 36-11 combo may do it then. Thanks

I am looking to change the transmission on my MTB over now To a double up front and a 10 speed cassette. I was wanting to use a medium GS rear mech but noticed that they have a 35T limit. If I run a 11-36 cassette the options with a 38-24 a 38-26 and a 40-28 will be 39T, 37T and 37T respectively. Would it be possible to get away with this at all?

Could never not have a triple chainset.
Or at least not a chainset w/out a 42t+ chainring.

Just would be so slow on the flat bits, plus I have to ride roads to get off-road.

6079smithw - Member

Just would be so slow on the flat bits

The actual difference is less than you might think- top gear on a 36T "middle" is about 20% slower than top gear on a 44T- it'll still push you along at 25mph, at a reasonable 80rpm. Sure, it's not TDF fast but I'd not consider that slow either.

Gone 2x9 with a bash on my trail bike and 1x9 on my winter mud bike. Still got the triple chainrings etc so I can swap back if needed. Unlikely though unless someone removes all the logs from our local woodland trails.

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

Would it be possible to get away with this at all?

Yes, you may just find that the chain is either too slack in small/small, or too tight in big/big (the former is preferable). It depend on your specific frame and things.

Due to me being lazy and not fixing the 29er I've mostly been riding my enduro for all my mtb rides
It's 1-10
32 front and 11-36 rear
I still ride the 15 road miles to the start of our group rides
And it's fine not quite as quick as my 29er but not as slow as you might think

It's a hard tail so no problem with chain growth etc. I usually measure chains for fitting by putting around the largest chainring and cassette and adding two links, will this not preclude the big big issue?

Yep.

Thanks

Incidentally I see that the new xt chain set is designed for use with a directional chain, is choice limited to shimano or would a 10 speed kmc be ok?