I'm building up a scandal 29er xc(ish) bike, will get used for mixed road/singletrack and bridleway
roads, the odd trail centre, but mostly natural stuff and maybe 50% rough, rural back roads.
It's not going to be a lightweight racer by any means, but by the same token I don't want to add weight for the sake of it. My other bike is a 26" hardtail with a deore triple (44/32/22).
I live in a pretty hilly area and ride in Wales mostly, and not that fit at the moment, so do use the granny ring a fair bit, and as my normal rides are mixed road & off road do get into top cog a fair bit.
So, what are people's thoughts? 2x or 3x? And what ratios?
Depends a little bit on what cassette ratio you're using too really but ever since I went to 2x10 I never want to use a triple ring setup again.
I'm using a 26/39 setup on the front and find it perfect for most of the riding I do at a vlot of places round the country, but that's with a 12-36 cassette at the back.
9 spd 11-32 cassette on 26" bike