I think there's a basic truth that I know now if I buy a bike, the industry won't let me upgrade it. By the time I want new forks, the headtube will be wrong, seat tube obsolete ect ect.
So why not stick with what I have, given it too is obsolete, but at least lasted me 10+ years, whereas this years new model will be largely obsolete in 5 if the current trends persist.
Greedy manufatureers, looking to bolster mature markets by introducing the one thing that was constant, ie standards, are to blame. I'm also a smaller kind of guy - 26 make sense to me in a way new ones dont. You can always make a small bike bigger. (stem, post) you can't make a big bike smaller without taking lumps out of the frame.
Greed killed enthusiasm with see through marketing ploys. We're not as daft as the manufacturers would have us believe.
It has not done the former- you have to buy after market larger cogs for this and even then the range is still less than a 2 x 7 never mind a 2 x 9. As for the later you sacrifice gears for what purpose? Its not like a front mech is a pain.
I'll accept you are tired but there was a comma in there to separate the 2, 10 sp delivered a 11-36t expanding the range (usable on 3x if you really want). SRAM 1x11 delivered a reduced but still massive range from a single ring option with NW/Clutch to remove the need for chain devices and front mechs dropping a nice amount of weight off a bike. For some that has been a great step forward, remember the bike industry is not manufacturing just for you it's doing it for a huge range of customers with a variety of demands. the XX1 adoption I have seen among racers tells me there is something in it.
there was a comma in there to separate the 2
Probably why I called them the former and the later and addressed them separately.
I am sure we can all produce the same amount of watts as a racer and are as interested in weight. You also forgot the fact the bigger wheels are heavier whilst telling us about weight saving gains.
Still at least we agree dropping a front mech results in having a smaller range. If you wish to call this
a great step forward
then who am I to disagree.
I am not even sure it is a marginal gain tbh as you sacrifice range to secure some minimal weight gains [ about 200- 300 grams] assuming you do not use an extender at the rear.
My super scientific analysis.
I used to have 1x9, and was jiggered at the top of climbs
I then went to 3x9, and was knackered at the top of climbs, but slightly less so.
Then I moved to 1x11. I'm still just as knackered at the top of climbs as I was with 3x9, but less jiggered than 1x9, but my bike is lighter, the chain never comes off and there is less to go wrong than 3x9.
1x11 wins.
Genuine q How is 1 x 11 lighter than 1 x 9 given it has more chain rings on the cassette and a larger one at the back ?
Clearly you can make 9 rings weigh less than 11 as you just remove two from the 11
Genuine q How is 1 x 11 lighter than 1 x 9 given it has more chain rings on the cassette and a larger one at the back ?
Clearly you can make 9 rings weigh less than 11 as you just remove two from the 11
Advances in design? This wasn't an over night change, probably 5 years between ditching 1x9 and getting 1x11. Admittedly going from LX/XT level to XX1 will have helped. Though a quick google suggests that the base level 11s cassette (x1) is only 15g heavier than a 9s XT. 315g plays 300g.
Did he say that?
but my bike is lighter, the chain never comes off and there is less to go wrong than 3x9
I infer that either:
- the bike, which happens to have 1x11 is lighter than the one which happened to have 1x9
- 1x11 is lighter than 3x9
You are correct that all things being equal 1x9 will be lighter than 1x11 - an XG999 9 speed cassette is 175g, an XX1 is 260g, an XD driver is lighter, 11 speed chains are lighter. Rear mech was 197g for 9 speed medium X.0 and 220g for XX1, so it gets quite close. XX1 will be lighter than a Deore (or even XT) 1x9 set up.
1x11's not lighter than 1x9 but it has less drawbacks too. Singlespeed's lighter than 1x but it's not a real alternative to 2x for most folks.
1x's kind of an interesting one just because it's different, not better. I like it, because the drawbacks of it kind of suit me (in the same way as some folks like singlespeed) and I like the simplicity and quiet of it, and the chain retention/security, and the better mud manners. The weight reduction's just a wee bonus. But it's not [i]better[/i] than 2x
It's also let manufacturers do some things with frame design that aren't possible with multiple rings, which I'm a wee bit ambivalent about but it certainly adds options.
OTOH I know people who declare it perfect for their riding and just seem to conveniently forget all the times they end up walking.
I wasnt really looking for people to slate the current vogues in mountain bike technology!!
As was really after comments from other folks that were in the trade ,a comparison of whos busy etc.
Read this on the first page (Couldn't be arsed with the next four TBH, so this may all be repetition)...
It strikes me that maybe you should be asking the potential customers rather than "The Trade" those in other shops that know how to deal with/ avoid a slump will probably be keeping their best tricks as closely guarded as they can...
For my own part as a consumer of bikes and related paraphernalia, I think this time of year brings on a different set of priorities, the getting together of kit for the up-coming winter, warm/dry clothing possibly assembling a reliable SS bike, mudguards for the commuter, mulling over tyre choices, etc, etc and then of course do the kids need a new bike for Christmas? New bikes for me just ain't on the radar...
Genuine q How is 1 x 11 lighter than 1 x 9 given it has more chain rings on the cassette and a larger one at the back ?
Clearly you can make 9 rings weigh less than 11 as you just remove two from the 11
More gaps inint, there's more air between the sprockets on an 11 speed cassette... 😉
It makes little sense to use the singular if you mean two [ or more] completely different bikes. It makes even less sense for us both to discuss once he has answered
Cheers tom marginal if any, gains.
I can see the appeal of 1 x 11 locally [ though I can SS it all anyway]but not for proper mountains.
OP. I think the boom for MTB's has eased. The fad followers are moving on to follow another fad, some got turned on by Wiggo and Froome in Lycra, some got put off by the very wet winter, some got old and cynical, some felt the Olympic buzz for track and road racing and some just went back to playing golf.
MTB has been one of the fastest growing sports/hobbies over the last 15 years and now it has plateaued, no big issue the scene is vibrant, has great depth and due to the boom we have some amazing new places and bikes to ride. Happy days.
Custom builds have never been so bloody enjoyable 😀
I can see the appeal of 1 x 11 locally [ though I can SS it all anyway]but not for proper mountains.
As pointed out not everything developed in mountain biking is for you.
