1×11 not sure what to do

my 2×10 set up is needing to be replaced and Im not sure whether to go to a 1×11 set up, I do prefer the look of a 1×11 but at the end of the day its about riding your bike not looking at it, I was thinking of going for a 30 front and 11-42 rear, bit concerned I wont be able to get up some of the stuff I usually sit and spin up in the peaks,
cheers

My bike came with 30t front and 11-42t rear. I spin out regularly on my local loop (similar to Swinley) but when I’ve been to wales I found that I rarely sat spinning in 42t, usually 36t. Could always go for 28t?
Either way, I find the 11spd setup fantastic. It’s got the range I want with less cost, weight and maintenance.

Work out what gears you use on the 2x and compare to the gears you’ll have on 1x

Bear in mind wheel sizes too if you’re taking advice from people to compare…

For me 29er with 34 chainring and 11-42 does the job and I’m no mountain goat.

1×10 with 32t chainring and 11-36 was ok too but the slightly lower gears on my current 1×11 gives me a bit of a bail out if I’m having a bad day…

Best going to Sheldons gear calculator and working out which gears you will be losing. Then when you ride consider can you do without the lost gears (try a ride without shifting into them).

I had similar thoughts and spent a little time working out that 11-42 with a 32 ring would give me similar ratios to easier gearing on the 11-36 with a 26/29 2×10 that I was running.

Since swapping to that exact 1×11 set-up I’ve been extremely happy with it. I think that a 30 tooth chain ring would have been too small, especially when getting to the higher gears.

I should add that this was a 26″ wheeled bike if that makes any difference.

thanks for the advice, much appreciated

If you’re concerned, try a 30T oval although I’m 32T oval and 11-42 in the Scotland and I reckon I’m only 1 gear short of the granny gear I’ve on my HT.

But, this is with 26″ wheels, if you’re on 29″ wheels then you’ll probably need to consider 28T.

should of said in my op, I ride 650b/27.5
not sure what’s the correct term, in the middle size:-)

The thing that bugs me about 1x systems is the chainline – surely it can’t be ideal at either ends of the range? On my 2x system most of the time I’m in the middle ring front and back but if it gets steep I drop into the granny and use the bottom of the cassette, the chainline is still good. Is this problem only in my head though not in the real world application?

I would tend to agree with you Steve but in practice it seems fine – no obvious wear or drag issues.

As said use a gear calculator to work out what you’ll be loosing. But don’t think you have to go 1×11, you could always just replace your 2×10 drive chain. I’ve done just that on my bike, all Sram xx, so not cheap (but cheaper than a comparible 1×11 conversion) and I still have all the gears I need.

I’m old and fat, so I swapped my 32T ring for a 30T and it’s made a positive difference to my 650b bike. In fact 30×42 gearing is the same as 22×36 on my 29er.

Quite a lot of 2016 bikes with 1×11 setups are hitting the shop floor with 30T chainrings where the 2015 models had 32T. I think ‘consumer demand’ must be driving this.

I love my X01 setup – shifting is smooth and quiet and the cassette and chain seem to be lasting just fine.

I used to run a 26/39 chainset and an 11-36 cassette in a 2×10 setup on my 29er hardtail.

I’m now on a 30t ring and a 10-42 cassette on both bikes (both 29er) now and find the range is just about enough. Compared to the old 2 ring setup, my lowest gear is actually fractionally easier (but not so you’d really notice), and I’ve effectively just lost the top 39×11 gear (39×13 is the same gear as 30×10) which I never used anyway…

If you’re used to a triple and you use all the gears, the change to 1×11 would probably upset you. Your typical 3×10 has an overall range of 590% (that is to say the hardest gear is 5.9x harder than the easiest) where a typical 2×10 has an overall range of 491%. If you’re running a SRAM 10-42 cassette you still get a range of 420% in a single ring setup which is more than enough for a lot of people, and even the Shimano 11-42 XT cassette has a range of 382% which is still a lot. My first MTB had a 28/38/48 chainset and a 12-28 cassette, which gave me a range of 400%, so I’ve got more spread now with a 1×11 than I did with a triple back then!

I’ve just plumped for 1×11 with a 30t ring and 42t cassette- this is based on the fact that 30/42 is the same gear as 22/32 on my old 9 speed set ups and I never found that left me wanting.

I was thinking of going for a 30 front and 11-42

what you got now though?