http://www.bikerumor.com/2015/04/15/oneup-goes-bigger-with-new-44-tooth-xx1-replacement-cog/

Is that too big to fit a 26″ wheel?

Nice to be able to replace the alloy sprocket from one of those eye wateringly expensive cassettes so I’m surprised if they aren’t offering a 42. Unless such big alloy cogs don’t in reality wear any faster than the rest of the cassette.

Seems a good idea.

I run 1×10 and find I pedal out on the flats, but still need my 32×36 for the very steep bits. So Id go for a larger front ring and some sort of expander like this to still do the steep bits but have more speed for the flats.

Just put a bloody motor on your bike. That’ll solve it, especially when you get some ‘real climbing’

Good idea, means you can run a larger front ring and still have climbing ability.

I’m quite a big fan of 1x drivetrains, especially for racing, and I use them on several bikes, but I think there’s a point where you have to just admit that a double might be a better choice, and I think this might be getting very close to that point!

Is that ourselves we can see in the distance?

Expanders are a good thing – they mean you can alter your gearing to suit your riding style, area and ability. What’s not to like ?

Also means you don’t have redundant gears that you would get with a 2x or 3x set up, plus you can ditch the front mech.

Win, win win 🙂

I think there’s a point where you have to just admit that a double might be a better choice, and I think this might be getting very close to that point!

THIS

some of this looks like a desperate attempt to stick to 1 x whatever whilst openly admitting it does not actually provide the required range

FWIW i ride 1 x [ 36 at th e back] locally but I would not attempt to ride the lakes with it as it an inadequate range for me weak legs

YMMV

Not a bad idea for many riders at all.

It’s more a replacement for the 42 on an XX1/X01 cassette that happens to be slightly bigger. You’re talking less than 5% lower than the current largest sprocket. It’s not like a ‘normal’ expander which are up to 17% extra.

Personally I can’t see that it’ll open XX1 to many more people, not in the same way as 10 speed set ups.

I think it’s a good idea, the bigger the range of sequential gears without multiple chain rings the better. Shimano’s electronic shifting where the front/rear ratio is handled by computer would also do it for me but is even further out of my price bracket.

thing is, how much chain would you need to get around that thing, and then what size cage on the mech to take up the slack when you want the smallest sprocket ??? I wouldn’t put it on my bike, I’d rather put some effort into pedaling up hill.

I quite like the idea that someone mentioned in another thread of running 1×10 with a normal cassette and a NW ring, and having a granny ring fitted that you can manually drop the chain onto if you need an extra low gear. Cheaper and easier than a large cassette.

@keva, while I’m not sold on the idea of continuing to go bigger and bigger at the back, that argument doesn’t hold up on *this* product, if you read the article you’ll see the answers to both your questions are ‘the same amount of chain as you were running before’ and ‘the same mech as you were running before’

I quite like the idea that someone mentioned in another thread of running 1×10 with a normal cassette and a NW ring, and having a granny ring fitted that you can manually drop the chain onto if you need an extra low gear. Cheaper and easier than a large cassette.

I’ve got exactly that on a bike I use for bikepacking, 1×10 for normal, and then a ghost granny for hauling it laden up something long and steep (like Haytor)

If your chain and mech can handle the full range on your double or triple then it’s no different. If it can’t and you must avoid the big/big combination then I suggest you never let an incompetent **** have a go on your bike. Bitter experience from many years ago 🙂

thing is, how much chain would you need to get around that thing, and then what size cage on the mech to take up the slack when you want the smallest sprocket ??? I wouldn’t put it on my bike, I’d rather put some effort into pedaling up hill.

As amedias says, this isn’t a conventional expander. It’s a replacement sprocket for XX1 or X01 cassettes. So you need an X01, XX1, GX or X1 mech, which are only available in one length. Non issue.

Why on earth would you set up a system where you have to manually move the chain from chain ring to chain ring? A front mech will do that for you.

Honestly, front mechs are ok, they don’t bite and are not evil. If you need the range then use one even if your hipster friends will laugh at you.

Why on earth would you set up a system where you have to manually move the chain from chain ring to chain ring? A front mech will do that for you.

Honestly, front mechs are ok, they don’t bite and are not evil. If you need the range then use one even if your hipster friends will laugh at you.

Because some full-suss bikes have no room for a front mech, and if you’re using a NW ring you can’t use a front mech anyway. The ‘ghost’ granny is only there to be used as a last resort, so maybe only once or twice a ride.

I have no problem with a front mech as such, but my frame can’t run one, so this would be a solution if I don’t fit an extender cog on the back. Currently though I’m managing fine with 1×10 (36 front, 11-36 back)

Why on earth would you set up a system where you have to manually move the chain from chain ring to chain ring? A front mech will do that for you.

Honestly, front mechs are ok, they don’t bite and are not evil. If you need the range then use one even if your hipster friends will laugh at you.

Because you can’t use N/W chainrings, and therefore at far greater risk of losing the chain.

Why on earth would you set up a system where you have to manually move the chain from chain ring to chain ring? A front mech will do that for you.

because I have used it precisely twice (ever), and I don’t want the added weight and complexity of a shifter and mech for the other 99.999% of the time. It really is a proper emergency/bail out option for when I’m otherwise faced with a 40min+ walk with a 45lb+ bike

Having the granny there causes next to no additional weight, no shifter or mech or cable required, I’ve even thought about taking it off again but since the impact of leaving it there is almost zero it’s stayed, and I’ve been glad of it (twice)

Why are people getting so up tight about this product? It’s only a tiny bit bigger, but you’d think it was something like a 54T by the comments.

For me a single ring is far better because a double is noisy and the chain drops off the chainring. All the arguing about range of doubles doesn’t get away from that, so I cannot see why you wouldn’t want the choice of a larger range, or a narrow ratio depending on your requirements.

amedias. For similar reasons to you I ran a middle and a granny ring for about a year with a front mech fitted but no shifter. I set front mech set in the middle position by using a section of brake inner from the last frame cable guide stop to the pinch bolt and to change gear all I had to do was pull the front mech outwards a little releasing the cable from the slot and the lower limit screw would hold the mech in the granny gear position. The mech was there for chain retention more than anything. (this was pre-Narrow/wide days)

had exactly that setup* for a while too mtbel (before NW rings) in my student days when I bust a shifter and was too skint to replace it 🙂

* well almost, mine had a really cool ziptie loop on the cable so I could pull it out of the frame stop while riding as well, bodgetastic rudimentary shifter, worked fine too, for about 3 goes until the ziptie snapped, but zipties were cheaper than shifters!

I set front mech set in the middle position by using a section of brake inner from the last frame cable guide stop to the pinch bolt and to change gear all I had to do was pull the front mech outwards a little releasing the cable from the slot and the lower limit screw would hold the mech in the granny gear position.

Nice idea, wondered if that would work.

a broken shifter may well have been my inspiration too. 😳

Pssst wanna buy some magic beans?

@brakes – genuine laugh out loud moment there, cheers!

I was shocked to find my bike came with a 36t after previously only ever having a 28t or 32t on the back. I moved from 26″ triple to a 29″ double setup and found that this was the norm.

I know riding up hills is unfashionable however there has to come a point where maintaing sufficient forward momentum becomes impossible as the cadence required to do so is stupidly high.

It isn’t about hill climbing gears, it’s about range. What is the biggest and smallest gear you need, does the set up cover that once you’ve chosen a chainring? If 11-34 has you covered then you don’t need one of these.

I was shocked to find my bike came with a 36t after previously only ever having a 28t or 32t on the back. I moved from 26″ triple to a 29″ double setup and found that this was the norm.

10 speed cassettes introduced 36s as the norm, just as 9 speed introduced 34s. If you want to run 26/36/48 with an 11-28 cassette like off of the 90s then do, no one’s stopping you!

Not about climbing? Where else would you use a 44t gear?

44 isn’t that big…in the olden days we used to run 48s…on 26″ wheels…it’ll be fine.

I quite like the idea that someone mentioned in another thread of running 1×10 with a normal cassette and a NW ring, and having a granny ring fitted that you can manually drop the chain onto if you need an extra low gear. Cheaper and easier than a large cassette.

Raced EWS last year with a guy using this method for the climbs to the start of the stages, you needed a big range as some of the downhills were pretty quick.

Nice simple idea.

Whats needed is some method of fixing the cassette to the bottom bracket and the crank to the rear hub. that would really solve the problem of image and lack of climbing prowess; )

I run a ‘cheater’ granny on my 1*10 hard tail too. It’s specifically there for big days when my legs have blown and I just need to sit and winch.

I originally did this for the same reasons on my single speed where I used a rohloff tensioner to take up the slack, and I’ve carried it though. In two years of single speeding I used it twice but was extremely glad it was there when I needed it.

I’ve been running my current hardtail since September, and used it once.

For those saying ‘why not just fit a front mech’, it’s not about having a gear that’s easily accessible at all times, it about having the gear equivalent of a survival blanket for those times when nothing but the easiest gear will do because you’re exhausted, wet, cold and have the bonk but just need to keep going.

44 isn’t that big…in the olden days we used to run 48s…on 26″ wheels…it’ll be fine.

Not on the back, unless I’m missing some kerazy invention!

This thread reminds me of the early threads about uppydowny posts when the first came out.

Some clearly love the new fangled invention, some hate it, some slag it off and say you don’t need it and some just don’t have a clue.

Probably would have had the same threads about forks and discs if there had been a forum back then.

it’s not really though is it?
it’s equivalent to someone bringing out a 15″ dropper post.

Great shot of the XX1 cassette shows why is so expensive look at the CNC work going into that!