Double or triple for mountain bike??? Help

Hi peoples
Bikes about done apart from drive so I’ve started looking into it. I am partly tempted to go with a Shimano xt m780 10speed triple but there is part of me that is interested in going to a double chain ring up front. The riding I do is tracks some offroad and road too. A big verity… Now looking at the Shimano xt m785 10 speed double there is options of 38.24t 38.26t 40.28t hows best to decide what Togo for?
Bit stuck with all this as its new to me.

Help!!!

Thanks
Tom

Is your bike a 26″, 27.5″ or 29″ ?

I have a xt double on both my 27.5 and 29 with a 11-36 cassette and 24/38 rings.

Both are fine for round here where it is reasonably hilly. The slightly lower gearing on the 27.5 helps as it is heavier.
The only downside is that I do run out of gears transitioning on the road if it’s flat with both, although it is less of a problem on the 29″.

If I were doing more road work and was fitter I would put a 40/28 on the 27.5″

I wouldn’t return to a triple now, although I do have a 26″ hardtail with a 3×9 transmission, I am going 2×10 when it wears out/ I can afford it

I have 2×10 on my 650b and iirc 2×9 on my 26er trance, I wouldn’t go back to a triple. Not run out of gears at any stage yet.

Hi sorry it’s a 26″

I wouldn’t even go with a double, 1×10 is where it’s at. A 32T chainring and an 11-40T cassette will see you up and down pretty much everything.

Double by default, 3x if you really really want those couple of extra gears on top and bottom (which mostly for me means, do you ride it on the road a lot) 1x if you think you can make it work, basically.

2 x 10, 11-36 cassette, 24/38, on my 29er works perfectly, even in hilly wales, and I’m not that fit!

XT shifts flawlessly, less fussy than a triple, cheap, good second hand stuff about now as everyone clammers for 1×11……

Hi guys I’m gonna go with 2X10 see if I like it. I’ll maybe consider 1x later 0. I’m not massively fit like.

Tom

Double for a good verity. Single is 100% fine too

I find i,m always in the wrong gear on a 2×10 changing to 1×11 myself tis the future!

I’m gonna try a double see how I get on. Any reviews on the shimano xt m675 or the m785? ?? 38.24t

Tom

I’m stuck in the 3 x 9 camp – I use the highest and lowest gears, so I know I’d miss them if they weren’t there

The riding I do is tracks some offroad and road too

I built my steel rigid 29er for this purpose. I kept the triple, because on the road it’s pretty useful.

I just don’t see the point of going to 2x on that bike. 1x wouldn’t give me enough legs for the downhill road stuff, probably.

On my long travel bouncy bike though I’d go 1x if I needed to blow some cash. The small chainring would help techy stuff, and I wouldn’t really need the gear range.

You really wouldn’t miss them. How fast are you going when buzzing along in 42-11? Must be 30mph or more…do you NEED to pedal down tarmac hills? I’ve not done the calcs but I’m sure a 32/42 is pretty close to 22/32.

1×10 or 11, it feels like the way mtbs are supposed to be.

Based on what you describe I would stick with a triple.

I’ve got a 26 running 3×9, and converted my old 26 hard tail from 3×8 to 2×10, but wasn’t that impressed. I ride to my local trails, so do 50/50 road and off road, and did miss the top end gears for the road sections.

I found that I was spinning out on the road descents, and that I could have done with the extra speed to get me up the following ascent. If I rode more off road I would reconsider the merits of 2×10 or 1×10, but for mixed use I prefer a triple. I’m not that fit either.

Like others mentioned I also found I was changing between the front rings quite a lot too, whereas with 1×10 or the middle ring of a triple this would not have been such an issue.

That’s just my experience though, is there any chance you can try some of your mates bikes with different setups to see which you prefer?

It’s not just about extremes. You can use a closer ratio block to get the same extremes. Closer ratios are nicer if you are looking to make progress on the road.

When did big Verity move to Togo?

I love my big ring for spanking down tarmac and made up paths.

I’m sorted cheers guys. I’m gonna stick with a triple its what I’m used to and to be honest I us all 3 rings especially on the road etc etc… “old skool rules”

Tom

When did big Verity move to Togo

Goddammit RD, that is the exact comment I was gonna make!

cheap triple xt chainset if 170mm is your flavour

http://welovemountains.com/shimano-deore-xt-10-speed-chainset-m780-170mm-42-32-24-black

That’s good price that like…. Are they a good company like?

only bought off them once, seem okay to me, they do charge £10 carriage & their website is awful but cheap is cheap – seem to be genuine stock clearance offers