I’m a complete lightweight, and have always been a “spinner” and not a “slogger”, but even i am managing fine with 1×10 using 32 front, 42 rear. It’s only a gnats whatsit off the 24/36 i had before (when i was 2×10) and so far, the only time i’m going fast enough to “spin out” is downhill on road, when frankly, i enjoy not pedaling for a bit 😉

If i were doing multi-day adventuring with a heavily loaded bike/pack, somewhere hilly like scotlandshire, i’d probably put my 2×10 back on, but other than that, i’m enjoying, and staying 1by 😉

Binners’ graph looks more like 10% not 25%.

You sure? You’re welcome to come and try riding up it on a single speed? Then when you’ve got to the top, you can tell me its only a 10%.

One weekend in October, people from all over the country come to do this….

You should come and give it a go 😉

Binners CBA checking now but my current setup is 9spd 22/32×11-32 and using sheldons gear calculator pretty sure I figured switching to a 10speed 32×11-42 just lost me the lowest gear. If you’re running an 11-36 cassette with a double/triple you may lose more than one gear.

How often do you ride? I was working on a theory that people get used to their local trails and after a few weeks could probably adjust to 1×10/11 setup for their local riding but struggle with steeper stuff. So people who live in the flatlands would struggle when they go somewhere hilly, lakes locals would only struggle if they went to the alps and alps riders would be demigods 🙂
Just an idea and based on regular rather than occasional riders, thought you were a regular commuter, maybe it doesn’t work like that.

Soz but 900 horizontal m divided by 90 vertical is … 10.

Anyway, no ta to SS but 1×10 will be fine.

Rake Hill?

Length: 875 metres
Height Gain: 98 metres
Average Gradient: 11%
Max Gradient: 22%

Yeah, not impressed with the 25% *road* excuse to be honest.. 😉

I miss the top gears more than the bottom of the road, but it takes a bit of mental adjusting to not to race along and chill out.

How often do you ride? I was working on a theory that people get used to their local trails and after a few weeks could probably adjust to 1×10/11 setup for their local riding but struggle with steeper stuff

Donk – I reckon that might have been the case 20 years ago. Oh that it still was. 😥

Now I’m just fat and unfit, no matter how often I ride (I do ride a lot – 30-odd miles today, by the time I’m home). My problem is that its that kind of hilly all around me, so I just thought I’d struggle with the 1×10. Even with the ratios as described. Its alright saying I could get up that with a 1×10. But what about the one after that? And the one after that? And….

Edit: And to those Pedantic bastards quoting the gradients figures. My point is this. Its psychological as much as anything. You go and ride 20-30 miles, up some big hills, get to the bottom of your road, then look up that ****er. Believe me, that would be when you’re asking ‘would a granny ring be a good or bad thing in this circumstance?” I reckon I could guess your answer 😉

I don’t just ride up the Rake every once in a while. As well as stuff like Rooley Moore Road, I do it all the time. And I’m just being honest and saying I reckon 1×10 would lead to my premature death with a massive coronary!

The first couple of rides, your left thumb will occasionally wave around where the front shifter used to be, then you’ll push your rear shifter again, just to be sure you don’t have a gear left, then you just get on with it and it’s fine. After the first couple of rides you don’t ever notice other than you are slightly quicker up hills than you were. It never actually gets to be a problem. Whether the advantages are enough that you’d prefer it overall, only you can tell, and even then, only after trying it for a bit.

BTW, on my 1by setup i still have a “granny ring”. It just happens to be large and fitted at the back, rather than small and fitted at the front……. 😉

I may be pedantic (if that’s what you call being able to do arithmetic), but it’s not me whingeing about being too fat and lazy to ride up hills in challenging gears in an effort to not be, err, fat and lazy :smilie:

Edit: And to those Pedantic bastards quoting the gradients figures.

hi! 😀

My point is this. Its psychological as much as anything. You go and ride 20-30 miles, up some big hills, get to the bottom of your road, then look up that ****er. Believe me, that would be when you’re asking ‘would a granny ring be a good or bad thing in this circumstance?” I reckon I could guess your answer

My answer would be “right then, I’ll ‘ave you this time Hilly boy!” I flippin hate having to get off and push and love a good climb 🙂

That’s it in a nutshell though, it is psychological, but I bet you could do it if you were in the right frame of mind!

I went 1×10 because I’m a tart and thought it would look nice. With a weekend in Wales looming, including riding Snowdon, I’m beginning to think I’ll regret that decision.

I have 11-36 on the back and just went from 34T to 30T on the front in the vain hope it might help. All this talk of 42T on the rear isn’t helping 🙂

Genuine question here: where do you lot who run single rings tend to ride? What are the gradients like?

No idea what the gradients are but my typical locations are Quantocks, Mendips, Bristol, Dartmoor, Plym/Cornwall. That’s with a 34t x 11-32t. Also went to Afan for a weekend not too long ago and didn’t feel undergeared.

The only issues I find with steep gearing & steep gradient combo is keeping traction which means I have a minimum speed to maintain otherwise i’ll wash-out on a pedal-mash. That, and blowing up somewhere near the top of Weacombe hill.

Makes sense coming from SS.

I have a SS road/cross type thing which takes gears. Commutes more than it does anything else. I stayed SS 48/16 for a while, then put a cassette on the back for a Guildford – Brighton, Downs link/SDW ride. Moved house to the top of a hill shortly after and kept the gears on. SS would have been doable, but sometimes you want to twiddle after a long day at work/feeling ill/ carrying a load of shopping.

Just gone 10 speed so I can get a clutch mech and ditch the not-always-that-secure Paul’s chainkeeper.

I’ll stick knobblies and a smaller chainring on every now and then for longer off-road rides (hilly 100 miler coming up), but I like having less faff, so I probably won’t get a double unless I go loaded touring.

Also went to Afan for a weekend not too long ago and didn’t feel undergeared.

Afan isn’t that bad at all though, Whites Level/Wall is doable in the big ring quite easily (apart from one 20m stretch that is a pig in the big ring but still doable).

I reckon there’s some truth to it being what you’re used to, if you ride in a hilly place you get used to it, stay on the flats or do mostly trail centre climbs (decent surfaces and overall not that steep or long) and you’ll struggle when you’re on natural and steeper trails.

You would be surprised what you can do if you except a little more pain.

Not so long ago I fitted a mucky nuts to my chainstays to shield the front mech.
Out on a local ride started up a hill dropped into the granny to here horrendous noise from chain rubbing the muckynuts.
Went back up to the 36 fully expecting to not make it as had never tried to get up that hill out of the granny, but suprisingly did and did the rest of the ride without the granny.

There was nothing mega steep or long but I would normally use the granny often when I discovered I did not have to.

So what it boils down too is the fact that you’re all clearly mental, and have recently developed a new found masochism? 😀

Anyone considered the long term consequences that pushing big gears will have on their knees, your muscles will adapt but will your cartilage?

So what it boils down too is the fact that you’re all clearly mental, and have recently developed a new found masochism?

Mental maybe, but I’ve always been this way it’s not a recent thing! Some of us were running 1×8 and 1×9 before it was a ‘thing’, it’s actually a lot easier now with bigger cassettes.

I think you’d be surprised by what you could adapt/cope with, it’s just too easy to bail out to the granny gear if you have the option.

Fashion.

I think 1x set ups look crap. Small chainring at the front just looks odd.

Anyone considered the long term consequences that pushing big gears will have on their knees, your muscles will adapt but will your cartilage?

You could well be setting yourselves up for premature onset of osteoarthritis.

Oops sorry, double post.

Source? SSers would presumably be at much bigger risk so you’re mentioning that to them, I assume?

Besides, most of use are losing top gears that we don’t use rather than easier ones.

So what it boils down too is the fact that you’re all clearly mental, and have recently developed a new found masochism?

I’ve been running 1×8 for ~8years. Before that, 2×7 and I only used the granny ring for doing flatland/trialsy stuff.

One weekend in October, people from all over the country come to do this….

To ride their bikes and smile? And he’s not even on a fatbike!!

Source? SSers would presumably be at much bigger risk so you’re mentioning that to them, I assume?

Besides, most of use are losing top gears that we don’t use rather than easier ones.

Not got one it was just a thought.

I would presume the more pressure you put on your joints the more wear they will see, could be wrong I’m not a doctor or anything.

Yes presumably ss would be more at risk, I thought I’d ask on this thread as I have no interest in ss threads, sorry if you thought I’d singled 1*10 out.

Isn’t there a doctor in the house?

So what it boils down too is the fact that you’re all clearly mental, and have recently developed a new found masochism?

Yes. And that I’m inherently lazy but also impatient – so going without the lowest gears stops me from getting too unfit due to lazily twiddling up climbs and also gets me to the top quicker so I can fit more descents into a ride.

It can be somewhat challenging. If I lived somewhere with proper mountains and/or sometimes thought “bugger, I’m going to have a heart attack if I don’t change gear” I’d probably have a granny ring.

🙂

I’m starting to suspect that SRAM developed XX1 because their front mechs are a bit shit.

There is only a psychological component in all of this if you are weak minded. Otherwise it’s just pedaling harder, or pedaling easier.

Afan isn’t that bad at all though, Whites Level/Wall is doable in the big ring quite easily (apart from one 20m stretch that is a pig in the big ring but still doable).

I put that in as that’s probably the longest hills I do. Quantocks are probably the hardest for me despite being considerably shorter though Dartmoor on a bad day can be worse on the flats.

Any of you guys ride in the lakes with x1 ? My 9sp double and bash drivetrain (36/22f, 11/34r) is on it’s last legs and the lot needs replacing so seriously considering going x1 up front with 11/42 out back on my nomad. Just wondered if it’d be a step to far for me. All the trail centres I’ve been to (Gisburn, whinlatter, Glentress )I’ve never felt the need to use my granny ring but I certainly use it going over the passes in Cumbria.

It’s not rocket science is it – work out the lowest gear you use/need on your 2x or 3x set up and see whether a 1x would allow for that. If not then stick with 2x or 3x

Nemesis +1

Any of you guys ride in the lakes with x1 ? My 9sp double and bash drivetrain (36/22f, 11/34r) is on it’s last legs and the lot needs replacing so seriously considering going x1 up front with 11/42 out back on my nomad. Just wondered if it’d be a step to far for me. All the trail centres I’ve been to (Gisburn, whinlatter, Glentress )I’ve never felt the need to use my granny ring but I certainly use it going over the passes in Cumbria.

But trail centres are ‘designed’ to be climbable by the majority of folk that go there, whereas the natural stuff isn’t.

I’m in the Scottish Borders and could easily run a 1×9/10/11 setup if I just rode the trail centres and accepted that I’d be pushing more on the natural routes – but if I wanted to walk more…

1:10 / 1:11 isnt for me I like my granny gears to much and my big gears. If it works for you great, but judging by the number of people I see pushing up trail centre climbs ( new cwmcarn trail comes to mind ) I reckon some people are buying into it because of fashion rather than something that works better.

It’s not just a matter of gears though. I run a double (+bash) on my Five with 24/32 and 11-36 out back. I like the fact that I can change the way the suspension behaves by shifting the front. I can have the same gear with the suspension fully active or almost locked out and sometimes I like the way it digs in when on the granny.

I have 1×10, 11-36. Nothing to do with “fashion”. Riding in the granny is so slow it’s almost pointless and you don’t need the “big” ring. 1x just makes sense.

“Genuine question here: where do you lot who run single rings tend to ride? What are the gradients like?”

Im using a 1×10 for guiding in the Spanish mountains. Max gradient is about 15% but mostly less than 7%. Daily gains in the region of 1,000m to 1,500m.

Chain/ring/block wear. I ran one for 2 years, using 2 chains on rotation (KMC and Shimano back to back test ;0)). The rivets were not that worn really, just beyond “replace the lot”. Which I did when one of the chains finally broke. But Id say thats a pretty good lifespan given that I am riding about 150km per week on it and grinding up to the top of mountains..

Reasons for using. One less thing to wear out/maintain. Dont need the granny ring, the ratios I have are good to go. I can run a short cage mech and a really closed in top guide and bash ring, so I never ever drop the chain. Its a really neat setup for hammering around the rocky singletrack..

I might get a smaller chain ring one day (currently 32T) but im not going to break the bank for it. I reckon it would be good for technical climbing, Id be in the middle of the block so less tension on the mech when the suspension compresses.

IMO the rehash of gears is a great step forward for off road bikes.

Here’s another reason to ditch the big front ring perhaps…

Folks saying it’s a fashion thing, I remember when the fashion was for as many gears as possible.
Mountain bikes used to get billed higher with the more gears they had…

It’s not a fashion thing for me anyways. I use my one full suss bike for most of my riding including dh uplift days. No way I’d use a big ring for that and risk cutting my leg off…

bjj.andy.w I ride the lakes on 1×10. I don’t just ride trail centres (hate them to be honest). Get every where with a 36 front, although I have just bought a 32t because my rides are getting longer and I like to keep energy.. I don’t push and will always ride what everyone else rides.