how many people have tried a 32 front with an 11-36 and found it to be adequate.

this is my plan (currently on 9spd) I figure I can SS up pretty much all my local stuff so 32×11-36 should be fine, will be keeping a full 2x9or10 setup on my lakes bike tho. 1×10 plus bailout granny seems a bit perverse to me, possibly pervy isn’t the right word but whilst I guess it’s functional-ish there’s definitely something not right about it (apart from the aforementioned winding up people on the internet, nowt wrong with that, it’s just not the setup for me 😉 )

42t version here Yetiman, it shifted between the gears fine once on the General Led but going on and off is it was a right pain. Maybe the 2 cog SRAM version is better

I’m not fit by any means (1325 out of 1880 on froggatt segment on strava on the road bike!) but have found that on my hardtail with either 1×9 32×11-34 or more recently 1×10 32×11-36 there is not much in the dark peak that can’t be got up. Usually if I end up walking its through it being a tech fest rather than not being able to turn the pedals. I do frequently find that I could do with a higher gear than 32×11 though so if a bigger cog at the back would allow a 36 up front I can see the advantage of that.
However on the wallowy heavy FS I’m keeping 2×9.
If I was going to the lakes or Scotland I would want a granny but would probably take the FS anyway. Both 26ers if that makes any difference.
Northwind’s idea makes a lot of sense to me on the right bike and on the right sort of ride, in fact that’s how I ride my FS in the lakes or on bigger all day rides in the dark peak. Granny only really used for winching up long steep slog type climbs, short climbs or flattish sections all in the 36 ring up front.
The advantages would seem to be losing the weight of front mech and shifter, and the quieter running with the clutch mech. That’s not enough to justify changing my set up but would probably go for it if speccing a bike from scratch

Usually if I end up walking its through it being a tech fest rather than not being able to turn the pedals.

double edged sword innit? no low gears mean you attack the climbs and you’ve got more chance of cleaning technical stuff, OTOH if you’re flagging or it’s a big hill and you end up slowly grinding a big gear you’ve got more chance of losing traction than if you keep the rpm high plus (and it’s a big one) you’re also gonna blow up a lot sooner if you attack everything instead of sitting back and twiddling smaller gears.

But as njee is keen to point out your mileage will vary, fitness, terrain, conditions, technique, personal preference etc etc

A few of my mates went 1×10 and declared it perfect. Then we went to kinlochleven and spent half the day grinding up the road past the mamore lodge, and they all declared it a crime against humanity (it’s long, rough, exposed and not steep- but just ever so fractionally too steep for most folks to comfortably push 32×26). Somewhere out there is the hill that’ll break you, you just might not have ridden it yet.

Mind you, they were barely slower walking up it than riding, but we’re not hillwalkers after all.

well Im off to BPW this weekend for a non uplift day with my 11-36 and newly fitted 30T raceface narrow wide

I think I should just about to be able to survive

I tried 34t on the 70k rough ride loop this year and my legs werent up to it on a few of the big climbs, for local stuff, swinley etc 34t is fine but for the big hills i struggle

its all about your fitness level – if your fit then 1×9/10 is no problem at all, yes its a bit more grindy up steep stuff but its still do-able, ive done 100,000 metres of climbing this year on the MTB off road and ive very very rarely walked up anything, if you have the fitness it becomes second nature to have to push harder on the climbs

i wouldnt go back to 2x or 3x ever, not a chance!

Everyone always seems to raise issue with ability to climb things or fitness on 1×10. However, if you are fit enough to comfortably climb everything in 32T x 11-36T for example then chances are you don’t have hard enough gears for the flatter sections.

It is the range of these bigger cassettes that interests me more and I’d say 1×10 with a 11-36T cassette is going to be 90% right for most people but there are compromises at one end or the other of the range. 11 (or 10)-42T makes the range much more comparable to a double… and if there’s a way to do it without having to shell out for XX1 I’m all for it 😀

However, if you are fit enough to comfortably climb everything in 32T x 11-36T for example then chances are you don’t have hard enough gears for the flatter sections.

That depends on how fast you can spin. 80 rpm = 19 mph with 32:11. Who can ride a MTB at 19 mph on the flat (offroad!) for any length of time?

That depends on how fast you can spin. 80 rpm = 19 mph with 32:11. Who can ride a MTB at 19 mph on the flat (offroad!) for any length of time?

30×11= 16.8mph (80rpm), 18.9(90rpm) 21.0(100rpm)
32×11= 18.0mph (80rpm), 20.2(90rpm), 22.4(100rpm)

But trails go down too, often trails (even during some of the longer events) have to be linked by road sections, etc, etc. 20mph+ on a flat or slightly descending section isn’t too unexpected, especially if you are fit enough for 32×36 to be a comfortable climbing gear for example.

90% of the time 11-36 is a usable range but I wouldn’t complain about 11-42 for the extra 10% of the time- looking forward to seeing what Works come up with 😀

I’ve done the 1×10 with a WorksComponents thick-thin chainring & granny (no front shifter) for a little while now and it makes a lot of sense for me.

Previously ran 1×10 32 front & 11-36 rear. Was fine for short steep climbs but long climbs and big days out would knacker me out a fair bit more than 2×10.

Was going to Snowdon so chucked the granny back on, then never took it off. Don’t use the granny on local rides, but when I’m out in the Peak with long climbs I drop the chain at the bottom of the climb, then slip it back on at the top. Saves a fair bit of weight(shifter, cables, front mech), and have never dropped a chain (after some wierd teething problems with the thick-thin ring first ride out). So save weight, gain chain retention, and waste about 5 seconds changing chain by hand which I probably do 5 or 6 times a month.

Still tempted by one of those 42t sprockets though and would have one by now if a German guy would reply to me!

Hi a question to D0NK and anyone still using good old 9 speed!
the 12-36 9 speed cassette, is that the deore one? it looks heavy, is it?
Have you tried a 12 -36 with a 30 or 28 toth middle ring? Thinking 1 x 9 here.

Yeah, it’s pretty heavy. I was running it with a 32T ring and it was fine, rode with it in mid Wales mostly. Now just using a 34T cassette because the 36 one got stuck on another wheel!

Trouble is that 12-36 is narrower range than 11-34. So unless you either fit an 11t and have a big jump, or really want the 36 (as opposed to just going down a chainring size), then the 11-34 makes more sense.

I plan to run my 29er 1 x 10 (it’s currently 2 x 9) as I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to do most local stuff on it.

When (if?) I get another susser in the near future it’ll be the bigger travel / big hills bike – plan is to run the 2 x 9 kit on that so I can actually get up the big hills.

NCB – yup, still running a 1×9. Currently 32 up front and a 12/36 cassette, but I’ve swapped out the 12 for an 11 tooth of another cassette. Ride mainly round the Peak and don’t feel the need for a smaller chainring, last night I did run out of steam trying to keep up with a mate who’s on 1×11

Can’t say I notice the weight or close ratio

Ran 32:11-36 in Finale this year – could have done with 34 or maybe even 36 on some of the faster pedally sections, so the wider cassette range would have made it viable to get up some of the transfers (day 2 opened with a 14km transfer, nearly all tarmac uphill).

Can definitely see the benefit to this, especially for hillier areas on big bikes.

Well on my custom 28t front set up and 34-11 cassette pottering along the flat at 15-17mph is fine above 20mph you spining like the single speed. Hills will be a test, though in theory only a few gears harder than my old 2×9 set up.
1×9 and no clutch mech will i die? Not lost the chain yet but battling random chain suck.

Sounds interesting. can get round most local stuff on 32/11 34 on full sus and ran 32 11/32 on hardtail. Thought dropping front chain ring size would have a similar effect to a massive 1st gear on the cassette but without the weight and cost. I have a spread sheet somewhere with table to give RPM (crank) against speed with all the gear ratios. Dropping chain ring size had a much greater change then adding a larger cassette.

Standard ratio on the granny is 22 x 34 = 1.2 closest to this on 1 x 9 would be 28 x 40 = 1.3
Could use the same idea as from the OP by adding a 40 tooth gear to a 9 speed cassette and remove one of the other gears.
top gear goes from 1 to 5.5 down to 1 to 4.8 though…. Spin out too easily?

bigdugsbaws

With vouchers and cashback you can get an X01 setup (minus the cranks) at crc for £450, that’s with a hope freehub!

Is this the CRC £50 off £500 voucher? Where can the cashback offers be found? Any better XX1/ X01 deals out there than CRC? It does look like a good deal!

Nope. And I looked hard!

Nope. And I looked hard!

30×12:36 on FS
32×12:36 on HT
Scotland, Wales & local seems adequate so far. I’d fit a granny if we are talking alpine but otherwise it seems unnecessary to carry round the extra weight & maintenance

I 1×10’d my Bandit last month and since then I’ve only managed local loops and it was fine. Did a big day out in N Wales on it yesterday and whilst I occasionally missed a bail out option I still rode pretty much everything I would have done when it was 2×9 and the odd occasion it beat me it was as quick to walk anyway. At a push I might consider going to a 30t upfront but it’d be an unusual ride to need it.

For me the simplicity and ease of use offset a lot too.

Will this work with an SLX medium cage clutch mech on 1X10 or will it need the long cage?

BikeRumor have done some testing and seem to like it.