I’ve got an old, but rather nice, 26″ bike that has an XT 3×10 groupset on it. It’s got to the point of needing too many things replaced and I’m just going to bite the bullet and get a new groupset instead. What are my 1x or 2x options? Rear hub is a Hope Evo 2 with shimano 8/9/10-speed cassette barrel/freehub/whatever it’s called.

Can I still get 1×10 stuff? Can I go 1×11 without needing to change the rear hub?

Yes, you can get 11sp without changing the hub. You can also get nice 1x NW rings to go on your cranks (almost certainly).

Given how cheap 11sp SLX or XT is these days, I cannot see a reason to keep 10sp going if you are going to upgrade. 11sp XT M8000 in particular is lovely, it has a really nice solid click to the shifter in both directions – it’s a revelation coming from older kit.

If you are on 26 you will need a larger front ring to compensate for this depending on your riding style and climbing ability. So consider a 34T front ring. You *may* find this doesn’t fit, but it should. See how close your current middle ring is to the chainstay. You can get spacers to adjust chainline.

Ta.

So for a 1×11 shopping list I need:
cassette
deraileur
shifter
32T or 34T front ring
spacers
cable & outer

Is that about right?

Following a thread about this a while back, I have been looking into this for my 2010 Stumpjumper FSR, which still has 3×9.

Someone recommended an upgrade kit & just sticking a narrow-wide chainring on the existing crank.

SLX 1×11 can be had for a decent price:

https://www.bike-components.de/en/Shimano/SLX-1×11-speed-Upgrade-Kit-p65572/

molgrips

You *may* find this doesn’t fit, but it should. See how close your current middle ring is to the chainstay. You can get spacers to adjust chainline.

Ooooh, I hadn’t considered this. Do you mean a spacer to push the chainring over on the cranks, or like a BB spacer?
I’ve got a press-fit BB92 bottom bracket & not sure how a spacer would work with that.

Marvelous. Thanks for the info.

I’ve got a press-fit BB92 bottom bracket & not sure how a spacer would work with that.

You can stick spacers (washers) directly on the chainring/bolt… and you can also look at both the middle and outer mounts on the 3x….

Also given you can now go dinner plate large you can just go for a bailout 1st that you only use for bailout…. so though the chainline might not be perfect in 1st you barely use it. (In other words it might not be super smooth but 95% of the time you are using the other 10 gears…

It might work really well….. just sayin, even if its not perfect its mostly fine as well.

I switched from a 2×10 to a 1×11 on my Scott Spark 26″.

I used:
XT M8000 11 Speed Trigger Shifter 
XT M8000 Shadow+ 11 Speed rear derailleur
Sunrace MX8 11 Speed 11-46t Cassette 
Deore XT M785 26-38 180mm
SRAM PC1170 11 Speed Chain

I had to add some spacers to the 2×10 crank tabs to get a decent chainline, 5mm from memory, and I think I had to use longer bolts too, but it works like a dream. Really quiet and has been super reliable (once I had sorted the bent derailleur hanger which made setting up the shifting impossible on 11 speed).

Piccy here hopefully:

View post on imgur.com

This was quite useful.

Good luck.

Ooooh, I hadn’t considered this. Do you mean a spacer to push the chainring over on the cranks, or like a BB spacer?

Well, either. You can get BB spacers but that also changes chain line. However, chainring spacers avoid this issue by moving the chain ring inboard for better chain line in the lower gears (where all your torque goes typically). Or possibly outboard for larger rings depending on your cranks I suppose.

So for a 1×11 shopping list I need:
cassette
deraileur
shifter
32T or 34T front ring
spacers
cable & outer

I did my daughter’s bike for £120 with SLX, but I re-used the cranks because they had a plastic chain guide on that prevents the chain coming off the stamped steel ring. A NW ring is the best solution for keeping the chain on, rather than a chain guide.

You might get a cable in the box with the shifter – I did.

If you want to do it on a budget and reuse your shifter and mech then you can use a deore 10 speed cassette 11-40 that are going for about £33 new. If you are running 3x then you’ve probably got a long cage so it should work.

Then just buy a nw chain ring and chain. Probably around £60 in total depending on the chainring you buy.

I’ve got 10 speed (40t) and 11 speed (44t) mtbs and I don’t really notice the difference like I do on the road bike.

Thanks all. Gone for the 1×11 XT upgrade kit from bike-discount.de, reusing cranks, 34T oval chainring and 11-46 cassette. Comes in around £250 after shipping which isn’t all that bad considering I was seeing stuff at nearly double that when I first started looking.

Chainring will go straight on the middle position no need for spacers, older frames seem to have more clearance for chainring in my experience, you forgot 11sp chain from original list, hope you ordered one.

I’ve just put an old 11spd drive train on my fun winter bike. A 1996 Cannondale M200se. No problems.