Single ring up front…is it for me?

I’ve just started to look into running a single ring up front.

I never use the big ring but I do use the granny when things get steep.

I ride a rock lobster with a truvativ stylo chainset and a sram pg990 cassette (not sure if its 11-32 or 34)

My only worry is losing the granny.

Believe I’ll need a bash ring & jumpstop too?

Anything else to consider?

Believe I’ll need a bash ring & jumpstop too?

There are some who would argue running a tighter chain with an unramped chainring up front and a shorter cage rear mech is all you will need.

I can understand losing the big ring if you never use it but why the granny? Or is it just a fashion thing?

It depends where you ride but you’ll probably hate it.

Have you tried just not changing out of your middle ring for a few rides and see how you get on?

I run a single ring with just a DMR chainguide and it never falls off. I’ve never had a bash guard, I don’t think they’re necessary. You’ll have more ground clearance anyway without the big ring

like the idea of losing a few things off the bike, weight but I do use the granny occasionally though (I’m trying not too mind)!

chamley – that’s ridiculas (plus it would be free…I have cash burning holes)! 😆

good point – I’ll try it!

I’m thinking about doing this. Especially after racing yesterday and not moving from the middle ring. I’m tempted by Hope’s soon to be launched cassette system to give a wider range on the back.

There are some who would argue running a tighter chain with an unramped chainring up front and a shorter cage rear mech is all you will need.

They’d be wrong on all counts, unless they didn’t ever ride over any kind of bump.

If you go 1×9 you’ll have to get stronger and improve your climbing technique. Climbing will be more of a grind and technical climbs require more pedal technique and body English; it’s requires a change in style and technique. At the other end of the gears, you may sometimes find yourself topping out.

I’d recommend a complete guide with top and bottom retention, something like a Gamut or e13 LG.

My only worry is losing the granny.

then why single ring?

HTTP404 – Member

There are some who would argue running a tighter chain with an unramped chainring up front and a shorter cage rear mech is all you will need.

There are, but then there are some that would argue that Kris Kristofferson is a giant reptile from space. The real downer is that once it’s off, it’s off- with a fully geared bike you can pedal it back on but not with a single ringer.

My only worry is losing the granny.

Considering that this is the only drawback, that’s not ideal 🙂

That’s good advice about just trying it by not shifting. If you must, you can adjust the mech to prevent you from using the granny, to remove the temptation. I like my 1×9 bike but I wouldn’t have them all that way, the loss of versatility and usability is huge and I just couldn’t do some of the rides I’ve done that way. The week in france would have been an exercise in quitting rides halfway through especially.

I’ve been running 1×9 for the past 6 months.

It was a bit of an experement to be honest and living down south felt i could live without it most of the time. Which has been true to a large extent.

I’ve managed to get up climbs i never thought i could without a granny ring but its a real grind sometimes and me knees have really felt it.

As a result I’m going to be running 2×10 fairly soon but now know there are alot of hills i can climb in a higher gear than i thought i could so overall its been worth while as i can now climb faster than i used to most of the time.

As said above you won’t need a bash ring just a MRP 1x or the E13 version.

I like 1×9,I used to run it years and years ago on a training bike but once I sold that never used it again till now.

I think so many different aspects come into whether it will suit you.
Pedaling style, do you like to spin up the hills or do you like to grind or hit every hill hard and fast?(…or don’t mind walking!)

Where you ride, in the alps I would imagine it might be nice to have a granny gear, somewhere flat a big ring would be good.

Type of bike, yours seems ideal to me, but a bigger bike might be hard work.

But i would say the biggest factor is fitness, I am climbing things using a 33-34 that I never have cleared on a 22-34, no straining or having to ride out of the saddle, same climbing style as before, mainly in the saddle spinning. This has nothing to do with gear choice more the fact I have got fitter. When I was wondering if to go down to one ring, I looked at the gear charts and realized that I could still have a very similar easy gear to the one I had on my first proper MTB, I realized just how lazy we have become!

Although I don’t think there is anything wrong with running a granny ring at all either.

I had just this dilemma but decided to keep the granny , changed the middle ring for a 36T and got a bash and Blackspire stinger to keep the chain on.

I’m too heavy and unfit to rely on just the middle ring!

You’ll lose 3 ratios. Unless you’re cycling up mountains, you currently use them on ~5% of the hills. Either stand up and mash, or get off and push for those hills. Either way, you won’t be much slower.

i’m considering 1 x 10.

will continue to experiment with the middle ring only for the next couple of weeks before going the full hog…

I’ve just gone 1×10 36 front and 11 36 block. STILL waiting for shifter to turn up but anything I cant grind up in a 1:1 ratio, Im happy to hop off and push up. It’s on my butch full bouncer so It’s no race bike up hill any way. One thing that is worth it’s weight in sweat is how quiet it runs. No more chain rattling of the front mech. Bliss.

Just gone 1×9. 34t up front. Only one ride so far, but love how quiet it is. Wait to see how I fair on some of the tougher local climbs. Couple of mates run this setup locally and apparently first couple of weeks were just pain, but much easier since and wouldn’t run it any other way.

1×9 on my phat bike here. 34 front with an 11-32 cassette. I’ve been running it for a couple of months after about 2 years of SSing.

I agree, fitness is the single biggest issue as to how well you will tolerate the reduction of gears.

Since my Phat FS is meant to be the versatile all-rounder, I’ve already identified that a ‘spinnier’ gear is required for big days in the hills, although locally its fine.

That said, It might end up with 2×10 in the longer run.

I wouldn’t do it for MTB, lose the weight somewhere else. If you’ve seen my Rock Lobster 1X9 on the other thread, it was built that way last summer as a light canal towpath commuter, so I didn’t need the granny ring on a flat towpath. Also, the chain kept falling off unless I kept pedalling, which suited me, I was trying to get fit so forced to keep constantly pedalling was good. However, I’ve since changed it back to a normal setup. You can take the big ring off if you don’t use it, I’ve done that, but losing the granny was too limiting for anything other than the canal. It will all depend on your local trails tho, I live nr the Yorks Dales and it’s very hilly. If you’ve got money to burn, there are some stan’s wheels @1410gms for £329 which might lose you the weight difference of shifter, front mech and granny ring, depends what wheels you already run.

1×9 (Or 1 x anything) is for people with no mechanical sympathy, and downhillers.

Oh no wait, hang on.

thats just people with no mechanical sympathy then.

you chainline will hate you for it.

Olly – Member

thats just people with no mechanical sympathy then.

I’ve had people say that… But most people use the gears at either end of the middle ring, this is of course exactly the same.

for people with no mechanical sympathy

surely the wonder and joy of mountain biking is borne out of an innate desire to hoon around the hills being unsympathetic to your mechanicals?
1x9er here! currently with 2 broken bikes!!

1×9 is for people with no mechanical sympathy

Only somebody with no mechanical sympathy would say that.

cheers for the feedback guys 😉

I think by the time I’ve added bash guards etc I wont be losing much weight. I do still like the idea of simplify things a little. However think I’ll keep the other rings for now.

cheers

Why? From the middle ring position the chainline isn’t a problem.

I’ve just gone 1×10 with a 36t and thus far really like it. Previously found myself in the big ring 95% of the time, but at the bottom of the block, this is slightly more versatile.

I’m reasonably fit and the bike is light, so climbing’s no issue, did 4 hours around the Surrey Hills without using my bottom gear yesterday.

I would say if you’re concerned about the loss of granny ring it may not be the best idea! A 32 is pretty small on the road to, if you’re riding to/from the trails.

live right on the edge of the west pennines – bemont, rivington etc

Depends how strong you are. Sounds like you made up your mind while I was typing anyway!

Its great. Since getting my Blur 4X over two years ago I’ve been running a 2×9 setup with a bashguard but about a year ago starting running a ghetto (front mech and ramped ring) 1×9 setup on my Summer Season. And loved it (despite loosing the chain multiple times per ride).

Over Christmas I 1×9’d the Blur too and haven’t looked back. My bikes are setup for where I do the majority of my riding and theres nothing on my usual trails that warrant a granny (nothing I’d want to ride up anyway). My rides are usually consist of the easiest method of gaining height followed by the most technical and fun ways of losing it so 1×9 is great. Don’t think it really lost much weight in reality (front mech, shifter, cable, granny, 11-28 cassette vs MRP MiniG2 and the addition of a 11-34 cassette). For fun though, its awesome. And no chance of a chain jumping off now either.

BTW, Superstar do their own version of the MRP 1X and e13 devices for half the price. Just fitted one to my “not-ghetto-1×9-anymore” Summer Season but waiting for an unramped ring to turn up to test it.