My drive side xtr crank went pop yesterday, with the pedal stripping the thread. I’ve read about limited success with Helicoils, plus the rings and cassette/chain are pretty worn out so maybe an opportune time to move with the times and go 2 x 10/11?

Anyone done this and able to advise if anything can be reused? I.e. I suppose freewheel has to change 9 (Hub is a Hope Pro 2 Evo), little point trying to hack the front 3×9 shifter to be used as 2x*?

Thanks in advance

I had something similar last year and replaced some XT Octalink cranks with XT 11 speed. The rest of the 9 speed drivetrain was fairly new so I just did the crankset and left it at that. Seems to work fine, front 3x derailler works fine as 2x.

On another bike I replaced a knackered 9 speed setup with complete 11 speed XT. Hubs are compatible.

Or a chance to miss step in technological evolution and go 1x….😊

I did use my 2×11 as a 1x for a couple of rides because I couldn’t fit a dropper remote and LH shifter, but once I got that sorted out, it’s nice to have the range of 2x if your bike is designed for it. I’m running 26-36 up front and 11-42 out back. I wouldn’t want smaller than 36 up front. I don’t use the small ring much, but it’s nice to have when your legs are tired.

Shimano 10 / 11 speed MTB is the same as 9 speed, so will fit your hub. Also a lot of shifters have a little switch on the rear to change from 2x / 3x. I would be looking at moving to 1×10/11 though.

I’ve put 2×10 on my 575 – freehub took the 10spd cassette ok (it’s a Mavic freehub, so maybe different to Hope)… nothing else could be reused. New shifters (front shifter may be ok if it has the little 2/3 spd switch), chain, cass, chainrings. Reverb dropper remote fits fine with the front brake/rear shifter (I think that’s the side it’s on!)

I converted a 3×9 and a 2 x 10 to both 1×10 and haven’t looked back! might be some 1 x 10 bargains kicking around now 1×11/12 is all the rage?

Thanks.. Think I am too old school to give up a front mech completely.

This looks a pretty decent deal to go 2 x 11, only thing that wouldn’t fit is front mech and hopefully my current one would do.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-xt-m8000-2×11-drivetrain-groupset/rp-prod168219

Front mechs are ten-a-penny as so many people have discarding them, so if it doesn’t work..

As said above your hope will take 10 & 11 speed Shimano fine (I have both) if you go 1x then you want a narrow wide chain ring, your new cranks will dictate what sort of ring you get (direct mount/96/110 bcd) obviously direct mount is only 1x otherwise most cranks can do 1,2 or 3 rings just need different length bolts. and a clutch rear mech.

Unless you cover any distance on tarmac, where you need a bit of top end speed, just go straight to 1×11 with either a 32 tooth chainring and a 11-46 cassette, or if you really want a bit more range a 34 tooth chainring and a 11-50 cassette. Getting rid of the front derailleur is more a mental leap than anything else. If you look at the ratios using gear-calculator.com you’ll see that you don’t acctually lose a lot except the very top end.
If you need to buy a new chainset, cassette and chain anyway, now is the best time to make the leap and grab an 11 speed rear deraileur and shifter too.

The problem is the Yeti is my only bike these days and I do plan to start commuting on it where I’ll need a higher gear but I don’t want to loose the low gears either.

Will have a think on about 1×11. Thanks for all the responses.

Have someone fit a keensert in the crank, buy some new chainrings, 9 or ten speed chain and cassette and get on with riding.

Don’t waste your time and money changing freehub and so on in order to fit 11 or 12 speed on a bike you’ll commute on. 8, 9 or 10 speed systems are better suited for that.

As someone who can easily top out 36-11 I advocate 2xAnything.

Op – triple cranks will work with your old kit, doubles will as well but you need to set the shifter to work between 2 and 3 as opposed to 1 and 2, that’s all the magic button does. Triples are also future proof for fit and forget 1x if you decide to go that way but doubles are cheaper as they are frightfully unfashionable darling.

I wouldn’t want lower than 36-11 on a bike that spends much time on road. I spin out 32-11 easily on the flat. I find a 28-38 double up front with an 11-34 9 speed cassette pretty much perfect.

I did this recently. Go with M8000 XT because it’s cheap as chips and works superbly well. Miles better than old 9sp kit. I’d get the XT cranks that are now also cheap as chips, and don’t cheap out by re-using your old front mech. The new one will likely work far better.

If you’re planning to use it as a commuter, then 2x is the way forward. Having said that, I’d go for 2×11, then if you buy a dedicated commuter bike in the future, it’ll be much easier and cheaper to go 1x on the Yeti for off-road only riding.

I’d go 2×11 purely because that’s what M8000 comes in and it’s the best value.

Aye, can’t really argue with £240 for the lot on CRC, even if the cranks are only 170mm. I will take your advice and get the proper front mech too 🙂

Hmm, let’s say you spin out at 120rpm, 32/11 @ 120rpm is 47kmh. That’d put you top ten on Strava on just about any flat road segment if you were on a road bike.

Yes, but 120bpm isn’t very sustainable, also roads go downhill sometimes too. Often gradually downhill for a long time, so in my experience 32/11 isn’t enough to make good progress on road in some situations. I don’t care about it on my MTB, because the road sections are just about getting to and from trails, but on other bikes I do care.

Based on Strava, I seem to spin out at about 35 km/h with 36-11 and 27.5″ wheels on an MTB. Yes, I can spin a bit faster than that for short bursts, but I find a 32-11 just a bit too low for an MTB on road, 36-11 is tolerable. It would be much too low for a commuter bike.

@molgrips – I agree. The point is when people post that a ratio of x/y isn’t enough because they “spin out”, the question has to be for how long? I can spin out at 32/11 but only for about ten seconds then I have to ease off so it’s not a useful measure of whether the gearing is right.

On the other hand if someone is strong enough to sustain that sort of speed on the flat, remember the claims are for “flat” not rolling, for say five or ten minutes then they are certainly strong enough to get up climbs with something like a 32/42 ratio.

If you are spending significant periods of your riding in either bottom or top gear then you’ve got a badly geared bike. If you are only in those gears for short periods then you have probably got the right gearing “for you”. I use an 11-42T block (380% range) and it’s more than enough as I’m rarely using either the 11 or 42.

@hols2 – my commuter has 1x 42T front, 11-36 at the back. Possibly a bit high, 40T might be better for round here (Pennines).

On the other hand if someone is strong enough to sustain that sort of speed on the flat, remember the claims are for “flat” not rolling, for say five or ten minutes then they are certainly strong enough to get up climbs with something like a 32/42 ratio.

I don’t think that follows. You can be strong, big and fat which would allow you to push 32/11 on flat but struggle on climbs.

If you are spending significant periods of your riding in either bottom or top gear then you’ve got a badly geared bike.

Or you live somewhere steep. I ride gentle roads to get to the trails which then are mostly on the side of a steep big hill. Almost all the rides I can do locally include at least some 1:3 off road stuff. If I want to keep the intensity low for off-season training then I really need at least 46T and even then it’s not that easy.

And the gap between 37T and 46T is really annoying.

I do live somewhere steep!

Yes, looking at you Shimano, making a wide range cassette does not simply mean sticking a bigger cog on to an existing cassette!

I do live somewhere steep!

South Wales is not the tallest, but it is particularly steep. There are few long MTB climbs, mostly short steep ones – and often silly steep roads too. Going by your road gearing it’s either not as steep where you are or you are a whippet – or both.

Whippet!? No-one’s said anything that kind about my physique for forty years 😃 Thanks.

I’m just south of the Dales so we’ve plenty of 20% and 25% road and off-road climbs. The lane from our house is 25% but I almost never ride it as I’ve not warmed up in the 3 metres of flat before it starts. That gearing was for my commuter not my road bike which is standard 50/34 and 12-28T.