To go 1 X or not ( gear ratio content )

To save me trawling through mega amounts of data I’m hopeful someone might know the answer . Currently bike has 38/24 front 11-36 out back . So if I went 11-42 Sunrace cassette should I get a 30T c/ring bearing in mind I very rarely use the 36 out back because I just spin out . Or should I just stick with what I’ve got ?Would wait until stuff wears out first .

Yes.

No , go 2 by 11

It depends. 😉

What’s the question?

Good old STW , original post needed editing then it started ! Should have known better

Divide one number by the other number. Hope that helps.

Thanks Timmys , scores on the doors
34 divided by 24 ( current set up) =1.4
As does 42 divided by 30
The other options 28T is 1.5 and 32T is 1.3
So 30T is the winner ?

Eagle with a 34 ring gives pretty much the same range. I’m swapping the same setup as you to this shortly.

I thought I’d posted on here but looks like I didn’t. Decide what gears you use the most now then go on sheldon brown’s gear ratio calculator and work out what cassette size vs chainring you would need to match them.

I’ve gone 1x 11 with a 10-42 cassette and a 30t chainring. I had 1 x 10 before which was 11-42 x 32t.

The 1×10 was fine as I matched the lowest gear to the 2×10 I had before which was 11-36 and then chainrings of 28t / 42t. I wanted to retain the low gear but wasn’t at all bothered about keeping the high end range. I very rarely ride on the road / fast enough firettavks to be pedalling still at the speed I’d be going by the time I run out of gears.

Went for 30t on the current bike as it’s a bigger / heavier / squishier bike than the one I had 1×10 on. As I’ve now got a 10t higher end cassette I didn’t lose much bs the 1×10.

42

Someone posted this in a similar thread – Very useful and visual gear calculator which will help you compare current and possible future setups

http://ritzelrechner.de

don’t let yourself get bullied in to it….

had 1×10 with Sunrace 11-40 with a 30t chainring on the girlfriend’s old bike. Worked fine with no issues. Doubt she missed the one extra gear.

Now has 1×11 with 32 upfront. Again. Nö issues.

Who wants to cane it along the tarmac and fireroads?

Me

Once existing is FUBAR, in your situation I’d replace with 30t front and the 11/42 Sunrace on the rear.

Mate has just got a Bronson and has gone 30, 10/42 from a 2x 10 set up. Rides all over the Peak and suits him. He reckons the 32 would be too much and the 28 too easy

It’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t suit to swap out the 30 for a 28 and you could sell the 30 on anyway

Who wants to cane it along the tarmac and fireroads?

More than you think.

Not exactly the gear range you requested but here’s one I prepared earlier.

Compares my old 2×10 (26/38 11-34) with 1×11 running 36t and an 11-42 Shimano cassette on a 650b bike. It’s pretty close on gear spread I think, close enough at top and bottom that a little more effort would get you the full range.

I went with a 32T chainring and a Sunrace 11-42T cassette. Climbing was fine but really missed the 40T up front for making progress. I refitted the triple (& 11-36 cassette) within a few weeks. I’m planning to stick with that now until I’m ready to get the Gx Eagle 10-50T (probably already fitted to my next bike).

God that all looks confusing.

I would put a 34 on the front with your 11 – 36 cassette and see how you get on.

Mine was 36 and something small at the front with and 11-36 cassette but I never used the granny ring so. binned it and put a 36nw chainring on. Thats fine for me in suffolk anywhere hillier get a smaller chainring 34 seems popular.

Just check front chainring clearance – I was looking at this and would’ve been fine with a 34 from a gearing POV frame will only take a 32.

Don’t get obsessed by ratios and all that nonsense. You’ll adapt.

The benefit of 1×11 is simplicity. One lever, one mech.

If it wasn’t good enough for the majority of riders, it wouldn’t be on brand most new bikes

What wheel size? Without knowing that (and where you generally ride) there’s not much point recommending particular setups.

If you are going towards a 1x system then on a 29er either 30T or 32T chainring, add two teeth for 650B and another two for 26″. Out back, any of the wide range cassettes will do, the Sunrace ones are fine. I don’t know about the really wide range cassettes but with a 1×10 setup I lose about 3 gear ratios when compared with my previous 3×9 setup, I’ve chosen gearing that loses one at the bottom end and two at the top.

On my 29er I started with 30T, struggled a bit to begin with, especially on some steeper hills. After a couple of months I’d got stronger and when I came to replace the chainring I went to 32T (actually it was because the shop didn’t have a 30T in stock and I needed a new one there and then).

Most of your riding should be using the middle of your gear range (regardless of whether it’s 1x, 2x or 3x). I’m very rarely in either the top or bottom gear, by rarely I mean a few minutes per month.

Should you? It’s just maths (ratios) then weight and expense.

You might find that going 1X is cheaper than replacing 2X chainrings. If you won’t miss the extra gear at the top end then there are few downsides (but there are some).

You might find that you have to replace the chain and chainring slightly more often to maintain chain retention. You might find you want to use a RAD cage or similar to improve shifting (particularly with a worn chain).

And you may ask yourself where is that large automobile? And you may tell yourself this is not my beautiful house!

Who wants to cane it along the tarmac and fireroads?

Going fast is fun and it gets you too the nice bits quicker.
🙂

Might give 1*11 a pop over the winter, some very cheap deals out there and it should be ok for the rigid pub/shopping/local winter trails bike.
Hub gear would be better though.

Most of your riding should be using the middle of your gear range (regardless of whether it’s 1x, 2x or 3x). I’m very rarely in either the top or bottom gear, by rarely I mean a few minutes per month

Maybe if you only ride at somewhere like Thetford… I can’t think I do any off road rides when I don’t spend a reasonable about of time at both ends of a 1×11 gear-range.

gear-calculator.com is the ‘easy to remember’ version of the previous link above!

This is setup to show your current gearing vs 1×10 11-42 on a 30t ring (wheel size may be wrong, but it’s wrong on both setups so fine for comparison!)

This shows that 30t will give bottom gear almost as low as current, but you lose a couple of gears off the top end. 32t is the middle ground, lose 1 gear off each end, 34t gets you closer to current top gear, but you lose a bit more at the bottom.

Given you don’t use the 24-36 often, 32t or 34t sound best options for you?

Whatever you decide, you’ll find yourself wishing for another chainring at some point, either bigger or smaller, IME.

For that reason, I wouldn’t bother.

BTDT. But, YMMV.

It’s quite funny that people need a website for gearing calculation now.
I’ve knocked up so many spreadsheets over the years to do this sort of thing for myself, to do comparisons between bikes, work out what I have Vs what I might change gearing to, etc.

STW used to be a hotbed of excel geekery, what’s happened to this place?

@simons_nickolai_uk – Most of my riding is natural stuff in the Dales, Lakes and Scotland, I think it’s over a year since I’ve been to a trail centre. I’ll do the monthly Strava climbing challenge and get to the target in a handful of rides – did it in two (MTB) rides this month. Let’s just say I’m not phased by hills.

Where the hell’s Thetford?

Most of my riding is natural stuff in the Dales, Lakes and Scotland, I think it’s over a year since I’ve been to a trail centre. I’ll do the monthly Strava climbing challenge and get to the target in a handful of rides – did it in two (MTB) rides this month. Let’s just say I’m not phased by hills.

Fair enough – you must have a very different riding style to me. I use the full range on 1×11 30/46 on the North Downs. In the Lakes I used the full range of a 636%+ Pinion gearbox

Where the hell’s Thetford?

Norfolk. The flatest trails I know in the UK – perfect singlespeed territory.

Unless I’m missing something why buy a Sunrace cassette ?

Current prices it seems like you can get a XT Cassette cheaper???

I just tried a 40T expander on my normal setup and stuck on a NW on my XT 11-36…. it could have been a 42 … but tried it for very little …. then waited until I was changing the chain and cassette and went for 11 speed…

Looking back 11 speed was a poor £££/performance…. possibly as I went 11-42 and never use the 42 so I lost a gear… as I’d taken off the 11 to try 1×10 I gained back the 11T but I could just have added a 16T and removed the 15/17 for about £8 ….. (which only buys a few links of 11 speed chain)

If it hadn’t suited me I could have just gone back to 2×10…. and not really lost much

Wow thanks all ! Plenty of food for thought .

I theoretically lost some gears …. except I don’t actually miss them.

You can do all sorts of gear ratio calc’s but in the end it’s how it suits you…
I found that I might sometimes wish I had a slightly faster top speed but I’m not racing .. doesn’t really worry me.. it’s a few seconds I might think “Oh if only I had” in hours of riding …