Twin wide/narrow chainring setup

Has anyone tried a 2x wide narrow setup but without a front mech?

This would let you manually change the chain over (say from a 34T to 30T) depending whether the ride warranted it. I don’t mean half way round I just mean to give you options on the 1x range to suit the terrain.

This would still give you most of the weight benefits (no shifter, mech, cable etc) plus the chain retention of a wide/narrow?

I’ve found a 1x with a 32T too much of a compromise, it’s too high for some climbs but too low for some descents.

Just a thought.

Some people have fitted a normal granny ring for manual gear shifts on steep stuff. You could run something like a 26/28 granny with a 34-36 N/W.

I’ve got a 24t granny on the inside of my 34t narrow/wide ring (but on a three-ring crank)

it’s ace on really long draggy climbs (especially as my fitness isnt great at the minute) but can be a pain to have to stop and swap

Wow – what progress! Moving to an amazing new system where you have to manually lift your chain from 1 ring to another…

andylc – Member
Wow – what progress! Moving to an amazing new system where you have to manually lift your chain from 1 ring to another…

I know, I know, it does sound a bit backwards but I wasn’t happy with the 2x I had before either.

1x does simplify things to a degree but there’s something of ‘the Emperor’s new clothes’ about it. It really is no substitute for the range you get with 2x yet that isn’t ideal either.

I just figured being able to setup for a blast around the woods and then, within seconds, switch it to something I can ride Derbyshire on, yet still retain the benefits of 1x made some sense?

Wow – what progress! Moving to an amazing new system where you have to manually lift your chain from 1 ring to another…

That pretty much describes my front mech after a few winter months anyway.I can see the appeal of a bail out granny gear in somewhere like the Lakes where you’re occasionaly faced with a really tough climb*, but 90% of the time a 32 would be fine. And as you’d so rarely use it, an aluminium granny gear weighs 3/10th of naff all and would never wear out.

Back of Skiddaw loop (the 40ish mile one the the east of skiddaw), is all fine with a 11-36 cassette and 32 chainring, depite involving a lot of climbing! Apart from that climb up past the waterfall towards the end, which is definately long enough to warrent a 20 second stop to flick the chain accross!

Im not sure I’d see the point in 30t & 36t or similar. Part of the point of 1x or 2x is that the big ring isn’t there to lacerate you leg in an accident!

I bolted one on when we went to Spain for a week. I knew there was some monster climbs and I’m glad I put it on. Don’t need it back home. But was great out there. Especially for the 800m vertical climb on fireroad.

why not just run a 30t? I do now and with a 11-36 I’ve not noticed any lack of top end speed.

I’m spinning out on some off road descents with a 32T-10, a 30T would be even worse.

they must be really dull then. chill out and enjoy the view 😉

I have to say my 1X (10-42) with 30T front seems to work great, that having been a move from 3X up front. The only minor weakness would be when hooning it you end up pedalling a bit fast but the only time where this would be an issue would be on roads, and those are the boring bits anyway. Way compensated by the amazing chain retention (I’ve never lost the chain) and lovely quiet operation, no chain slap etc.

Also if you don’t plan to change mid-ride why not buy two front rings on a 1×11 and change them when you feel the need?

I run 34/24 with no front mech.

>90% of my rides don’t need the 24 at all but for a few grams it’s handy just in case. The added mud clearance and saved weight vs. Mech and shifters is therefore an ok balance.

If I ran 30t or 28th 1x I might not need it at all, which may be what I go for next but I will wear out what I have first.

andylc – Member
Also if you don’t plan to change mid-ride why not buy two front rings on a 1×11 and change them when you feel the need?

Because that doesn’t take seconds to do.

And when I said ‘not ‘mid-ride’ I meant as a matter of routine, as in ‘oh this bit is steep it’ll move the chain’.

More like, ‘crap, it’s a bit hilly round here and I’m struggling, I wish I had a lower set of gears’ type thing.

Having said all that, if I accept the 32T is okay for most situations and it’s a lower gear I want, even a 28T secondary ring would only give me one lower gear, which is hardly worth it. So I may have answered my own question.

It’s all been said before but have you tried 1X with 10-42 at the back? I find there is virtually no compromise there (or none that I can notice, and I’m not massively fit).

It’s a good idea purely as a bailout, I think- not something you’d plan on using, so really not comparable to a conventional 2x setup. If I had one, it’d open up running a higher main gear frinstance, since at the moment it’s chosen for allround, allday riding and I could sacrifice some of that if I had the plan b

When I went 1×10, I spent a bit of time perfecting the chain line for the single ring and it really benefits from being bang-on in line with the centre of cassette.
I reckon that introducing another chainring would mean having to make compromises on chainline for either one or both rings

It would be ok as a bail out gear though, since you’d only be wanting the big end of the cassette, so could leave the regular ring in the ideal position.

When I went 1×10, I spent a bit of time perfecting the chain line for the single ring and it really benefits from being bang-on in line with the centre of cassette.

^^ has a point

By their very nature n/w rings don’t have all the little chamfers and release points that shifter rings do and will click away in some combos if the chain is skewed too far sideways.

Just get a 34T, an 11-34 and man up

More like, ‘crap, it’s a bit hilly round here and I’m struggling, I wish I had a lower set of gears’ type thing

^ This is what I’ve got setup on one bike a 1×10 with my normal 34T NW ring which is fine for 99.99% of my riding, and I get all the benefits of the NW, no device, no mech, no shifter etc, but there’s also a 22T granny bolted on there for when I’m carrying all my camping gear on the bike and find myself facing a 20%+ climb on the Moors I hadn’t expected.

Or get a 45T expander!