I am curious as to what setups people are running on their 1xN 29ers…
A 30 tooth seems a bit too big to me with a 11-36 or similar cassette, so if you want to go smaller than this the question is what cranks do you use?
Do you go with something like a Shimano double crank and just run a 64BCD chainring in the inner position? If so this seems like a bit of a compromise since chainline will not be ideal and also the unused outer chainring mounting points are a bit of an eyesore.
Are there any other crank options that fit the bill in the “good value” section of the market? (i.e. not XX1 etc)

34T, with 11 – 36. I think that’s on the tall side, but it hadn’t occurred to me to try to go lower than 30T.

34 upfront with 11-36 outback.

32t with 11-36. I used to always get in my granny ring on the climbs and thought I’d struggle.

Well, I do struggle but it’s not that bad and I get up everything I used to.

34 with 11-40 10 speed (t-rex)

32T with an 11-36 cassette, have to say I found it proper hard work to begin with but its getting easier. Big days in the lakes and the peaks are just painful though. I’ve ordered one of those absolute black cassette pieces now though so hopefully help the big days out.

32 with 10-42. Would still run a 32 with 1×10.

Strong legs all round!
I wanted to go lower than 32T on my 26er… 😳

Surprised to hear no-one running 28T so far – that was what seemed good to me based on my rough calculations. Anyone?

34 with 11-36 on hardtail not a problem as long as your reasonably fit. Just swapped it to full suss and yet to try it. Might need a 32t

30t and 11-42 here. I wanted a rock crawler gear on my go-anywhere bike. I won’t need that low on the hardtail though.

1×1 – 32 with 18 at the back and 1×10 – 42 with 11-36 at the back, seems ok for South Downs

34 on a 10-42 29″.

28 11-36 here. I suffered for ages riding around the lakes with a 32 thinking it was just me being unfit. Then my mate had a ride of my bike on a fairly flat trail and got off after a mile saying how the &£@k did I manage to pedal it up hills. Went to the 28 soon after. Much better for climbing but I do pedal out on the descents. Thinking a 30 and 11-40 would be spot on in the lakes.

@rollsroyce – what cranks you using with the 28 ?

34t up front with 11-34 at the back

Anyone else care to share their ratios?

You’ve got 15 opinions, covering twiddly to massive, what more are you hoping to get?

At the end of the day it’s very personal and there’s no right answer. If you want to go smaller than a 30t then consider XX1 cranks, they’re not actually that expensive – £165 on Starbike at the moment, or go direct mount, which saves weight and potentially cost if you have compatible cranks.

32t front with 11-32 on a 1×9

I was sure more people would be running less than 32T, and I wanted to find out what cranks they were using in that case.
What do you mean by “direct mount” ?
XX1 cranks seem pretty expensive to me…

34 with 11-36.

I’m really unfit at the moment too and I find that’s ok – I am a spinner but can churn bigger gears when necessary. I recently got a new chainring and did consider a 32 but given that I’ve not really found that I needed a lower gear, stuck with the 34.

30t XX1 cranks with an 11-36 cassette and 40t Hope T-Rex. Plenty of big hills around here so I like having a lower spread of gears. In fact, I don’t think I’ve even been in the 11t cog yet and I went 1×10 last July.
I’ve also just picked up a 28t ring as a spare which might get some use on the bigger mountain rides.

34 with 11-42. Using the Oneup sprocket. Managed to get up the hills of exmoor last week so no problem for my local trails.

Same as Pete above, 34t with 11-42 on my 29er. Would struggle without the 42t oneup but already spin out the 34t easily on some of the flat out south downs descents so wouldn’t want to go smaller on the front.

Thanks for the info guys.
Seems like these range extender sprockets are the way to go rather than a smaller chainring.

30t with an 11-36 on a 26″ bike. Struggling less than I thought, and I think when it wears out I might go for a 32t.

36t chainring with 11-34 out back

usually 34t front 11-36, debating how sensible this will be for gorrick100 sunday, my 32 ring is pretty worn after a few sandy gorrick races, carbon ti ring ftw I think, twice the price but I bet they last twice as long

What do you mean by “direct mount” ?
XX1 cranks seem pretty expensive to me…

Direct mount chainring

It’s all relative – XX1 cranks are not the expensive part of the group – they’re 1/2 the price of XTR. Not cheap per se.

You can use the newest X.7 chainset, CRC have one with cosmetic damage for £80, flog the rings and buy a Direct Mount one and you can go to 26t.

carbon ti ring ftw I think, twice the price but I bet they last twice as long

I had a ti (not Carbon-Ti) chainring on my last bike, did last very well indeed I must say. Mine was from Experimental Prototype, if they did narrow/wide I’d consider one.

Would have gone to 28t but instead did 30t and 40-11 with Hope T rex.

You can use the newest X.7 chainset, CRC have one with cosmetic damage for £80, flog the rings and buy a Direct Mount one and you can go to 26t.

Ah, cool – thanks for the link.

34 on 11-36

@packer I’m using sram s1400? Think that’s what they are. They were standard fitment on my t129s. The spiderless ring does save a noticeable bit of weight on my left and right hand scales. 😉

I’ve got 28T Wolftooth direct mount on an X9 crank with an 11-36 block. Works great and give a low enough gear to tackle anything the UK can throw. I believe 28T up front on a 29er is roughly equivalent to a 31T on a 26″ bike. You do run out of the high gears on fast smooth descents, but I just tend to coast those anyway. You could get round this lack of high gears by going 30 or 32T up front with a T-Rex 40T on the back for a granny gear, but there is no point unless you really want that high gear.

32 with 11-36. Its easy but then I ride singlespeed most of the time

34 with 11-36 cassette round the south downs.

34 with 11-36 cassette on rear of 26″ Bandit
was running 32T with 11-36 on rear, on a Covert was fine all over South Downs & Wales Trail Centres, 28T seems TINY on front.

28T seems TINY on front

It would be on a 26″ wheel bike. But not so much on a 29er.

30T with 11-40 (Hope T Rex) on my 29 er.

I use the std Deore cranks (2 x 10) which came from Merlin as part of a groupset deal.

My riding is mainly NW Trail centres and some lakes but it is a struggle on really steep climbs with my weedy legs!

Reading all of the above I have learnt something new tonight!
I run a 36t with a 36-11 cassette on my 29er rigid and manage ok on most of the steep Yorkshire climbs but towards the end of the rides I wish I was riding a bike with a Granny gear until reading about these 40t and 42t expansion cogs! So, I think I understand what you do with them but which size do I get and will the rear mech/chain need some modification to handle the larger rear cog?

I thought a 32t was going to be too spinny on my 1×11, but if anything I think kid probably benefit from a 30t for big weekends away.