Why is 1×9 so good?

works for me on a light hardtail… i already had 9speed stuff so just a case of not fitting LH shifter. also, it’s nice not having to think about that shift or getting the surprise when you’re not in the front ring you thought you were. downsides.. not quite enough range now i’ve put summer tyres on but i don’t care about speed on roads any more.

I went 1×9 on my 29’er over winter as the front mech was just a shelf for crud.

To be honest there’s nothing I’ve ridden on it yet that will make me put a front mech and another ring back on.

Set up is 32t front and a 12-36t rear on a 29’er. awesome innit

If I had the legs for it I’d do it, but I’ve not. I can however see all the benifits.

fathomer that is why I have done it – to encourage me to get fitter/attack rather than spin in granny. If I don’t get fitter and it effects my riding for the worse then I will stick the granny back on…

Why clutter your bike with equipment you dont need or use? 1x works very well indeed if your rides are not too epic, and it loses significant weight, faff and expense.

“Isn’t it just SS lite?”

Sort of yes.

I have a front mech (dual ring) on my other bike. It works OK and it’s nice to have a granny ring to spin when your legs are in shreds. But I always found the mechs awkward to setup right – noisy etc. And they are terrible mud traps. Also, the gap between rings traps filth badly. Having a single ring is a much cleaner setup IME.

I’ve been using a E13 Hive top-only guide which works well for XC – just remember to keep your chain as short as possible.

I haven’t read all the posts but I guess everyone is saying how great a single ring up front is.
For balance I’ve never had any problems related to front mechs or shifters but I have experienced rear mechs going in the spokes and snapping off mid ride which is a complete ball ache.
So I can see the point of alfine/rohloff much more than I can for losing the front mech, if preventing mechanical failure is the issue. unfortunately still too expensive for most but maybe one day that is what the majority of mtbs will be like? Obviously running a hub gear means losing the front mech so maybe the 1×9/10 users are just ahead of the game.

@docrobster Too expensive??

Second hand chain guide – £25. You don’t *have* to buy a brand new one, at £130..

Pack of single-ring chainring bolts – £5?

25mins of your time – free.

@docrobster Too expensive??

xiphon – think they were referring to expense of hub gears not going single chainwheel lol

Ah, whoops! Too much coffee has given me trigger fingers..

Is 1×9 possible without a chain guide? – just intending to ride XC in the chilterns on it, before I go out & try it without & end up making a fool of myself 😉

Is 1×9 possible without a chain guide?

Just don’t change gear at the front… easy

Just don’t change gear at the front… easy

Ah well, suppose it was too much to expect a sensible response on here especially on a friday

A 1×9 without a chain guide – 60% of the time, it would work every time, even with a singlespeed specific front chain ring.

Adding a jumpstop, i was still dropping the chain now and again, but not at all with a bash added. I presume though its never going to be as fool proof as a fully caged system.

Horses for courses. Back in the UK, I used to ride Rivington, the Lakes, Yorkshire, CYB (all over, wherever Singletrack or MBR maps inspired) and a 3×9 was just right. Where I live now, the trails are flowing managed singletrack and a 1×9 or 1×10 would be perfect. I won’t be riding many other trails, so I’m considering trying 1×9 with a ghetto chain guide (will look in my big box of bits this weekend and see what gaffa tape, miscellaneous round things and zip ties can bodge up). A few severe rock gardens and mean a chain guide is necessary for me (chain jumps occasionally even now).

pretty sure most of us could find you something fairly easily chief.
do you just not ride properly steep or technically challenging climbs or climbs with damp/wet/loose surfaces?

This. I can’t work out if all the people who ride 1×10 are extremely fit, or they’re riding easier hills than I am, or they’re the sort of people I see pushing up hills. Like everything in life there’s probably a bit of all three, but I know I would struggle with a few of the climbs in the peaks if used 1×10, and I’m not a believer in getting off and pushing. I broke my small ring at the start of a ride the other day and rode just in the 34t middle ring. 95% of the ride was doable but it really bugged me when I had to get off and walk the 5%.

I’d be interested to give it a go, though.

I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff I can’t ride up but I doubt I’d be any better at it with a granny ring. I’m miles away from any proper mountains and as long as no-one spinning slowly in the granny ring gets in front of me I’ve had no problems with all the natural riding I’ve done in the south east, nor any trail centres I’ve visited – indeed I sometimes get up climbs when standing up and juggling my position to balance traction and power that those with more gears have failed on. If I rode places with steeper hills then I might do things differently because I don’t like getting off and pushing.

I don’t see how even lower gears would make slippery climbs easier when traction is the overwhelming challenge – using a higher gear reduces the peak torque at the wheel and thus the likelihood of exceeding the available grip – as long as you can apply enough torque at the pedals to avoid stalling.

you’ve clearly never climbed a long very steep loose/challenging climb

fair doos.

dunno what you ride in the south east but I haven’t ever found a trail centre climb that couldn’t be done in middle ring.

I don’t see how even lower gears would make slippery climbs easier when traction is the overwhelming challenge – using a higher gear reduces the peak torque at the wheel and thus the likelihood of exceeding the available grip – as long as you can apply enough torque at the pedals to avoid stalling.

to answer your question, low speed/lowest gear torque/traction is far easier to control for prolonged climbs while perched on the saddle.
it’s not a car, traction on an mtb is applied by rider weight and smooth power transfer.

The popularity of mountain biking has increased (it is the new golf!)

New genres of riding have been created for the new riders to the sport – “trail riding” and “AM riding” – i.e. bimbling round trail centres (see the “gisburn slab” thread for reference)

For this sort of riding 1×9 is ideal, and hence its popularity appears to have increased somewhat. Obviously people have been using 1×9 setups for years, but they were usually from the dh side of the sport.

The XC riders tended to use the traditional 3×9 setups as these were necessary for proper xc riding out in the hills (when trail centres never really existed)

1×9 is great and bimbling round trail centres on AM bikes is great – its a cooler form of riding than getting lycra’d up and heading out into the proper hills.

to my mind drive setup is as much a personal choice as pedals or bars;

needs to suit the individuals own fitness, riding style and chosen terrain…

nobody’s quite the same. clips/flats, wide/narrow, riser/flat, SS/1x(n)/2x(n)/3x(n) does any of it really matter?

just ride your bike….

Any reason you can’t use your front mech as a chain device?

none at all if you don’t mind a shite chain device that drops your chain

Dickyboy – Member
Just don’t change gear at the front… easy

Ah well, suppose it was too much to expect a sensible response on here especially on a friday

To be fair to Messiah, its a fairly obivous solution to your problem.
Stick your front mech in a fixed position on the middle ring if you like, in order to remove the temptation to shift.
Then try out 1×9 for a session and realise that its the way forward.
Then go out and buy a simple chain device, as even the Chilterns will have you coming unstuck at some point.

I rode about 4 or 5 hours without a chain device, then my chain came off twice in one ride. I tried the lightweight superstar device but it was too flimsy and fiddly, im now running their slightly beefier b/b mounted version and its been flawless so far.

cookeaa – Member

to my mind drive setup is as much a personal choice as pedals or bars;

needs to suit the individuals own fitness, riding style and chosen terrain…

nobody’s quite the same. clips/flats, wide/narrow, riser/flat, SS/1x(n)/2x(n)/3x(n) does any of it really matter?

just ride your bike

This nails it…I have 1×9 on one bike and 3×9 on another and compact on the other. Different bikes for different riding, all good in their own right…Just ride, it’s all just bikes 😉

All of mountain biking is an exercise in making things harder than it has to be, for the sake of enjoyment. Sometimes it’s quite nice not having sufficient gears. the appeal of 1×9 to me is part simplicity and lightness but mainly it’s just that it’s a bit like singlespeeding except less ridiculous.

“All of mountain biking is an exercise in making things harder than it has to be, for the sake of enjoyment”
eh? :/

and single ring with a spread of rear gears it’s nothing like single speed either.

GW – Member

eh? :/

Not a hard concept… Ever come down a mountain offroad when there’s a perfectly good tarmac or fireroad option?

And of course it’s a bit like single speed 😕 Restricts your choice in exactly the same way.

Missed ya!

To clarify my position, I haven’t been riding MTBs in this modern gnarly stylee for that long – I started out on them as a kid in the ’80s on the flatlands of the East Midlands but then didn’t ride offroad from the mid ’90s until 2010. I spend most of my riding time in woods in the south east, trying to be as fast as possible downhill and reasonably quick uphill. I had a bike with 3×9 but hardly used the big ring so getting rid of it helped with getting over logs and suchlike (especially as someone that couldn’t bunny hop) and preventing teeth:leg moments. Went 36/22 to avoid losing too much top end. Found myself using the granny more than was ideal and shifting from 22 to 36 was a bit clunky. Went 32/22 and didn’t miss the extra 4 teeth but noticed I could stay in the ‘middle’ ring all the time and that by doing so I got quicker at riding up hills. After a while I decided I really didn’t need the granny ring for the riding I do so got rid of it. A simple process of elimination!

About to go 1×10 as I need the 9 speed bits for another bike, so that’ll give a low gear of 32:36. For those that remember the tooth counts of old drivetrains, what would the ratios have been on my ’80s MTBs? The first was 3×5 non-indexed, the second 3×7 Rapidfire.

I used to be a 1x9er and hated front mechs but just had a weeks riding in Wales and the granny ring came in handy especially going up Snowdon! Not sure whether I’d have got up as many of the climbs without the granny. Even spinning in the easiest gear is still quicker and more enjoyable than walking up.

Aw shucks.. you too honey Xx 😉
I always choose the most fun option TBH, whether that’s walking up a fire road or coming down something loose/steep/jumpy/flowy.. wouldn’t ever think of it as making things harder (some of the hardest trails to ride are ’cause they don’t flow and therefore aren’t so fun.

chief – 3×7 would have been something like 11(12)-28 cassette and 24(26)/34(38)/46(48)

I run 1×8 on my FS bike, which I’ve re-built out of the home parts bin for one purpose…mucking about in the woods / local trail centre. I had the option of a front mech etc in the box but it’s not necessary for this bike. 1×8 gives me:

1) c. 3/4 pound in weight saving
2) one less set of cables and mechanical gubbins to initially set up and subsequently keep clean
3) better ground clearance
4) enough gears for the bike’s intended use

The bike rode poorly in the granny ring anyway (4bar suspension and out of date platform technology) and I’d rather grunt than twiddle on the way up (and every once in a while I’ll be pushing). I could comfortably manage my usual Tuesday evening on this bike XC loop on this too if I felt that way inclined.

By contrast my rigid 26’r, which is for long days out and kiddy seat duties has a full complement of chainrings (although the granny ring rarely sees any use thanks to living in the South). I also have a (still) unridden SS to try out.

Even spinning in the easiest gear is still quicker and more enjoyable than walking up.

No it’s not.

1 X 9 (26T X 11-32T)
front mech as chain guide only

Always been a 1x man. No idea why, as some bikes have had more gears but they were rarely used. There’s the odd time when I could do with a bigger or smaller ring but there’s no medals given for cycling to the top so if I can’t carry on, i’ll get off and walk. It’s generally faster but maybe not as cool as spinning away like a mental.

No it’s not.

yes it is. more enjoyable could be argued, but it is definitly quicker. anyway, when i go out for a bike ride i go out to ride my bike, not take it for a walk, thus the granny ring stays.

1 x 9, (26 x 11-32)

I’m perfectly happy to admit to wanting to lose some weight off the bike, wanting to see if I could still make it work, from a riding perspective with 1×9.

This was partly to do with me being quite a bit stronger (exclusively SSing for 2 years, prior to going back on a sprung geary.

I do appreciate the simplicity of the riding without any front gears and the faff ans embuggerance that they can bring and as some have said you save about 0.75 of a pound.

I’ve had a whisper from the legs that it may not be the best for big old days in the hills, but its only been a quiet word. Moving to 10spd and a 36T cassette should sort me out on that front.

I’m enjoying the part of this thread which is all about telling other people what they enjoy 😆

I can’t work out if all the people who ride 1×10 are extremely fit, or they’re riding easier hills than I am, or they’re the sort of people I see pushing up hills

Well I’ve not walked anything since going 1×10, if I had to then I’d change back, can’t be doing with that. So I’m obviously in one of the other 2 camps.

you’ve clearly never climbed a long very steep loose/challenging climb

I know you’ll really struggle with this concept, but some people may actually be fitter than you. I’m sure you ego won’t actually let you comprehend that.

1 x 9, (26 x 11-32) ?

Surely you must spin out very early ?