Well, I’ll give a go and try a 32t on the front, but I suspect I’ll still end up using the 42t for the climbs. When I ride my 3×9 hardtail I always use the 34t for the climbs on the 22t granny ring, which is easier to pedal 22t/34t = 65% compared to 34t/42t = 81%. Changing to 32t/42t = 76% or maybe go for 30t/42t = 71%?

Do you ever use the 10t?

If you were always climbing in 22/34 before I’d not have gone single ring myself…

Only use 10t on the descents and on the road, what sort of terrain and riding are you doing? I’m riding rocky and steep and take my time on the climbs and then pin it on the descents. A lot of the climbs I do are too difficult to ride and you have to carry the bike anyway 🙂

I’m getting a lot of grinding now when pushing on rides. It happened today, everything started fine then half way into the ride grinding noise that I could feel through the pedals started. My mate jumped on my bike and as I followed him I could see the chain being held on to long at the bottom of the chaining. Like chain suck. But then a few miles more in I noticed the noise had gone and all seemed fine again. Do you guys think this is just grime on the chain or the chain is worn? 700 miles done on this set up.

Sounds like the chainring is worn, I know mine is! Once I get my 42t cog replaced, I’m going to re-fit my new chain and reverse the chain ring to get some more life out of it, although I find my grinds more when using dry lube compared to wet lube.

Riding around the Lakes this weekend, I’ve started making a mental note not to use the 42t unless I really need it, I guess I was using it too much without realising!

Yeah you’re probably right rooster, can’t believe it’s worn that much though after 700 miles of dry summer riding 🙁 Also as the problem seems intermittent would you say that was down to a bit of sandy grit getting on the chain while riding? I have been lubing mine with muc off dry lube religiously after and before rides, does dry lube hold the chain that much more than wet lube then?

I was using wet lube this weekend and it was noticeably quieter than when I was running dry lube over the summer. It only grinds when putting the power down, same as yours, but its always been a little noisy from new compared to a Shimano 1×10 XT setup running a Raceface 34t chain ring and One Up 42t cog that I had on my last bike.

Ok, my 2p worth.

I have been running X01 on my full bouncer for about 10 months now. I changed the chain out at 600 miles and did that again with the second one. So i now have 3 chains in rotation. When i change to a new chain there is considerable suck as the front chainring seems to not not want to let it go but that only lasts for 1 ride then its smooth operating as usual.

My 11 speed does not like muck, the tolerances are too tight with the NW chainring and the jockey wheels. Thats the only time i have issues with my shifting though. Also there is a horrible grinding noise when there is muck involved.

I run a 32 front ring as that gives me a good climbing vs normal running ratios. I very rarely use my 42 cog as i treat it as a get out of jail gear.

I am a bit anal about keeping it clean though. When you pay so much for that type of kit then 10 minutes after every ride is well spent cleaningthe drivetrain. So far it seems to be working for me. No abnormal wear and tear. And i have never dropped a chain yet 🙂

Good advice Mactheknife, going forward I think I will change to a 32t up front and use the 42t cog less. Although I haven’t had any problems with it apart from changing the chain after 600 miles and realising that I’d worn out the 42t cog, it still runs like new with the old chain on.

Through mud and grit it never seems to let me down, this weekend I was quite impressed with the strength of the rear mech, as I was bouncing down Gas Gale Gill in the Lakes, I hit a rock and the rear mech went into the rear wheel locking it up instantly. I managed to extract the rear mech that was jammed into a spoke by rotating the wheel the opposite way and after a little fettling and adjustment it is still shifting well. I think a lesser mech wouldn’t have survived so well!

Shiny!

Remove the worn out cog

Ta da!

Seems to work OK, will find out tomorrow night 🙂

Interesting! Good job.

Where’s that from?

interesting that, strangely my 42t cog is still shifting like new (even under load) some 1800 miles on, it only slipped once when I hadn’t lubed the chain for a ride and went through mud/wet

but my 3rd and 4th cogs are becoming a real pain to shift into now, and 11th cog, not sure if that’s related to having a new cable in or not, or whether the cassette is just getting goosed now

dirtyrider – Member
Where’s that from?

Ari Bikes

http://www.aribike.it/pignone%20sram%20XX1%20html/pignone_cassetta_sramXX1.htm

90 euros? hmmmmm if i got to the point where the 42 was worn id bin the whole cassette i think and buy fresh

Buy fresh is 220 Euro’s, in my situation it seems a shame to bin the rest of the cassette after only 600 miles when I can replace the high wear item separately.

Will probably have to buy fresh next time though!

Tom

surely if you in the 42 enough to wear it out after 600 miles then you need a smaller chainring?

I suggested that a couple of pages back!

32t chainring on order, hopefully arrives today 🙂

Interestingly, how long are people getting out of their single alloy chain rings? My original 34t looks very worn and is ready for the 32t replacement.

Mine’s still fine after 1100 miles or so. Anodising’s a bit worn, and I imagine winter will finish it off, but that’s fine, I’ll stick a fresh (Absolute Black oval) one on come spring.

after reading this thread i now make a concerted to not use the 42t ring unless absolutely necessary… does that defeat the object!?! bah!

I’m thinking I need cut down on my eating and lose some weight, only way to reduce the load on the drive train! LOL

You’ll ride faster as well, can’t be bad!

The answer is to select the right front ring ratio. Try dropping down a size on the front say to 32 and you should see a better chain line and less use of the large ring and less wear in my experience. About to go to third chain this year.

I’m struggling to see how people are wearing out the alu 42 at the back (that you’re in occasionally) and not the alu 32/34/36 at the front (that your on all the time!).

I wore out the 12 cog on my XX1 first – think I need to go up a size on the front!

Adam@BikeWorks – Member
I’m struggling to see how people are wearing out the alu 42 at the back (that you’re in occasionally) and not the alu 32/34/36 at the front (that your on all the time!).

I wore out the 12 cog on my XX1 first – think I need to go up a size on the front!

I have worn out the 34t at the front as well!! 🙂 Think it’s just me, I do have a reputation for bike breaking, snapped five frames in the last 10 years 🙄

I’m sensing a lack of mechanical sympathy perhaps 😉

I’ve just snapped a tooth on my XO1 cassette 🙁 seeing if Sram will sort out at the moment!!

My cassette actually seems to still be performing ok with 700 miles on it. The issue for me seems to be my 32T chainring. Has anybody swapped their sram chainring for another brand and can say that the performance and longevity is still good? I use a RaceFace NW ring on my Stumpy running 1×10 and that has lasted ok. Would be interested to hear if anybody has swapped and can say that it has had no detrimental effect, but has improved longevity.

still on SRAM rings until my Absolute Black oval appears,

Well it survived the rocks and grit of Grizedale forest last night, worked OK although maybe a half second slower to change than the old one so not perfect but I’ll give it 9/10, it might shift a bit better with a little more tinkering, but that’s just the perfectionist in me. As it stands it works and that will do for me.

Still a lot of grinding coming off the old front chain-ring with the new chain, but my 32t chain-ring has arrived today so that should cure that problem.

As an example of how hard I wear out bikes, I noticed my main pivot bearings are starting to let go last night, just a fraction but it translates to a bit of flex on the back end that didn’t used to be there. That’s after 6 months use of dry trails and no power washing, just lots of hammer down rocky Lakeland descents, oh well off to the bearing shop! 🙂

Tom

So you’re a bit of animal, basically!?

My new chain was noisy on my old chainring at first – a sort of creaking noise I’d say, but it quietened down after a few rides.

njee20 – Member
So you’re a bit of animal, basically!?

Possibly, or maybe its just the Lakeland terrain we ride on, we were discussing it last night 🙂

good news on my front

now around 1800 miles in and id expect around 250,000 feet of peak district climbing

my shifting as above was it wasn’t dropping into 3rd 4th and 11th so thought the cassette was worn/wearing

I then realised when I had a new cable put in at the shop that I had posted my rear shock off, so it was setup with no shock in!

readjusted the cable last night, and its back to shifting in all gears down the cassette perfectly, now slightly hesitant back up the cassette (but fine tuning im sure I could sort it), but all gears back down the cassette like new

my x01 cassette looks pants now after 1900 miles, but its still working and not slipping gears, im basically not using the 42t at the minute, but its still shiting fine and not slipping in that cog also

hoping it will get through winter now and ill just buy chain/chainring/cassette in the new year

Oscillate Wildly – Member
good news on my front

now around 1800 miles in and id expect around 250,000 feet of peak district climbing

my shifting as above was it wasn’t dropping into 3rd 4th and 11th so thought the cassette was worn/wearing

I then realised when I had a new cable put in at the shop that I had posted my rear shock off, so it was setup with no shock in!

readjusted the cable last night, and its back to shifting in all gears down the cassette perfectly, now slightly hesitant back up the cassette (but fine tuning im sure I could sort it), but all gears back down the cassette like new

Cool, I re-tune my gears every other ride to keep them shifting sweetly, more of a check than anything else.

To be honest I could have left my old chain on and it probably would have lasted another 600 miles (6 months) and then just replace the whole lot. But I love my preventative maintenance / fiddling, I blame my friends for suggesting changing chains more frequently and buying a wear gauge as I never had any of these problems in the past 🙂

Tom

Cool, I re-tune my gears every other ride to keep them shifting sweetly, more of a check than anything else.

Eh?

My bike is lucky to get cleaned every other ride…

Cool, I re-tune my gears every other ride to keep them shifting sweetly, more of a check than anything else.

What do you do to them? I tweak my barrel adjuster there and then on a ride if it needs it, and will examine in a workstand if it’s running badly, but what can you actually do as ‘routine’ maintenance that frequently!?

njee20 – Member
What do you do to them? I tweak my barrel adjuster there and then on a ride if it needs it, and will examine in a workstand if it’s running badly, but what can you actually do as ‘routine’ maintenance that frequently!?

Exactly what you’ve just described, just a quick check after cleaning and re-lubing that the gears are shifting perfectly and barrel adjustment as required to align the jockey wheel with the 10th or 9th cog.

I find that adjusting while riding can sometimes have a detrimental affect, especially if its covered in mud and then goes out of indexing afterwards.

With any FS bike I’d sooner do any subtle adjustments like that whilst riding it. Cable runs change subtly when the suspension sags, I know my Top Fuel would shift like a bag of spanners on the road if I set it up on the stand!

My bike is lucky to get cleaned every other ride…

im 100% sure id ride less if i was inclined to clean my bike often, my road bike permanently looks like this at the moment