1x road bike. Anybody own or ridden one??

[Sharky]

What problem is a 1x system actually solving for those of you that use them? I mean, I've had annoying FD issues in the past, but that was solved eventually with a bit of mechanical know-how. I think I had an FD seize once mid-ride in salty road conditions, but still that was a minor inconvenience and solved with a bit of lubrication and a clean post ride. Seems to me a step backward. Is it a weight saving thing? Aesthetically, they are appealing, but the flexibility afforded by a 2X or 3X system is too much for me to give up on my bikes for mere style & weight. Call me cynical, but it seems to be a marketing fad, designed primarily tempt some to replace perfectly good chainsets and shifters with 'new and improved'.

The key issue it solved for me with a compact chain set was that I was forever riding in the "cross over" range. That is I was wanting to be in the small/small or the bib/big ratios and switching between the two meant synchronising left & right levers and in the dark was often a bit clumsy. With a 1x system, it's just one click up or down.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

What problem is a 1x system actually solving for those of you that use them? I mean, I've had annoying FD issues in the past, but that was solved eventually with a bit of mechanical know-how. I think I had an FD seize once mid-ride in salty road conditions, but still that was a minor inconvenience and solved with a bit of lubrication and a clean post ride. Seems to me a step backward. Is it a weight saving thing? Aesthetically, they are appealing, but the flexibility afforded by a 2X or 3X system is too much for me to give up on my bikes for mere style & weight. Call me cynical, but it seems to be a marketing fad, designed primarily tempt some to replace perfectly good chainsets and shifters with 'new and improved'.

In my case it would save me running a setup I rarely fully use. Both my geared bikes came with a 2x10 compact set up, personally I found that 50/34 was to wide, the 50 was to high and the 34 was to low, both the compact bikes I have now run with a 50/42 setup and rarely use the 50. I'm seriously considering 1x11 for my next bike, at the moment I'm looking at moving from a drop barred bike to a flat barred hybrid to ease with my ongoing back issues,

 

[Alan O]

On my touring bike I pretty much exclusively use the 38t middle ring up front. Paired with 11-30 at the back it does the job perfectly for 90% of the time. The granny ring gets used mainly because I'm often carrying full panniers, on a lighter/unladen bike I don't think I'd miss it. Never use the 48t big ring!

Interesting. I have 28/38/48 front but only 14-28 6-speed rear, and I'd say I use the 38 front about 80% of the time and the other two equally for about 10% each - with my more limited rear range, it sounds pretty close to your usage.

 

[Smokin Joe]

What problem is a 1x system actually solving for those of you that use them?

If 1x11 gives someone the full range of gears they need, it makes sense. It isn't a question of solving a problem, just keeping things simple.

 

[ColinJ]

Interesting. I have 28/38/48 front but only 14-28 6-speed rear, and I'd say I use the 38 front about 80% of the time and the other two equally for about 10% each - with my more limited rear range, it sounds pretty close to your usage.

Oh, that reminds me ...

My CAAD5 road bike used to have a 53/39 chainset and a 13-29 cassette. The 39/29 bottom gear on that was very similar to my proposed 1x10's 42/30. I did manage to get up a lot of climbs on it though I found it a bit too hard on the really tough stuff so I changed it to a triple (48/36/28) and a 12-30 cassette.

I'd kept a similar top gear to what I was used to but gained a much lower bottom gear for grovelling duties. The thing is ... I spend an awful lot of time on the 36 tooth ring. The transmission is perfectly usable on all of the sprockets so I can use the 36/30 for climbing and the 36/12 for whizzing along when I don't think it is worth changing rings, say for just short stretch of flattish road. So, even though the bike has a triple chainset, like Alan, I am mainly using it as if it only has one chainring.

The other thing that I had forgotten (probably because it was stolen from my school bike rack nearly half a century ago!) was that my first racing bike only had one chainring. It was a 1 x 5, and at the time I thought it had a luxurious range of gears compared to the singlespeed bike that preceded it.

 

[User169]

I’ve had 1x11 on my road bike for about a year. I’ve done pretty long rides on it (up to 600km) and it works pretty well I think.

There’s a pro team going to be running 1x11 in 2018. It’ll be interesting to see how they get on.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Interesting. I have 28/38/48 front but only 14-28 6-speed rear, and I'd say I use the 38 front about 80% of the time and the other two equally for about 10% each - with my more limited rear range, it sounds pretty close to your usage.

If I was building up a new bike I'd be tempted by a 38t front and an 11 - 34 on the back. That would be pretty much perfect.

My first proper bike was also a 1 x 5 racer... but I used to struggle getting up the steeper hills on longer ride. I know it's apples and oranges, but I built a 1x8 mtb (32t front 11-34 back) a while ago and found that perfect for off-road too.

With the wide-range cassettes you can get these days I think 1x set-ups make a lot of sense. The only reason not to is if you're fussy about larger jumps between gears, but personally I prefer this or I just end up shifting twice in a row most of the time anyway.

 

[maxap]

I bought a bike in a sale last year that came with a 1x11 setup. Cassette was 10-42. I wasn't at all sure I would get on with it but it has been great. I used it for London Edinburgh London (1400km) this year and on long rides like that, just having one lever for changing gears up and down is a help. Occasionally I miss a top gear when out riding with friends but that has more to do with me setting it up for long distance riding with 20inch granny gear at the bottom. The jumps between gears I have gotten used to.
The downside is the expensive cassettes and perhaps the way that the cassette is mounted. Seems to me you could mess up your wheel hub if you are not careful.
Anyway, the bike is now my favorite and gets a lot more use than my other road bike.

 

[mustang1]

Never ridden 1x but I like the idea of it. I'm not sure I like the spacing between gear ratios on the cassette though. Therefore I'm sticking with double for road bikes.

 

[Wilson jr]

For the routes I most frequently ride I find I'm overstocked with ratios. I find I'm only using a few cassette gears and very rarely changing chainrings but also running slightly big big. I' hoping to be more mid cassette. I think it's horses for courses but im going to give it a go.Parts are ordered and on the way.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Tried my neighbours Whyte Friston with SRAM 40T chainring and 10-42 cassette.

Found it really nice and easy to use. Cassette jumps were not an issue - the biggest ones are in the lowest gears at which stage the bigger jumps border on merciful.

Loved the roughly 25" smallest gears on the hills where I live.

As an aside - I've never tried double tap before and after a few miles I soon got used to it and it makes far more sense than Shimano's system imo.

 

[12boy]

I have a couple of 20 inch wheel bikes with 1x8 11 to 32 sprockets and that is fine for 10% grades but spin out downhill easily. Since we know there is always more uphill than downhill and more headwinds than tailwinds that works out fine. Recently going to geared from fixed and single just one shifter is pretty nice.

 

[Pedropete]

Pros: reduced weight and complexity, and increased gunge resistance. Cons: gaps and potential restrictions at extremes of the range.
Had Rival 1X for a year and love it, only really notice issues when hunting for ideal cadence in groups and on big climbs/descents. Single double-tap shifter is a godsend as I've sensitivity/dexterity issues in right hand.

 

[Mo1959]

Not a road bike but I have a Charge Grater 4 hybrid which I like SRAM 1 x 11 and hydraulic discs and mudguards. Would make a great commuting bike. Think it’s a 38t chainring and 11-36 cassette if I remember correctly.

 

[Banjo]

About 6 or so years ago I paired up on an Audax with a guy riding a single chainring huge mtb cassette and big maybe 40c Tyres. He was a hardcore Audaxer and said the simplicity was essential when his brain got a bit fuzzy at times on long rides such as PBP.

His bike was unusual at the time, bike shops are loaded with them now. For long distance touring I would go single chainring and bar end shifter for even more reliability/ simpleness.