1x11 any real life on road experiences please?

[SpokeyDokey]

I live in the very hilly Lakes and value low gears much more than high gears - freewheeling down a hill is my reward for slogging up it.

Under consideration for a new bike is this (the others are a Ridley X-trail and Spesh Sequoia Elite) a Whyte Friston.

I currently run a CX bike with 46/34 and 12-30 and I could do with some lower gears as some of the hills here are too much for me with this set-up.

The Whyte is 38 and 11-42. This drops me about 10 gear inches off the high end (roughly 10% less than I currently have) and gains me about 6 gear inches at the low end (roughly 20% lower than I now have).

This could well be a good trade off for me.

I have seen the bike in the flesh (too big for me to try) and it ticks a lot of boxes for me and looks stunning in matt orange to boot.

Does anyone on here run 1x11 primarily on the road and if so could you share your views/experiences please?

 

[ianrauk]

@jowwy

 

[jowwy]

I run a custom built Titanium frame with sram rival 1x11 - i run 40t front and 11/42 rear cassette

i love the simplicity of the set-up and with the narrow wide chainring upfront and the clutched rear mech, gear changes are as smooth as silk and zero noise/rattle from the chain. 40/11 at around 90rpm gives me 27,ph on the flats and 40/42 on the climbs is like cheating and i'm 17+stone currently

 

[smutchin]

Whyte Friston

Love the look of that.

What's going on at the joint of the seat tube & top tube - is it an internal seatpost clamp? Never seen one like that before.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Love the look of that.

What's going on at the joint of the seat tube & top tube - is it an internal seatpost clamp? Never seen one like that before.

Internal seat clamp - the rubber 'bung' is removed to reveal a hex bolt to adjust. There is also a rubber collet around the seat post to stop water ingress.

It does look nice - only thing I would change are the tyres. The rims are tubeless ready and I quite fancy trying some 35mm Schwalbe G-Ones:

http://road.cc/content/review/190493-schwalbe-g-one

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I run a custom built Titanium frame with sram rival 1x11 - i run 40t front and 11/42 rear cassette

i love the simplicity of the set-up and with the narrow wide chainring upfront and the clutched rear mech, gear changes are as smooth as silk and zero noise/rattle from the chain. 40/11 at around 90rpm gives me 27,ph on the flats and 40/42 on the climbs is like cheating and i'm 17+stone currently

Thank you. Esp' for the rpm/speed data.

I also like the idea that it's easy to adjust the gearing range by simply changing the single chainring & chain. X-Sync chainring is pretty pricey as chainrings go at around £55 but small beer in reality.

Liking the notion of no chain slap which bugs me - although my Lizard Skin neoprene sleeve stops any damage and reduces the noise a bit.

 

[jowwy]

Thank you. Esp' for the rpm/speed data.

I also like the idea that it's easy to adjust the gearing range by simply changing the single chainring & chain. X-Sync chainring is pretty pricey as chainrings go at around £55 but small beer in reality.

Liking the notion of no chain slap which bugs me - although my Lizard Skin neoprene sleeve stops any damage and reduces the noise a bit.

i run a shimano zee crankset upfront which is a 104bcd - so i had a custom chainring made in lithuania with 40t, cost me £28

 

[ColinJ]

i run a shimano zee crankset upfront which is a 104bcd - so i had a custom chainring made in lithuania with 40t, cost me £28

Custom chainrings for £28 ... bargain! Who does that?

I like the sound of the 1 x 11 setup. I am currently enjoying the simplicity of a singlespeed bike that I built a couple of weeks ago, but it is overgeared for the steep stuff and undergeared for speed. One chainring might be the future for me if/when I buy/build another bike.

 

[jowwy]

Custom chainrings for £28 ... bargain! Who does that?

I like the sound of the 1 x 11 setup. I am currently enjoying the simplicity of a singlespeed bike that I built a couple of weeks ago, but it is overgeared for the steep stuff and undergeared for speed. One chainring might be the future for me if/when I buy/build another bike.

the company was called MB AutoAsas in lithuania and it was 38 euros sorry.........usually the max size for the 104bcd is 36

 

[Spiderweb]

I run a custom built Titanium frame with sram rival 1x11 - i run 40t front and 11/42 rear cassette

i love the simplicity of the set-up and with the narrow wide chainring upfront and the clutched rear mech, gear changes are as smooth as silk and zero noise/rattle from the chain. 40/11 at around 90rpm gives me 27,ph on the flats and 40/42 on the climbs is like cheating and i'm 17+stone currently

Can you post some pics of your bike please.

 

[jowwy]

Can you post some pics of your bike please.

will see what i can do when i get home

 

[Twizit]

I'm also running SRAM 1x11 on a planet x Pickenflick - used mainly with 28mm road tyres for commuting and winter weekend bike purposes.

Likewise went this route for the simplicity and the fact that it's less to clean and faff with through the winter months, but still gives me most of the range I need. It came as standard with a 42T front (biggest it will take) and 11-42 rear. High end is plenty and I only spin out on fast descents or with a very good tailwind when nailing it. Not an issue.

Standard lower gearing was ridiculously easy - 1:1 ratio! More than I really need but depends on your circumstances, and around the Lakes I could see that being handy for sure. This said I've just replaced the chain and cassette for the first time and balked at the £60 cassette cost. As I don't need the really low gears I went with 11-32 instead which is still enough for my local hills and a lot cheaper.

Always had Shimano before. SRAM change is definitely more of a clunk, but works well and I quite like the simplicity of just one lever. No issues adjusting from Shimano and back to this between my other road bike. Be nice if the cassette costs were more in the Shimano range but I can't complain too much. No regrets so far.

 

[tincaman]

Shimano 105 rear mech, Sram 11-36 cassette, 40T chainring from Superstar. 40T gives me about 28mph before I spin out, the 36T at the rear is enough for the hills in Devon.
I like the simplicity of the shifting without having to think about the front ring.
The cassette is about £55, front wide narrow ring was £15

 

[Salty seadog]

Not for the road I think you'll agree but I'm picking this up in a few days......

Whyte 901 1 x 11 32 tooth chainring and an 11-42 on the rear. So nearly went for the Whyte T130 full susser at £2500 but couldn't justify it to myself so went for the hardtail which gets very good reviews.

Anyway, none of that helps the op but thought I'd share my news....

 

[PhilDawson8270]

I didn't know people did a 1x11. To be fair, I hadn't really looked. But it would suit me, primarily as the big ring is rarely used. I think a 40 at the front would be an ideal mid point for a single chainring.