Bigger Chainring on a 1 x Gravel Bike

[Hugh Jampton]

Hi Guys

I have owned a Ribble Gravel Bike for a little while now. It is kitted out with a SRAM Rival 1 x 11 groupset

This is 42t up front, with a 42-11 cassette. I have found that i have very quickly run out of gears and spend a lot of time sitting on the 11t cog. I would like to replace the Chain ring with a 46t or 48t up front. Looking at this to fit the SRAM cranks (hidden bolt).

My Questions:

• Jumping to 46t, will that create a huge change in gearing ratio?
• Will I need to extend the chain? On biggest cog at the back, rear derailleur site at about 90 degrees to frame.
• Will the highlighted chain ring actually fit?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ian H]

How much time do you spend at 20mph or more? At 20 you're still only on a 70rpm cadence.

 

[sleuthey]

1. 100X(46-42)/42= 9.5% increase
2. If the current chain is the correct length for your current set up then yes
3. Yes if you buy one with a compatible PCD for the bolt holes

 

[figbat]

How much do you use the 42T cog? If you up-size the chainring you will lose out on lower gearing making climbing harder.

I have a similar issue on my gravel bike. My plan is to up-size the chainring and fit a wider-range cassette.

 

[I like Skol]

Maybe you could have the best of both worlds? I'm sure it must be possible to somehow install 2 or 3 chainrings of different sizes onto a crank arm and then swap between them using some kind of derailiuer system, similar to the way that gears are changed at the rear wheel. If you could achieve this somehow then you could select the size of chainring that is most suitable for your current riding situation and still have the option to swap to an alternative chairing at other points in the ride rather than having to compromise with just one size of chainring for the whole ride?
Just sayin.....

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Maybe you could have the best of both worlds? I'm sure it must be possible to somehow install 2 or 3 chainrings of different sizes onto a crank arm and then swap between them using some kind of derailiuer system, similar to the way that gears are changed at the rear wheel. If you could achieve this somehow then you could select the size of chainring that is most suitable for your current riding situation and still have the option to swap to an alternative chairing at other points in the ride rather than having to compromise with just one size of chainring for the whole ride?
Just sayin.....

Yeah but...but...that's just not G*R*A*V*E*L

 

[Yellow Saddle]

1. 100X(46-42)/42= 9.5% increase
2. If the current chain is the correct length for your current set up then yes
3. Yes if you buy one with a compatible PCD for the bolt holes

Don't get clever with nice useful quantitative answers. The question was qualitative. Is 9.5% "huge"?

Edit: Smiley added in case someone replies again.

 

[figbat]

Is 9.5% "huge"?

Almost exactly the same as shifting from the 11T to 12T.

 

[Sharky]

In days of olde. A standard setup would have been 42/52 at the front with a 5 speed 14-18 at the rear.

A 42/11 gives a higher gear than a 52-14!
And I would have raced on the latter.

 

[Hugh Jampton]

I'm riding the bike mostly on the road and not really using the bigger cogs at the back. I like the single crank at the front, very clean look. When on my roadie, I rarely changed out of the big ring at the front.

When I purchased the bike, I expected to be able to maintain a similar pace. Sadly, I was wrong.

A cycling friend, stated that jumping beyond a 44t chainring would be too extreme a change. Just wanted to run it by you guys!