All of the parts to start the mullet drivetrain conversion on my gravel bike have arrived! The deore mech and 11 speed cassette arrived at work today, and the shiftmate arrived the other day to my house. Since I'm going 2x, I'll have quite the range (19-111 gear inches, so a whopping 583% range). I should get up most things on that while loaded.
Mullet drivetrain conversion
- Thread starter rivers
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If I went 11-46 instead of 11-42, I would get 638% (17.96"-115").
Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
If that suits you then good luck with it.
But most people find a front triple a pain in the ar$e.
matticus
Guru
That's the weird thing - 3x9 did just work!
(I have 3x8 on my "road" bike - not as huge a range as 600%, but it does work perfectly well! Micro-indexed front helps, IMO, don't know why more makers haven't done it... )
chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
I've been interested in Mullet drive trains for a while, however I don't know much about Shimano Mullets so i'll be interested to see how you get on and what parts you've needed.
I'm running SRAM Rival 1 on my gravel bike with a 10 - 42 cassette and as I found out to my cost, running a stock 36 tooth chainring was really not conducive to loaded hill climbing. I'm currently running a 32t chainring, which to be fair, gives me a more than adequate gear range most of the year. When I go touring though, I do swap it out for a 28t chainring in order to get up the hills, but obviously then sacrifice a bit of top end speed. I really don't want to change the bike to 2x though, not only do I really like 1x, but fitting a front derailleur would comprise my ability to run the fat tires I need for the terrain around here.
Intriguingly, whilst many mulllet options exist for SRAM, it turns out there is actually a simple and "cheap" way. SRAM rear mechs have a plastic cable fin that the cable wraps around before going into the retaining bolt. Swapping the cable fin from a road derailleur (Rival or above) onto a mountain bike derailleur (Eagle GX or above), changes the pull ratio, so that SRAM road levers will actuate a mountain bike derailleur. This then gives the option of 10 - 50 cassettes on the bike. The problem with all of this, is that SRAM don't sell the cable fin as a spare part, so you need two very expensive derailleurs to swap the parts around on.
Even better still, Ratio parts in Britain, offer a 12 speed conversion kit, so I can could go super wide range with a 12 speed set up, however I just can't justify the expense for the few times I really need the extra wide range, as stated above, most of my riding needs are met by my current set up and swapping the chainring is cheap and easy to give me the taller gears for when I go touring.
I'm running SRAM Rival 1 on my gravel bike with a 10 - 42 cassette and as I found out to my cost, running a stock 36 tooth chainring was really not conducive to loaded hill climbing. I'm currently running a 32t chainring, which to be fair, gives me a more than adequate gear range most of the year. When I go touring though, I do swap it out for a 28t chainring in order to get up the hills, but obviously then sacrifice a bit of top end speed. I really don't want to change the bike to 2x though, not only do I really like 1x, but fitting a front derailleur would comprise my ability to run the fat tires I need for the terrain around here.
Intriguingly, whilst many mulllet options exist for SRAM, it turns out there is actually a simple and "cheap" way. SRAM rear mechs have a plastic cable fin that the cable wraps around before going into the retaining bolt. Swapping the cable fin from a road derailleur (Rival or above) onto a mountain bike derailleur (Eagle GX or above), changes the pull ratio, so that SRAM road levers will actuate a mountain bike derailleur. This then gives the option of 10 - 50 cassettes on the bike. The problem with all of this, is that SRAM don't sell the cable fin as a spare part, so you need two very expensive derailleurs to swap the parts around on.
Even better still, Ratio parts in Britain, offer a 12 speed conversion kit, so I can could go super wide range with a 12 speed set up, however I just can't justify the expense for the few times I really need the extra wide range, as stated above, most of my riding needs are met by my current set up and swapping the chainring is cheap and easy to give me the taller gears for when I go touring.
The Jtek Shiftmate 9 might work for your set-up http://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate/shiftmate-compatibility-charts-choices/.
I'm giving it a go this weekend- I'm really only worried abput installing a new gear cable. My orro is internally cabled and the enters through the headset. Should be fun...
Don't know where you get 'most people'? Have you done a survey?
I like my triple - a lot. If you live in a hilly area, or you are doing long distance runs with significant climbs, then a triple chainset can be a very practical piece of equipment. It might not be obvious, but with a triple, in my experience, you tend to have fewer front gear changes than you do with a double.
Smokin Joe
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bare headed cyclist, Smoker
Yes I have.
I look at any bikes I see and almost all are doubles. I'm talking road bikes, BTW.
chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
Thanks, I've just looked it up and it certainly seems that it will work with my set up and it's another way I could go, it's quite a clever looking thing.
Internal cables, good luck with that one, that's one bit of technology that I'm glad my bike doesn't have!
I know that compact doubles have pretty much taken over the road bike scene, but I think that there are still a lot of old triples out there - I have one in my garage - and I'd still use it for some of the hillier rides round here. My other bike is a sub-compact double, so I'm not biased.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I'd not come across the term "mullet" in this context before. I'm just not with it. Sent me off down several rabbit holes reading about it. Interesting stuff.
Best of luck with it and looking forward to updates.
Best of luck with it and looking forward to updates.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I hadn't either, but it is effectively what I did to my CAADX after my first hilly ride on it. My lowest gear was 36/30. I switched the chainring for a 34, and put a MTB cassette and rear derailleur on so I now have a 34/36 grovelling gear.
As for triples on road bikes... I was struggling to climb 20-25% ramps in the 39/29 bottom gear on my CAAD5 so I put a triple and a new cassette on. That bike has a much more ramp-friendly 28/30 bottom gear now.
I 'shaved off the mullet' on one bike which now just has a 2 x 1!
The gear cable should not be too difficult if you are only replacing the inner. If you have to change both, leave the inner in place until you have replaced the outer if you can.
