Mullet drivetrain conversion

[ColinJ]

I enjoyed this thread. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Mullet #3 - Return of the singlespeed!

 

[rivers]

Mullet #3 - Return of the singlespeed!

I don't think I could ever go singlespeed!

But there may be a few more changes coming in addition to the drivetrain....

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don't think I could ever go singlespeed!

But there may be a few more changes coming in addition to the drivetrain....

Gets popcorn...

 

[T4tomo]

So I'm about to change my drivetrain yet again. Still keeping the mullet set-up, but, I'm going 1x. And putting a whopper of a dinnerplate in the back. Front chainring will be a 40t for everyday riding, and when I'm bikepacking, I'll swap it out for a 36t. And the rear is going to be a whopping 11-51. This will keep a similar low gear to what I have now with a 36t. I'll need to swao out my deore m4100 RD for the M5100 to cope with bigger cassette. Parts should be here next week.

I was going to ask "why?" but I guess its "because I can".

I cant help thinking you've got yourself a pretty ideal set up, with some suitable low gears for touring when needed.

anyway good luck, it should be pretty straightforward compared to conversion 1

 

[rivers]

I was going to ask "why?" but I guess its "because I can".

I cant help thinking you've got yourself a pretty ideal set up, with some suitable low gears for touring when needed.

anyway good luck, it should be pretty straightforward compared to conversion 1

Partly because I can, but also one of the rivnuts holding my front mech has stripped and is just spinning. So every time I shift, there's a lovely groan that comes from the front mech. Options were either attempting to remove and re-drill/re-tap or go 1x. I'm opting for 1x. But I don't want to lose my low gearing because I seem to prefer to go bikepacking in hillier terrain. Since you can't go smaller than a 36t chainring on GRX (and even then only wolftooth make a 36t ring), I opted to go as big as I can in the rear.

 

[rivers]

Gets popcorn...

If it comes off, it won't be too exciting.

 

[Dogtrousers]

If it comes off, it won't be too exciting.

I'm easily entertained

 

[ColinJ]

I don't think I could ever go singlespeed!

They are hard work when hills are involved, true! Fun on flatter roads though, and on short climbs at no more than, say, 6-7%.

I ended up making mine into an unusual 1x6 mullet - a bar-end shifter on the left side of the handlebar because I had fitted a mirror on the right, and a DIY 6-speed cassette. I still ride it mainly in the original singlespeed gear but can now venture into hillier terrain if I want to.

I like the 1x11 bike that I have in Devon. That has a 42/42 bottom gear which is okay on 15%, a slog on 20%, but has so far failed to let me get up 25%. I don't tackle very many 25% climbs so I will probably leave the gears alone, but maybe if/when the cassette needs replacing I might investigate an 11-46 replacement. Alternatively, a 38 or 40 tooth chainring to replace the 42, though that would give me a pretty low top gear of only 38/11 or 40/11.