Odd question

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Big John

Guru
Since I packed in work at the end of Feb last year I've worked as a volunteer mechanic at a bike charity. What no one seems to have mentioned is the cost of replacing one of these mega cassettes. They're a lot more than one of your standard 12/28's. I don't see a problem with the idea of one chain ring at the front and a dinner plate on the back but it's when things wear out and you have to replace parts life becomes a tad more expensive. If you're happy with your triple on the front and your modest array of sprockets at the back then don't be tempted to the dark side unless you have deep pockets. Triples have been around forever, so have doubles. Singles are relatively early days yet but if my bike was giving me everything I wanted, gear-wise, why would I want to change?
 

Chislenko

Veteran
I suppose one advantage no left hand shifter to break and no cable to periodically replace.

I love my triple but do wonder about availability of bits and pieces as they become less fashionable, struggled badly to get a suitable new front mech recently.
 
Good morning,

I ride a road bike (42/52, 8 speed) and I looked at a 1x recently, shown below is a spreadsheet of gears that were relevant to me, I appreciate that they may be a different range for you.

The filled rows for the 1x are based on a 11-28 cassette, but I hope that it is at least a little bit useful. :-)

Green are my main gears, salmon I would really miss and orange are nice to have.

I came to the conclusion that going from 2x8 to 1x10 I would lose very little if I went for a 44 tooth chainring and this really surprised me, but also that a 1x8 would be a big step backwards. So 1x really makes sense only with 10 speed plus cassettes.

572968




Bye

Ian
 
Last edited:

figbat

Slippery scientist
When I built my gravel bike out of a 90s MTB I changed it from 3x7 to 1x10 (34x11-36) and put it on 700c wheels. In truth I did it because I could, because it was a thing, because why not? It turned out well enough though - I geared it to ensure I could climb and it does spin-out quickly on road descents but then I am not riding it as a fast road bike so I am happy to freewheel. I love the simplicity and cleanliness of no front mech and a single chainring and I have not noticed the bigger jumps between gears compared to a multi-ring bike; or at least I have not noticed a time where I couldn't find a gear that fitted the situation.

My 27.5er full-sus is 1x12 (34x10-50) - as noted up-thread it's a pricey cassette to replace, when the time comes, but again for the places I take it it has all the gears I need and a nice clean appearance and setup. My 29er hardtail is 3x10 (42-32-24x11-36) which, in truth, is more gears than I need - I do 90% of my time on the middle ring, 9% on the granny ring winching up hard climbs and 1% on the big ring on the rare fast downhill; I am considering changing it to a 2x up front. This bike has demonstrated the challenge of a FD though as in proper claggy mud the FD can get clogged up, occasionally enough to need a stop to clear it.

I too have a gearing spreadsheet that I used a lot when deciding on my gravel build and am using to consider the 2x modification and also whether to change the gravel setup for a wider cassette and bigger ring.
 
OP
OP
NickTB

NickTB

Veteran
When I built my gravel bike out of a 90s MTB I changed it from 3x7 to 1x10 (34x11-36) and put it on 700c wheels. In truth I did it because I could, because it was a thing, because why not? It turned out well enough though - I geared it to ensure I could climb and it does spin-out quickly on road descents but then I am not riding it as a fast road bike so I am happy to freewheel. I love the simplicity and cleanliness of no front mech and a single chainring and I have not noticed the bigger jumps between gears compared to a multi-ring bike; or at least I have not noticed a time where I couldn't find a gear that fitted the situation.

My 27.5er full-sus is 1x12 (34x10-50) - as noted up-thread it's a pricey cassette to replace, when the time comes, but again for the places I take it it has all the gears I need and a nice clean appearance and setup. My 29er hardtail is 3x10 (42-32-24x11-36) which, in truth, is more gears than I need - I do 90% of my time on the middle ring, 9% on the granny ring winching up hard climbs and 1% on the big ring on the rare fast downhill; I am considering changing it to a 2x up front. This bike has demonstrated the challenge of a FD though as in proper claggy mud the FD can get clogged up, occasionally enough to need a stop to clear it.

I too have a gearing spreadsheet that I used a lot when deciding on my gravel build and am using to consider the 2x modification and also whether to change the gravel setup for a wider cassette and bigger ring.
Thanks for that.
I’ve decided I like the bike enough to buy it and it’s a relatively decent price considering the pandemic. And seeing as I sold my last bike and the money is going on this one, it’s really little risk. I should get my money back if it turns out it’s not for me, or I could always upgrade to a 2x if needed
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
I heard SRAM could not get their front deraileur working correctly after so many years of trying so they just ditched it, called it "one by" and marketed the heck out of it. :smile:

On a more serious note, I've never used 1x but I cant imagine it's as good as a 2x system for road use. For MTB I can imagine it works well and less cleaning too.
 
Top Bottom