changing to 1x Drivetrain

[formula400]

here's a question, until recently I'd not bought a new bike in the last 10 years, they both had 3 cogs at the front, now ive got a T140 MTB on order and it has 1 cog, and my Canyon Roadlite 6 has 2, I've been watching some videos and come across this one from Francis Cade, he talks about to changing to x1 at the front, basically unless your pro, more than one is not really necessary (or is that bulls*it), ive done a few miles on mine and not used the smaller one at the front, I quite like the idea as it make maintenance easier I assume, as there is less to go wrong and less to adjust, less stuff on the handle bars, or is it a waste of time, what's involved and need??? is it the case of just a new crank and chain and removing the gear change controls???

not sure if I will do it but its quite interesting.

[weeksy]

Yeah it's a simple process, you may not even need a new crank. You'll need to split chain though really.

The downside is you can find yourself between gears sometimes, large spread of gears means bigger gaps between ratios. But yes, it tidies up the bars and drops a bit of weight etc.

Depends how big the hills are where you're riding really

[formula400]

when you say "between gears" what do you mean, is that a case of shifting the front cog to a smaller ring

[weeksy]

Say your preferred cadence is 85 rpm and that is say gear 6 on an incline. You may find that gear 5 is too spinny and gear 6 too tough because you've only got 1 ring

So let's assume it's a 36t front and you have gear 6 with 22t on the back, the cassette is 11-32 Because you've got say a 3 ring setup currently, gear 5 will be 24t

But on a single, you've got a 36t but your cassette is 11-42. Now 5th gear will be 26 and 6th 20t instead, needing bigger gaps as you've got a greater 42 instead of a 32.

When pedalling you really want that 24, but it's not there.

With the 3 ring, you could go small 24 on the front, plus your 11, which gives you the ratio you need, or 50 on the front in your big ring and 32, which again gives you the same but a different process.

But If you've only got the 1 front ring, you need to accept it may be too high or low at times for what your preference is.

[formula400]

right that sort of make its clearer, cheers, right next question, if the smaller cog if removed from the front, and the rear cassette stays the same it will still be the same right????

what I am asking is lets say I ride all of next week, to work and back, days out, flat and hills and I never change to the smaller front cog it would be ok???

[demographic]

Whats the worst that can happen?
You'll possibly have to get off and push on a big hill

[weeksy]

right that sort of make its clearer, cheers, right next question, if the smaller cog if removed from the front, and the rear cassette stays the same it will still be the same right????

what I am asking is lets say I ride all of next week, to work and back, days out, flat and hills and I never change to the smaller front cog it would be ok???

Correct. Assuming you keep the same size ring

[porter_jamie]

all my bikes are 1x now, even the old 26" heckler and camber. my missus says she prefers 1x as its one less thing to worry about. the main benefit i can see is you get much better ground clearance at the BB so you wont be bending teeth on the big ring anymore.

the way to do 1x10 is to get a bigger low gear - they do 40t, and and split the cassette and bin off one of the cogs in the middle. you can get a different sized middle gear to reduce the now resultant jump in the middle. overall the shifting is a bit shit, and a goatlink helps but not really. you also need a narrow wide front sprocket and a clutched mech.

overall best way is to go 1x11 sram but you probably need an xd freehub. you can go 1x11 and use a shimano type cassette (11t biggest gear) but they are heavier.

my ebike came with 1x12 and i wish it was only say 1x8 as its just a pain in the arse having to change so many gears all the time. the chain would be much wider and last longer too.

[MingtheMerciless]

Do keep on top of chain wear and swap out the chain at the earliest sign of wear and the cassette will last much better.

[Mr Moofo]

36 is a big frontie as your introduction - i would go 32 0r 34 max ....

[Beancounter]

I did it on my Whyte Stirling. It made the easier to clean and lost a tiny bit of weight but in hindsight it was a foolish swap. I’m sure the chain line helped ruin the bearings on my rear hub though maybe I’m just looking for something to blame. I was running a 30t upfront with a 38t (IIRC) on the rear and it always felt a little grindey going up things like Croom’s Hill (Greenwich Park - 6.3%). I’m a lot bigger than you and not as fit so bear that in mind.

Edit. As P_J mentions, the shifting was never spot on, even with new components, I always had a couple of gears that rubbed.

[weeksy]

36 is a big frontie as your introduction - i would go 32 0r 34 max ....

I assumed we were talking roadie.

[Mr Moofo]

36 is a big frontie as your introduction - i would go 32 0r 34 max ....

I assumed we were talking roadie.

Okay my bad.
Thankfully a subject I know nothing about

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

my ebike came with 1x12 and i wish it was only say 1x8 as its just a pain in the arse having to change so many gears all the time. the chain would be much wider and last longer too.

This, my ebike is 1x11, at most I only need 5 gears and could get by with 3 if they had wide enough spacing, I've never used anything other than the middle five gears on my ebike.

[weeksy]

Yeah i don't get 12 speed E-bikes i have to say... when would you really need a 42 tooth rear when you've got a motor.... it's daft.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Yeah i don't get 12 speed E-bikes i have to say... when would you really need a 42 tooth rear when you've got a motor.... it's daft.

It's for the masochists who like to turn the motor off, the Ebike groups I'm in on Facebook seem to have a few vocal people who do this and then brag about the range they get.

[Beancounter]

Yeah i don't get 12 speed E-bikes i have to say... when would you really need a 42 tooth rear when you've got a motor.... it's daft.

I needed the 42t to get up one of the climbs at Peaslake (Gasson's Farm).

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Yeah i don't get 12 speed E-bikes i have to say... when would you really need a 42 tooth rear when you've got a motor.... it's daft.

I needed the 42t to get up one of the climbs at Peaslake (Gasson's Farm).

Are you using Turbo, also can you add a picture so we can see how steep it is, or just send me OS grid reference so I can have a look at the map, though that doesn't show much, steepest climb I do is here

https://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=61943 ... pp=map.srf

on the bridleway going north to south, the bit just north of the rail line, in the middle of the S bends, looks like nothing on the map, but it's a short steep climb

[Beancounter]

Yeah i don't get 12 speed E-bikes i have to say... when would you really need a 42 tooth rear when you've got a motor.... it's daft.

I needed the 42t to get up one of the climbs at Peaslake (Gasson's Farm).

Are you using Turbo, also can you add a picture so we can see how steep it is, or just send me OS grid reference so I can have a look at the map, though that doesn't show much, steepest climb I do is here

https://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=61943 ... pp=map.srf

on the bridleway going north to south, the bit just north of the rail line, in the middle of the S bends, looks like nothing on the map, but it's a short steep climb

Yup, using turbo. No photos of this hill but here's the Strava segment details (hopefully it's accurate - certainly feels like it when trying to get up the bloody thing!):

[derek badger]

I always end up walking up Gasson's farm with a 11-42 rear and 32 front, but then I'm a short fat fuck...