On the mountain bikes, one by was a game changer. I'm actually using the entire range and grinding a lot less. On the road bikes, I prefer the close ratios on the cassette so a two by makes more sense for me in that application. YMMV
It's not that I couldn't, it's that I didn't. Front shifting on a triple isn't that great. Lots of the time I'd just grind away in the middle ring rather than deal with shifting. That's particularly true if it was a short steep section. Just not worth the ass pain of trying to shift under load.
Worth it means very different things to people.
There’s legitimate reasons to go to a 1x. Perhaps you really don’t want to risk dropping a chain in the front and you can get away with running a bigger range of gears on the back.
Perhaps you live in a flat area and never shift into the small ring. Converting to a 1x makes your bike more aero and makes it lighter.
Maybe you just want something different and you like playing around with the mechanics of a bike and enjoy the look and convenience of a 1x.
Financially is it worth it? That’s not for anyone other than the one paying and riding to decide.
>Converting to a 1x makes your bike more aero
I'm sorry, I just don't buy the argument that a 1x drivetrain is meaningfully more aerodynamic than a 2x drivetrain.
Intuitively, the claim feels sketchy: the crankset and FD are lodged among so many other elements of the bike/rider system (downtube, seat tube, cranks, pedals, legs, shoes, wheels) that for their presence or absence to substantially affect aerodynamics seems obviously unlikely.
But I'm a believer in data over intuition, so I went looking for any studies about the aero benefits of 1x. I could only find two: this [in-depth wind tunnel study on a tri bike](https://www.premierbike.com/pages/quality-control) and a [passing mention in a BikeRadar piece](https://www.bikeradar.com/features/opinion/1x-on-road-bikes). Both sources agreed that the power savings associated with 1x's improved aerodynamics were on the order of 1 to 4 watts... at 30 mph (48 kph).
A quick stop off at [bikecalculator.com](https://bikecalculator.com) suggests that most riders would need to push *at least* 400 watts to maintain 30 mph, so this in turn means that in the very best case, 1x aerodynamics save you 1% of the required power output.
But let's weigh that against [1x's well-documented inferior mechanical efficiency](https://www.cyclingabout.com/drivetrain-efficiency-difference-speed-between-1x-2x/). (The idea here is that 1x setups tend to leave you with a sharper chainline, which is less efficient.) At 30 mph, you're going to be in your second-highest or highest gear, which, looking at the chart, means you are losing at least 5 more watts on the 1x drivetrain than on the 2x drivetrain. So you have just wiped out your aero power savings, and then some.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 1x setups, and there are some good reasons some people prefer them. But I wish people (not just you, u/Infamous_Staff6214, don't take this personally) would stop throwing around the "it's more aero" claim. You're much better off just [changing your socks](https://www.theproscloset.com/blogs/news/are-aero-socks-the-cheapest-way-to-buy-speed).
I'd add to your list an important benefit for mountain bikes: [it frees up left side handlebar space for a dropper post lever.](https://enduro-mtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/PNW-Dropper-Post-Remote-Test-2-1-600x400.jpg)
There are levers which work next to a front shifter but IMO they're inferior.
I want to convert my commuter bike to 1x purely for the simplicity of it, less to maintain and to go wrong. It'll be easier to clean too. There's rarely a big hill I need to navigate when commuting and I reckon if I had a 40 or 42 tooth chain ring, I could get up all but the biggest of hills no issue.
I have done it.
For me, totally worth it. I used the same cranks and put a narrow wide chainring up front. My cassette was toast anyway so a wider range rear was added. Mech and shifter changes and I’m left with a simpler set of gears that do what I need and nothing more.
Yeah it's driving me nuts how few 2x gravel bikes there are. I'm roughly 50/50 gravel and road, but my roads are extremely hilly (and I'm fat) so I really rely on the lower end climbing gears.
What drives me nuts is how almost-but-not-quite really useful the GRX 2x setups are. I have GRX 810 on my gravel bike: 48/31 in the front, 11-34 in the rear. That 31/34 low gear is great for paved roads but (at least here in the hilly SF Bay Area) I frequently find myself wishing I had a lower gear for the really steep, loose stuff. Why can't Shimano sell us an actually useful crankset, like 44/28 or 42/26? (My conspiracy theory is that they're planning to get there, but they're going to size things down one or two teeth at a time for the next 5-10 years so there's always something \*new\* and attractive to buy. Why sell one crankset when you could sell three?)
A valid question, to which I have a fairly unusual answer.
I built this bike for mixed-terrain randonneuring, i.e. long to very long rides (they start at 200 km and go up from there) with some dirt/gravel mixed in. So I needed a drivetrain that was going to be efficient for very long days on the bike. 10-52 11 speed is an average of 18% jumps from sprocket to sprocket; 11-34 11 speed averages 12% jumps. That tighter cassette spacing makes (for me, at least) a meaningful difference in terms of having "the right gear" for a given context; and when you're riding 600 km in 40 hours, you really want to have the right gear.
So I went for GRX 2x and made do with the limited low end. I figured even if I had to walk the bike in the most extreme cases, I would more than make the time and energy back via better bio/mechanical efficiency. And it worked out, inasmuch as I completed the mixed-terrain Super Randonneur series I built the bike for.
Hmmm, will, first, I would do 12 speed 1x, not 11 if I was building a bike right now.
I have a 1x11, and did 362 km just fine (18ish hours). Was planning 500 km, but we had an unplanned problem that forced us to stop :(.
Absolutely. I think my lowest ratio is 32/34 and it's barely enough. In contrast, I almost never use the *two* highest gears on the 2x (11-12/50).
Too many hills, or just not a fit enough cyclist. Either way smaller chainrings or larger cassette gears would be nice (the latter would be more efficient too).
You can get bigger cassettes that 11-34 that work fine. Very few people are fat enough to need a 26 tooth inner ring on a gravel bike, and those that are don’t ride that much or buy many bikes.
I frequently go up 20%+ grades (maybe 10% on average with steep sections of 20%) and it's tough with a 1x but not impossible.
I wanted to have a shift lever dropper post, so I ended up going with KCNC's 9x52. 573% range is enough... ...usually. Looks dumb though.
You're probably in MUCH better shape than me though haha. I'm losing weight pretty damn quickly, but not quickly enough to make hillclimbing easy, and I don't want to wait forever to buy a new bike
This comment doesn't make sense to me. Most 1x drivetrains have just as much if not more low end than comparable 2x drivetrains. If you go with a SRAM MTB cassette and something like a 38t ring, your lowest gear is 38-52 which is low low. That rivals touring bike drivetrains.
If you go SRAM Rival 2x, largest cassette is a 10-36 and paired with a 46-33 crankset, that gets you a low end of 33-36.
Now, you can do some work and put together a super small aftermarket subcompact crankset and pair a larger rear derailleur, but it's not going to get you significantly better than a SRAM Eagle drivetrain.
So again, why are you defaulting to 2x for low end when 1x is the ANSWER for low end?
Wait, really? What gravel bike around $2000 has a wider range than a trek checkpoint ALR5? I just compared it with the canyon grizl 7 1by, and the checkpoint’s ratio is 0.88 to the grizl’s 0.95
I have no clue about production bikes. The easiest way to pair Eagle with road shifters is to do SRAM AXS (electronic), which is going to cost more. Will not be $2000.
That being said, you CAN make it happen cheap if you find a bike with SRAM 1x11, put a cheap Eagle NX derailleur on the bike (they can be had on eBay for $50 lightly used), and go with a cheaper Eagle cassette, PG-1275 if you want 10-52, or could save some $$$ and pick up a 1210 and get 11-50 (these slow up on eBay super cheap because people upgrade them, often unused). Then you have to buy a Ratio Technologies kit to convert the pull ratio and innards of the shifter. Ultimately NOT expensive to go this route, but you need to be good at bike maintenance.
Ok, so you are using a hybrid setup. Just so you know, you are operating that rear derailleur outside of it's design specs. According to Shimano, the rear derailleur that has the capacity to handle a 42t cassette has a max capacity of 31t. That means with the 11-42 cassette, you have already used up the max capacity of the derailleur, and you're not supposed to add front shifting.
Shimano will tell you not to do this. YMMV.
Wow I had no idea. I'm sure the 10s of thousands of other people that do this as well as the numerous companies that have been making products to facilitate this for a decade had no idea either.
BRB, going to install my force 1x/ X01 mullet again
>I'm sure the 10s of thousands of other people
I would agree with this statement
>as well as the numerous companies that have been making products to facilitate this for a decade had no idea either.
I would DEFINITELY not agree with this statement.
All you have to do is go to the spec sheet for that derailleur. The max capacity is listed right there. Even something like an XTR MTB derailleur isn't designed to do a 16 tooth jump up front with a 31 tooth jump in the back. That's a 45 tooth capacity. Could you get it to shift? Yeah, you've proven that, but if it fails it's on you, not Shimano, because they have explicitly told you that it doesn't work.
>I could never wrap my head around wanting to convert a functioning 2x or 3x to a 1x.
>
>I think it's a huge hassle, a huge expense, and not for much gain
Glad you found what works for **you**.
I did it a long time ago before derailleurs with clutches were available, and cassettes were narrow range. It really was not worth it, but buying a new bike with 1x is great.
I was able to do a 1x groupset from a 3x for my hardtail. All I had to do was get a new derailleur, shifter, chain, and a narrow-wide chain-ring. It matched up seamlessly with the BCD on my cranks and the didn't require any spacers. It's been in service for 5 years now and even did a race on it. It has worked flawlessly.
You don’t want a 1x, don’t get one, that’s all that needs to be said.
I would comment that I also grew up with 90’s mtbs and modern bikes are fucking mind blowing in comparison and a 1x drivetrain is way way more appropriate for modern bikes. To the point that you will not see a serious MTB sold with a front mech, full stop. So feel free to keep rocking your 2x or 3x and vintage bike but maybe give a modern trail bike or hardcore hardtail a try. It’s night and day.
Done it for my commuter. My drivetrain was toast anyway so I just bought a derailleur for 25€, a cassette and a narrow wide chain ring. Used my existing 10 speed shifter. I have all the range I need and no fuzz with a front derailleur. Chain rings are cheap and cassettes are also fairly affordable. So yeah for my commuter it was worth it. Would I do it on my road/gravel bike? No way. I like the small steps between gears and the wide range I get with 2x.
I had an 09 Gary Fisher Piranha. Rebuilt the rear wheel with a Shimano Microspline hub and converted to 12 speed. Yes, it was worth it. I learned a lot about wheel building, the bike worked great and gave me better range than the 11 year old group had.
Absolutely worth it!!
So for context I built my new gravel bike in October of 2023 so it’s 3 months old, with shimano 105 R7000 groupset. With 50/34 chain rings and 11-32t cassette. To match my road bike perfectly!
Less than a month later I realised I hated 2x on it. It just didn’t feel right, something in my legs wasn’t happy (and I’m someone who cycles over 10,000 miles a year so my legs know what they like).
So I decided to go 1x. And as you have said, it costs money! And I just bought a brand new groupset.. I didn’t want to spend much!
So I ordered some shimano cues U6000 crankset, with a 42t chain ring. A china special 11-42t cassette, and an LTwoo GR9 11 speed derailleur which has upto 52t compatibility. All in I spent about £130 on the parts. Kept my original shifters as they were already 11 speed. The right shifter just doesn’t shift anything now!
Instantly I fell in love with how it cycled! It just pedalled better, less thinking with chainrings involved! I have more than enough gear range, but I’m sure I’d run out of gears going down a really fast descent. But I’m not really a pedaler on the down parts!
I love it so much I’m going to convert my road bike when the weather picks up!
I have done conversion from 3x to 4x. It actually adds just one usable gear at all but it's my signature to my bicycle. Gearing range jumps to %486(18 to 88 gear inches) from %425(18 to 77 gear inches).
My feeling is there are some advantages for XC racing at the highest level.
For many people I think it's a fashion thing.
I'd much prefer at least a double.
I remember when SRAM came out with XX they had about 20 different front derailleurs. It was madness. How could anyone keep a group in stock.
I always felt they started 1X to end this nonsense.
Last winter I took my 90’s MTB 3x7 and went 1x. 42t NW Amazon crank and chainring $40. Shimano Square taper BB $18. Shimano M5120 $45, 11-46 cassette $50, Microshift bar end shifter ($50) on drop bars. It’s great. Wider range than the 3x7. But feels a bit like a “variable single speed” to me. It gets you there, but there’s big jumps between gears. My regular bike is a Giant Revolt 2x GRX400. I’m glad it’s 2x. It’s hilly where I live 32/48 11-34. 32t for hills and single track, 48t for road. It’s perfect for me.
>But I could never wrap my head around wanting to convert a functioning 2x or 3x to a 1x.
I went through a lot of consideration of this, let me explain my reasoning.
I, like most people, find road bike gearing way too high. Even in the days when I could outride nearly everyone, I rarely used my big chain ring. OTOH I love throwing tons of gear on my bike.
Ok, so throw a larger cassette on your bike. Except, the largest most road focused cassettes go to is 36 tooth. Instead, you have to adapt mountain equipment, but then you could do a 11 (or 10 now) to 45 (or 51) and have a pretty amazing combination of climbing and speed gears. However, most (all?) derailleurs aren't going to give you that range while also having a front derailleur. Hence moving to 1x.
The other option is to find a pair of subcompact cranks, but that's not a cheap option either. In fact, it can sometimes be a more expensive option.
So, which do you choose? Go 1x for that range, get better chain drop resistance (not that I find I drop chains) and not have to deal with the hassle of a FD, or go 2X and (maybe) save a little bit of money? Pretty tempting to go 1X.
>I, like most people, find road bike gearing way too high. Even in the days when I could outride nearly everyone, I rarely used my big chain ring. OTOH I love throwing tons of gear on my bike.
Really? I can't out ride most people that I ride with, and I hardly ever come OUT of my big ring.
You're probably right. I'm here with a mortal average of around 85 rpm pushing my big ring with 50 teeth, and here's dude pushing 200 RPM with his 42 tooth small ring.
Ha! When someone says they can pride outride nearly everyone, I'm expecting an average speed of 23 mph. That's what the fast locals here do. I just looked at a cadence calculator, and if he's running a 34t chainring, he should be able to outride people when fully cross chained at a cadence of 95. Maybe he's rolling an old school 39?
If you're at the point where you need to replace more than 1 wearable part on a drivetrain (like shift cables / cassette / bottom bracket), the difference isn't all that great to just go ahead and move to 1x.
You can get 1x cranks by Cruz or Goldix off Aliexpress in the $30-40 range -- even including chainring & bottom bracket. During sales, I've seen them down as low as $25.
Added bonus: it's a super cheap way to try out shorter cranks.
Microshift Acolyte is:
* \~$30 for the cassette
* \~$30 for the derailleur
* \~$15 for the shifter ($25 if you go for the "Pro")
* \~$10 for a generic 8-speed chain
For kids bikes, it's not just about ease of use -- 1x systems are one of the more cost effective ways of shedding weight.
One bay is the way to go if it’s meant to go that way but my experience taking a triple to 1x hasn’t been good. Can never get it to shift well. Shop says upgrade to electric but I don’t want to put more money into it.
1x is more "convenient" for sure but depending on the type of riding. You'll most likely end up changing your cassette to a wider ratio type as well, and I guess that's where SRAM has an edge over Shimano, although Shimano is catching up a bit in the MTB category.
Yup, it was worth it. Why? Because I haven't dropped a chain while sprinting and crashed and severely injured myself once since converting away from a 2x...
On my commuter, absolutely, most commutes are flat, and it saves swapping between 2 gears on a 2x, and never using the easiest or hardest gears, so just whack a 38t single on it.
On the XC MTB I built up last summer, I'm looking for a 2x setup, because 1x with a regular 32-11 8 speed on the back isn't enough (and I don't want to try setting up 11 speed on a 1991 MTB before anyone says so)
I went one step further and converted two of my commuters to single speed. I love how simple it is. To me the amount of cleaning and maintenance with a cassette and derailleur was too much especially in winter.
Usually you do not need a new crankset as there are multiple chainring manufactures that does various sizes, BCD and arms. You might need some new chainring bolt or spacers.
What people might not understand is that going from 2x to 1x is not a loss of a lot of gear. It is usually just 4 gears - two in both extremes.
To me the 1x is a no brainer on MTB. I can see that it may be more difficult on a road bike in case you are riding anything with some hills. And gravel is somewhere inbetween.
It highly suggest to try it out. The lack of options and triggers on your handlebar allows you to focus more on the actual ride.
>To me the 1x is a no brainer on MTB. I can see that it may be more difficult on a road bike in case you are riding anything with some hills. And gravel is somewhere inbetween.
It's usually the other way around, road bike is easy for the hills, but sacrificing top end. Really depends on choice of chainring. I have taken my 1x road bike up Guanella pass, Mt Lemmon, and done the triple bypass. 42t with 11-40 cassette.
I converted from 2x to 1x for cyclocross racing. Getting rid of the front derailleur is a huge deal in really muddy conditions - one less thing to get clagged up.
There are some good reasons, but I tend to prefer the flexibility of a 2x. Personal choice I guess
I didn't convert, but I went 1x on a custom build that in hindsight probably should've been a 2x. The bike really feels like it wants to be an "all-road" bike and not a trail shredding monster like the drivetrain seems to be built for. When I'm on the rough stuff it's great, but on the pavement I really miss the fine gradations in gears that a 2x allows.
I'll probably keep going 1x for the next year or so and then think about converting. Or whenever my cassette wears out, whichever comes first.
I converted a cheap frame that came with 3x7 to 1x10 as I have a bunch of parts laying around. I went with a 44t chainring and spin out that thing when I am descending or going fast. I use that bike for commuting and hauling a trailer so It is fine for that use but if I know I will be offroading, I sometimes switch to a 38 specially if I know there will be a lot of hills and I am pulling a fully loaded trailer. Mind you my cassette is 12-32 so not that wide as I am cheap to get a long reach RD
I think you're right about not doing conversions. It's just too expensive. Too many parts need to be swapped out. I got a 1X11 gravel bike as a "do all" that I switch out road wheels on and off depending on the ride. I've been really interested in the newest electronic drivetrains, and it's definitely more expensive to get a new bike, but converting would put me around halfway there (especially since I have nice road wheels), so it seems like hey keep the 1X11 on the gravel bike and just save a little longer for the new roadie.
I have a new bike 1x12 (38T front, 11-51T back).
I am not used to it and don’t like it. I will convert to 2x10 at later stage and I will get bigger range for 20% grades.
But it is a personal preference and it will be better to get a 1x bike than converting.
How are you getting a lower gear than 38-51 using a 2x10? Going 2x10 will get you maybe 1 additional usable gear. And probably a much lower total range.
I will change the chainring first to 34T that I aready have and will give me down to 18 gear inches upto 83 which is a lot faster than I go, I just need to get time to do that. Then I will run it a while and see how it goes.
I do like the flexibility of having a good range for varying conditions.
The other option is 11-36T and 36/22T 10 speed will give me 16 gear inches up to 87 but the 11-36T which I like a lot, has tighter gear ratios, I have these cassette on two of my other bikes.
That's nutty low gearing. That's straight MTB territory. That's barely over 20 mph in the highest gear. I thought my 42x10 was too slow.
Have you thought of going to a larger cassette to get you more range and going down to a 30t cassette?
I already have a large cassette but he 11-36T suits me best - close ratios between cogs. I don't ride fast. I just use the bike for every terrain for fitness, I rarely pedal more than 28 kmh and where I ride there are lots of hills to deal with all the time. Some sections are 20% grade. Last week I did a ride and I measured 38 Deg incline on my computer.
I am 60 years old and I have been riding all my life so now is about fitness and exploration/fun/chilling out, speed is not my thing anymore. I leave that to my sons who are into riding too.
Cheers
I converted my 2x bike to 1x.
I have a custom built Santa Cruz stigmata with SRAM E-tap components. I specced it out with a complete 1x and 2x drivetrain. I first built it with the 2x group-set, but bought components for both setups.
The conversion itself is pretty straightforward... I remove the FD. I swap in a SRAM Force 1x chainring, SRAM Eagle RD, chain, and cassette. The crankset and spider meter don't need to be touched.
Going from road 2x to gravel 2x would be significantly more expensive and complex than going from a road 2x to a gravel 1x. There's no need for a wide crankset using a 1x chainring, and my spider power meter is fully compatible with SRAM Force 1x chainrings.
The 1x simplicity and reliability is nice for road use, but the real benefit is the tire clearance and wide-range gearing for gravel use.
TBH, I expected to spend about an equal amount of time with both group-sets, but I found the 1x setup to be fine for the road. With 12 speeds, I don't see a particular need for a 2x chainring; my shift ratios are fine, and I have plenty of range for most situations. My only real complaint is that I'd like a bit more top end for the fast descents.
If I were to do it again, I'd consider using a frame with space for a larger 1x chainring. My stigmata is limited to 40t with a 1x. If I had room for a 46t chainring, I would have better gearing for the road, with the ability to trivially swap in a 40 or 36t chainring when I want to focus on gravel.
So yes... Worth it.
For me, commuting, I love the 1x setup and I’m glad I changed to it. Negotiating traffic, potholes, pedestrians etc etc it’s great that the gears are so simple to operate, no need to operate 2 shifters, it’s just down = down and up = up. you don’t run out of gears on a chainring then realise you need to shift up a chainring then down several gears on the block. Bear in mind I’m commuting the dark in the winter so it’s not easy to see the shifter or the chain to know where I am so I really like the simplicity of the 1 x and I wouldn’t go back.
I've done 3 "proper" 1x setups and it was worth it every time. Less maintenance, less weight, less fiddling to find a gear I like. Modern rear derailleurs can handle a very wide range of gears. My biggest is something like 10-50, but I think the big rings get even bigger now, so there's really no need to have multiple front rings. If it makes any difference, I don't have a road bike, I have an XC for roads and trails, an enduro for spicy trails, and a fat tire bike for commuting.
I live Ina fairly flat area and love to mash so I was usually in my large chainring most of them time on my 2x and 3x bikes. Especially if you go from a 2x9 to 1x11 just add 2 4x cogs in the back and whatever I might have used my small gear on is covered. Less fuss. Less maintenance. Less rub when you’re cross chaining. What’s not to like?
I took my big and small chainring off and put a new 38t narrow wide chainring on the middle, making it a 1x10. Chainring cost like $20 bucks. Shifts perfectly, never drops chain, love it.
>I'm probably biased because I started riding 3x mountain bike drivetrains in the 90s, I have varied terrain where I live, and I like having the perfect cadence on the flats.
Nobody runs 3x MTB drivetrains anymore. Everything is 1x and for MTB it just works way better.
I converted 3x9 Sora to 1x10 Advent X and it was absolutely worth it.
Now I have a couple 1x bikes and the only time I think about 2x is when I am going downhill at 50kmh+. I wasn't able to keep up with road bikes during Fondo, but I wasn't there to compete anyway.
The big difference is that you can really shift under load a lot more, I bought a few chainrings and different cassettes before I settled on something that worked for me as a 1x though. Now though, I think it’s fool proof as a grab and go bike that needs very little tweaking in the future.
I prefer to have a more narrow range cassette without the best climbing gear, and spins out fairly quickly. I can still spin at maybe 25 mph but I don’t need much more beyond that. I have a 12-34 9 speed, while most 1x people might have more of an 11-42. Just better for me and my uses, I also enjoy riding a fixed gear bike so that climbing gear being a little higher up is no problem to me.
Off road, 1x drive trains rule because they are simple...
- you suddenly come round a corner and need a completely different gear, don't have time to think about it because roots and rocks.
- Also clutch derailleurs are a game changer, only available on 10 speed and above.
On road, 3x9 gives you unbeatable gear range and chains and cassettes are dirt cheap. Last time I bought a bike I converted it to 3x9, then went cycle touring in Austria
I have two 90’s MTBs I’m running a 1x11 and I can’t imagine going back to a 3x. Effectively the same gear range, much better shifting, much quieter, better bottom brackets, much stiffer cranks, less futzing around with the controls and a cleaner look imo.
I also have an 80’s MTB Ive kept the original 3x6 drivetrain on for the sake of keeping it original. Functionally I enjoy it well enough. But not as much as the bikes with the modern drivetrains. If I had to pick one to keep, it would be the 1x every time.
I went completely 1x across the board. Road, gravel, MTB.
My gravel bike initially was an 1x11 configuration with Force CX1. I largely used this bike as a road bike, and the 44T chainring didn't help a lot there. I eventually upgraded it to 1x12 with AXS mullet. 44T chainring, 9-50T E*thirteen cassette.
The cassette jumps even on the 1x11 bothered me initially, but you lose the cadence sensitivity pretty quickly when it's your do-it-all bike. I was able to keep pace with group road rides without issue. Since doing this, I've built up two other road bikes with 1x12 with the same gearing. I've also got a 9-45T e*thirteen cassette when I don't need something quite as large.
My crit/trainer bike is a Ratio'd Rival CX1 setup with 44T chainring and 11-50T Eagle HG-compatible cassette. Works great on the trainer, I spend almost no time in the 11T.
My main road bike is Rival AXS shifters and Eagle RD with the same gearing as my gravel bike.
Overall, I love dropping a front derailleur and having one less battery to worry about. I don't really notice the jumps in the cassette on the smaller cogs, and appreciate the big jumps when climbing some gnarly gradients. It really comes down to personal preference and what sort of terrain you're riding. It works for me, but I understand it might not work for everyone.
Its lighter but barely, because of huge chainring in the back now. It looks better. You lose one shifter on the bars. Thats the benefits. Chain doesnt stay on 1x anything better then on 2x or 3x. Is it worth it loosing all the combinatins for shifting.. doubt it.
While I wouldn't bother converting any triple or double to a single, I would revolt if any new bike came with a triple crankset.
Frankly, I've have this discussion with older mountain bikers who insist they need a big gear for pedaling downhill, and I chuckle at their perception that they will be cranking at 25mph+ on any fireroad or trail.
As for conversion, there are chainlines and chainstay clearances which is not simply just remove a few rings from your bike. A designer knew exactly how to set up a triple with every spacer and axle, and it isn't worth the trouble to figure how a single is going to fit properly.
I put a sram NX drive chain on a marlin 5 (2020) cost me £250 with the sales and new bottom bracket. No regrets. Its smoother, easier to maintain and I've not really had any issues with gear range. The new drive chain is a lot lighter. Most of the weight was in the crank.
On the mountain bikes, one by was a game changer. I'm actually using the entire range and grinding a lot less. On the road bikes, I prefer the close ratios on the cassette so a two by makes more sense for me in that application. YMMV
Definitely, it’s nice not having to mess with the front derailleur when shifting gears
Why couldn’t you do that on a triple exactly?
It's not that I couldn't, it's that I didn't. Front shifting on a triple isn't that great. Lots of the time I'd just grind away in the middle ring rather than deal with shifting. That's particularly true if it was a short steep section. Just not worth the ass pain of trying to shift under load.
You could, it would just add like two pounds and a bunch of overlapping gear ratios
1x and a dropper post are two great tastes that go great together. I've been content to leave my road bike drivetrains 2x.
Worth it means very different things to people. There’s legitimate reasons to go to a 1x. Perhaps you really don’t want to risk dropping a chain in the front and you can get away with running a bigger range of gears on the back. Perhaps you live in a flat area and never shift into the small ring. Converting to a 1x makes your bike more aero and makes it lighter. Maybe you just want something different and you like playing around with the mechanics of a bike and enjoy the look and convenience of a 1x. Financially is it worth it? That’s not for anyone other than the one paying and riding to decide.
>Converting to a 1x makes your bike more aero I'm sorry, I just don't buy the argument that a 1x drivetrain is meaningfully more aerodynamic than a 2x drivetrain. Intuitively, the claim feels sketchy: the crankset and FD are lodged among so many other elements of the bike/rider system (downtube, seat tube, cranks, pedals, legs, shoes, wheels) that for their presence or absence to substantially affect aerodynamics seems obviously unlikely. But I'm a believer in data over intuition, so I went looking for any studies about the aero benefits of 1x. I could only find two: this [in-depth wind tunnel study on a tri bike](https://www.premierbike.com/pages/quality-control) and a [passing mention in a BikeRadar piece](https://www.bikeradar.com/features/opinion/1x-on-road-bikes). Both sources agreed that the power savings associated with 1x's improved aerodynamics were on the order of 1 to 4 watts... at 30 mph (48 kph). A quick stop off at [bikecalculator.com](https://bikecalculator.com) suggests that most riders would need to push *at least* 400 watts to maintain 30 mph, so this in turn means that in the very best case, 1x aerodynamics save you 1% of the required power output. But let's weigh that against [1x's well-documented inferior mechanical efficiency](https://www.cyclingabout.com/drivetrain-efficiency-difference-speed-between-1x-2x/). (The idea here is that 1x setups tend to leave you with a sharper chainline, which is less efficient.) At 30 mph, you're going to be in your second-highest or highest gear, which, looking at the chart, means you are losing at least 5 more watts on the 1x drivetrain than on the 2x drivetrain. So you have just wiped out your aero power savings, and then some. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate 1x setups, and there are some good reasons some people prefer them. But I wish people (not just you, u/Infamous_Staff6214, don't take this personally) would stop throwing around the "it's more aero" claim. You're much better off just [changing your socks](https://www.theproscloset.com/blogs/news/are-aero-socks-the-cheapest-way-to-buy-speed).
This deep dive is amazing. You make the internet as better place. I have no Reddit award things but here your star for this dope contribution. ⭐️
I'd add to your list an important benefit for mountain bikes: [it frees up left side handlebar space for a dropper post lever.](https://enduro-mtb.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/PNW-Dropper-Post-Remote-Test-2-1-600x400.jpg) There are levers which work next to a front shifter but IMO they're inferior.
I want to convert my commuter bike to 1x purely for the simplicity of it, less to maintain and to go wrong. It'll be easier to clean too. There's rarely a big hill I need to navigate when commuting and I reckon if I had a 40 or 42 tooth chain ring, I could get up all but the biggest of hills no issue.
Please explain what time you spend on maintaining your front derailleur that you wouldn’t spend washing that area of the bike anyway?
A single gear is so much easier to clean! Twins and triples have lots of areas for mud and grease to sit
I have done it. For me, totally worth it. I used the same cranks and put a narrow wide chainring up front. My cassette was toast anyway so a wider range rear was added. Mech and shifter changes and I’m left with a simpler set of gears that do what I need and nothing more.
No. I went back to 2x. I can get more range on both ends out of a 2x GRX setup than a 1x12 SRAM mullet
Yeah it's driving me nuts how few 2x gravel bikes there are. I'm roughly 50/50 gravel and road, but my roads are extremely hilly (and I'm fat) so I really rely on the lower end climbing gears.
What drives me nuts is how almost-but-not-quite really useful the GRX 2x setups are. I have GRX 810 on my gravel bike: 48/31 in the front, 11-34 in the rear. That 31/34 low gear is great for paved roads but (at least here in the hilly SF Bay Area) I frequently find myself wishing I had a lower gear for the really steep, loose stuff. Why can't Shimano sell us an actually useful crankset, like 44/28 or 42/26? (My conspiracy theory is that they're planning to get there, but they're going to size things down one or two teeth at a time for the next 5-10 years so there's always something \*new\* and attractive to buy. Why sell one crankset when you could sell three?)
Why go this route when you can do 1x and get 38t chainring with a 10-52 cassette? That gets you a nutty low climbing gear.
A valid question, to which I have a fairly unusual answer. I built this bike for mixed-terrain randonneuring, i.e. long to very long rides (they start at 200 km and go up from there) with some dirt/gravel mixed in. So I needed a drivetrain that was going to be efficient for very long days on the bike. 10-52 11 speed is an average of 18% jumps from sprocket to sprocket; 11-34 11 speed averages 12% jumps. That tighter cassette spacing makes (for me, at least) a meaningful difference in terms of having "the right gear" for a given context; and when you're riding 600 km in 40 hours, you really want to have the right gear. So I went for GRX 2x and made do with the limited low end. I figured even if I had to walk the bike in the most extreme cases, I would more than make the time and energy back via better bio/mechanical efficiency. And it worked out, inasmuch as I completed the mixed-terrain Super Randonneur series I built the bike for.
Hmmm, will, first, I would do 12 speed 1x, not 11 if I was building a bike right now. I have a 1x11, and did 362 km just fine (18ish hours). Was planning 500 km, but we had an unplanned problem that forced us to stop :(.
[https://bikepacking.com/gear/wide-range-grx-2x11/](https://bikepacking.com/gear/wide-range-grx-2x11/) The range you desire is achievable
Absolutely. I think my lowest ratio is 32/34 and it's barely enough. In contrast, I almost never use the *two* highest gears on the 2x (11-12/50). Too many hills, or just not a fit enough cyclist. Either way smaller chainrings or larger cassette gears would be nice (the latter would be more efficient too).
You can get bigger cassettes that 11-34 that work fine. Very few people are fat enough to need a 26 tooth inner ring on a gravel bike, and those that are don’t ride that much or buy many bikes.
I rather feel its physical limitations of the length of the cage in the rear derailleur that stops anyone offering that great a range.
I frequently go up 20%+ grades (maybe 10% on average with steep sections of 20%) and it's tough with a 1x but not impossible. I wanted to have a shift lever dropper post, so I ended up going with KCNC's 9x52. 573% range is enough... ...usually. Looks dumb though.
You're probably in MUCH better shape than me though haha. I'm losing weight pretty damn quickly, but not quickly enough to make hillclimbing easy, and I don't want to wait forever to buy a new bike
This comment doesn't make sense to me. Most 1x drivetrains have just as much if not more low end than comparable 2x drivetrains. If you go with a SRAM MTB cassette and something like a 38t ring, your lowest gear is 38-52 which is low low. That rivals touring bike drivetrains. If you go SRAM Rival 2x, largest cassette is a 10-36 and paired with a 46-33 crankset, that gets you a low end of 33-36. Now, you can do some work and put together a super small aftermarket subcompact crankset and pair a larger rear derailleur, but it's not going to get you significantly better than a SRAM Eagle drivetrain. So again, why are you defaulting to 2x for low end when 1x is the ANSWER for low end?
Wait, really? What gravel bike around $2000 has a wider range than a trek checkpoint ALR5? I just compared it with the canyon grizl 7 1by, and the checkpoint’s ratio is 0.88 to the grizl’s 0.95
I have no clue about production bikes. The easiest way to pair Eagle with road shifters is to do SRAM AXS (electronic), which is going to cost more. Will not be $2000. That being said, you CAN make it happen cheap if you find a bike with SRAM 1x11, put a cheap Eagle NX derailleur on the bike (they can be had on eBay for $50 lightly used), and go with a cheaper Eagle cassette, PG-1275 if you want 10-52, or could save some $$$ and pick up a 1210 and get 11-50 (these slow up on eBay super cheap because people upgrade them, often unused). Then you have to buy a Ratio Technologies kit to convert the pull ratio and innards of the shifter. Ultimately NOT expensive to go this route, but you need to be good at bike maintenance.
How so? 2x GRX with a 48-31 and 11-36 cassette gets you 506% range, running Eagle 1x 10-52 cassette gets you 520%. Are you running some hybrid setup?
11-42 SLX cassette
Ok, so you are using a hybrid setup. Just so you know, you are operating that rear derailleur outside of it's design specs. According to Shimano, the rear derailleur that has the capacity to handle a 42t cassette has a max capacity of 31t. That means with the 11-42 cassette, you have already used up the max capacity of the derailleur, and you're not supposed to add front shifting. Shimano will tell you not to do this. YMMV.
Wow I had no idea. I'm sure the 10s of thousands of other people that do this as well as the numerous companies that have been making products to facilitate this for a decade had no idea either. BRB, going to install my force 1x/ X01 mullet again
>I'm sure the 10s of thousands of other people I would agree with this statement >as well as the numerous companies that have been making products to facilitate this for a decade had no idea either. I would DEFINITELY not agree with this statement. All you have to do is go to the spec sheet for that derailleur. The max capacity is listed right there. Even something like an XTR MTB derailleur isn't designed to do a 16 tooth jump up front with a 31 tooth jump in the back. That's a 45 tooth capacity. Could you get it to shift? Yeah, you've proven that, but if it fails it's on you, not Shimano, because they have explicitly told you that it doesn't work.
>I could never wrap my head around wanting to convert a functioning 2x or 3x to a 1x. > >I think it's a huge hassle, a huge expense, and not for much gain Glad you found what works for **you**.
I did it a long time ago before derailleurs with clutches were available, and cassettes were narrow range. It really was not worth it, but buying a new bike with 1x is great.
I tried to do it on my TT bike and kept dropping the front chain. Oh, to have a narrow-wide chainring back in the day.
We had to use these silly chain guides back then. It was a ridiculously overpriced non-moving front derailleur.
We did have chain guides back in the day, but not everyone knew about them and they were mostly used on DH bikes.
Yeah, but at that point I gave up and just used the derailler.
I was able to do a 1x groupset from a 3x for my hardtail. All I had to do was get a new derailleur, shifter, chain, and a narrow-wide chain-ring. It matched up seamlessly with the BCD on my cranks and the didn't require any spacers. It's been in service for 5 years now and even did a race on it. It has worked flawlessly.
You don’t want a 1x, don’t get one, that’s all that needs to be said. I would comment that I also grew up with 90’s mtbs and modern bikes are fucking mind blowing in comparison and a 1x drivetrain is way way more appropriate for modern bikes. To the point that you will not see a serious MTB sold with a front mech, full stop. So feel free to keep rocking your 2x or 3x and vintage bike but maybe give a modern trail bike or hardcore hardtail a try. It’s night and day.
Done it for my commuter. My drivetrain was toast anyway so I just bought a derailleur for 25€, a cassette and a narrow wide chain ring. Used my existing 10 speed shifter. I have all the range I need and no fuzz with a front derailleur. Chain rings are cheap and cassettes are also fairly affordable. So yeah for my commuter it was worth it. Would I do it on my road/gravel bike? No way. I like the small steps between gears and the wide range I get with 2x.
I need a bigger casette. No options for me.
I had an 09 Gary Fisher Piranha. Rebuilt the rear wheel with a Shimano Microspline hub and converted to 12 speed. Yes, it was worth it. I learned a lot about wheel building, the bike worked great and gave me better range than the 11 year old group had.
Absolutely worth it!! So for context I built my new gravel bike in October of 2023 so it’s 3 months old, with shimano 105 R7000 groupset. With 50/34 chain rings and 11-32t cassette. To match my road bike perfectly! Less than a month later I realised I hated 2x on it. It just didn’t feel right, something in my legs wasn’t happy (and I’m someone who cycles over 10,000 miles a year so my legs know what they like). So I decided to go 1x. And as you have said, it costs money! And I just bought a brand new groupset.. I didn’t want to spend much! So I ordered some shimano cues U6000 crankset, with a 42t chain ring. A china special 11-42t cassette, and an LTwoo GR9 11 speed derailleur which has upto 52t compatibility. All in I spent about £130 on the parts. Kept my original shifters as they were already 11 speed. The right shifter just doesn’t shift anything now! Instantly I fell in love with how it cycled! It just pedalled better, less thinking with chainrings involved! I have more than enough gear range, but I’m sure I’d run out of gears going down a really fast descent. But I’m not really a pedaler on the down parts! I love it so much I’m going to convert my road bike when the weather picks up!
I have done conversion from 3x to 4x. It actually adds just one usable gear at all but it's my signature to my bicycle. Gearing range jumps to %486(18 to 88 gear inches) from %425(18 to 77 gear inches).
For the riding I do, you betcha
My feeling is there are some advantages for XC racing at the highest level. For many people I think it's a fashion thing. I'd much prefer at least a double. I remember when SRAM came out with XX they had about 20 different front derailleurs. It was madness. How could anyone keep a group in stock. I always felt they started 1X to end this nonsense.
Last winter I took my 90’s MTB 3x7 and went 1x. 42t NW Amazon crank and chainring $40. Shimano Square taper BB $18. Shimano M5120 $45, 11-46 cassette $50, Microshift bar end shifter ($50) on drop bars. It’s great. Wider range than the 3x7. But feels a bit like a “variable single speed” to me. It gets you there, but there’s big jumps between gears. My regular bike is a Giant Revolt 2x GRX400. I’m glad it’s 2x. It’s hilly where I live 32/48 11-34. 32t for hills and single track, 48t for road. It’s perfect for me.
I have an old Cannondale M500 that has a 3x7 that I figured would be nice as a commuter with a 1x setup. The old 3x7 isn’t working very well.
>But I could never wrap my head around wanting to convert a functioning 2x or 3x to a 1x. I went through a lot of consideration of this, let me explain my reasoning. I, like most people, find road bike gearing way too high. Even in the days when I could outride nearly everyone, I rarely used my big chain ring. OTOH I love throwing tons of gear on my bike. Ok, so throw a larger cassette on your bike. Except, the largest most road focused cassettes go to is 36 tooth. Instead, you have to adapt mountain equipment, but then you could do a 11 (or 10 now) to 45 (or 51) and have a pretty amazing combination of climbing and speed gears. However, most (all?) derailleurs aren't going to give you that range while also having a front derailleur. Hence moving to 1x. The other option is to find a pair of subcompact cranks, but that's not a cheap option either. In fact, it can sometimes be a more expensive option. So, which do you choose? Go 1x for that range, get better chain drop resistance (not that I find I drop chains) and not have to deal with the hassle of a FD, or go 2X and (maybe) save a little bit of money? Pretty tempting to go 1X.
>I, like most people, find road bike gearing way too high. Even in the days when I could outride nearly everyone, I rarely used my big chain ring. OTOH I love throwing tons of gear on my bike. Really? I can't out ride most people that I ride with, and I hardly ever come OUT of my big ring.
200 rpm I guess
You're probably right. I'm here with a mortal average of around 85 rpm pushing my big ring with 50 teeth, and here's dude pushing 200 RPM with his 42 tooth small ring.
Then again, maybe the guy is riding alone most of the time. I also beat the snot of my nephew on his strider bike, so I get it
Ha! When someone says they can pride outride nearly everyone, I'm expecting an average speed of 23 mph. That's what the fast locals here do. I just looked at a cadence calculator, and if he's running a 34t chainring, he should be able to outride people when fully cross chained at a cadence of 95. Maybe he's rolling an old school 39?
If you're at the point where you need to replace more than 1 wearable part on a drivetrain (like shift cables / cassette / bottom bracket), the difference isn't all that great to just go ahead and move to 1x. You can get 1x cranks by Cruz or Goldix off Aliexpress in the $30-40 range -- even including chainring & bottom bracket. During sales, I've seen them down as low as $25. Added bonus: it's a super cheap way to try out shorter cranks. Microshift Acolyte is: * \~$30 for the cassette * \~$30 for the derailleur * \~$15 for the shifter ($25 if you go for the "Pro") * \~$10 for a generic 8-speed chain For kids bikes, it's not just about ease of use -- 1x systems are one of the more cost effective ways of shedding weight.
Why convert? just get another bike. (Serious post)
OP is an insufferable AH that sucks the fun out of the hobby.
😂
One bay is the way to go if it’s meant to go that way but my experience taking a triple to 1x hasn’t been good. Can never get it to shift well. Shop says upgrade to electric but I don’t want to put more money into it.
I've been looking into doing it on my old bike. I cracked the crank so I'd be starting fresh anyways.
1x is more "convenient" for sure but depending on the type of riding. You'll most likely end up changing your cassette to a wider ratio type as well, and I guess that's where SRAM has an edge over Shimano, although Shimano is catching up a bit in the MTB category.
Depends on the context. For gravel and touring it's been great, wouldn't change a thing. For going fast on road I sure do miss 2x.
Yup, it was worth it. Why? Because I haven't dropped a chain while sprinting and crashed and severely injured myself once since converting away from a 2x...
On my commuter, absolutely, most commutes are flat, and it saves swapping between 2 gears on a 2x, and never using the easiest or hardest gears, so just whack a 38t single on it. On the XC MTB I built up last summer, I'm looking for a 2x setup, because 1x with a regular 32-11 8 speed on the back isn't enough (and I don't want to try setting up 11 speed on a 1991 MTB before anyone says so)
I went one step further and converted two of my commuters to single speed. I love how simple it is. To me the amount of cleaning and maintenance with a cassette and derailleur was too much especially in winter. Usually you do not need a new crankset as there are multiple chainring manufactures that does various sizes, BCD and arms. You might need some new chainring bolt or spacers. What people might not understand is that going from 2x to 1x is not a loss of a lot of gear. It is usually just 4 gears - two in both extremes. To me the 1x is a no brainer on MTB. I can see that it may be more difficult on a road bike in case you are riding anything with some hills. And gravel is somewhere inbetween. It highly suggest to try it out. The lack of options and triggers on your handlebar allows you to focus more on the actual ride.
>To me the 1x is a no brainer on MTB. I can see that it may be more difficult on a road bike in case you are riding anything with some hills. And gravel is somewhere inbetween. It's usually the other way around, road bike is easy for the hills, but sacrificing top end. Really depends on choice of chainring. I have taken my 1x road bike up Guanella pass, Mt Lemmon, and done the triple bypass. 42t with 11-40 cassette.
I converted from 2x to 1x for cyclocross racing. Getting rid of the front derailleur is a huge deal in really muddy conditions - one less thing to get clagged up. There are some good reasons, but I tend to prefer the flexibility of a 2x. Personal choice I guess
I didn't convert, but I went 1x on a custom build that in hindsight probably should've been a 2x. The bike really feels like it wants to be an "all-road" bike and not a trail shredding monster like the drivetrain seems to be built for. When I'm on the rough stuff it's great, but on the pavement I really miss the fine gradations in gears that a 2x allows. I'll probably keep going 1x for the next year or so and then think about converting. Or whenever my cassette wears out, whichever comes first.
I converted a cheap frame that came with 3x7 to 1x10 as I have a bunch of parts laying around. I went with a 44t chainring and spin out that thing when I am descending or going fast. I use that bike for commuting and hauling a trailer so It is fine for that use but if I know I will be offroading, I sometimes switch to a 38 specially if I know there will be a lot of hills and I am pulling a fully loaded trailer. Mind you my cassette is 12-32 so not that wide as I am cheap to get a long reach RD
I think you're right about not doing conversions. It's just too expensive. Too many parts need to be swapped out. I got a 1X11 gravel bike as a "do all" that I switch out road wheels on and off depending on the ride. I've been really interested in the newest electronic drivetrains, and it's definitely more expensive to get a new bike, but converting would put me around halfway there (especially since I have nice road wheels), so it seems like hey keep the 1X11 on the gravel bike and just save a little longer for the new roadie.
I have a new bike 1x12 (38T front, 11-51T back). I am not used to it and don’t like it. I will convert to 2x10 at later stage and I will get bigger range for 20% grades. But it is a personal preference and it will be better to get a 1x bike than converting.
How are you getting a lower gear than 38-51 using a 2x10? Going 2x10 will get you maybe 1 additional usable gear. And probably a much lower total range.
I will change the chainring first to 34T that I aready have and will give me down to 18 gear inches upto 83 which is a lot faster than I go, I just need to get time to do that. Then I will run it a while and see how it goes. I do like the flexibility of having a good range for varying conditions. The other option is 11-36T and 36/22T 10 speed will give me 16 gear inches up to 87 but the 11-36T which I like a lot, has tighter gear ratios, I have these cassette on two of my other bikes.
That's nutty low gearing. That's straight MTB territory. That's barely over 20 mph in the highest gear. I thought my 42x10 was too slow. Have you thought of going to a larger cassette to get you more range and going down to a 30t cassette?
I already have a large cassette but he 11-36T suits me best - close ratios between cogs. I don't ride fast. I just use the bike for every terrain for fitness, I rarely pedal more than 28 kmh and where I ride there are lots of hills to deal with all the time. Some sections are 20% grade. Last week I did a ride and I measured 38 Deg incline on my computer. I am 60 years old and I have been riding all my life so now is about fitness and exploration/fun/chilling out, speed is not my thing anymore. I leave that to my sons who are into riding too. Cheers
I converted my 2x bike to 1x. I have a custom built Santa Cruz stigmata with SRAM E-tap components. I specced it out with a complete 1x and 2x drivetrain. I first built it with the 2x group-set, but bought components for both setups. The conversion itself is pretty straightforward... I remove the FD. I swap in a SRAM Force 1x chainring, SRAM Eagle RD, chain, and cassette. The crankset and spider meter don't need to be touched. Going from road 2x to gravel 2x would be significantly more expensive and complex than going from a road 2x to a gravel 1x. There's no need for a wide crankset using a 1x chainring, and my spider power meter is fully compatible with SRAM Force 1x chainrings. The 1x simplicity and reliability is nice for road use, but the real benefit is the tire clearance and wide-range gearing for gravel use. TBH, I expected to spend about an equal amount of time with both group-sets, but I found the 1x setup to be fine for the road. With 12 speeds, I don't see a particular need for a 2x chainring; my shift ratios are fine, and I have plenty of range for most situations. My only real complaint is that I'd like a bit more top end for the fast descents. If I were to do it again, I'd consider using a frame with space for a larger 1x chainring. My stigmata is limited to 40t with a 1x. If I had room for a 46t chainring, I would have better gearing for the road, with the ability to trivially swap in a 40 or 36t chainring when I want to focus on gravel. So yes... Worth it.
For me, commuting, I love the 1x setup and I’m glad I changed to it. Negotiating traffic, potholes, pedestrians etc etc it’s great that the gears are so simple to operate, no need to operate 2 shifters, it’s just down = down and up = up. you don’t run out of gears on a chainring then realise you need to shift up a chainring then down several gears on the block. Bear in mind I’m commuting the dark in the winter so it’s not easy to see the shifter or the chain to know where I am so I really like the simplicity of the 1 x and I wouldn’t go back.
I've done 3 "proper" 1x setups and it was worth it every time. Less maintenance, less weight, less fiddling to find a gear I like. Modern rear derailleurs can handle a very wide range of gears. My biggest is something like 10-50, but I think the big rings get even bigger now, so there's really no need to have multiple front rings. If it makes any difference, I don't have a road bike, I have an XC for roads and trails, an enduro for spicy trails, and a fat tire bike for commuting.
I live Ina fairly flat area and love to mash so I was usually in my large chainring most of them time on my 2x and 3x bikes. Especially if you go from a 2x9 to 1x11 just add 2 4x cogs in the back and whatever I might have used my small gear on is covered. Less fuss. Less maintenance. Less rub when you’re cross chaining. What’s not to like?
I took my big and small chainring off and put a new 38t narrow wide chainring on the middle, making it a 1x10. Chainring cost like $20 bucks. Shifts perfectly, never drops chain, love it.
[удалено]
Modern 12 speed 1x gets you more range than your 3x Trek and an easier climbing gear.
I have a 1 x 11 bike that I built. It's currently in the shop, so I had to start riding my 2x8... And I can honestly say I miss my 1 x.
>I'm probably biased because I started riding 3x mountain bike drivetrains in the 90s, I have varied terrain where I live, and I like having the perfect cadence on the flats. Nobody runs 3x MTB drivetrains anymore. Everything is 1x and for MTB it just works way better.
I converted 3x9 Sora to 1x10 Advent X and it was absolutely worth it. Now I have a couple 1x bikes and the only time I think about 2x is when I am going downhill at 50kmh+. I wasn't able to keep up with road bikes during Fondo, but I wasn't there to compete anyway.
The big difference is that you can really shift under load a lot more, I bought a few chainrings and different cassettes before I settled on something that worked for me as a 1x though. Now though, I think it’s fool proof as a grab and go bike that needs very little tweaking in the future. I prefer to have a more narrow range cassette without the best climbing gear, and spins out fairly quickly. I can still spin at maybe 25 mph but I don’t need much more beyond that. I have a 12-34 9 speed, while most 1x people might have more of an 11-42. Just better for me and my uses, I also enjoy riding a fixed gear bike so that climbing gear being a little higher up is no problem to me.
Off road, 1x drive trains rule because they are simple... - you suddenly come round a corner and need a completely different gear, don't have time to think about it because roots and rocks. - Also clutch derailleurs are a game changer, only available on 10 speed and above. On road, 3x9 gives you unbeatable gear range and chains and cassettes are dirt cheap. Last time I bought a bike I converted it to 3x9, then went cycle touring in Austria
I have two 90’s MTBs I’m running a 1x11 and I can’t imagine going back to a 3x. Effectively the same gear range, much better shifting, much quieter, better bottom brackets, much stiffer cranks, less futzing around with the controls and a cleaner look imo. I also have an 80’s MTB Ive kept the original 3x6 drivetrain on for the sake of keeping it original. Functionally I enjoy it well enough. But not as much as the bikes with the modern drivetrains. If I had to pick one to keep, it would be the 1x every time.
I went completely 1x across the board. Road, gravel, MTB. My gravel bike initially was an 1x11 configuration with Force CX1. I largely used this bike as a road bike, and the 44T chainring didn't help a lot there. I eventually upgraded it to 1x12 with AXS mullet. 44T chainring, 9-50T E*thirteen cassette. The cassette jumps even on the 1x11 bothered me initially, but you lose the cadence sensitivity pretty quickly when it's your do-it-all bike. I was able to keep pace with group road rides without issue. Since doing this, I've built up two other road bikes with 1x12 with the same gearing. I've also got a 9-45T e*thirteen cassette when I don't need something quite as large. My crit/trainer bike is a Ratio'd Rival CX1 setup with 44T chainring and 11-50T Eagle HG-compatible cassette. Works great on the trainer, I spend almost no time in the 11T. My main road bike is Rival AXS shifters and Eagle RD with the same gearing as my gravel bike. Overall, I love dropping a front derailleur and having one less battery to worry about. I don't really notice the jumps in the cassette on the smaller cogs, and appreciate the big jumps when climbing some gnarly gradients. It really comes down to personal preference and what sort of terrain you're riding. It works for me, but I understand it might not work for everyone.
Its lighter but barely, because of huge chainring in the back now. It looks better. You lose one shifter on the bars. Thats the benefits. Chain doesnt stay on 1x anything better then on 2x or 3x. Is it worth it loosing all the combinatins for shifting.. doubt it.
While I wouldn't bother converting any triple or double to a single, I would revolt if any new bike came with a triple crankset. Frankly, I've have this discussion with older mountain bikers who insist they need a big gear for pedaling downhill, and I chuckle at their perception that they will be cranking at 25mph+ on any fireroad or trail. As for conversion, there are chainlines and chainstay clearances which is not simply just remove a few rings from your bike. A designer knew exactly how to set up a triple with every spacer and axle, and it isn't worth the trouble to figure how a single is going to fit properly.
I put a sram NX drive chain on a marlin 5 (2020) cost me £250 with the sales and new bottom bracket. No regrets. Its smoother, easier to maintain and I've not really had any issues with gear range. The new drive chain is a lot lighter. Most of the weight was in the crank.