1×10?

[aewynn0915]

hi all

im thinking about going 1×10 on my bike the chain ring i use most is a 30 tooth and i use my 6,7,8,9 and 10 on my rear cassette
so really what im asking is how many teeth do i want? (im thinking maybe 34)
is the weight loss worth the loss of the widespread gear ratio?

[OldspokeMTB]

"aewynn0915" wrote

hi all

im thinking about going 1×10 on my bike the chain ring i use most is a 30 tooth and i use my 6,7,8,9 and 10 on my rear cassette
so really what im asking is how many teeth do i want? (im thinking maybe 34)
is the weight loss worth the loss of the widespread gear ratio?

This is what I have encountered switching to 1X10 drivetrain. I have 2 bikes my Santa Cruz Bronson is a 2×10 set up and use it for more enduro type riding. Having a 24t for longer climbs helps me out quite a bit 😕 My other bike is a Niner WFO9 w/ 1×10. I originally went with a 34t up front and changed my big sprocket on the cassette to a 40t. This set up would be ok for me, but only for downhill. Climbing pretty much sucked. I’ll be honest I don’t really enjoy climbing all that much. So I changed the rear to a 42t a little better. But still not small enough for me to push going up. So I dropped the front chainring to a 30t skipping 32t. So I currently ride it as Raceface Narrow wide 30t front and XTR 11t/42t on the cassette. This seems to be the best setup for me. I also run a Zee derailleur and Saint shifter on this bike. I will tell you it takes some getting used to but I do love it. As far as weight goes the WFO frame is heavier than the Bronson but with the 1×10 I probably shed a pound and the bike comes in under 29lbs not bad for a BIG 29ner running Flow’s with 2.5 Minions on it.Hope this helps.

[aewynn0915]

thank you my only thought is i recently set my friend up tubeless on a 32 tooth and hes having a hard time cuz how slow he is now

[schwim ✓ supporter]

"aewynn0915" wrote

thank you my only thought is i recently set my friend up tubeless on a 32 tooth and hes having a hard time cuz how slow he is now

Is he slowing down on climbs? Top speed? Shifting through the meat and potatoes of the range shouldn’t be any worse than with a 2 or 3x. If you were to try to shift through the actual gear range of a 2x, you would have to start in the small up front and big out back, shift up twice on the rear, up on the front and down two on the rear, back up four on the rear, up on the front, down two on the rear….. etc. etc ad nauseum. Nobody rides this way. They select a front ring for the range and then use the rear to progress through that range. When they’ve exceeded or fallen under the range for that front ring, they shift the front to put them in a more applicable range and repeat.

Using a 1x takes away the upper and lower range of a 2 or 3x and puts you somewhere in the middle (instead of 22 and 40 ranges, you get somewhere around 32) so you can expect losing your granny and rocket range but if you’re pedaling in the 32’s range, it should be just like when you had a 2x on the bike.

Some people don’t have the legs and lungs to lose their granny and others’ rides have some fast triple track or roads that require something closer to a roady gear. If you fall into only one of these circumstances, you can install a 1x ring shifted toward that need. If you need both, then the 1x isn’t for you.

Let’s look at what you lose on the low(granny) end of things.

You can see that going from a 22 on the front to a 30 while keeping a 36 tooth granny on the rear adds a whopping 6+ inches to each revolution of the cranks. If, however, you were to install a 42 tooth on the back, you would cut that in half, adding only 3 inches to each revolution.

Personally, I would be unable to use the 1x without going to a 42 tooth rear. I don’t have the legs for it. Your buddy might be in the same boat. He may want to take a look at WolfTooth’s 42 tooth gear for the rear. They also sell a 16 tooth middle gear replacement to smooth out the middle range and longer b screw and goat link to get your derailleur to play nice with the frisbee-sized gear.

[aewynn0915]

he is slowing as far as top speed which is why im thinking maybe a 34 because the cog i use most now is a 30 but i stay in the 6,7,8,9,10 gears on the back

[schwim ✓ supporter]

If you’re using mostly the faster cogs on the back, definitely consider going with a taller ring like a 34-36 up front.

[aewynn0915]

ok thank you

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