Upgrading components

[kay oh]

Has anyone done this?

I have been riding my Giant Talon for about six months, and I want to swap out my triple-chainring stock Shimano group for a SRAM 1×10 group. I’m thinking it will cut out the chain slap (and some weight), plus I literally NEVER use the outer chainrings on trail rides.

I’m also planning to get a better fork (the stock Suntour only does 110mm, I was thinking about a 140mm-ish Fox or Rockshok) and a DROPPER POST so that I can finally get my backside over the rear wheel.

Any thoughts?

[schwim ✓ supporter]

The act of going from a 3x to a 1x setup is not what will help with the chain slap. Upgrading to any derailleur with a clutch is. The 1x chainring is almost always smaller than the middle ring of a 3x(where most people spend the majority of their time), so that in itself can make the chainslap worse. The solution is just making sure you’re in a big/big gear combo when on the bouncy stuff so it will pull the chain sufficiently tight. Instead of small ring up front and 5 gears in on the rear, choose the middle ring up front and towards the granny on the rear. It will give you the same leg RPM but is a much better combo for reducing chain slap. If you never use the large ring, take it off and remove enough links in your chain to cover second ring/granny and you’ll improve your situation a bunch. Not to talk you out of going 1x but if that’s the primary reason you’re doing it, I’d save my money.

As for your fork, going from a 110 to a 140 is a huge jump and is going to make quite a difference in how the bike handles. 30 mm will slacken the steering making it more stable at high speed and will make it harder to steer in the tight stuff(because it wants to keep going straight). It will also affect your climbing on steeps as it’s tilting you off the back of the bike more. If you’re set on this type of change, I’d look for a fork that allows you to select between fork lengths. I personally wouldn’t want to be married to that type of change 100% of the time.

Dropper posts are always a good idea 🙂

[spazjensen]

I had this problem. I rarely used my 3rd chainring so swapped it for a bash guard. I had alot of chain slack from before. I was swapping the rear derailleur to a mid-length shorter cage and a better derailleur at the time. Giving me more chain slack. I simply took out four or five links of chain. Just enough to allow the derailleur to provide tension and to shift all gears properly.

[spazjensen]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>And what he said about the fork change. I did the same swap, but I wanted the extra travel and downhill stability knowing that tight tedious sections would be harder and the long uphills would be harder. Find myself going after all the downhill and bigger hits but shying away from all uphill</p></p>

[Alvin Mullen]

KS eTen is a decent 100mm dropper for around $140, I am happy with mine.

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