To go for 10 speed XT or not.... Advice please!

miss notax

Hello

Notax has got himself a new (well, almost new!) Orange 5 which currently has a mix of SLX and XT kit. He has got a good quote for upgrading to 10 speed XT with just a double ring, instead of the current triple. He has been told by the bike shop that you are only actually losing 2 ratios compared to the triple ring - is this right?

Which ratios will he lose? The Orange will be used for UK trails but also in the Alps etc for bigger stuff. How will it compare to the triple ring?

He needs to make a decison this afternoon and would be grateful for any thoughts / advice! I am quite content with the gear set-up on my bike, so this is not a subject that I know much about :?

Thanks!

Pirahna

Can't comment on the XT but I swapped from a 22/32/44 to 26/38 on the front, with an 11/32 cassette on the back. It basically removes the highest and lowest gears is the easiest way to explain it.

sheepsteeth

i personally cant see the need to "upgrade" to 10 speed but if a new bike came with it already id be happy to have it.

if i was replacing worn out stuff then id be tempted by 10 speed but again, i wouldnt just change it for the fun of changing it.

lawman

I've got full 10 speed xt, running 24/38 rings at the front and 11-36 cassette, the gear range is great, I've lost the equivilant of three cogs when I'm in my highest gear, compared to a standard triple, which is only noticable on long road downhills, I've never run out of gears off road and I very rarely use the granny ring now, I can keep it in the big 38t ring 90% of the time and use te full range of gears at the back. IMO double chainsets are the way to go now, seems to be perfect for what I like riding and I can see why roadies now use doubles on all high end bikes, they're just better

Frodo1095

If you run 26/39 up front with a 12-36 cassette out back you only loose 3 gears over a conventional 3 x 9 set up.
Those gears being the top 2 and bottom 1.
If it is an 11 - 36 cassette then you mayy only loose the top 1 gear but will still loose the bottom 1 gear.
The lowest gear on a 2 x 10 sits between the very granny gear on a 3 x 9 and the next gear up, I have only been riding just over a year and I hardly noticed it.

2 x 10 is great, I love my 2 x 10 on my FS and 1 x 10 on my hardtail.

climbingkev

I have the 9sp xt, replaced the 32t middle ring with 36t and the 44t outer with a bashguard. I've lost the higher gears but never missed them.

However, I don't think you can get a 36t 10sp xt middle ring (I may be wrong, but I can't find one online/shimano site). This would leave you with 22/32t front set-up.......not a great range and a more significant loss of the higher ratios. I'm presume that Shimano have done this so people upgrade to 2x10sp xtr as it's the same case with 3x10sp slx.

Unless, the shop is going to put the forthcoming (June I think) xt kit on it, which would pretty much keep the range of 30 gears, but with less "in-between" i.e a very slightly bigger difference between gears as a result of losing the overlap 3 chainrings offer, which I doubt I'd notice and would probably prefer........

So I'd say awesome to the forthcoming xt kit and mmmmmm....no if it's a 22/32t chainring set-up. But that's just me and how I ride, I assume the 5 would be used for the same xc/trail purposes.

The shop may of course source a non-shimano 36t, 10sp chainring - which would work.

Definately worth clarifying this with them. If it's Orange doing the upgrade (i.e. the Gamut bash option) you'll get 22/32t as I've asked them this question before.

Phew, ...Hope that helps!?

Just read back the previous posts and it appears some have got 36 or other similar toothed chainrings - I stand corrected!

In which case 2x10 is the way to go!

miss notax

Wow, thank guys

I'm not sure I - personally - understand all of the technical stuff, but i'll pass this onto Notax!!

.blitz

still debating whether to go to 9 speed

cee

for me...

I wouldn't bother going to 10 speed. Its true that you don't lose many gears at all....maybe 2...sounds about right....

I wouldn't do it because it seems to be so intolerant of the slightest little knock to the mech...throws it out to easily for my liking.....

having said that....that is based on the experience of one mates bike who has it....not necessarily sure that it was right in the first place or what...but is constantly fiddling with the cable tension adust knob on the lever..if you know what i mean....

difference between 2x9 and 2x10 isn't exactly huge either.

miss notax

Interesting....

I think Notax is considering it as he would like to upgrade a few bits and peices anyway, so if there was a time to make a massive change then this is it!

Looks like a bit more research might be in order 8)

lawman

Tbh it's more about the range of gears on ten speed rather the extra cog, I've got a 9 speed 12-36 deore cassette on my second bike and if I could find a light weight one (it weighs 440g's :shock: ) then I wouldn't bother with ten speed. So to get te range and the light weight, the only way to go is ten speed. As for adjustment, I haven't touched mine since new and it's fantastic stuff, time will tell on how it copes with mud, but to do that I have to get the mojo seriously muddy and that's just not gonna happen

Pirahna

To work out gearing you need to understand "gear inches" (my opinion only). Have a look here:

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3521

It's worth downloading the spreadsheet from the link as well.

Thewaylander

For most british trails i would 1*10 is an ideal set up and a few of my freinds are no hitting 1*10 though i like to keep my smaller gears cos my bike is fat.

But it's rare off road you get to use a full 42 ring, unless you predominately ride fire track. Tell him from yes do it now.


And as to peopel questioning the shifting and so on of 10 speed, House mate has it on his marin which we use for uplifting and so on, and trails and i must say they aer smooth and have given no issues in the 4 months he has been riding it.

Kaise

I was thinking of changing the front on mine to a "compact" set up with 2 rings, but it means changing my shifter and, tbh i dont think it will actually give me anything over what i have already!

tsenior

kaiser

i went from 3 to 2x9 by removing the big ring and adjusting the limit screw. no new stuff required.

got 3x9 and 3x7 on my other bikes

depends what you use it for: if big steep ups and downs for me the 2 x 9 is ideal, for more gradual changes in slope the others allow more carefull selection but on the main bike i'm either crawling up or hurtling down

if i lived somewhere a bit flatter I would really like 1 ring up front as its the front mechs that always seem to give me problems

leaflite

Ive got a 3x10 xt groupset with a 11-36 cassette. IMO it is a big improvement as you can do 99% of hills without having to change down into the granny wheel. From what ive heard, 2x10 is equally good.

Thewaylander

leaflite wrote:

Ive got a 3x10 xt groupset with a 11-36 cassette. IMO it is a big improvement as you can do 99% of hills without having to change down into the granny wheel. From what ive heard, 2x10 is equally good.

Where do you live mate, somewhere flat

tsenior

the main benefits AFAIAC is that by having a bash you dont keep hitting the big ring on edges/sticking it in logs, you are less likely to open up your leg/take a chunk out of your knuckles up on it also the acursed front mech is easier to set up

i really want 1 x 10, on the next HT i get.

Kaise

i might give this a go at some point and give a bit of feed back.

I ride a TT bike to and from work a fair bit and thats a 2x10 and its a 53-39 on the front and i get up some fair inclines on that, bridge valley road in bristol isnt a problem.

But when it comes to the bouncy bouncy i have know i'd need the lower gear and was thinking of getting rid of the granny ring instead of the big stick, i cant rememeber the ratio thats on the bike at the minute

by limiting the derailleur am i not going to get indexing problems?

Dick Scruttock

I went from 3x9 X0 to 2x10 X0 and only really notice the missing gears when doing long open downhill runs on fire roads or roads.

Just got a new bike with 3x10 XT on it so will see how that performs.

supersonic

I find with some dual chainset ratios I am changing much more at the front, while with a triple I stay more in the middle, and use the extremes when needed.

lawman

supersonic wrote:

I find with some dual chainset ratios I am changing much more at the front, while with a triple I stay more in the middle, and use the extremes when needed.

well you're wierd then

supersonic

I just have stronger legs than you and can handle a 44 ;-)

sheepsteeth

i pretty much never used my big ring which is why i took it off. the extra clearance is a nice bonus which is why i havent replaced it with a bash.

bike-a-swan

supersonic wrote:

I find with some dual chainset ratios I am changing much more at the front, while with a triple I stay more in the middle, and use the extremes when needed.

+1. I want to like doubles (they're lighter, simpler, I'm only running an 11-32 on one bike anyway etc- what's not to like?), but on the proper cross country doubles I've tried I seem to be shifting between the two constantly. I had a go on what I'd call a downhill double, probably a 36 24 or something, and the 36 would have been alright but seriously lacked top end. For me it's 1x10 or 3x10, and the distances I do I want a nice low gear to grovel my way up the hills at the end of the day. I have a similar problem on the roadie, albeit not as bad.

As for 10 speed, I have comparable 9 and 10 speed setups on two bikes (mix of slx, xt, lx) and as far as I can tell there isn't a great deal of difference beyond the fact that I do seem to stay in the middle more than the people around me when I'm on the 10.

fattrucker

lawman wrote:

supersonic wrote:

I find with some dual chainset ratios I am changing much more at the front, while with a triple I stay more in the middle, and use the extremes when needed.

well you're wierd then

Good God Lawman what do you expect he's from Chap ! Course he's bloody wierd .

Conversely people that "appear" *normal* to us, in Chap are regarded by the locals as being wierd

Only jokin Supersonic cos I'd make you look normal