1x9 chainring size

Cqc

Hi I'm thinking of ging from 3x9 to 1x9 with a race face narrow wide chainring. I have a 12-34 cassette and wasn't sure between the 32t and 34t sizes (they don't come in 33t). I want a gear low enough to get up the climbs with but one high enough to pedal hard on the downhills as near me there are some pedally descents and I'm thinking of entering some gravity enduros next year so I don't want to be spun out downhill either. I mainly ride in the Surrey hills and sometimes south Wales. When I was looking at the ratios, the gaps at the harder gears were bigger between the 32 and 34 than at the easier gears. What do you guys recommend? Is there a noticeable difference between the two?

Chunkers1980

32, 33, 34 front wil make less difference than having a 11-36 rear for what you want

Cqc

Yeah but SRAM don't make 9 speed 11-36 cassettes

The Northern Monkey

get a shimano one then..

nicklouse

why a narrow wide chain ring? hat do you think you will gain over a non profiled one?

and why 36T?

Cqc

Getting a non wide narrow ring and a chain guide costs more than just a wide narrow ring, and I don't want to buy a new cassette that won't work as perfectly, so what do you think, 32t or 34t?

The Rookie

You'll still need a chain guide as you won't have a damped rear mech, so narrow/wide will cost you more.

So what gears do you have now you can't do without? I don't know how you ride, where you ride, how fit you are so can't tell you what chainring to get, but ride a standard triple in the middle ring and if you can get up all the hills you want to in second, then get a 34, if you have to drop to first at the rear, get a 32!

paul.skibum

As said above - you can only decide based on what you are capable of riding with your current set up.

I have been riding with a view to switching to 1x10 from 3x9 and sticking in my middle ring as much as possible - easy enough in much of england - struggled on prolonged climbs in wales though - figure If I can make a 32t front and 32t back work for most of my riding then switching to 32t front and 36t rear will be fine.

I dont think shimano or sram do a 11-36t cassette for 9 speed do they?

cubedean

paul.skibum wrote:

As said above - you can only decide based on what you are capable of riding with your current set up.

I have been riding with a view to switching to 1x10 from 3x9 and sticking in my middle ring as much as possible - easy enough in much of england - struggled on prolonged climbs in wales though - figure If I can make a 32t front and 32t back work for most of my riding then switching to 32t front and 36t rear will be fine.

I dont think shimano or sram do a 11-36t cassette for 9 speed do they?

Shimano do, i'm using one. (Deore HG50 i think)

I converted from 2 x 9 (24/38) to 1 x 9 running a 32t ring & it seems about perfect for me.

The Rookie

I've seen a Shimano12-36 (HG61) not an 11-36 - and it weighs a tonne.....well 450g!

Cqc

I can get up most climbs in the middle ring (32t) of the 3x9 set up but then the max gear on some of the descents is too light so would a 34t make a substantial difference on the descents without making the min gear on the climbs too hard? Have any of you switched fom 32 to 34 or vice versa and felt a difference? Btw are you sure I'll need the chain guide?

WindyG

Well if you go for a 32T from what you have just said it won't meet all your needs and never will on the descents, however if you go for a 34T all you will need to do is get fitter for it to work for you, everybody is different I can ride uphill with a 34T - 11-36 but others I know need a 32T but overall they are fitter than me, so it's only something you can work out . As to needing a chain guide it will depend on the terrain for XC use no, however for downhill if might be needed.

Cqc

Cheers, just worried that 34t up front may still not meet my needs downhill and also not meet my needs uphill either in which case I would use a 32t so at least I've got it good uphill. Is it a big jump?

Cqc

Whoops sorry just realised I have a 11-32t cassette, does that mean if I get an 11-34t cassette with a 34t chainring I will have the same low gear as a 32 front 32 rear but a higher high one? Thanks

jimothy78

Cqc wrote:

Whoops sorry just realised I have a 11-32t cassette, does that mean if I get an 11-34t cassette with a 34t chainring I will have the same low gear as a 32 front 32 rear but a higher high one?

Yes

paul.skibum

You need to be gunning it a bit to spin out a 32t to 11t set up - roads and so on maybe but I would struggle to find a sufficiently smooth track where I wasnt on my DH bike to need more gears - even my DH bike is only 36t to 11t max gear and I usually find I need can still pedal that downhill on road (tyres do drag quite a lot though!)

The Rookie

I agree, you'll be doing over 27mph by the time you are near spinning out (as in over 120rpm cadence - in reality you can do short burts at 160rpm if you try) on 32/11, by which time on most bikes the benefits of an extra mph or 2 you may be able to squeeze out are fairly limited unless it's in competition, and off road on a hardtail at that speed you probably won't want to be sitting and pedaling anyway!

If going 1x on anything but a DH bike though, always get the widest cassette feasable (11-34 for a 9 speed, ignoring that you can build a very heavy 11-36 using an HG61 and modifying to get an 11T smallest sprocket).

rockmonkeysc

Spinning out in top is much less of a problem than not having a low enough ratio to get up big climbs.
I use 11-36 cassette with a 34t chain ring. Usually thats fine for me but I found it pretty hard going on the Quantocks today.