1x9 expert advice

kerbbumper

Hi all, looking for some opinions on converting my stock carrera kraken 2013 to a 1x9 set up, or alternative with single ring up front.

I was thinking about keeping the cranks, adding a 30t front ring either wolftooth or race face adding a chain guide with top and bottom guides like the lopes from MRp. Then looking at adding the SRAM x9 or xo as the rear derailluer.

Did want to go with the shamans zee cranks but won't go with the square tapered bottom bracket.

Would the set up I am thinking of work well?? Or are there easier and better alternatives.. I.e change out the Bb, new cranks, cassette and add an clutch rear mech, then add the single front ring...

Would really really appreciate a guide on what you guys would do.

Current spec is a SRAM 12-32t cassette, triple front rings, SRAM x5 , 42/32/22
Full spec listed on the right hand side of review - http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... -12-46886/


Thanks for any help..

jimothy78

kerbbumper wrote:

Would the set up I am thinking of work well?? Or are there easier and better alternatives.. I.e change out the Bb, new cranks, cassette and add an clutch rear mech, then add the single front ring...

You probably wouldn't stand to gain much by upgrading the mech if you're intending to keep the X5 shifter - "weakest link" and all that. Also, you can't get clutch mechs on 9 speed systems, only 10. So, if you're considering changing the rear derailleur anyway (which is what you seem to be suggesting), then maybe 1x10 would make more sense - you could then get the Shimano Zee derailleur and shifter, which are meant to be very good. 10-speed would also potentially buy you an extra 2 teeth of range on your rear cassette (or even more if you forked out for one of those new-fangled range-expanders )

As for the crankset; IMO, there's not a great deal to be gain from switching away from square taper, so as long as everything's working as it should, just change the rings.

kerbbumper

Alright mate, yea I knew about no clutch mech on the 9 speed, it's why I was thinking of changing to the x9 I would also chang out the shifter.

The zee would be the ideal situation with a 10 speed cassette, advice elsewhere suggests the zee doesn't fit a square taper bb, so it would be pretty much a full new full new group set. Shifter, shadow + mech! new cassette, front ring! BB! cranks. Would it cause any issues to change the cassette to 10 speed.


If I am honest I am looking for the least work for decent value option, I know the zee cranks and shadow + are really good value options. Is there an alternative 9 speed option?

Thanks for the help.

lostboysaint

First bit of advice would be don't go smaller on your chainring, if anything you want to increase the size to a 34. A 12-36 or 11-34 cassette with that (depending on how hilly your local riding is) would work really well. My 1x9 set up (34 tooth Middleburn ring, 11-34 cassette, old XT mech) never unshipped a chain BUT make sure that it's been shortened so there's not masses of slack bouncing around - so I wouldn't bother with a chain guide unless you're riding fast down a lot of rooty stuff.

The easy answer to your "is there an alternative 9 speed option?" is yes. Ditch the granny ring and the outer ring, front mech and changer and hey presto you're running 1x9. Start with it as it is and then upgrade/change as necessary.

jimothy78

kerbbumper wrote:

advice elsewhere suggests the zee doesn't fit a square taper bb.

This is nonsense - you don't need to change the crankset to Zee as well - there's absolutely no reason you can't use the Zee rear mech and shifter with any crankset you like, (as long as you're only running a single ring on it).

Would it cause any issues to change the cassette to 10 speed.

As long as you change rear derailleur, rear shifter, cassette and chain all to 10-speed, nothing else needs to change, and any bike currently running a 9-speed system will be able to accept these changes.

If I am honest I am looking for the least work for decent value option, I know the zee cranks and shadow + are really good value options. Is there an alternative 9 speed option?

Well, the absolute minimum work option is simply to remove the front derailleur, shifter and large and small chainrings. That's all you need to do to go to 1x9. Ideally, replace the big ring with a bashguard and fit some sort of chain device or alternatively, some folks have had good results swapping the middle ring for a narrow/wide ring and not using a chainguide, but it would probably depend on the type of riding you do whether you'd end up with lots of chain drops or not.

Horton

Zee cranks normally come with a BB like most shimano units, although from memory it just comes in 34t ring size. It comes down to how much you want to spend really. I switched my hardtail to 1x10 with a zee shifter, RD and crankset, XT cassette and a SRAM chain. Probably cost a touch less than £200 all told.

No issues switching your cassette to 10spd but you will still need a new shifter and quite likely a new chain (best practice and all that) and a new RD. If you're replacing the ring with a NW one you can them see how you get on and maybe upgrade the crankset in the future.

Personally, in your position I would keep your current cranks if they're working ok for you, get a zee shifter and RD, whatever chain & cassette works for your budget and a n/w ring of your choosing. That way you won't need the chain guide which are both pricey (for MRP) and not always the easiest thing to fit at the best of times and if you don't have ISCG mounts, you would need a BB mounted version which only work with external BB, not square taper ones...

*AJ*

Horton wrote:

you would need a BB mounted version which only work with external BB, not square taper ones...

That's not true. BB mount chain devices work fine with the older style cartridge BB.

There's a lot of confusion going off in this thread.

Zee cranks wont fit the square taper BB as they are the newer Hollowtech 2 style cranks. But they should come with the new BB anyway so you don't need to worry about that. If i remember rightly the stock cranks on the Kraken do not have removable rings. You wouldn't want to use the standard middle ring anyway as they are ramped for shifting which means you would lose the chain easier.

If you therefore want to run 1x9 then I would change to the Zee cranks/BB and leave everything else alone for now.

Zee cranks and a 34T or 36T chainring (They may even come with a chainring as I have one on my commuter that came with a mates Zee cranks) with a cheapo top guide like the superstar one will do the trick

http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/x ... nguide.htm

Leave the rest of the gearing alone for now until you know you are happy with the single ring up front and understand if you need extra gears/ratios etc.

You can then at a later date upgrade the chain,cassette, rear mech and shifter in one go.

Ive just looked on CRC and for £80 you get the Zee cranks, 36T chainring and bottom bracket. The chain device from superstar is £17 so for less than £100 you can get yourself sorted with a fairly decent 1x9 set up.

lostboysaint

The only confusion on this thread is all the advice that he needs to do anything more than remove all the stuff associated with the triple and just get out and ride. (ideally shortening the chain as well, to suit).

Horton

*AJ* wrote:

Horton wrote:

you would need a BB mounted version which only work with external BB, not square taper ones...

That's not true. BB mount chain devices work fine with the older style cartridge BB.

Maybe, I don't know for sure having not done it - just assumed that as the chain guide replaces one of the spacers you use on an external BB and that older cartridge style BBs don't use those spacers that you would end up shifting the whole cartridge and therefore cranks across so they're not evenly spaced to the frame?

jimothy78

You're right, Horton. However you can get internal bbs designed for e-type mechs which have a built-in space and wider flange, and theoretically there's no reason they can't be used with a bb-mounted chain guide.

The Rookie

I would use an 11-34 cassette to give the best width of gears, a 32 or 34t should be better for most riding than a 30t unless you have a lot of hills on your riding.

I believe the Kraken has removeable rings, so just replace the middle ring with your chosen size, if not you'll need new square taper cranks or a complete new setup.

As for chain guides, the Kraken is an XC bike so stick to a lightweight solution like twin guide rings, so a cheap alloy bash and an inner guide ring or you can use an n-gear jump stop but some setups derail on back pedal a bit readily.

My Kraken is 1x9, see link in my sig.