Going Single front ring

AllTheGear, No Idea

Hi All,
fisrst apologies if this is the wrong part of the forum or has been questioned many times already,

Having had a shed load of trouble with my AM on the front derailieur, I ditched the tripple for a double and since buying a new chain its got a whole heap worse, I have considered going onto a single front ring but maintaining my10speed rear, woohoo you all shout,
OK to the point, I do use this bike for long All Terrain, routes, long ups (technical and track) long descents (often technical) and plenty of cross country style trails, all in one day, am I looking at a realistic change or will I suffer the lack of a good range of gears, any insights from those that have, are most appreciated

ps was planning to run an 11-36 rear with one cog removed,(?which one ?) and replace with a 42 slotted on the end,,,with a 33 front ring (possibly)

or should I spend the money getting the double back to perfect working order?

RevellRider

I would go 32 or 34 tooth up front as you can run a narrow wide chainring

AllTheGear, No Idea

doing the maths on the ratios, a 34 is too big for me to ride up moderately steep stuff even with a 42 rear BUT i havent actualy tried it,
what I have been doing is working out the ratios, and transposing what gear that equates to on my bike and trying to ride the typical terrain in that gear,,,,,33 still comes out a little brutal

BloggingFit

How often do you get into 11t? If you don't then I would ditch for a 13t that absolute black do and then you can run a 40t or 42t expander. Up front I would go 42t and push yourself harder.

warpcow

BloggingFit wrote:

Up front I would go 42t and push yourself harder.

Mis-typed, shirley? I don't mind pushing myslef, but that's a bit more than a push. I have 1x10 on two bikes. One is 32 by 11-40, and the other is 34 by 11-40. Tbh I can't tell much difference between the two, but the one with higher gearing is a slightly 'racier' bike, which I think makes a bit of difference. 32x40 is very low for the riding I do, to the point that for any prolonged period of time it feels like I'd be better off walking, but to spin myself up the occasional short, sharp incline it's great. Another thing is that going 1xX (or SS for that matter) quickly teaches you that you can mash up things in a far higher gear than you thought you could, as BloggingFit suggests.

Herdwick

It's easy to adapt to a single front, will take some time but eventualy you'll get fitter.

I've gone 1x10 and never regret it, 11/36-32T

42T rear and a 30 front will give you a ratio 1.4 compared to a 36/22 combo of 1,63
if you are scared you'll run out of gears at some point I assure you, if it's too steep you'll push any way.
As for the downs, I notice that I didn't really needed the 44T up front because it was to heavy to peddal fast down the trails, the middle ring 32T was mostly used.

AllTheGear, No Idea

thanks for the insight s guys, please keep them coming as they are interesting reading,

I worked out using a gear calculator that the 28 ring rear and a 24 front give the same ratio (near as damn it) as a 42 rear and 33 front, so pedalled up some sustained ups today without going up higher than the 28 ring, was manageable,,also have tried to stop using the 42 (front) ring on one bike forcing me to stick with the 32, and I dont seem to get up to speed I want on the flat so 33t (front) is tempting me

cooldad

You do realise if you really feel the need for 33 (why not just 34 if 32 is too slow) you obviously can't use a NW ring.

I doubt one tooth is really going to make a major difference.

rockmonkeysc

I tried a 42t expander ring on my cassette and didnt like the big step between 36t and 42t. It didnt shift well and was a big gap between ratios. The 40t I have now works much better.
I find a 34t chainring with 11-40t cassette will get me up any hill but that wont be right for everyone.

AllTheGear, No Idea

Rockmonkey , I am tempted to go for the 42, if you still have yours and don't want it we could talk £'s

rockmonkeysc

I sold it on ebay. Its not a good set up, feels like a half arsed bodge.

Caveman_Chris

I'll be keeping my eye on this thread. Going through the exact same thought process at the minute. Trouble is, I love my granny cog (22-36) for smooth power on slippery climbs. I hardly ever use the bottom half of my cassette on the big ring unless I'm racing the dog on the fire road home and I'm always got the chain crossed when on the flat trail.

Chunkers1980

This is the whole thing. If you can't get on with 420% or most prob if you go cheapo then 350% on a single then a triple front does almost every thing for a fraction of the cost, time, effort and not much weight penalty

AllTheGear, No Idea

any more view points? my biggest argue against doing it is this,
With a double or even a tripple, you can often(if you stick to the bigger front rings) until you really need the little one, you can in a hurry dump it down a ring and get an often much needed easing of effort,
Question to all who converted, Chain retainers, and clutch mechs,,,DID YOU?

rockmonkeysc

With a clutch mech you wont need any more retention. You will soon find that you use a small ring because its there when you really could get up the hill without it and you will do it faster.
I dont think it uses any more energy to crank up in a single ring than it does to spin away in a granny gear. You do need a bit more leg strength but theres only one way to build that, go ahead and do it.
My lowest gear is 34t-40t and i cant remember the last time i failed to ride up a climb and Im just an average, mid thirties, slightly overweight rider on a slightly heavy bike.

RevellRider

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I cant remember the last time i failed to ride up a climb and Im just an average, mid thirties, slightly overweight rider on a slightly heavy bike.

That's not far from me. I have been running 1x10 for a little over a year and for most of the local stuff 34t is under geared. I run a standard 11-36 cassette and haven't pushed up a hill in ages.

As for set up, I'm running a Race Face narrow/wide and Shimano Zee rear mech

MudOrNowt

I've just gone 1x9 with 11/32-32.... It's a little tough on technical steep sections but on some regular climbs I've smashed my previous PR's because the temptation to drop a ring isn't there! One to one ratio works for me!

When I do go x10 I'll be going up to 34 at the front as Im topping out about 17mph on the 11-32 combo

Nairnster

cooldad wrote:

You do realise if you really feel the need for 33 (why not just 34 if 32 is too slow) you obviously can't use a NW ring.

I doubt one tooth is really going to make a major difference.

33 tooth is possible with narrow/wide

http://factoryjackson.com/2014/04/01/29 ... NmwCjUeJDs

RevellRider

Nairnster wrote:

cooldad wrote:

You do realise if you really feel the need for 33 (why not just 34 if 32 is too slow) you obviously can't use a NW ring.

I doubt one tooth is really going to make a major difference.

33 tooth is possible with narrow/wide

http://factoryjackson.com/2014/04/01/29 ... NmwCjUeJDs

Seriously?

No, I mean it. Seriously. You didn't click on to it with the date it was published

That said, if you really feel the need to be in a 33t chainring, have a look at these http://absoluteblack.cc/oval-104bcd-chainring.html

cooldad

Nairnster wrote:

cooldad wrote:

You do realise if you really feel the need for 33 (why not just 34 if 32 is too slow) you obviously can't use a NW ring.

I doubt one tooth is really going to make a major difference.

33 tooth is possible with narrow/wide

http://factoryjackson.com/2014/04/01/29 ... NmwCjUeJDs

Ooops.

Think about it.

Chunkers1980

It's a narrow/wide/wide - sounds alright to me.

Love the SHIfTech, that it is.

Herdwick

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I tried a 42t expander ring on my cassette and didnt like the big step between 36t and 42t.

Monday night finished a friends 1x10 conversion from one up components, 42T rear and 30T front with a medium cage x9 type2 rear mech and a brand new x0 shifter, the upshift from the 36 to the 42 is not noticeable! smooth and immediate without any weird noises and sticking whatsoever, as shifting from 34 to 36 to be honest, is a sram cassette, chain, and x0 shifter combo, don't remember cassette model but never thought it would be that good, also didn't need to fit a longer b screw, the original one was up to the task,

only important thing you needt to check is chain growth in full compression, (Scott genius 50 is single a pivot layout) is easy to get the chain short enough to bring disaster if you hit bottom on a jump and forget the chain up to the 42T sprocket,
Will take some pics or even upload a short video to show the smooth transition from 36 to 42.

AllTheGear, No Idea wrote:

With a double or even a tripple, you can often(if you stick to the bigger front rings) until you really need the little one, you can in a hurry dump it down a ring and get an often much needed easing of effort,

You can leave the granny ring (22) bolted to the crank and use a dirty finger to drop the chain if need be on a looooooooong steep climb, will add a few grams and a couple of greased fingers

Edit: my grammar is suffering

Maro

My old hardtail is on 1x9 11-32 and 38 up front. Ive done Cwmcarn on it and many other trails, occasionally having to push a couple of metres as a result of spinning out on a root or something. It's not an ideal setup for long rides or steep climbs but I was able to ride it most places if I pushed myself.

Just ordered a new trail bike, running 1x10 with 32 up front, 22 and 42 rings on my current xc bike rarely get used, pretty sure I can cope without them

Nairnster

Sarcasm really is lost on internet folk isnt it.

RevellRider

That is because when you work in cycle retail you see all manner of idiots that believe this stuff. Plus tone is really hard to convey in text form

Nairnster

I think thats the case in all things not just retail. Was just meaning to inject some humour.

Myster101

I'm running 1x10 with 11-36 cassette and 30t NW up front. Use SRAM type 2 mech (no chain device) and had no problems. Went for the 30t as I live in the Lake District so there's some punishing climbs. Won't be going back to a front mech

Herdwick

Well, here's the video shifting perfectly from 11 to 42 and up again

pilch

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I tried a 42t expander ring on my cassette and didnt like the big step between 36t and 42t. It didnt shift well and was a big gap between ratios. The 40t I have now works much better.

I have 3 bikes with 1 x 10 set ups

2 with 30/42
1 with 34/40

and 1 bike with 1 x 11 32/42

The 1 x 10 setups shift almost as well (enough not to be an issue) as the 1 x 11, having said that the initial setup is worth spending time on to get things just right, b screw adjust, chain length & chain line adjustment make a big difference.

I find a 34t chainring with 11-40t cassette will get me up any hill but that wont be right for everyone.

You must have legs like Chris Hoy if that will get you up any hill... or we have different ideas on what constitutes a 'hill'

rockmonkeysc

pilch wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I tried a 42t expander ring on my cassette and didnt like the big step between 36t and 42t. It didnt shift well and was a big gap between ratios. The 40t I have now works much better.

I have 3 bikes with 1 x 10 set ups

2 with 30/42
1 with 34/40

and 1 bike with 1 x 11 32/42

The 1 x 10 setups shift almost as well (enough not to be an issue) as the 1 x 11, having said that the initial setup is worth spending time on to get things just right, b screw adjust, chain length & chain line adjustment make a big difference.

I find a 34t chainring with 11-40t cassette will get me up any hill but that wont be right for everyone.

You must have legs like Chris Hoy if that will get you up any hill... or we have different ideas on what constitutes a 'hill'

I managed fine in the lake district, only resorting to pushing when it got steep enough to struggle keeping the front wheel down. Exmoor and the Quantocks are my regular riding spots and i have no problems with any climbs on either of them. Plenty of people manage well enough on single speed in hilly areas. You just need determination.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Plenty of people manage well enough on single speed in hilly areas. You just need determination.

I'm overflowing with determination but no amount of it can overcome the fact that I have the legs of a budgie.