Converting to CX1.......

bendertherobot

Here's the deal. I have Apex 10 speed. Spyre brakes.

Converting to CX1 is tricky as it's all 11 speed. I could mess with limit screws and lose the last cog, of course.

But, seems to me, an easier way, is to go with a 10 speed XO MTB mech and do something about the chainset. But what? Just get a Rival 1 or can I convert an Apex chainset to single ring?

bendertherobot

Someone confirm my possible route:

Praxis wide narrow 110BCD 42t chainset
New chain
Sram X0 Type 2.1 mech

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sram ... lsrc=aw.ds

97th choice

You can get a superstar 110bcd narrow wide for £15 at the moment.

bendertherobot

Ta mate. Friend of mine has an Absolute Black so might go with that. But I think the rest of my plan is sound.

97th choice

bendertherobot wrote:

Ta mate. Friend of mine has an Absolute Black so might go with that. But I think the rest of my plan is sound.

It does, I was toying with something similar but staying with 2x11 for now, report on how you get on please?

bendertherobot

Will do. Should be interesting. I'd like to do 11 speed but it's nutty pricing. And, if I got shot of my my 10 speed shifters, I might as well go hydro. And that's mad money.

crossed

I ran 1x10 on my old Pro6 with SRAM shifters and an X0 rear mech combined with an Absolute Black chainring on a double chainset. It worked perfectly and from memory it never dropped a chain.
I know the Superstar chainrings are cheap but I've used one and had issues wit chains dropping so went back to the Absolute Black ones instead.

bendertherobot

Cheers! Very helpful.

tgotb

I've used Absolute Black rings with X9 mechs for the last two seasons. Over the course of 50-odd races and goodness knows how much training, I've had zero chain drops. Thoroughly recommended.

Be a bit careful setting up your chain tension; you don't need the chain quite as short as the instructions with the mech suggests. If it's too short, it can be hard to get into the lowest gear, and puts more load on your hanger (I know hangers are supposed to fail before the mech/frame, but some hanger designs are a bit too flimsy for my liking).

trek_dan

You can use any SRAM clutch mech. Both my bikes are setup with X7 and Race Face narrow wide rings. Never dropped a chain. I can't see the point in putting mega expensive stuff on CX race bikes are it just wears out/ breaks.

bendertherobot

I've been contemplating an X9 but couldn't find one. There's a GX now, which is cheap. I might see if I can find an X7

trek_dan

True. SRAM seem to have replaced the X7 with the GX. Quite a big step up between the GX and X0 in terms of price point with nothing the the middle. I hope that they aren't phasing out 10 speed clutch mechs as 11 speed really isn't needed for CX.

bendertherobot

trek_dan wrote:

True. SRAM seem to have replaced the X7 with the GX. Quite a big step up between the GX and X0 in terms of price point with nothing the the middle. I hope that they aren't phasing out 10 speed clutch mechs as 11 speed really isn't needed for CX.

Ta for the help Dan, I've just got the GX instead. Didn't realise it sat above X9. So likely to be good. At £44 it's a steal and I I don't have to worry about killing it. Nabbed an absolute black chainring and 12-36 cassette off a mate for £40. So £84 to convert.

tgotb

bendertherobot wrote:

trek_dan wrote:

True. SRAM seem to have replaced the X7 with the GX. Quite a big step up between the GX and X0 in terms of price point with nothing the the middle. I hope that they aren't phasing out 10 speed clutch mechs as 11 speed really isn't needed for CX.

Ta for the help Dan, I've just got the GX instead. Didn't realise it sat above X9. So likely to be good. At £44 it's a steal and I I don't have to worry about killing it. Nabbed an absolute black chainring and 12-36 cassette off a mate for £40. So £84 to convert.

You'll also need shorter chainring bolts or spacers to use your existing ones. Note that you can make your own spacers quite easily from an old chainring, using a hacksaw and a file.

Consider your chainline when mounting your chainring, it can go on the inside or outside. Mine is mounted on the inside to give me a better chainline in the lower gears that I use the most. Means I can't get into the 12T without giving the mech a gentle kick, but I never actually need the 12T anyway. If you get it wrong, it's obviously pretty easy to change later...

bendertherobot

Thanks. Presumably just get some single speed bolts?

tgotb

bendertherobot wrote:

Thanks. Presumably just get some single speed bolts?

Erm... not sure. You can get special single ring bolts, but they may well be exactly the same thing as single speed ones. I went for the home-made spacers :-)

trek_dan

Single speed ones work just fine, I used some BMX ones off Ebay as they were a few quid cheaper than branded ones.

bendertherobot

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aerozine-Chai ... 6ujblAINyw

Can I use these?

trek_dan

I think you may need 5mm long not 6.5mm but I could wrong.

bendertherobot

Yeah, some conflicting advice out there. Evans have these, may give them a whirl anyway.

In red, natch
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/id/ ... s-ec006126

bendertherobot

Ignore

bendertherobot

So, now that's done, and it works nicely, thoughts turn to my commuter. 11 speed probably.

So, I'll keep my Deore hydraulics, probably. Ditch the existing shifters. (SLX) And I may go back to SRAM. May.

Assuming something like, say, 44 or 46 t front and 40t cassette, I assume I'd need a long cage in whatever clutch mech I chose?

tgotb

bendertherobot wrote:

Assuming something like, say, 44 or 46 t front and 40t cassette, I assume I'd need a long cage in whatever clutch mech I chose?

Why a 40t cassette? If you go 36t or 38t front with 11-32t at the back, you can get very similar ratios with a short-cage SRAM mech.

bendertherobot

TGOTB wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Assuming something like, say, 44 or 46 t front and 40t cassette, I assume I'd need a long cage in whatever clutch mech I chose?

Why a 40t cassette? If you go 36t or 38t front with 11-32t at the back, you can get very similar ratios with a short-cage SRAM mech.

Because I don't want a 38t front. I want something bigger, for commuting. So I'd start with 42t at a minimum. The only question is whether to just go with 11-36 again, or try something bigger. It'll be 11 speed rather than 10, so having a climbing gear would be useful.

6wheels

I've just done what TGOTB mentioned, the reason being , the gaps on the last three gears are a bit large. Running 42t with 36 cassette gets me up 10 % climbs without any problems and I'm not that quick. In fact , 42*36 is virtually the same as 38*32, where you'd also gain with the latter is the cost of the cassette and rear mech are a few quid cheaper.

bendertherobot

Fair points, but I was thinking about 11 speed. Are there any MTB 11 speed cassettes that are less than 40T?

The way I saw it was if the M8000 cassette next sprocket down was 35 then, effectively, I'd gain a 40t bail out for the bad stuff but still have 10 useable speeds.

Or I might just stick with 10 speed and do 12-36 again