1x10 Road Commuter

itboffin

Is anyone successfully running a road bike converted to 1x9/10/11 etc not a mountain bike or CX.

I've been thinking of doing this for a long time, my commute this side, is about 600ft ascent each way in the winter when I'd be using this set up.

I'm thinking swap the standard 53/39 for a 42T leaving the cassette as is which is 13/29T i was also thinking of leaving the square taper standard BB.

My goal is reduce the complexity and places for muck to build up, i'm currently only using 3-4 gears anyway.

I'd rather not use a bash guard old mech or dog fang so if the front starts dropping that'll be an end to this experiment.

redvee

Cause my left knee has been giving me some trouble for the last few months I made the change on my SS London Road and now running it as 1x10 with 5700 RH shifter and rear mech, 4600 12-28 10sp cassette and Race Face 42t Narrow/Wide chainring on a 4600 chainset. Seven weeks of crud on the roads took it's toll and made everything very filthy but a good clean at the weekend and it's all smooth running again.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Without googlefu, i've no idea if 10-speed road rear derailleurs come with "Shadow plus" -esque technology, to vastly reduce the odds of a chain jumping off. I'm running 1x8 currently, but left the front derailleur (and the 24T chainring) in place, as 8-speed rear derailleurs don't have clutch technology as far as I'm aware.

964cup

I ran a Condor Super Acciaio as a 1x11 commuter for a couple of years. 46T narrow-wide upfront, 11-32 rear. SRAM CX1 chainset, DA9071 shifters on bullhorns, Ultegra 6870GS RD. Worked very well.

prowlbass

Sram easily converts to 1x just by sticking a narrow-wide ring up front - their standard road rear mechs hold the chain taut enough that I've never been able to drop a chain no matter the terrain or gearing. The clutched ones are only really necessary for CX/extreme conditions.

I vaguely remember reading something about Shimano road mechs having a weaker spring, so not being as good at maintaining chain tension... there was something about a quick hack to fix this (tweaking the position of the spring). If you're only riding on the road, you'll probably be fine - if worried, choose a front chain ring that keeps the 3-4 gears you mostly use in the middle of your cassette to maintain a good chain line.

bigmat

Decathlon are launching a 1x road bike for £220, not 10 speed but looks like a perfect commuter workhorse.

timothyw

I've been riding my commuter 1x10 for the past fortnight at least. Front derailleur has seized, need to get it off for a fettle.

Honestly though, unless you're going over bumps (like they do in CX races/MTB) then the chances of throwing the chain are pretty tiny - make sure you remove an appropriate number of links though.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

TimothyW wrote:

make sure you remove an appropriate number of links though.

But if you cut and fitted the chain using while chain on big chainring and biggest sprocket, bypassing the rear derailleur, won't the chain length required by exactly the same for 1x?

itboffin

NitrousOxide wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

make sure you remove an appropriate number of links though.

But if you cut and fitted the chain using while chain on big chainring and biggest sprocket, bypassing the rear derailleur, won't the chain length required by exactly the same for 1x?

if i was keeping the 53T yes but i'm planning on fitting a 42T

my old body cant take grinding out MASSHOOF gears up hill anymore

FishFish

I converted a boardman hybrid to 1*10 with a clutch derailleur and NW in front. NW will only go up to 38T as far as I can see but NW does give you assurance over chain retention.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Sorry, had a wooly moment with that reply! :oops:

Most users would indeed be reducing chainring size to go 1x, so chain would be better to be cut shorter. I kept my chain the same length despite going from 38T to 34T chainring (although I'm missing my top speed downhill), so I could use my 11-34 cassette again on the fat wheels, while having a slightly slack chain on the 11-30 road wheels I've been using since fitting the new chain.

itboffin

i'll have an 11-42 combo for the main road dag which is about 6 miles or so, the rest rolls with one nasty 10% section

it does mean that coming home i'll have less route option as all but two have +1000ft which is not fun at the end of a long day with a heavy aero as a brick commuter.

The Rookie

My Planet X London Road is running 1x9 using a 44T NW CX ring (FishFish didn't look properly I guess) and a 12-28 cassette as I know that gear range is just right for my commute although I can lob on an 11-34 (or even an 11-40) if I need to. I used to run a plain chaninring but the chain would derail during shifts.

You don't need a damped rear mech (Shimano shadow plus or SRAM type 2) with an NW ring, neither my commuter nor my MTB has one and I've never dropped a chain, that said I am running an MTB mech as it's what works for me.

itboffin

what's a NW ring? narrow wide?

The Rookie

Yup!

Upto 42T here for example http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/r ... w-wide.htm

fat daddy

I did a full convert on my mtb from 3x8 to 1x11 buy buing a complete new crankset, derailure etc etc etc.

Love it so much I want to convert the 2x10 to a 1x10 ... currently running an fsa crank+chainring and tiagra rear .... if I just remove the chain rings a the front, how do I space a single chainring so its in the correct position for the chainline ? ... or doesn't it matter

itboffin

if its double you might get away with it, i'd try the inside position first.

as for NW rings I'm running campag 135 BCD the only single specific I've seen in that size are from VeloSolo

fat daddy

itboffin wrote:

if its double you might get away with it, i'd try the inside position first.

oh .... why do people worry about cross chaining then ... surely a 34t inner tooth to the 11t outer cassette is the same line as going single 42t on the inner and running it to the same cassette ring ?

timothyw

fat daddy wrote:

itboffin wrote:

if its double you might get away with it, i'd try the inside position first.

oh .... why do people worry about cross chaining then ... surely a 34t inner tooth to the 11t outer cassette is the same line as going single 42t on the inner and running it to the same cassette ring ?

Mainly because the 50t gets in the way, so you often have a situation of the teeth of the 50t dragging against the chain in 34-11. This is part of why running that gear is so noisy.

fat daddy

Ah ... sounds like its just got cheap then .... as long as I can find a NW chainring that fits the FSA arms

Ultimately I was going to convert it to drop bars with a Rival x1 hydraulic 1x11 groupset up ..... go figure, its cheaper just to buy a Boardman team CX ... which has the advantage of a shorter top tube as well

The Rookie

Which FSA arms? 3 bolt will be an issue!

110mm 5 bolt (CX sizing) is easy, you have lots of options.

fat daddy

Gossamer .... infact it even says 110bcd on the ring .... guess that helps

itboffin

well i wasnt expecting that, just removed the 53/39 rings then presented up the 42 and it doesnt fit, one of the holes is 5mm out, eh!?

oh well NW it is then