Gears?

grant2307

Just picked up a second hand boardman HT that I am going to use mainly for a charity ride in June. The ride is 55 miles, 2/3 road & 1/3 gravel etc at an approx.

It has an FSA triple chain ring and SRAM 9 speed cassette mixed with SRAM X5 shifters & derailleurs I was wondering what people would recommend to simplify this? Also getting rid of the FSA junk would be good too.

I see people running 1x11 etc but not sure how people get on with that for road use and gravel combo

w00dster

Hi Grant,
Why do you need to simplify it? I run 1x12 on one bike and 2x10 on my Hardtail. Triple's (which you have) are dated now, but even so, if it works then I'd leave it for now. Based on the riding you describe then I'd just leave it be but do some other changes instead...

My advice would be to spend money on tyres (I'd go tubeless and Schwalbe G-One if your wheelsize is 27.5), grips, saddle and comfortable bib shorts. For doing road riding you may find bar ends might be worth looking into.

If you then decide to ride more off-road then it might be worth looking at your options for an upgrade then. You could upgrade now to a 1x, but being honest it might not be worth it. (I'd also change the brakes while at it - but then you could be at the same cost for a different "better" second hand bike)

grant2307

I have already got a new saddle for it, some conti tyres and tubes, couple bottle cages & some grips, although the grips have ends on and wont allow bar ends so I will just deal with it.

I can't help but want to just change stuff on bikes ha

JBA

Give everything a good clean and check over then ride it for a while a see if anything ‘needs’ changing.
If it all works then save your money.

Uber_Pod

It depends on which gears/front rings you actually use.

If you use more than one front ring, keep them!

If you only ever use one (I'd guess the middle one), you *could* remove the front shifter, cable, mech and rings and replace them with a suitable size narrow wide ring.
That would leave you with 1x9 and wouldn't cost much, save some weight (not a massive amount) and have less bits to worry about.
I did exactly that and in my case it saved 630g. As a result I now travel at light speed.

Adding more gears (ie 10, 11 or 12) generally puts them on the low end, making climbing easier. Top end is basically the same. It depends how up and down the road and gravel is.

I would highly recommend tubeless for the puncture protection, if nothing else.

grant2307

w00dster wrote:

Hi Grant,
Why do you need to simplify it? I run 1x12 on one bike and 2x10 on my Hardtail. Triple's (which you have) are dated now, but even so, if it works then I'd leave it for now. Based on the riding you describe then I'd just leave it be but do some other changes instead...

My advice would be to spend money on tyres (I'd go tubeless and Schwalbe G-One if your wheelsize is 27.5), grips, saddle and comfortable bib shorts. For doing road riding you may find bar ends might be worth looking into.

If you then decide to ride more off-road then it might be worth looking at your options for an upgrade then. You could upgrade now to a 1x, but being honest it might not be worth it. (I'd also change the brakes while at it - but then you could be at the same cost for a different "better" second hand bike)

I have already got new tyres and tubes for the bike to suit some road & gravel riding, new grips & saddle, the grips dont allow bar ends but I can live with that, I am already in the process of buying some decent bibs for my road bike.

The idea of triple ring just seems horrible to me and no doubt adding to the weight of the bike (12.5 kg)

JBA wrote:

Give everything a good clean and check over then ride it for a while a see if anything ‘needs’ changing.
If it all works then save your money.

Gave it a clean, I'm on holiday next week so will sort it all out when I am home. Getting the brakes checked and new gear cables on and will test it out

Uber_Pod wrote:

It depends on which gears/front rings you actually use.

If you use more than one front ring, keep them!

If you only ever use one (I'd guess the middle one), you *could* remove the front shifter, cable, mech and rings and replace them with a suitable size narrow wide ring.
That would leave you with 1x9 and wouldn't cost much, save some weight (not a massive amount) and have less bits to worry about.
I did exactly that and in my case it saved 630g. As a result I now travel at light speed.

Adding more gears (ie 10, 11 or 12) generally puts them on the low end, making climbing easier. Top end is basically the same. It depends how up and down the road and gravel is.

I would highly recommend tubeless for the puncture protection, if nothing else.

This is more what I was considering, guess I just need to get out and give the bike a test and see how I get on. I'm just used to 2 rings on my road bikes although 11 speed

swod1

Depends what size the chain rings are on the road bike as that 9speed setup will most likely be the usual 22/32/44 setup.

Is the chain and cassette in good condition as you could get away with maybe replacing the chain unless cassette is worn to the chain that's on the bike?

55miles is not a short ride so you don't want the gears to skip etc.

FishFish

As you bought the bike mainly for the charity ride then concentrate on your fitness and endurance. I'f you've not been on a bike for a while then 55 miles on gravel and road is a bit of a slog. Maybe an idea to do some progressive training and buy some energy stuff (loads about this elsewhere). Buying the bottle cages nicely anticipates one of the issues you'll face.

Good luck.

grant2307

Thanks guys, the fitness I'm not so worried about I have rode further than 50 miles before on my road bike, was just thinking practicality.

Thanks anyway guys I will leave it as it is for now and have it all cleaned up now i am back from holiday.