Bike modifications advise please

NeilP1972

Hi

1st post and i could do with a bit of advice please.

We were given an orbea MX24 by some friends who went back to Aus. The bike owed me nothing and the paint was scruffy so i stripped it down and sent it for powdercoating in red as that my lads favourite colour.

As the bike pretty much owes sod all i thought i would lighten it up and do some mods with a mixture of new and old parts where necessary. A friend has laced up a new set of wheels so i thought i would change it up from a 1x7 to a 1x9.

I went to our local bike shop to buy a shifter and rear mech but was advised i would need a derailleur with a clutch in it as i was keeping it 1x and not changing the crankset to a 2x or 3x. Is this correct? the original 7 speed derailleur does not have a clutch as far as i can see so i am not sure what the difference is.

larkim

Unlikely to be necessary, I've got two bikes in our garage with 1x setups, neither of them have clutched mechs. Though they do have narrow/wide chainrings up front, which addresses (mostly) the same issue of chains leaping off up front as a clutched mech does. I suppose it depends on the rider and the terrain a bit. If the chainring itself can't be changed easily to a NW ring, cautiously adding a clutched mech won't be a bad thing - but if you're looking to spend as little as possible, I reckon you'd probably be OK without.

figbat

I built up a gravel bike from an old MTB and changed it from 3x7 to 1x10. I use a narrow-wide chainring and a small chain-guide but no clutched rear mech. So far, over some pretty lumpy terrain, the chain has never jumped and I don't get that much chain slap either. This bike was done on the cheap too, so not much spent on the 'ring or guide.

The Rookie

I've been 1x for 4 years and never had a damped (aka clutch) mech. AS long as you use a chain retention (Narrow wide or chain guide)at the front the damper is a nice to have, not a need to have.

In fact I'm still running my nice XTR 9sp rear mech on my 1x10 wide range, unfortunately I can't use it when I go 1x11 soon.

NeilP1972

Thanks all

I dont mind spending some money on it as i was going to buy a new bike anyway, we had a chat about it and he wanted to build the Orbea into the bike he wanted. I am mechanically minded as i have restored and modified many cars but never an MTB.

I will order up some parts now. Then i will probably ask for more advise on reducing the travel and fitting some SID forks i have had kicking around.

larkim

In which case, definitely get a NW ring up front if you can find one to fit the crank. Cheap, effective and the right thing to do!