#1x drivetrain

[ruggedpulse]

This Guy Is Everywhere

I first came across this bike not somewhere out and about on the hunt for some project I could work on — this son of a gun found me. Sounds like my dating life honestly. But sure enough this bike was hand delivered to my house by my buddy Angel. A friend of his was looking to make some room and my friend thought — hey, you know whose life is in disarray and could probably use a project?…

This Guy Is Everywhere

[cyclodonia]

Pro 5 Vis ONE : la réconciliation du mono-plateau et des standards classiques

Pro 5 Vis ONE : la réconciliation du mono-plateau et des standards classiques

Le mono-plateau moderne était une évolution sans doute inévitable liée à l’augmentation continue du nombre de pignons par cassette au cours des dernières décennies. Les 11 voire 12 pignons actuels autorisent en effet une augmentation de la plage de développement tout en conservant un étagement acceptable entre les vitesses. Comme souvent désormais, c’est par le monde du VTT que…

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[missoulabicycleworks-blog]

A Singular Solution?

A few short years back I started noticing that 1X drivetrains began growing in popularity. That is, drive trains that had a single chainring up front and either nine or ten cogs in the rear cluster. At mountain bike races and cyclocross races these single chainring set-ups started popping up with some frequency. In cyclocross races a 1X9 or 1x10 set-up seemed to make some practical sense. There is not a lot of shifting that takes place between the large and the small chainring during a typical ‘cross race. During mountain bike races on the other hand, shifting between the large and small chainring is far more likely. The practicality of a 1X set-up to my mind did not really make sense. In 2012 SRAM introduced a dedicated 1X11 drivetrain. They claimed this was the future of mtn. biking and many racers as well as recreational riders took to it quickly. In addition to weight savings there is a simplicity to be found in a 1X drive train. Eliminate a front shifter, front derailleur and there is one less cable to clutter up the front of your bike. But is this a workable solution for you? 1X11 drivetrains are becoming more popular but 10 speed drive trains are still far more common. Most of the riding we do does not take place on the race course. Whether you are training for racing or simply riding for recreation the variety of terrain will be highly variable. Around Missoula many of our favorite rides, whether on a ‘cross bike or a mtn. bike, include long and steep climbs. A bike with a 1X set-up on a long climb may have its limitations. What are these limitations? Lets take a closer look. On my ‘cross bike for example I ran a 42 tooth front chainring and 12-26 ten speed rear gear cluster. Therefore my easiest gear (42x26) would be 1.62:1 ratio. A standard two chainring set-up uses a 36 tooth small ring and a 46 tooth large front chainring. That would change my lowest gear ratio (36x26) to 1.38:1. That is a much easier gear, and that makes climbing a road like Butler Creek far more manageable. Conversely my hardest gear on my 1X set-up was a 42x12 which is a 3.5:1 ratio – not a terribly big gear but more than big enough for most all ‘cross races – while the two chain chainring set-up gave me a (46x12) 3.83:1. On the mountain bike the difference can be rather more dramatic. Modern mtn. bikes with ten speed rear gear clusters often use a 12-36 tooth gear range and 24/38 tooth chainrings on the front. This gives you an easiest gear of 0.67:1 and a hardest gear of 3.17:1. Most 1X10 set-ups run a 32 tooth front ring. This makes your easiest gear a 0.89:1 ratio (quite a hard gear for an easy gear) and your biggest gear a 2.67:1 ratio. That is quite a bit smaller than the 2X set-up. For me the choice was easy. There was no good reason to switch to a 1X10 set-up. There were far too many limitations on both the upper and the lower range of gears. I found this to be true on both my mtn. bike and my ‘cross bike.

This year the pull of the 1X11 system became too strong. What changed? Well, the range of cog size on the rear cluster changed. The new cluster size on the SRAM 11 speed cassette ranges from 10 teeth to a whopping dinner plate cog with 42 teeth. On my mtn. bike my front chain ring has 34 teeth (but many 1X11 drivetrains run a 32 tooth front ring). So how does the math work out. My easiest gear (34x42) has a 0.81:1 ratio which is admittedly a bit large for me sometimes. Changing to a 32 tooth front ring your ratio drops to 0.76:1, a far more manageable gear but it is like missing your two largest cogs on a 2x10 set-up. It is the same as using a 24 tooth front ring and a 32 tooth rear cog. The hardest gear on my bike (34x10) has a 3.4:1 ratio. On the mountain bike the limited low range may prove to be too much of a limitation for many people. If you find yourself riding in your easiest gear (24x36) on your mtn. bike regularly then a 1x11 set-up may not be right for you. I have been quite pleased with my 1X11 set up. Despite having a 34 tooth front chainring I have been managing to get up all the climbs in the Rattlesnake trail system.

Despite being over-geared on very rare occasions the 1X11 system has proved to be a superb set-up. The narrow-wide chainring paired with the SRAM clutch derailleur have been absolutely flawless. So did I drink the 1X11 Kool-Aid? Yep, in big gulps. Is it for everyone, definitely not. If the gearing is not going to be a limitation then I absolutely recommend a 1X set-up. Quiet, crisp, reliable, simple and less clutter up front make it a very worthwhile option. Some folks have expressed concern over dropping a chain off the front chainwheel without a derailleur to keep it on. I have not yet had one issue with a dropped chain. That is not to say it cannot happen but I have not found it to be a problem.

I have also made the switch to a 1X11 drivetrain on my ‘cross bike. My earlier attempt at a 1X10 drive train on my ‘cross bike was thwarted by gear limitations. The lowest gear I could run was a 42X27 which gave me a lowest gear ratio of 1.56:1. That is a rather stout gear for climbing some of the fire roads around the Missoula Valleys. The new 1X11 systems are running far lower gears. For example the SRAM 1X11 can accommodate a 32 tooth rear cog. Pair that with a 40 tooth front ring and you get a low gear ratio of 1.25:1. The low gears tend to be my priority. I am not usually too concerned about being over geared on my ‘cross bike. It is not often I need my largest gear. Besides a 40x11 (3.63:1) is a larger gear than a 53x15 (3.53:1). I don’t push that gear that often, not anymore at least.