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is 1x more aero?
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Does removing the front derailer make your bike more aero? if so how many watts we talking? Im looking for some marginal gains

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Re: is 1x more aero? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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Depends on the bike, could be, but many bikes were designed with the derailed in mind.
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Re: is 1x more aero? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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I have seen it both ways. A few watts to the good or the bad. Doesn’t seem too crazy either way. But my guess to her most out of it you’d have to remove the hanger.

I’m running 1x but haven’t taken off hanger because not sure I want to hassle or to void the warranty because I’m 100% certain the day after I remove it I’ll crash!

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Re: is 1x more aero? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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You're gonna get a lot of "maybe" and "it depends". I think there are one or two vocal members who assert their tunnel testing showed 1X to be slower or no different. I would assert that removing the FD, hanger, and a small bit of cable or wire is almost certainly going to be more aero.
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Re: is 1x more aero? [EnderWiggan] [ In reply to ]
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EnderWiggan wrote:
many bikes were designed with the derailed in mind.
Must the slipped past spellcheck. I think you meant ’deranged'.
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Re: is 1x more aero? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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About 2 watts on my Shiv.
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Re: is 1x more aero? [surfNJmatt] [ In reply to ]
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And to make the issue even more confusing, most aero testing on bikes is done without a rider or with a static dummy. So while you might save 2 watts without a front derailleur on a static bike, you throw a rider and a spinning crankset into the mix and the difference can be less.

I'd guess it is probably not enough to worry about. Most 1x chainrings and pulleys have taller teeth to hold the chain on better along with higher chain tension, so you are probably losing a little efficiency there. Could be a toss-up.
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