I remember reading something about 1x chainrings teeth sapping more watts than 2x

If you live and race in Florida there is really no reason I can see. FWIW, I moved to 1x in 2015 and never looked back. Even used 54t with a 32 in back at Wildflower and survived.

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Agree with Thomas. I've been running 1x since 2017 (pretty much when I started tri), and have never looked back. I was running mechanical for a few years and then fairly recently switched to a pieced together di2 kit. While the net drag/friction result is hard to quantify, it's about more than just the potential drag savings. The simplicity is super nice: less cables, less shifting, and ZERO chain drops. Seriously, I haven't dropped a chain in 3 years of 1x riding. And I haven't lived in any flat areas like Florida. It's worth it.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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The only argument against it might be the efficiency of chainlines between the two systems, but other than that, 1x is a great setup.

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

I live in Raleigh. To ride the TT bike out of the house means some 4 to 9% grade 1min to 2min long hills. I run a 54T and 11-28 or 12-25. I live. Gives the workout some cadence variability!

As the wax job wanes on the road bike, I'll get drops sometimes if doing some aggressive big/small shifting while going over bumps. Never ever on the 1x setup on the TT bike.

It's simple, clean, works. The aero to chain watts is debatable. But, if it stays cleaner since easier to clean and reach to clean......that matters.

Don't forget, folks always buy such expensive wheels. What's it to carry a spare big ring in a different size, or a spare cassette in a different range after you go 1x? Flat? Toss on a tight ratio cassette. Not flat, wider range. The 11t for downhill and the 30t for uphill.

I Think it’s really a matter of personal preferences and needs. The thing is, with a 1x, you’ll either have to compromise on the gear spacing or the width between the High and low gears. Personally I like 2x better, not for any practical reason other than the mental side if that I Can always have a higher or lower gear if I want it or need it. Obviously, you Can always calculate what’s the highest or lowest gear you’ll need and build from that. On a tri bike i could probably live with a 1x on a Road bike, maybe (depends on How much off Road I go), But certainly wouldn’t want to.

Benjamin- you had earlier held yourself out as “the only pro on mechanical.” As a longtime holdout/ late adopter, are you experiencing any benefit with an electronic 1x over the mechanical 1x?

I've always ran a 1x on mine, minus when I did 70.3 Wisconsin, never used the small chain ring though during that race and felt good. This year I road the full course out there with my 1x to see if I would be good for sure on that course or IMMT and never felt like i really would need the small ring either.

Ha. Valid question. But let me be clear that pretty much the only reason I was holding out was cost. I pretty much migrated the first groupset I ever pieced together from my p3c, to the Shadow-R, to my Omni. I upgraded Summer's bike with di2 before mine because she was more in need of 2x and for some reason I'm trash at indexing shifting, so that saved her a lot of frustration.

So far my two favorite things about running di2 are perfect shifting (because I suck at indexing), and ease of travel. Super convenient to be able to just unplug my extension shifter and massively reduce my cockpit size. When I traveled to Cozumel a few weeks ago, I just completely took off my monopost/dragonfly setup and packed it on its own, making it much easier to deal with the basebar only for fitting in the bag. Other stuff like shifting from the hoods is nice, but I didn't even have a di2 brake lever until more recently.

Di2 firmware is nearly unforgiveable though. If anything ever pushes me back to mechanical it will be that.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Curious to see what size ring on the front and cassette range if you think IMMT is possible on a 1x setup..
I have a feeling I'm going back there one day and I like to fantasize on making things simpler.
But the other question would inevitably be, what sort of power range do you race in.

Did some solo riding in Tremblant intentionially in big ring to see if I could transition to 1x. I ran a 52x32 big to big as my smallest gear option but due to chainline stuck with 52x28. The short 15 percent grades were very hard in three locations but otherwise I was OK. I would need a 48 tooth large chainring to make 1x work at the 70.3 for my watts per kilo

Discussed too many times. lol

Yes a whopping ~1-4W when you're on the extreme ends of the cassette, which is probably 1% of the time at a race and in training. The aero benefits are greater than that and apply during the whole ride time.

Thanks all, sounds like 1x is the way to go for me. Any recommendations? I have SRAM Rival setup with FSA 50/34t so I'm figuring I'd stick with SRAM or FSA 50t?

I currently run a 1x and have been for the last two years(SRAM AXS); couldn't have been happier with it, especially being by the coast. Unfortunately(depending on how you look at it), I'm moving to a mountainous area where the flats don't exist so I will be parting ways with it in coming days for a 2x setup.

You could put on a wide (11-40) rear mech and continue Riding the 1 by hipster wave.

I have been riding 1X with a 54t oval and 11-28 for 2 years now, but I do live in a very flat area and do a some hills at 8-10% max for short period and the rest at about 4%. I naturally have a low cadence so I really enjoy it and have not missed having the small ring.

However, I do manage to drop a chain from time to time and have to be careful when I am shifting. but that could be because of the oval as much as the singe ring in the front

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Tridad

I have a 1x eTap AXS on one tri bike and 2x eTap AXS on the other. I live in coastal Florida so the 1x is my training bike. The 2x is on my race bike. No chance I would ride a very hilly course with a 1x and I’m a pretty strong cyclist who likes riding at a lower cadence.

YMMV though. The two guys saying that it’s not a big deal are both professional triathletes. So their power is going to be far beyond most of us here. 😁

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

SRAM's are great. Used a few of those.
These 'cheap' ones from ebay are also actually pretty great. I think I've owned two. They come in pretty much every combination of BCD and teeth so it's a great option for weirder sizes.
Garabuk's are probably the sexiest, along with aerocoach's. I currently race with a 130bcd Garabuk round chainring. They also make 1x oval chainrings and a bunch of direct mount options if you have a crank that works with that. A bit more expensive obviously, but worth it if you want something aero looking.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Yes, but they also have far more on the line than we do. There are virtually no real consequences of an Ager riding a slightly less than optimal set up (assuming for the sale of this argument it is less than optimal).

I run a 56-39 with a 12-25 rear.

Gives me a great range of gears with nice close spacing for flatter courses.

I just don't get the point of 1x

Saving a few hundred grams and a dubious aero benifit. Seems pointless and turns the bike into a very specific machine.

I only ride a few races a year where I need the 39t but I really need it!

Also I find it good when training on the TT bike and wanting to keep in z2.

Another fad I think I'll pass on.

If you managed to get up that incline in a big ring with a 26 on the back, then we are in different territories in strength to weight.
When I did Tremblant I had trouble on the second lap. .....oh well.

Definitely not a fad. The beauty is in fewer mechanical issues and much more simplicity racing + aero + cost. But one of the biggest benefits myself, and I think Jordan mentioned as well, is how when you are racing at a high level, making fewer decisions allows you to stay mentally fresher when you are in compromised state. A better way to put it is, what do you have to gain by going to 2x. You might already be locked into 2x and is a sunk-cost, but I can assure you that if you had 1x you would realize that you aren't giving up much gearing by going 2x. Unless you have 650 wheels there is no reason to have a 56t upfront. If you are strong enough to legitimately use a 56 then I wager that you are an even better candidate for 1x. The stronger you are the more 1x makes sense.

Definitely give it a try someday. I don't want to oversell it but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

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I have never had mechanical issues with any of my bikes in terms of gears in the last 10 years.
I run 1x in my MTB and my winter bike. So I’m more than aware of it as a concept.
I run a 56t to gain a perfect chain line.

I have no idea what you mean by staying mentally fresher. Are you saying changing gears takes it out you mentally????
2x means I can run a nice close rear cassette which I like. On most courses all I’m doing is tweaking up or down I cog.

98% of the time I’m racing I’m in the big ring. The other 2% I deffo need the small chainring due to above 8% grades.

Different riders and different use cases. Many would consider your 56-39 12-25 a "very specific" gearing setup.