In general I'm attracted to the idea of a 1x set up. Having said that I think it was articles following this test that put some doubt there for me. I don't think the test is ideal because it is different gear involved in the two setups. But the rational behind it is interesting.

If that is you main (or only) reason, I wouldn’t bother

I (also) like 1x for other reasons:
(1) cheaper (I have etap so probably save more than $500 with no FD, extra chainring and I don’t need Clics or blips)
(2) looks- just much slicker looking; no FD, only one chainring, fewer (or no) wires
(3) weight-I’m not a weight weenie at all but it’s obviously a little lighter

Cons:
(1) no matter your choice of chainring/cog, you are probably giving up at least one useful gear.

I’m not following your train of thought, Why would you not need clics or blips?


Maybe, maybe not. You save weight with no small chainring, no front FD, and one less wire/cable. But most people running 1x are going to switch to a larger cassette. Going from an 11-25 to 11-36 could offset any weight loss from the FD and chainring. Just varies from person to person and setup to setup

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Matt

Weight-yeah maybe not, but I think there is savings. Extra cog weight likely doesn’t off set weight of FD and extra chainring. Again, I’m 195 so I could care less but less weight is still better and others may care

You can shift from a blip box.

I've been riding 1x since I bought my first TT bike 3 years ago.

To address a few of your concerns:
You absolutely do not need to run a clutch RD if you have a NW front ring. Does it provide some extra retention? Maybe. But I used a force 1 clutch for about 2 years and never dropped a chain. After a year of switching to a red22, mostly for aesthetic and minor aero reasons, I still have never dropped a chain. It just doesn't happen with 1x. But you 100% have to run a narrow wide chainring. Don't risk it without.

Chainline's are for sure not ideal when climbing but thats really just not happening all that often in racing, and even when it is, we're not talking 20 watts here. I've done all the biggest climbs around my area with my 56t front and a 11-32 in the back. With this 56t though, I get a nearly perfect chainline when its flat at race speeds. I did a ride yesterday and anytime I was around 26 or 27mph, I was in my 3rd or 4th cog. And when you're there, holy shit it feels amazing.

I've never had bikes where I've focused on weight so not an issue but I mostly just like the simplicity of 1x. Absolutely no chance of a dropped chain.

The closest to any type of friction numbers you'll see are from this velonews test. There are a lot of flaws with this test that have already been discussed on this forum.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Ahh, gotcha. Didn’t think about just using the blip box.

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Matt

Weight was less for me - 1x netted less weight despite the extra weight for the rear cassette. Agree w Cody as well but 54t for me.

I wouldn’t do it for all courses and all situations but definitely like having it as my default setup.

Seems to me a good solution for the chainline issue would be a floating chainring. With all the extremely complicated mechanical, hydraulic, electrical systems that are being engineered for bikes it doesn't seem much of a stretch to incorporate the ability for a single chainring to move several centimeters laterally to get an optimal chainline.

I've got some decent experience with 1x road and gravel.

I did a Ultegra RX RD this spring with Wolf Tooth 50 on the front. 11-40 cassette. I do not believe there was much if any weight savings. The real bad:!!! I dropped my chain the first 10 minutes at Dirty Kanza. TWICE. Both times while not pedaling over severe potholes. That made for a long freaking day and 8 flats later I pulled the plug at mile 150. No chain drops certainly would have helped....lol. I swapped to the XTR di2 RD and never had a dropped chain again. Difference? I have no idea, but the XTR definitely seemed better for everything. I absolutely loved the simplicity of no FD and I understand the aero gains are very real.

Argument for 2x. Holy....crap....Di2 syncro is the cat's meow. I now have that on my gravel bike (Domane). So now I have more gears, not more weight, and maybe splitting hairs losing watts to aero drag (FD) vs. chainline drag (1x). I can't decide what's better, but syncro is absolutely positively flawless. Shimano is flawless period....besides the etube / bluetooth deal anyway.

I'm still interested in 1x and if Shimano drops 1x12 and I can micro spline everything (road, gravel, MTB) I'm probably in. It's also possible I might try AXS 1x, but....I have had some poor luck with SRAM electric in the past so a bit gun shy.

I ride my bike a lot so am the ultimate test dummy. 21,000 miles so far this year.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

I run 1x on my TT rig, probably will never go back to 2x unless I'm doing a race with some extreme hills.

Pro's:
Much simpler - just shift easier or harder, never have to think about shifting the FD (but that's now not really an issue with the synchro shift systems out there).
No chain drops ever (which I got sometimes shifting an FD)
More areo and lighter - saves 3W drag on my P5 (not that big a deal though...)

Cons:
Bigger cassette = bigger gear jumps. Sometimes find myself between gears, but not really an issue as that usually lasts a few seconds and then the road changes...
Sometimes I wish I had one more climbing gear.
Not ideal chain line for climbing in biggest cog. I Think some data tests showed you lose about 1W in increased friction (miniscule if you pushing 250W up a climb...). The 3W saved in aero drag (100% of the time) easily outweighs the 1W friction lost climbing in your biggest cog (maybe what, <5% of the time?)

FWIW, I run a Sram 54T NW chainring x 11-32 with Red Etap long cage RD. Not cluctched, never dropped a chain.

I agree with you re: chain drops. While I don't compeltely discount others that have had 1x chain drop issues....I have never dropped a chain in a 1x set up and the only time I have ever dropped a chain in a 2x set up is when using my FD (which obviously isn't used in 1x)

I've had a few drops. It's always been when I try to shift too many gears at once like cresting a steep hill and trying to get down to the 11t quickly.

I do run a NW, BUT just a wifli... not a clutch RD.

I can't help but think these setups have much more drag/friction than normal 2X setups ( it's easy to "feel" this while spinning the cranks by hand), from the narrow-wide, longer teeth chainrings, to the clutch derailleur and longer teeth jockey wheels.
Anybody ever saw numbers supporting this ?


What are the losses due to friction from poor chain-lines?

I saw something recently on this - some testing, and the losses were bigger than I thought. Not huge, but higher numbers that I thought I was going to see, and a reminder to try and run as straight a chain-line as you can, no matter what the situation is.

I do see the advantages, but this is going to be dependent on two main things 1) Where do you live and what is the terrain like where you do most if not all of your training. 2) Similar for race courses - what are the race courses like physically, where you will be racing - mostly flat to slightly rolling, or long big climbs?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Any reason in particular why you haven’t made the switch to Etap or Di2 for your 1x set up?

Currently building up a 1x with SRAM NW chain ring and being told by my lbs mechanic that the etap rear derailleur will drop the chain and I must have a clutches rear dur.

Not sure if mechanical force 1 is the way to go or I can use the etap.

You can use the etap. A ton of people do and have no problems.

And the only reason I haven't gone electronic is cost. The only reason.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

Good to hear. No concerns about mechanical failures at races with etap vs simplicity of mechanical?

Already have the etap just wondering if I should go through with it or sell it.

I think you may have misread something.... compare the blue and green data points and tell me what you see.