I’m curious about these 1x setups that are becoming more popular (no front derailleur).
If anyone’s running them on their road/TT bike, would like to hear of what your setup is and how it’s working out for you, particularly on significant hills.
I just like the idea of simplicity in gearing. My Cervelo P2 shifts fine with the double chainring FD, but I would be ok with going 1x and not even worrying about FD shifting/cabling if I’m only giving up a little in gearing. As is, I feel that I have too many gears on my 10spd (older-gen Shimano DA) setup, meaning more often than not I shift through 2-3 gears at once rather than one at a time.
The caveat is that I do live in a hilly area. Most of the long climbs are 5-8%, but there are some short stretches of 20%. Anything over 12% on my big front ring is admittedly pretty tough.
Ok… I have a 1x Road bike that I use for most of my riding and crit racing. I live in a pancake flat part of the world where a 50-28 more than gets me up anything I would encounter within 200 miles of my house. I love it, and have loved it for the last 1 1/2 years.
Having said that I am building up, as we type, an almost identical bike that is 2x…why you ask? So that way I can head up to the GA mtns and hit those roads w/ a 34-32 gearing and get up and over anything that I could possibly want to @ 90+ rpm cadence.
Different horses for different courses.
If you live in an area, like me, where you don’t shift into your little gear for months at a time 1x is awesome. If you can’t leave your driveway without dropping down into your little gear then I would steer clear.
Yeah I rocked a single ring for a year or two, back in the day when I was water-skiing a lot. It was like what do I need this (FD) thing for? I never used it much and shifting was slowing me down.
PIA: I had to fabricate and install a chain keeper in place of the FD. When the RD shifts there is a wave created in the chain and it was popping it off at the front. The acetal block I had used, fixed to a “braze on” alum bracket, prevented the chain travel.
However, as things have changed ie I was tackling some serious hills, I am lighter, don’t ski no more and a spinner ala Durian rider & my heart condition, I find myself leaning on the upshift button - like stomping it. I cried Uncle a few times this year.
Anyone looking to swap a Ultegra 10spd 53/39 with 175mm for an ultra compact w/170’s? (Seriously!)
I’m fully on board with 1x and live where you do. Commuter is 42x11-28. Road bike is 44x11-32 and for my current fitness I would like an easier gear for climbing OLH or King’s Mtn (have done both climbs with that gearing, but it’s not ideal).
I have another road bike set up with 44x11-40 and that gearing is almost great. Maybe 46 would be better in front and there are a couple gaps that I don’t love. Starting fresh I think 44 or 46 up front with 11-36 would be great.
For equipment, I a long-cage Ultegra cassette + Wolf Tooth road link to accommodate up to 40t on a cassette on one bike and a SRAM Apex 1x clutched derailleur on the other. Commuter just has an old-school Shimano rear derailleur that handles up to 28t.
I’m fully on board with 1x and live where you do. Commuter is 42x11-28. Road bike is 44x11-32 and for my current fitness I would like an easier gear for climbing OLH or King’s Mtn (have done both climbs with that gearing, but it’s not ideal).
I have another road bike set up with 44x11-40 and that gearing is almost great. Maybe 46 would be better in front and there are a couple gaps that I don’t love. Starting fresh I think 44 or 46 up front with 11-36 would be great.
For equipment, I a long-cage Ultegra cassette + Wolf Tooth road link to accommodate up to 40t on a cassette on one bike and a SRAM Apex 1x clutched derailleur on the other. Commuter just has an old-school Shimano rear derailleur that handles up to 28t.
Awesome advice from a fellow local, thanks to you and all above who have chimed in. If I do take the plunge, I’ll do what you recommend, 44 or 46 of front with 11-36 in the back.
I use the same quarq crank for both my road bike and TT bike. 52t 1x. Usually paired with an 11-23 10sp cassette (I also live in a pancake flat area).
I actually think I’m going to get the 54t though, as I’ve spun out on my road race team rides before, and if I do any rolling TT rides I’d like to not spin out there as well. I have the wifli RD on my TT bike so can take up to a 11-32 cassette.
I converted my Fuji D6 to 1X this spring, I used SRAM Rival 1 group set. I changed out my crankset to the Rival 1 with a 50 tooth ring, Rival 1 RD medium cage with a 11-36 cassette, also changed out the shifter to a SRAM 11 speed and removed the FD shifter.
I did IMMT in August and had no issues with the hills on that course with the gearing listed above. I really like the simplicity of it and plan on converting my road bike to the same setup but with a 48 tooth front ring in the near future.
I’ve been using Force 1x all year. 11-42 cassette (Shimano MTB, doesn’t require changing hub) and 48 up front. Live and train in South Wales ( see IM Wales profile) and have done several north to south and visa versa rides as well as throughout Austria this summer including the 2500m Grossglockner.
The soon to be available 3T casettes offer some interesting options for 1x. My current go to gearing for my road bike is 52/36 chain rings and a 11-28 cassette. Using the one of the 3T casettes with a 42 tooth front ring almost exactly matches that range, albeit with some bigger gaps. (http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=36,52&RZ=11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23,25,28&UF=2240&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&GR2=DERS&KB2=42&RZ2= 9,11,12,13,15,17,19,22,25,28,32&UF2=2240) The 9 tooth small cog also is somewhat concerning from a durability and smoothness perspective.
I’m considering a 1x setup for a gravel bike and the ability to have relatively tight and high gearing for road using the 3T casette and wide low gearing with a shimano mountain 11-42/46 or sram 10-42 cassette for off road with the same chain ring is pretty appealing. On the other hand you can do the same thing or better with a sub-compact double and I wonder if 1x is more hype than it’s actually worth.
I tried 1x on my road bike for a few months and I really wanted it to work, but for me there were too many compromises- then I put etap on my gravel bike. Etap has cured my 1x desires!
Both my road bike and TT bike are SRAM Force 1x11. Road bike has 52t and a 10~42. TT has the Absolute Black direct mount TT oval 50t and also 10~42 in the back. I’ve been running this setup for 2 years and done hilly courses like St George and last Sunday, the Chattanooga WC 70.3 course. I would advise you to go check the all the gear ratios, that’s what I did. I found that a 50-10 gave me a lot of speed (much, much more than a 50-11 or even 52-11) and the 50-42 is more than most people have for climbing on their 2x setups. I suppose I’m giving up something in the middle but I’ve never missed it. I enjoy the simplicity of it.
Cervelo P3 Tri with Wifli Etap and xx1 chain: 52T Xsnyc 11-28, 11-32, 11-36 depending on course. I spin a decent cadence and put out decent power and have no problems with steep inclines including those up to 20% ( I did ride 52tx 11-28 last year and had to muscle out the steeper pitches and therefore went long cage this year). Can’t imagine going back to a FD.
Ridley X-Fire with XTR Di2 RD: I ride xync 40T for gravel/cross and can easily swap larger for road. Cassette on rear can range up to 11-46 but can’t imagine ever needing that. The RD is “matched” to Ultegra DI2 6770 brifters running 11 speed (the number of gears is not determined by the shifters).
My BP Stealth Tri Bike, Fat Bike, XC Bike, and my 9yr old’s Fatbike are all 1x setups.
Is there any loss of mechanical efficiency (ie. any lost watts) in running a 1x setup? I’m sure I read something about clutch RDs being a little less efficient than RD’s without a clutch
Is the chain ring effective in holding onto chains?
How is the chain line working out? no issues with the outer gears?
Using the XD driver body for these casettes? having looked into them much…
thanks
The SRAM narrow-wide rings work great. I just run a regular rear derailleur.
Chain line is usually a bit better because the chain ring is shifted slightly to the center of the cassette. The wattage loss for running on the biggest and smallest gears is less than you would think. Friction Facts tested this year’s ago and it was something like 1 watt. I read that and never worried about cross cross-chaining the sh*t out of the drivetrain again. It’s more important to have the right cadence than worry about how you got there.
All 11-speed is interchangeable so if you can get the cassette on the freehub you will be fine.
The road bike is using a 52t SRAM narrow/wide ring and that Absolute Black ring is also n/w - in 2 years I have not dropped a chain.
I am rarely in the 10 or the 42 as you can imagine so I spend most of my time in the middle of the cassette. Having said that, Sunday’s course had a 20min climb and I was in the 32/36/42 for most of that - no issues. I also used the 10 on the flats & downhills.
Yes, that is an XX1 cassette and requires an XD driver. Most hub companies can provide it for their hubs. 2 years ago Shimano didn’t have their 11-42 or else I probably would have gone with that since it would have not required the driver change.
Is there any loss of mechanical efficiency (ie. any lost watts) in running a 1x setup? I’m sure I read something about clutch RDs being a little less efficient than RD’s without a clutch
The soon to be available 3T casettes offer some interesting options for 1x. My current go to gearing for my road bike is 52/36 chain rings and a 11-28 cassette. Using the one of the 3T casettes with a 42 tooth front ring almost exactly matches that range, albeit with some bigger gaps. (http://www.gear-calculator.com/...5,28,32&UF2=2240) The 9 tooth small cog also is somewhat concerning from a durability and smoothness perspective.
I’m considering a 1x setup for a gravel bike and the ability to have relatively tight and high gearing for road using the 3T casette and wide low gearing with a shimano mountain 11-42/46 or sram 10-42 cassette for off road with the same chain ring is pretty appealing. On the other hand you can do the same thing or better with a sub-compact double and I wonder if 1x is more hype than it’s actually worth.
Do you wear out your 11t now ahead of the other cog sizes?
and a spinner ala Durian rider & my heart condition, I find myself leaning on the upshift button - like stomping it. I cried Uncle a few times this year.