Single Chainring

Triathlon Forum
1

Do any of you use a single chainring on your tri-bike? If so do you still need a front derailer? I am in the mid-west. Most of our rides are flat and I am using the big ring and 4-5 gears on the rear during our rides. I was thinking I could just use a single ring but was not sure if the front derailer might help “guide” the chain back to the big ring when you are on the largest rear cog. Seems like a big angle.

Thanks

2

I run 2 rings on my tri and road bikes, but just one on my beater/commuter/CX setup. I’ve had some issues w/ the chain dropping off the fron ring until I installed one of these:

http://www.bbgbashguard.com/index.html

They make a thinner than normal version (read: lighter). It might do the trick for you.

3

I would not just this set up unless you have the ability to adjust the chainline on your crank. If it is not centered on the cassette, you will end up chewing up chainrings and chains, and the possibilities of loosing the chain and having to stop to put it back on are much greater.

4

you might be wishing you hadn’t if you ever happen to ride into a real nasty wind.

5

Good points
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6

I think I fail to see the point. Are you worried about the extra weight on the flats in the Mid-West?

7

I think I fail to see the point. Are you worried about the extra weight on the flats in the Mid-West?

theres also the extra drag of the derailleur cable, shifter, ring, and derailleur itself.

if it was easier to take all that crap off and put it on again I’d do it for non windy, flat races =)

8

Chains bounce … especially if you find yourself doing any rapid shifting. If you’re running a conventional chainring as a single, it can easily bounce off and then, if you don’t have a front derailleur, you’re stopping to dismount and put your chain back on. So much for any advantage. (I learned this the hard way at our state time trial championships a few years ago.)

If it’s what you want to do, you should get a chainring that’s designed to be run as a single. It has longer teeth to help hold the chain better. I’d still keep the front derailleur in place. Also, I’d restrict this to raceday only. I don’t agree that you’re going to grind your chainrings to dust by running a single chainring on flat stuff, but if you do end up spending a lot of time in training in the 19 and higher on the back, you could hasten the demise of your chain and chainrings.

I don’t see where there’s much advantage unless you get an aero chainring. Check out these guys: http://www.fibre-lyte.co.uk/ These are saweeeet. I ran one as a single when I did Beach 2 Battleship last year. Also ran it at the state TT championships. Worked flawlessly both times and I was quite happy with my results.
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9

I was thinking the same thing. I had the small ring and the front derailer off but the chain keeps coming off when I shift to the large rear cog. I am playing around with it on the trainer. I am using a q-ring. One of my motivations was weight and aero; but really my thoughts came from who my riding partners are. I have three guys I ride with a lot. All good riders. We all work well together with no issues. Once in a while we have a new person join us. The rides are outside, 20 mph and usually 1 hr training ride. I am in the areo bars 95% of the time (PC3). I was considering adding a third brake in the areo bar end where the front Chain Ring shifter is if I could elliminate it. Just an option to scrub some speed if needed. The other guys are all on raod bikes.

I also thought about just swapping the front Chain Ring shifter and the left brake shift. It would accomplish the same thing. If I did want to shift onto the small ring I could move a hand out just as easily as moving it to brake but with out the sence of urgency when riding with an unknown rider.