You should be running a 1x drivetrain

Triathlon Forum
1

Everyone should. Not just Rapp.

A few years ago I began running a 1x drivetrain on my mtb’s. I only race mtb’s, no tris, no road races. No swimming or running for that matter; I have a monogamous relationship with my sport.

Anyway, in training I often take my mtb on the road. Much to my surprise I didn’t find myself missing my 2x up front, which of course led to me thinking about spending more money on taking away gear on my road bike…

I finally did it a while ago with the advent of the cx1 groupset, and I am here to tell you that EVERYONE should be doing this (ok except for those of you who live in very steep places, or who race road bikes, those people have very good needs for 2x setups).

But really, 1x is very useful, practical and an excellent choice for the road under most conditions.

Back when I did triathlons I noticed one thing: courses are pretty flat. Yes there are exceptions, but if you’re doing 3k of climbing in 56 miles, that’s not much. And chances are good you’re not doing Alpe d’Huez in the middle of two pancake flat sections of road. More likely, you are spending 97% of your time shifting around on one ring on a rolling course.

This isn’t just about the newest trend though. This is about your mind. Yes, I’m encouraging you mentally assist yourself. You’re not going to inherently go faster from riding 1x. The weight savings are minimal, and aero is negligible (I assume but maybe specialized should find out!). This is about having a bike that runs simpler and you not having to think.

“Dude, thanks but I’ve been riding a road bike for 55 years and I don’t think about front shifting anymore.” That’s nice, but I bet you think about it when it’s not perfect.

“I used to be a pro mechanic for Lance and Merckx and my bikes always shift flawlessly because I constantly tune them to perfection.” You constantly tune them to perfection…

“I use Di2, I’m all set.” Wiggins wouldn’t agree.

Think about this. Have you ever removed a step in your life that you mechanically did? Like say when you bought your first car with a remote to unlock the doors. You probably didn’t think putting the key in was that big a deal. It isn’t, and it still isn’t. But man, having a remote is nice. Going back feels kind of weird, but not overly troubling.

That’s the point. A front derailleur isn’t overly troubling. They are harder to perfectly adjust than a rear, and require a tiny bit of planning to use correctly, but it’s not a big deal. But man it’s kind of nice not dealing with one. And that is the light.

Common Arguments:

BUT MY CADENCE! I used to be a cadence snob. 3 rpm differences were catastrophic to my power output! So I thought. 10 rpm, maybe, but small changes really aren’t going to make as much of a difference as you think, and besides, you spend MOST of your time in one ring anyway, jumping around cogs at the same intervals. I don’t know anyone who messes with their front ring while in the middle of their cassette to find perfection of cadence. Even better, often times when you change your cadence it tricks you into pushing harder and helps change the rhythm of your muscles giving them a needed break.

BUT I’LL SPIN OUT! If you’re going 40 mph on a 46/11 and your legs are doing 120rpm, chances are pretty good that a) your hill is almost over, b) it’s time to sit on your top tube and tuck to get more speed, or c) you’re doing Norseman and you should’ve brought a 2x.

BUT THEY DON’T MAKE RANGES BIG ENOUGH! Really? How much range do you need?? I run a 44-11/32 and find that it is awesome for everything but the steepest uphills and downhills. And I need some pretty sustained downhills (think 10 minute descent from a peak) to need more. High cadence work is good for your riding! Going up hill is tricky and I made my range cater to that. Instead of going with 46t in the front I thought about the steepest climbs around where I train and set things up for those climbs. But really, I rarely am at the extreme upper or lower range of my cassette (but I am there a WHOLE lot more than I used to be, which means I’m using all of my gears instead of 60% of them!).

BUT THEY DON’T MAKE RINGS BIG ENOUGH! There are 52t rings out there. If that isn’t big enough, you need to talk to Rapp about borrowing his custom 54t ring or maybe it’s time to go pro. Companies I know of that make these rings are sram, wolf tooth, and race face.

In all seriousness, this is a change that is pretty fun to make, is practical and (for me) makes riding a bit more enjoyable. I love the simplicity and the instant range I can have instead of fiddling with my front derailleur. I’m planning to go out and do the diabolical double (savageman course x2) again this year and I’ll probably throw a 11-36 cassette on my bike for that ride. But other than that, a 44-11/32 is the jam.

It’s not for every type of terrain, but I hope you’ll give it a try. It really is fantastic.

2

Do you run some sort of chain retention device? Use a single ring specific chain ring to avoid dropping the chain?

3

It’s not for every type of terrain

I like to ride lots of types of terrain. But, thanks.

4

Yea I do too. 100 miles in the mts in VA, 125 miles at the DD, 90 minute weekly worlds rides, and typical training rides where I live consist of usually 100ft per mile of elevation.

That’s pretty versatile, no?

Oh and 100 mile mtb races have all kinds of terrain, and 1x are dominating there.

As for retention, using a clutch dérailleur is the way I’ve done it. Ie: cx1 or similar clutch RD’s.

5

What you eastern types call a “mountain” is amusing. :slight_smile:

6

“I am here to tell you that EVERYONE should be doing this…”

“excellent choice for the road under most conditions.”

“Yes there are exceptions…”

You’re confusing.

7

If I could get a 44 or 46t for my DA9000 crank I’d be all about it. 11-28 in the rear and rock n’ roll. Heck even a 50t would do, but I’d need the longer cage RD and an 11-32 set-up.

8

:wink:

Hyperbole. Exaggeration. Sarcasm. It’s not a technical document.

The point is, most should give it a thought. It would make a lot of sense for you tri geeks.

9

There are 52t rings out there. .

From what I have seen there are problems with them or the company takes your money and doesn’t ship. I’ve inquired about getting the specialized CX-1 ring that is special to them on the Venge lunch ride but they aren’t selling it separate.

So only partially true.

I’d be running the sram one for PR if I could buy it

10

FD adjustment isn’t that bad when you consider it allows you to ride various terrain. Sure, if you never ride sustained grades over 5% then you can likely make 1x work…but why limit yourself when you don’t have to.

Remote locks on your car door are great, but people would ditch them for regular key locks if remotes did not work all the time…depending on where you parked.

Edit…i see you are focusing this to triathletes…so you could have more of an audience.

11

I agree for my TT bike, screw that little ring. I never use it, Now the road bike; it gets hella steep here in CT. Plenty of times I need it to make it up hills.

12

Intrigued by the race face option. Did you continue to run the same RD?

13

As soon as a 56 tooth 5 bolt is available I will be converting my tt bike. The few hills I encounter here in tts I just mash up. Running a 11 x 26 11 speed cassette will be perfect! I love the 1x11 set up on my Scalpel. It has been flawless so far.

14

yes i think TT bikes it makes perfect sense. i do think many road bikes could use it too.

i went with 44t in the front and a 11-32 (11spd) cassette out back and the only time its rough is on the climb that lasts over a mile at 10%. Now, everyone is different and has different strenghts obviously, but the 44/32 is equivalent to a 39/28. So if you run a standard crank with a 28 in the back… you aren’t losing anything. I know a lot of guys who use this ratio.

When i was first mulling the idea with a few riding buddies we all thought the ratios wouldn’t work out for climbing and that you’d be climbing too hard. But when you break it out, its more a matter of losing cadence adjustability than anything (and if your top end if you sprint a lot).

I wouldn’t do this if i raced road. My road bike is a utility bike for intervals, big rides, fast group rides etc. So if my cadence isn’t preferable, i’m not losing a race over it, just a bit of pride when i lose the town line sprint.

i went from a 2x10 with a standard crank on an SL4 to a disc road bike and 1x11. Utility was definitely my objective. But it has worked out to be an awesome training tool, hence my recommendation that more people give it a try. SRAM is coming out with an 11spd 11/36 cassette soon as well which would give you even more range to run say a 46, which paired with a 36 would give you the equivalent of 34/27. That gearing should get anyone through just about anything (barring maybe the Tourmalet).

As for the chainring, someone mentioned one company i mentioned being rough to work with. I can’t speak to that honestly. I’ve got a bunch of wolf tooth rings and have never had an issue, race face seems to be a good company to work with and SRAM is SRAM.

15

As soon as a 56 tooth 5 bolt is available I will be converting my tt bike. The few hills I encounter here in tts I just mash up. Running a 11 x 26 11 speed cassette will be perfect! I love the 1x11 set up on my Scalpel. It has been flawless so far.

http://www.specialites-ta.com/gb/plateau-alize.html - up to 61 tooth

16

Wolf wide narrow in a 110 stops at 50tooth, I run a 50 on my road bike and don’t like it. I got that when I had a standard on my tri bike and wanted the option to swap back and forth, now that I have a p2m I can’t easily do that so I went with a 52 and love it.

The company mentioned in the other thread that had a 110 52 people had issues with.

There really aren’t enough options out for everyone yet the rings are still too small.

17

If I could get a 44 or 46t for my DA9000 crank I’d be all about it. 11-28 in the rear and rock n’ roll. Heck even a 50t would do, but I’d need the longer cage RD and an 11-32 set-up.

Actually, cage length depends on how much slack chain you need to pick up, not on the size of the cassette. With a 1x setup, you generally actually have less chain to pick up. What you need is a derailleur on which the guide pulley can clear the larges cog in your cassette. 32 isn’t actually all that bad, even some common road derailleurs clear that (definitely CX ones). Switch to a mtb RD and you’ll have no problems. My new gravel bike has 11-36 on the back and the largest cog looks GIANT :slight_smile:

18

I’m a convert (I’ve posted in the other threads on this, too). Started with going to a Wolftooth 32T 1x10 on my 2007 26" MTB and loved the simplicity, quiet, extra ground clearance, and some lost weight.

Started to think about it for the tri bike and put a Wolftooth 50T on it about a month ago. I took off the front derailleur, removed the cable, plugged the aerobar end and made no other changes - still running a 10-speed 11-28 cassette with a SRAM Red rear derailleur. The folks at Wolftooth said I don’t need a clutch derailleur, and Jason from Friction Facts has tested the wide-narrow chainrings and found less than 1/10 of a watt being lost to the chainring design compared to a regular chainring.

It’s good stuff. Granted, I still haven’t had it out on the road - only on the trainer so far. Looking forward to a race season with this setup to really be able to comment on it.

Now the real question is why don’t manufacturers use a 1x setup on their more affordable mountain bikes to make them even more affordable? I would think they could improve their bottom line by keeping it simple. I find it strange that 1x is only found on the more expensive models.

19

I think I’ve probably spent 5 minutes in the last two years on issues related to having 2x drivetrains. The time spent making money to buy a new drivetrain and actually swapping it out probably outweighs the time saved in maintenance of a 1x drivetrain.

20

Now the real question is why don’t manufacturers use a 1x setup on their more affordable mountain bikes to make them even more affordable? I would think they could improve their bottom line by keeping it simple. I find it strange that 1x is only found on the more expensive models.

New riders/first time buyers probably need more gear options or at the very least think they need them… a 1X is not going to impress them and sell them on a bike. Granted a bike shop should do their job and explain it but whatever. 1X components at this point are also probabl more expensive than the low end stuff on those bikes.