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review

SRAM Force 1

8
£1,040.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Really good single-ring groupset: quiet, crisp and effective, with component options for all your bikes
Weight: 
2,466g
Contact: 

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Want an all-purpose groupset for cyclo-cross, or gravel, or adventuring, or commuting, or pretty much anything? SRAM's Force 1 puts in a really solid performance and it's easy to recommend. It's silent running, low maintenance and pretty hard wearing. There are options now for everything from cyclo-cross to crit racing.

SRAM originally launched Force 1 as CX1, the CX denoting cyclo-cross, and it was a disc brake-specific groupset. Cyclo-cross as a genre is very much moving towards single-ring drivetrains. You don't have the mud trap of a front derailleur and the expanding size of rear cassettes means there's plenty of range for your hour of pain. Since then, though, the groupset has been added to and re-targeted at, well, everyone. There are mechanical rim brake levers for your race bike, and even wider range cassette options that work with an XD freehub to give you almost the same range as a double chainset. I've been riding Force 1 for about eight months now.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy this online here

'There really couldn't be a better time to be a road cyclist. Or a backroads gravel adventurer. Or a cyclocross racer. Or a time-trial specialist,' says SRAM in its Micro Guide to 1x Drivetrains. 'The definition of 'road' is changing. And, thanks largely to our dedicated 1x drivetrain philosophy that uses superwide-range 11-speed rear cogsets, what's possible with a single front chainring is changing too. 1x drive systems for drop-bar cyclists can provide a simpler, quieter, and more secure drivetrain solution to virtually go anywhere. Not to mention an incredible range of gears to tackle an incredible range of terrain – on the bike of your choice.'

SRAM is marketing it at everyone, then. So: is it suitable for everyone?

Single ring: no longer niche

The short answer is yes. And the long answer is yes too, but with the proviso that different bikes will need different setups, so it's not a one-size-fits-all deal. But the components are there such that you can spec your bike for what you want it to do, and you'll have an option available to you. So, what's the advantage?

The main advantages, for me, are the simplicity of operation, the quality of the shifting and the noise, or lack of it. Let's touch on that first. Good quality modern drivetrains aren't exactly noisy, but the Force 1 drivetrain is, for the most part, entirely silent. The thick-thin chainring holds the chain much more closely than a standard unit, and the roller bearing clutch in the rear mech controls the chain tension very well, such that there's never any chain slap. The deep-tooth pulleys on the jockey help too.

All those things added together mean the only noises you'll get are the clunks between gears when you're shifting up and down. The left-hand lever is basically a Force 22 lever minus all the shifting gubbins. It's functionally fine, but I did find that it wasn't the most comfortable to grip at times as the exposed edges at the back of the lever are a bit angular.

SRAM Force CX1 Groupset - left hand lever.jpg

The shifting is excellent. Compared to something like Shimano Ultegra it's a more tactile experience. There's a bit more effort required per shift but the click to the next gear is very positive and the shifting between sprockets generally faultless. It's a bit noisier than a road groupset but that's mostly down to the bigger gaps in the cassette. I was running an 11-36 cassette, but now you can have as wide as 10-42 from SRAM if you have wheels with an XD freehub, and 11-40 cassettes are available from Shimano and SunRace that will be compatible.

There are three lengths of rear derailleur available for different cassettes. Our medium-cage mech tops out at 36 teeth, so if you want a bigger cassette than that you need the extra capacity of the long-cage version. There's also a short-cage mech with a maximum sprocket size of 28 teeth, designed for racing applications. All three derailleurs use the same roller bearing clutch mechanism to control chain tension. It works very well, and there's a button to allow you to lock the mech, which makes changing wheels really easy.

Range: some compromise, but rarely an issue

I ran the 11-36 cassette with a 40T chainring for most of the test period. That's a gear range of about 30in to about 98in. That low gear is small enough for pretty much anything, the equivalent of a triple chainring with a 30T inner ring, and a 27T sprocket. It's lower than you'd find on most road bikes and I specced it to be low enough for a bit of rough stuff climbing on my Kinesis Tripster ATR.

At the other end, the 98in gear is a bit of a compromise in the sense that it'll spin out on a downhill. I never found this an issue unless I was trying to keep up with friends on standard-geared road bikes who'd decided to really go after it on a descent. Realistically, if I was speccing for the road only I'd go to a 44T chainring: that would give about the same low gear as a 50/34 double with an 11-28 cassette while extending the top gear to 108in, which would let you keep up on more or less anything.

SRAM Force CX1 Groupset - full bike.jpg

Force 1 is an option for racing now as well, with 50T, 52T and 54T chainrings meaning you'll have plenty of fast gears for crits or triathlon. The flip side in race terms is that you lose a bit of the range at the other end. The other issue is the gaps between the ratios, which are bigger than they are on the 11-25 or 11-28 cassette you'd fit with your double chainset. Whether that's an issue for you will depend on your style of riding, and how comfortable you are with a broader range of pedal cadences.

I didn't race on the road with the Force 1 components, but I did on rare occasions find myself wishing there was a sprocket between the two that were available. It's more likely to be an issue on draggy climbs, or riding into a headwind on the flat, where you want to keep a tight rein on your cadence to keep a measured effort. For general riding on the Tripster it was hardly ever a problem, and I'd be happy to live with bigger gaps in the cassette for the bigger range of an 11-40 or 10-42 cassette.

SRAM Force CX1 Groupset - cassette.jpg

I rode long distances, 200km and more, over challenging terrain on my Force 1 setup and at practically no point during rides like that did it really feel like a compromise. Certainly I'd say that the simplicity of operation, lack of complexity and low noise easily outweighed the odd where's-the-right-gear niggle.

Is Force 1 a realistic option for racing? Yes, it is. Certainly if your game is city centre crit races, or circuit racing where you're using about four of your available 20 gears, then there's no issue switching to a single ring. The same goes for flatter triathlons. If you're doing hillier stuff then you'd need to make a call between speccing a wider cassette and living with bigger gaps between the ratios, or sacrificing either some of the high end gears, or the low end, or both.

> Read our review of SRAM Rival 1 here

The sacrifices are small, though: a 50T single ring with an 11-36 cassette has about 92% of the range of a 52/36 semi-compact cassette and an 11-28 cassette. On a double the gaps are between 9% and 12%. Move to a single ring and they're 9% to 15%: not much different, but that 15% jump is from 13 to 15 teeth which is in the bit of the block you'll likely be using for fast bits: that's really the only jump that's likely to jar a bit. If you go to 10-42 then the range is wider than that double setup, but there are some big gaps between ratios, up to 20%. You'd not be speccing that on a race bike.

The upside is there's no changing between chainrings at crucial moments: that's a riskier shift in terms of losing your chain, and almost always at a point in a race where things are happening. With that chainring shift you also have the attendant problem of needing to shift at the back too to keep your cadence, either one or two shifts depending on the size of your chainrings and where you are on the cassette. It's worth noting that my single-ring setup has never ever dropped the chain in eight months and thousands of miles of riding.

SRAM Force CX1 Groupset - chainset.jpg

If you have a race bike, and maybe the budget to get a couple of chainrings or cassettes, you'd never have a problem. If you have one bike for racing and training, and no extra cash for bits to swap – or you just don't want to bother – then it's possible for it to feel like a minor compromise. I confidently predict that single-ring setups will be commonplace on the flat stages of Grand Tours in the next few years. Mostly with rim brakes though.

Outside of rarefied racing spheres there are really no issues. What you get is a simpler, quieter transmission.

A note on gear psychology

One thing that I found quite different, which I wasn't really expecting, is that, mentally, using a 1x drivetrain is different to using a double or triple. There's just one run of gears. If it gets harder, you pick an easier one, and vice versa. What you can't do is give yourself a mental boost by lobbing it in the big ring at the top of a climb. Conversely, there's no moment of defeat when you have to drop down to the inner ring.

Whether that suits or not, well, it depends. I'm undecided, personally. There's something very liberating about not worrying about what ring you're in at the front, but at the same time you don't get that satisfaction of having done that climb sur la plaque. I'm not sure for me it's any better or worse, just different. If you're a very emotional, no computer, ride by the seat of your pants type then I don't expect you'd like it as much. If it's more of a numbers game to you then you might see advantages. I'm off into conjecture here, so I'll haul on the brakes.

Braking: good modulation and power, some rotor issues

Braking from the hydraulic levers and callipers is very good. You get bags of power and it's easy to modulate. We have the are-discs-better debate, if you want. For me, for everyday riding, they're clearly superior to rim brakes. Better and easier application of braking force, better all-conditions performance, less mess, minimal maintenance.

SRAM Force CX1 Groupset - rear disc.jpg

It's not all sweetness and light. One of the trade-offs is that disc rotors can be susceptible to dirt, and warping when they get hot under heavy braking. Both of those things can make them sing or tick against the pads, which in a hydraulic system are very close to the rotor. I found the Centerline X rotors I was using to be particularly susceptible to picking up ticks. They were noticeably more fussy than Shimano's IceTech rotors and TRP's two-piece Centerlock rotor, both of which I tried with the groupset.

SRAM Force CX1 Groupset - front disc.jpg

Should you need to do it, bleeding the brakes requires a SRAM syringe kit. SRAM uses DOT fluid, while Shimano uses mineral oil. Neither are liquids you want on your skin, so best to glove up if you're tinkering. I bled the brakes more to say that I had than because it was necessary; it's not quite as simple as doing a Shimano setup but it's easily achievable in your shed if you have the tools. Replacing the pads is easy too, and they'll re-centre themselves; that's one of the joys of hydraulic disc brakes.

Weight and pricing

From the road.cc scales of truth and SRAM's price list, here's the build weight and cost for our setup:

Force 22 HRD shift/brake lever right, hose and calliper (387g) £253

Force 1 HRD brake lever left, hose and calliper (314g) £203

Centerline rotor 160mm x2 (206g) £72

Force 1 GXP crankset, 50T chainring (622g) £208

GXP bottom bracket (119g) £28

Force 1 mid-cage rear derailleur (272g) £168

PG1170 11-36T cassette (301g) £75

PC1170 chain (245g) £33

So that's a full RRP of £1,040 and an overall weight of 2,466g. The actual price you'll pay for the groupset isn't as much as that, but you won't find it half price like you can the likes of Shimano Ultegra, which has a similar RRP. SRAM groupsets generally aren't as heavily discounted, and disc brake stuff generally isn't either.

> SRAM Apex 1 single chainring groupset

Weight-wise you're looking at an increase of about 270g over SRAM Force 22 GXP, with rim brakes. The chainset is lighter, as is the non-existent front mech, but the brake/shifter combo and rear mech are heavier, and you're adding on the weight of discs.

It's still a lightweight groupset, and shod with it my Kinesis is as light as it's ever been: 9kg on the nose, with pedals. That's more than a half kilo lighter than it was with SRAM's Rival HRD groupset that the Force replaced, and also lighter than the Ultegra Di2 build I had before that. If you're looking for a lightweight cyclo-cross build or something for an all-purpose bike then it's a good fit. The rim-braked groupset will be not dissimilar to the equivalent Force 22 setup: you get the savings on the front mech and the chainset, and these are offset by the heavier wide-ratio cassette and rear derailleur. Overall, it would probably be marginally lighter.

Overall: great performance, simple operation

My experience of riding with Force 1 has been very positive. I like the way it works, and I like its silent operation and crisp shifting. It's never dropped the chain and barely ever missed a shift. The expanded Force 1 options, with rim brakes and bigger chainrings for race bikes, mean it's a viable option for many different types of riding now. It probably makes most sense still for a do-anything sort of bike, but expect to see it making its way into road and racing spheres too.

Verdict

Really good single-ring groupset: quiet, crisp and effective, with component options for all your bikes

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road.cc test report

Make and model: SRAM Force 1

Size tested: 40 / 11-36

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

SRAM says: "Everything you need. Nothing you don't. For you, advancement means having everything you need. And nothing you don't. This is SRAM Force 1 in a nimble nutshell. Innovative, responsive, race ready. Last year's game-changing upgrade for cyclocross has expanded to triathlon, criterium, and other 700c disciplines, paved and beyond pavement. With a host of drivetrain options, all featuring SRAM 1x™ technologies, and the broadest assortment of braking options available today, SRAM Force 1 is quietly simplifying the experience."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

SRAM Force® HRD Shift-Brake Control

SRAM Road's HydroR hydraulic braking platform provides better speed modulation and braking performance in all conditions.

All new design inside and out

Revised ergonomics for better finger wrap and a revised shifter paddle for improved finger clearance

Individual Reach Adjust

Carbon brake levers/ aluminum shift levers

Low hand force required

Fully sealed system for no contamination

Easy bleed access

Use this 11-speed shifter for both SRAM Road 1x and 2x drivetrains

Optimized stopping power and modulation for cyclocross

18mm front/ 18mm rear pistons

Specific caliper and piston ratio

160 or 140 Centerline rotors sold separately

Forged aluminum disc caliper with steel-backed organic pads and stainless hardware

Now available to fit flat mount frames and forks

SRAM Force® 1 Rear Derailleur

The SRAM Force® 1 Rear Derailleur adopts all the technologies of SRAM 1x MTB to provide the fastest, quietest 1x11 shifting available. SRAM's unique clutch system eliminates chain slack, providing for smoother, quieter, and more secure chain travel.

A dedicated 1x rear derailleur

Exact Actuation™ for fast and accurate shifts using SRAM's 1:1 actuation ratio (shifter cable travel: derailleur movement). 10 and 11-speed compatible

X-SYNC™ pulley features a 12-tooth design that helps control the chain's lateral movement

X-HORIZON™ 'straight parallelogram' design limits all movement to the horizontal axis, which makes ghost shifting impossible while also reducing shift force

ROLLER BEARING CLUTCH™'s one-way roller clutch controls chain tension for consistent shifting

CAGE LOCK™ technology makes for fast wheel changes or chain installation

Available in Short: 11-26 through 11-28 / Medium: 11-26 through 11-36 / Long 11-32 through 10-42 cage Lengths

Weight: 261g

SRAM Force® 1 Crankset

The SRAM Force® 1 crankset brings to cyclocross a game-changing upgrade in performance and reliability by combining the durability, simplicity, and efficiency of SRAM's Force 22 road combined with our MTB 1x technology, X-SYNC™.

SRAM X-SYNC™ wide-tooth, narrow-tooth chainring technology provides maximum chain control, crucial in cyclocross

Unidirectional carbon in crank arm matched to a forged alloy spider for lightweight and durability

Chainrings available in (110 BCD) 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, (130BCD) 52 and 54 teeth to conquer every course from sand dunes to gravel-road assaults

Single-ring drivetrain simplifies functionality

Weight 679g-24mm, 172.5mm, 50T, no BB

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Very well made and finished.

Rate the product for performance:
 
9/10

Excellent. Near-silent operation, crisp shifts, good braking.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

Wearing very well.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
7/10

Heavier than the Force rim-brake road groupset but good for a disc setup.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
7/10

Levers are good, although the space behind the left lever could do with some kind of plug.

Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Good value for money.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Really well: good performance for all kinds of riding.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Quiet, efficient.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Rotors a bit fiddly, left lever has uncomfortable sides at the rear.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your score

Great performance and good value, just a few minor niggles.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 43  Height: 189cm  Weight: 92kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Kinesis Tripster ATR, Kinesis Aithein

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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20 comments

Avatar
cyclisto | 7 years ago
0 likes

Love the idea of getting a part any part of the bicycle, that adds weight, needs maintenance and of course it may fail, especially for my bike which is used mostly for commuting, but what about chain friction at extreme gears? This is what mostly putts me off and I would really like to know how many watts you lose with extreme crosschaining

Avatar
phy2sll | 7 years ago
0 likes

It's a great system. Works brilliantly for cross.

My one complaint is the shape of the hydro hoods. For cross it's the last thing you care about, but riding on the road for a few hours is a different story.

Would challenge the perception that you can't lose your chain too: hit Quievy > Saint-Python hard enough and you certainly can!

Avatar
Initialised | 7 years ago
0 likes

When is the 10-50 12 speed 1x system coming to road bikes? Pair that up with a 50t front ring ans you'd have more range that most doubles. Add semiautomatic electronic shifting and we can get rid of the nonsense that is the brifter and have as much choice in braking systems as those darned mud pluggers

Avatar
reippuert | 7 years ago
0 likes

Just assempled a cross bike with 'dual wide range casette":

SRAM X0 type 2.1 rear

Campy 10-speed Chorus ergo's

Canpy S2 Chorus front

50/34 Chorus chainset

11-36 10-speed XTR casette (and a 11 speed wipperman chain)

 

for the road while comuting i really need to adjust to  the lower 11-13-15-17-19 range and i tend to stay on the large chainring all the time the gap is huge for high speed when you tend to micro adjust your cadence.

 Rode it singletrail  in the woods last night and the dual wide (and low) gear was a real joy to use - i expect my experinece will be the same later this summer when i'll ride it loaded with 10kg through the Alpes.

Avatar
Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
0 likes

Not for road riding in my mind. I have a 1x11 on the mtb, and I'm converted. I'd also go 1x11 on the cross bike, but for road riding, I want the variety of gears as I spend longer at any given speed and want to be able to pedal in an optimum range.
It is great on the mtb, and I'd recommend it. The difference is that off road, you don't get the speed variance, and you don't stick at a given speed for any real length of time.

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to Jimmy Ray Will | 7 years ago
1 like
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

Not for road riding in my mind. I have a 1x11 on the mtb, and I'm converted. I'd also go 1x11 on the cross bike, but for road riding, I want the variety of gears as I spend longer at any given speed and want to be able to pedal in an optimum range. It is great on the mtb, and I'd recommend it. The difference is that off road, you don't get the speed variance, and you don't stick at a given speed for any real length of time.

It's fine provided you just play around with the definition of road riding. No one has yet left me behind on a club ride, indeed I'm generally always out front on 44/11. But for a Sportive at a bigger pace I'd take the "race bike."

Indeed, 1x even has a massive future in TT. 

Arguably, even crit racing would be fine on one ring. 

Avatar
rogermerriman replied to bendertherobot | 7 years ago
0 likes
bendertherobot wrote:
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

Not for road riding in my mind. I have a 1x11 on the mtb, and I'm converted. I'd also go 1x11 on the cross bike, but for road riding, I want the variety of gears as I spend longer at any given speed and want to be able to pedal in an optimum range. It is great on the mtb, and I'd recommend it. The difference is that off road, you don't get the speed variance, and you don't stick at a given speed for any real length of time.

It's fine provided you just play around with the definition of road riding. No one has yet left me behind on a club ride, indeed I'm generally always out front on 44/11. But for a Sportive at a bigger pace I'd take the "race bike."

Indeed, 1x even has a massive future in TT. 

Arguably, even crit racing would be fine on one ring. 

really depends on use, I use 1X for my commute bike, makes sence in that regard. But my MTB and CX are 2X and 3X since I use the full spread of gears. which is difficult to do with 1X with out having big gaps.

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to rogermerriman | 7 years ago
1 like
rogermerriman wrote:
bendertherobot wrote:
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

Not for road riding in my mind. I have a 1x11 on the mtb, and I'm converted. I'd also go 1x11 on the cross bike, but for road riding, I want the variety of gears as I spend longer at any given speed and want to be able to pedal in an optimum range. It is great on the mtb, and I'd recommend it. The difference is that off road, you don't get the speed variance, and you don't stick at a given speed for any real length of time.

It's fine provided you just play around with the definition of road riding. No one has yet left me behind on a club ride, indeed I'm generally always out front on 44/11. But for a Sportive at a bigger pace I'd take the "race bike."

Indeed, 1x even has a massive future in TT. 

Arguably, even crit racing would be fine on one ring. 

really depends on use, I use 1X for my commute bike, makes sence in that regard. But my MTB and CX are 2X and 3X since I use the full spread of gears. which is difficult to do with 1X with out having big gaps.

A lot of that is due to how we mechanically process those gaps though. Admittedly there can be big jumps. 11 speed mitigates this to some extent. My commute is 20 miles each way, 700ft of climbing with little issue on either speed or climbing. Indeed, I'm about 1mph off my best time on my 44t 11/36. Once 12 speed arrives much of this will be moot  4

Avatar
rogermerriman replied to bendertherobot | 7 years ago
0 likes
bendertherobot wrote:
rogermerriman wrote:
bendertherobot wrote:
Jimmy Ray Will wrote:

Not for road riding in my mind. I have a 1x11 on the mtb, and I'm converted. I'd also go 1x11 on the cross bike, but for road riding, I want the variety of gears as I spend longer at any given speed and want to be able to pedal in an optimum range. It is great on the mtb, and I'd recommend it. The difference is that off road, you don't get the speed variance, and you don't stick at a given speed for any real length of time.

It's fine provided you just play around with the definition of road riding. No one has yet left me behind on a club ride, indeed I'm generally always out front on 44/11. But for a Sportive at a bigger pace I'd take the "race bike."

Indeed, 1x even has a massive future in TT. 

Arguably, even crit racing would be fine on one ring. 

really depends on use, I use 1X for my commute bike, makes sence in that regard. But my MTB and CX are 2X and 3X since I use the full spread of gears. which is difficult to do with 1X with out having big gaps.

A lot of that is due to how we mechanically process those gaps though. Admittedly there can be big jumps. 11 speed mitigates this to some extent. My commute is 20 miles each way, 700ft of climbing with little issue on either speed or climbing. Indeed, I'm about 1mph off my best time on my 44t 11/36. Once 12 speed arrives much of this will be moot  4

First off these are wants rather than needs, since clearly one can cope with only a few or even a single cog.

Even Eagle has some big gaps, the cheap CX I have is 3X7 which has a broader range than force but not quite as much as Eagle, it's the jumps between cogs that I notice compared to the 9/10s systems I have.

While it's a trend 1x looking at the number of expander cogs being sold for MTB's for such systems I can't help feeling that these folks would have been better off with 2x.

I suppose I also don't understand the hate for the front derailer which even on the cheap Tourney 7speed stuff is fire and forget.

Avatar
stephen connor | 7 years ago
1 like

@bendertherobot I agree that its the future. I only tried it because the seattube on my carbon 11spd  2x racebike split and was off the road. I'd been considering building up a 1x setup and just happened to be rebuilding an old aluminium giant defy to cover me while the good bike was  being repair. The "good carbon bike" now sees a lot less use because I think the 1x drivetrain is pretty great and handles most situations perfectly. I would recommend everyone just like disc brakes try it before you rubbish it. 

Avatar
700c | 7 years ago
0 likes

Not having a front mech would be liberating but I think the lack of top end (hard) gears and/or jumps between the sprockets for me would limit it to a specialist bike e.g gravel, cx, commuter maybe. On a longer ride over a variety of terrain, those compromises would start to niggle. Having said that I see Dave has managed some long rides on his set up!

As for changing sprockets - that seems like a right faff! And what about chain length? Or would the massive derailleur cope with all that..?

Avatar
mike the bike | 7 years ago
2 likes

When deciding whether to adopt a new idea I have an infallible system. Wait 25 years. If it's still around it's a good 'un.

Avatar
Welsh boy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Dave, get that saddle angle sorted out!

Avatar
stephen connor | 7 years ago
0 likes

@bendertherobot  I found the trick with 1x is look at the lowest gear you usually climb an 8%-10% climb with and look at the equivalent ratio with the 1x drivetrain and then give yourself one or two ratios lower as bailout options. For example I would usually climb a local 8-10% climb in 36 chainring and 17 or 19sprocket on the cassette, let take the 19 sprocket for this example, thats approx 3.91m of progression per revolution on a 25c tyre.  To transfer that to my 1x drivetrain with a 52t chainring which has 28c tyres its approx a 28t sprocket which gives 3.97m of progression per revolution. So on the 1x drivetrain I'll run either an 11/32 or 11/34 cassette so I have a bailout option. Ok its not a massive bailout but its perfect for short sharp gradients of around 20% that aren't long (<1km). It takes a bit of working out but the calculators are available online and are simple to use.

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to stephen connor | 7 years ago
0 likes
stephen connor wrote:

@bendertherobot  I found the trick with 1x is look at the lowest gear you usually climb an 8%-10% climb with and look at the equivalent ration with the 1x drivetrain and then give yourself one or two ratios lower as bailout options. For example I would usually climb a local 8-10% climb in 36 chainring and 17 or 19sprocket on the cassette, let take the 19 sprocket for this example, thats approx 3.91m of progression per revolution on a 25c tyre.  To transfer that to my 1x drivetrain with a 52t chainring which has 28c tyres its approx a 28t sprocket which gives 3.97m of progression per revolution. So on the 1x drivetrain I'll run either an 11/32 or 11/34 cassette so I have a bailout option. Ok its not a massive bailout but its perfect for short sharp gradients of around 20% that aren't long (<1km). It takes a bit of working out but the calculators are available online and are simple to use.

Thanks Stephen. I'm not sure it came across as I intended there! My point was in favour of 1x which I have on 2 out of my 3 bikes. Because both are CX orientated I currently have a 42t with 11-36 and a 44t with 11-36. And while I do love my Supersix I could quite happily forego the inner ring and do a similar thing to you. Achieving something that has the equivalent of a compact with 12-28t seems relatively straightforward and the conversation moves then to gaps. I'm not quite ready yet to ditch 2 rings on the Six but I do think the future is 1x.

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bendertherobot | 7 years ago
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See, mentally, with 1x I just have a range of gears that I move to make it easier or harder. With 2x though I know I have the bail out I also know that I have to shift into the cog and, eventually, shift back out of it. And given that only 4 of the gears on the small ring are smaller (or equal) to the first gear on the big ring it does all seem rather pointless.

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kil0ran | 7 years ago
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Plenty to mull over. Personally this appeals because I liked SRAM Force on my old CX but hated the front mech, such a pain to tune and never got it shifting reliably.

Does the shifter retain the usual DoubleTap ergonomics?

With the variety of chainring and cassette options available this would definitely cover me for most of my commuting needs, as long as my natural cadence doesn't happen to fall into one of those gaps. Definitely one to ride before you buy I think.

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fredpo | 7 years ago
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I've been running Rival 1 on my road/all-road bike and i've been very happy with the performance so far. I'm running 42t & 11-36t and the ratio has been good for club rides and for climbing steep hills comfortably.

A Shimano 5800/6800 gruppo with a single narrow/wide chainring, a Wolftooth Roadlink (enabling larger cassettes with road derailleurs) will work almost as well though if you would like to try out 1x11s.

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stephen connor | 7 years ago
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I'm a 1by11(10) drvietrain convert been running a 1x10 shimano parts bin mash up on my winter bike. Gearing wise I've been running 52t (standard chainring with bashguard and chain catcher, not narrow/wide) up front and 11/32 cassette. Ideally would like to upgrade to 11spd (smaller ratio jumps because of extra sprocket) and maybe change to an 11-36 cassette.
No issues with chain drops really unless I try to multi shifts in one and stop pedalling which is really rider error not a mechanical problem. No problems running out of gear either, regularly climbing 4km climb of 4% and shorter sharper rises of upto 20% with no issue.
I think the real game changer for single chainring for road bikes is the Sram XD freehub which accepts 10t sprockets. This means you can run a 48t chainring and a cassette with a 10t sprocket giving you a 4.8:1 ratio, which is identical (or as near as to be undistinguishable) from a 53/11 top gear, so spinning out shouldn't be an issue.

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AKH | 7 years ago
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Excellent review. Very detailed and well balanced.

Personally, I'm still not tempted. I've only dropped the chain once in over 3,000 km on my 5800 equipped bike. I can see why some people might like to remove the front derailleur, but for pure road riding, I can't see the net benefit.

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