[Fost]

Hello

I am designing the new bike (custom frame) and among many things I am evaluating the 1x

I ask, obviously only to … 1x-ers, an opinion on my idea: I come from a very classic 50/34 – 11/28, with which I go everywhere. I reasoned that from the hypothetical 22 gears, if I exclude the extreme intersections (50 / 28-25 and 34 / 11-12), the ratios become 18, if I then exclude those with the same or very similar metric development I still exclude 3, and we are at 15 useful gears. Of which I use a lot  about ten and the others are in less cases (example, 34-28 on extreme slopes or 50 / 11-12 if I really want to push downhill).

After various reasoning and thousand calculations, I came to the conclusion that with a 44 chainring combined with the 12v sram 10-36 cassette I would get practically the same gears ratio and range as the current bike.

Would you make the same choice as me? or would you change something? suggestions dictated by your experience?

For info: I do not compete, I am not an agonist, I like to travel and good pace, ride long dintances and climbs, to enjoy the beauty of cycling but without any worries about performance or times (I hate strava  )

Thanks

Topic

[Recoveryride]

1x can absolutely work on the

1x can absolutely work on the road.

A standard 2×11 actually has 14 distinct useable ratios, so going to Ekar or AXS only loses you 1 or 2 gears. Moreover, of those 14, the top 2 are going to be rarely used by most non-racers. If you don’t race/average less than 35kph you just don’t need a top gear ratio over 4.5 (at most).

Based on looking at gearcalculator, I worked out that with an Ekar 40/9-36 setup you can hit every 2kph increment between 12 and 50 kph while staying between 85 and 95rpm, and won’t spin out until over 60kph. That covers pretty much every eventuality for the vast majority of us. If you want more insurance, then with a 9-42 cassette you can get the same top end and go down to 8 (!) kph at over 85rpm, though you’ll have to go to 100rpm a few times to hit other speeds.

But…

1. Smaller rings/cogs and less straight chain lines bring with them efficiency losses, noise, and faster rates of wear. 

2. I’d suggest that 12 gears is a minimum, or the losses at either end and/or the jumps will be a real issue for most.

3. I’m still not sure why you’d want 1x on a pure road bike. Most modern FDs work very well and reliably. I’ve only gone for Ekar because this is an n=1 build with 2 different wheelsets and cassettes.

[joncomelately]

I converted my previous
I converted my previous commuter to a 1x. When that died, I only considered 1x setups because the bigger gaps are less annoying than a front mech (which I fully accept may relate more to my mechanical ability than anything, because the 105 mech on my 2x road bike is tolerable – I could never get anything cheaper to work nicely).

I have a 40 up front and 11-30something at the back. On the flat, never wish for anything more (that said, I only commute and I’m very content not to race); downhill sometimes I can’t get my cadence high enough comfortably. Only ever use the big ring at the back when I’m towing the little one in the bike trailer up the hill home from nursery.

Personally, I’d be very happy with a 1x road bike if such a thing exists when my current one moves on. I guess a lot depends on how sensitive to cadence you are – I mainly run for sport and ride for transport these days, and don’t mind a cadence anywhere between 70-90rpm. Perhaps if I cycled as a main sport, was better with a wrench (and maybe smoother shifting) I’d prefer the choice on a 2x.

[mdavidford]

So ‘flats’ don’t actually

So ‘flats’ don’t actually exist then? Given that nothing is ever exactly 0%.

[Hirsute]

My ebike has 46 at the front

My ebike has 46 at the front to your 40 with the same rear spread. Have you looked at a bigger chainwheel?

[zeeridesbikes]

I converted my 1x gravel bike

I converted my 1x gravel bike to a winter road bike after COVID stopped my towpath commute and whilst it’s ok, I definitely prefer a 2x setup for road riding. I find I just can’t find the right gear. It’s shimano grx with a 40 on the front and 11-42 on the back. 

[Welsh boy]

I class “uphill” as being

I class “uphill” as being when the road is going up and “downhill” as when the road is going down. There is no “interpretation”, it is a matter of fact. 

[EddyBerckx]

I cant remember the the

I cant remember the the gearing I had but it did have a huge (sram) cassette. This did give it a good range but meant it was gappy. As I say most of the time it was ok-ish

[wycombewheeler]

but you hit this speed for

but you hit this speed for what 2% of a ride time?

My gravel bike has 2x, but more because I had the components already than a preferance.

[Simon E]

EddyBerckx wrote:

EddyBerckx wrote:

When I had 1x I found it perfectly usable on the mostly (but not all) flat commute and riding solo.

I have 1×9 on my commute bike and 38T with 11-28 seems fine. I’m not fussed about going fast downhill (it’s nice to freewheel and enjoy the view when I’m not racing) and it doesn’t get ridden up particularly steep climbs.

It’s like the middle ring on my now deceased triple, and preferable to its replacement, a 50/34 compact, where swapping rings on rolling terrain or at risk of cross-chaining.

I never find the gaps a problem, though that might change with a 11-34 cassette or a significantly larger chainring.

[mdavidford]

Welsh boy wrote:

Drinfinity wrote:

…plenty of hills and usually as much downhill as uphill…

That made me smile.  If you start and finish your ride from home then there will be exactly the same amount od downhill as uphill (unless your house is built on a glacier or some other form of landslide).

Depends what you class as ‘uphill’ and ‘downhill’. You could have many miles of ‘false flat’, followed by a quick ‘downhill’ to get back to the starting point.

Also depends on how you measure how much of it there is – are you going by ascent/descent, by distance, or by time?

[Drinfinity]

Although to Eddy’s point

Although to Eddy’s point below – most of my rides are solo, many are easy cruises, and my racing is mostly cyclocross where I don’t have to keep pace with a tight peloton. Or MTB where I have 9-50.

[Drinfinity]

I like going fast downhill,

I like going fast downhill, and prefer to climb mostly in the saddle rather than labouring up. I use my top gears every ride, and spin out around 62km/h on the road bike. 42/11 would be 10km/h slower downhill.

[Drinfinity]

Depends on where you live and

Depends on where you live and the direction you ride. If I head north from home, there is more downhill on the way back due to post-glacial rebound. 

[Welsh boy]

Hi Fost, like you I did all

Hi Fost, like you I did all of the calculations and I tried a x1 setup which covered my usual gear range, it stayed on the bike for about 6 months, I tried very hard to like it but the jump between the gears (even riding on my own at my own speed) was too much, I never seemed to be in the right gear.  For me the jump between gears is mportant and I now ride my old set up of 34/50 with a Miche 11 speed cassette of 13-27 (summer bike) or 13-28 (winter/tourig bikes).

[Welsh boy]

Drinfinity wrote:

…plenty of hills and usually as much downhill as uphill…

That made me smile.  If you start and finish your ride from home then there will be exactly the same amount od downhill as uphill (unless your house is built on a glacier or some other form of landslide).

[Author]

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