[Closed] 1x10 curious

Done it recently, used narrow-wide ring and expander from superstar.

Lost a bit of range at both ends but there's no way I'm going back - the positives far outweigh the negatives for me and it seems to lead to climbing most hills quicker.

I went 1x on my hard tail, but that's only used locally (Oxon). I've left the granny ring on my FS (2x9) as that's the bike that gets taken to bigger hills. I'd not want to be without the lower range on long slogs or late on in a ride.

Work out the ratios you have, and the ratios you would have if you changed your rings on [url= http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/ ]sheldon browns website[/url] then go out cycling but only use the range of ratios which you would have if you went 1x10.

Edit: or just stop using your granny ring and see how you get on...

I must be the only person who doesnt get on with 1×10. It just doesnt seem to have the range. If I get the low gear right I miss the high gear and vise versa. I think it depends on the downhills in your area. If they are fast pedally none technical runs then you will miss the top end. I can see the 10t on sram would be really good but without it the range is to restricted.

Secondly I dont get the advantages. Yes less weight around the mid frame area but youre loading more weight onto the the rotating mass ie the hub and cassette. Yes there is one less gear lever to push but its not exactly hard as it is now is it.

I like a bike that gets me up every hill and down every hill without any comprises. A rough look at my stats showed my average speed for a ride was higher with a full set of gears that with 1×10. That convinced me.

I went 1x10 but kept the granny ring as the local loop (the 25 km I ride at least once, most weeks) has a 20 minute technical grind up hill. I change into the granny with my foot and back into the NW ring with my fingers at the top.

I'm happy I did. I sounds ridiculous, but only having a choice of 10 gears makes riding simpler and you can just crack on and ride. The clutch/NW ring make for a silent drive train. I spin out on flat road bits but it's a mountain bike!

As far as weight savings go, get to fk! Of course it doesn't make a difference. However, 1xX does look better 🙂

Just got 1x10 on this:

[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/687/22613847696_3e55052865_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/687/22613847696_3e55052865_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/AsiT4N ]2015-10-31_03-10-55[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/47933770@N07/ ]Allan[/url], on Flickr

(any excuse to post a pic!)

Lowest seems OK to crawl up pretty much anything (especially with those tyres). And I'm never going to go that fast that I'll need a bigger top gear. Or if I do, I'll stop pedalling and enjoy the view.

Its not always about getting there first 😀

Actually it is quite nice just having to click straight up and down through gears, no fiddling when you make the jump to big ring or granny. If you can get a big enough range, its a much more efficient system.

Edit - mines 28 x 11-40. What are others running?

I recently went back to a 2 x 10 XTR set up having been using a 1 x 10 for some time on my "Enduro" / "All Mountain" / 160mm FS bike call it what you like :). Mountainous where I am, and I am loving having a granny ring again for long steep climbs. I have a BB mounted bash guard and a clutch mech and have not dropped the chain once, and the weight difference is not noticeable.

[i]Leicestershire isn't blessed with big hills but there are some steep bits and it will come to Wales. the Peaks and the Lakes at some point. [/i]

Run gearing to suit where you live and ride most, and when you do go to other places just put on a different front ring (and chain).

Once you've ridden 1x you'll dislike the front mech, although I've kept my HT on 3x9 as this is the bike I ride longer (+ 40 miles) on - where the top-end gearing is useful. Also going an oval ring means you can run two-extra teeth on the front over a normal ring.

Just stick it in the middle ring and do a few rides without changing the front mech. See how you get on with 30 and 11-36.

I used 3x9 for quite a while but happy I went 1x10 (no expander). I've not experienced any downsides to be honest. The high end only spins out at about 25mph on the road downhill, so don't know what kind of pedally non-technical downhills would warrant a higher gear? Been up every hill as easily as before, and a decent weight saving (2 chainrings, 1 front mech, 1 shifter, 1 cable less against a slightly bigger cassesste than I had before).

Just a technicality makecoldpplayhistory, but surely you've just got a 2x10 without a front mech 🙂 ?

@40mpg I'm running 32 x 11-40 on a 29er

@fisherboy By the time I get to spin out (a cadence somewhere between 125 & 130) with the above then I'm going fast enough for me. Actually I'm going a little quicker than that but once I get to those speeds then I might as well take advantage of gravity and let it do the work 😀

Secondly I dont get the advantages. Yes less weight around the mid frame area but youre loading more weight onto the the rotating mass ie the hub and cassette. Yes there is one less gear lever to push but its not exactly hard as it is now is it.

Even running a 2 or 3X, a lot of peole still run an 11-34/6 cassette so there is still a saving to be had. A 1X set up allows a Reverb lever to be run under the bars out of the way...which is a good thing considering how much they cost.

I went 1x a while ago and have never looked back - I used to drop a few chains with a 2x set up. I can still get up hills in Wales, Scotland, Peaks etc and I wouldn't class myself as super fit.

I can't see me going back.

I did exactly what you did.
Had a Spesh stumpy with 3 x 9
Went to the alps so knocked it down to 2x9 and a bash ring (22/32 up front)
Then rode it at home for a while and wanted to make the jump to 1x 10 but wasn't confident I had the legs or wouldn't miss the top end, so on my regular rides where ever possible I made an effort to try and stay in the middle (now the big ring at the front) 32T chain ring and push it with the legs a bit to see If i could cope with the climbing. The bonus of this is that after a month or so of this your legs get stronger and you rely less on the granny ring.

Then I swapped it to a 30T up front and a 10 spd rear with 40T expander. The legs thought it was a breeze when in fact I think now my 1st gear is kind of like my old 2nd or 3rd and I can still ride all my regular climbs.

Road work is a slog in top and you end up with a high cadence but I try to avoid roads where possible.

Descending is taken care of with a clutch mech and narrow wide chain ring and chain device. If your worried about chain retention knock it into one of the larger gears on the back to help.

Do it you won't regret it.
Im just about to do my winter Hard tail conversion too.

Just a technicality makecoldpplayhistory, but surely you've just got a 2x10 without a front mech ?

I guess so. But no mech, no shifter and a ring without ramps. All the benefits of 1x10 but a rarely used bail-out gear too.

I did 50 miles/2500m in the lakes the other day on a 26er with 1x10 36->11-40 and didn't really miss the lowest or the highest.

That included Honister pass, Whinlatter, Altura North and South and back o'skiddaw (which is almost unrideable anyway near the falls)

Mind you, mate did nearly all the ride on his big ring as the small one had few teeth left. 29er 38 -> 11-36 He was quick round whinlatter... 😀

Jeesus H Chri .... ! That'd kill my knees 😳

The only time I've been up the track by Whitewater Dash I got to the short steep section about 100 metres from the gate before I span out. Don't think anyone with a 2x or 3x setup got much further.

Oh. Managed halfway up the last steep bit before the farmer in the truck coming down gave me a chance to wuss out. Dave nearly made it up.
And that was after 5 hours and 40 odd miles.

Bloody good day out. Was a bit tired afterwards.

for what I ride north of Glasgow running a triple with 22-32-44 and a 12-27 9s cassette did fine. Moved to 1x10 (via a few 2x9 and another 1x9 over the years) about 18 months ago. looked at the gears I use and figured a 32 chainring and a 11-34 would do, but for the uppage of gears I actually opted for an 11-36 with a 34T as the only difference with cassettes is the largest couple of sprockets, meaning I had more suitable gears for the flatter sections.

it takes a while to get used to, going from a relatively close ratio cassette to one with bigger jumps, but it seems to work OK for me.

Ideally I'd like a 9-32 11 speed cassette, then I could use a 28T and still have a decent set of gears, but alas, it's all about the expander rings...

really useful thread,

I'm going 1x10 this week and was just about order 30t and some single speed bolts but found out i didn't need them so just saved a £10.

I did an experiment a few weeks back rode from Macc to Castleton via Hayfield. tonnes of climbing didn't use the 22 cog, did OK my easiest gear was 32 x34.

The last bit of the climb from Jaggers clough to Hope cross was hard but apart from that I managed it all. I'm going 30 x 11-36 but I'm keeping the 22 as a bale out for emergencies won't use it most rides. We sometimes do 10-12 hour rides and hitting a hill at the end of one of them without the 22 or an expander ring would be tough.

But most of my riding the simplicity and the space for the dropper lever it will be worth it, if i find i'm using the 22 too much i'll buy an expander.

My CX bike is 2x11, I see next years models are 1x11.
My bike spends a lot of it's time on tarmac plus it's very hilly round here.
I can't see any advantage for me of a reduced range of gears.

I run 1x10 on my 456 and Superlight, switching from 3x9 and 2x10 respectively and haven't looked back; you do need a NW ring though or the chain will fall off at the slightest bump. I got on absolutely fine at Mayhem this year and there was plenty of climbing there, though nothing stupidly steep.
In winter locally I ride my Inbred ss. that's even better for avoiding the mud clog, but then Warwickshire has even less hills than Leicestershire 🙂

Running a 1x10 set up on a Five. 30t upfront with 11-40 at the back. Lost the 17t cog on the cassette for a Hope 40t extender.

Having gone from a 3x9 on my previous bike I was a little bit dubious but after testing it out was completely won over. Less clutter upfront and less weight thanks to no front mech.

Haven't really noticed the loss of my big ring or granny ring on climbs or descents. If anything my climbs felt better and more consistent; my times went down as well.

Only two (very) minor gripes:
1 on the local cycle paths my cadence has gone up a bit in terms of matching speeds as before but not that much to be a problem
2 losing the 17t cog does mean there is a bit of a gap in the gear changes and it is noticeable particularly on up shifts, but again it's not a huge issue. The clutch on the SLX deals with it pretty well.

Bottom line, I don't regret the change, performance wise it works for me really well and the cassette issues I can remedy in time maybe go to a 11 at the back.

Cheers for the input everyone.
There's enough positive views for me to think it should be fine...already looking at NW chainring and expander cog prices! Sat will be the acid test - MUST NOT SHIFT UP OR DOWN WITH LEFT HAND! 😛

If your left hand is bored for something to do, get a dropper at the same time, job done

Reverb remote already there.
It's a Trigger which has a remote rear shock lever on RH ride..might swap them so they are both on the underside of the bars.

I wasn't expecting to get on with 1x10, but have it on both mtbs now. I am old and weak of leg but ride in South Wales, so need easy gears. So one is 30t - 11-42 the other is 28t - 11-42. The 28 is achieved by a Wolf Tooth Components 5-arm compact ring on Middleburn cranks with a five-arm compact spider, with a 4-arm compact on the other bike the lowest you can go is 30t (from On-Up, whose expander cogs I use).

One thing, with the Shimano Zee mech on one bike One-up do a modified cage which makes the shifting work tidy, with the SRAM X-9 on the other the shifting was a bit pants and it needed the b-screw at full in, but I have modified the jockey cage myself to get it to behave better.

So if you are going the expander route (at least with 42t) I would go Shimano with the One-up jockey cage modification (or Wolf Tooth do a "Goat Link" dangly thing that is supposed to achieve the same, but again only for Shimano). Unless you like bodging that is.

I can see the advantages but think I'll wait until 11 speed Deore/SLX level stuff is out, i.e. you can get a standard rear mech & 11-42 cassette. Then it'll be cheap enough to break & replace. I hope...

In the meantime, I'll be using about 8 of my 30 available gears...

I have 1X10 on my fatty......for me personally ..it's all the range I need.
I always find front mech shifting a pita......my mate is always having probs with his OO fatty front mech...I told him to take it off...saves hassle

Until you try riding with a smaller gear range you might not discover that your legs can produce similar power over a much wider range of cadences. Practice spinning really fast and you'll need fewer high gears. Practice stomping hard at really low revs and you'll need fewer low gears.

Basically like a more sensible version of singlespeeding! 😉

Tomorrow is D-day (seeing if 1x10 is an option by not using granny or big rings) and a might be jumping the gun a bit here BUT...what is a good 96BCD NR chainring?
Raceface, Wolftooth, Blackspire, Works Components....and RSP (Raleigh).
The RSP ones seem to get could reviews for half the price of RF ones...they can't be that different can they?

Went 1x10 with extender, whilst on 26" then went to 27.5"...
I struggled up the same climbs the 26" version did fine on. Now I've added a stealth granny.

1x8 36t 11-32 was fine for me where I used to live where climbs were only a few minutes long. Now my regular rides feature climbs with 3-400 metres of climb I''be dropped my ratios with a 30t ring and a 12-36 cassette. I miss being able to pedal much past 20mph when the trail heads even slightly downhill, I just take in the views.

Took the bike up the nearest 'big' Leicestershire hill this afternoon, then up a climb which I knew to be steep - to test whether 1x10 is for me...just made a mental note DO NOT TOUCH LH SHIFTER! and kept it in the middle ring. Pleased to report that I got up first one ok and would have cleaned it if it wasn't for the crap rear tyre spinning out on on a wet rock. Also got up the steep one with some effort - rather than spinning easily in the granny it felt like more of a body effort if that makes sense - I can see how you'd get fitter on the climbs as you have to put more effort in not resorting to just pulling on your LH shifter for lots of easy gears. This was my barometer to see if I'm going to bite the 1x10 bullet. I was running a 30T upfront with 11-36 on the back. TBH I could have done with more gears so if I do it I'll prob go for an expander cog. The descents were fine with a 30 so will get a NW 30 - a 32 will make it harder to climb if anything - right? Found out today that the SLX cassette is pinned between 12-24 (they are prob the wrong numbers) so it makes swapping out the 15 or 17 a non-starter, effectively meaning I have to change the whole cassette to get a better spread of gears. The BCD on the Deore crank is 96 too - which means getting a reasonably priced NW a ballache too. Anyone have any advice/pointers if you've gone 1x10?
It was a muddy ride and the front mech was cacked up in no time so there's one major advantage straight away 🙂

Works components do narrow wide chainrings & expanders

...cassette is pinned between 12-24 (they are prob the wrong numbers) so it makes swapping out the 15 or 17 a non-starter...

My deore cassette was pinned similarly, I dremmeled the heads off the pins, knocked them out and removed both 15 and 17t. got an XT 16t from eBay for a few quid, re-stacked the cassette and it's been great so far... Where there's a will, there's a way.