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I have a 26" wheeled tandem that spends 99.5% of it's time on the road, eg commuting. It currently has 3x9 gearing which has worked ok, but the front derailleur stopped working some time ago. Turns out we can just about manage only using the big ring. The drivetrain could do with a refresh so I was thinking about change to 1x10 or 1x11. Are these likely to struggle with the increased forces of a tandem crew?
I need a new set of wheels so could potentially swap to SRAM XD-Driver 11 speed, giving a little more range. Then use a 38T narrow wide chainring on the front. Cost a fair bit more though.
Gx spec sram is the best value for a big range though not sure weight is as much of an issue on a tandem. The 10t is a big difference for range
Weight is an absolute non-issue! More concerned with durability, 11sp stuff is a good deal more expensive especially at the rate things wear out. Hopefully with regular enough chain replacement it wouldn't be too bad.
cheapest / simplest solution surely will be simply to replace the front mech?
Tandems need a wider gearing range than solo bikes. I'd be loathe to lose gearing range
I would concur with sticking with 3*9. even if you need to replace the chainrings and cassette as well as the front mech, it's still a damn sight cheaper than going 1*10 or more
Trouble is front shifting really sucks on a tandem, would be nice to get rid, haven't really missed the range while running enforced 1x9 but the chainline is really bad in the upper range of the cassette.
I never had any real issues with front shifting. Mind you we have a rohloff now and I wouldn't go back. Issue with 1x for me is chainline
that sounds more like setup issues, I'm running 3*9 and having resolved issues caused by sticky cables, the shifting is fine now (overly so, I need to bring in the high stop as I keep overshifting and dropping off the outside of the chainring - one for an evening in the garage later this week, thanks for the reminder)
anyway back to you, what's the chainline issue? Are you running too narrow a BB axle?
"Trouble is front shifting really sucks on a tandem"
there is no reason why it would be any worse on a tandem than on a solo - assuming a competent mech.
I really would not fancy a 1x anything on a tandem unless it was a 22tooth front ring.
I have only recently got a tandem and the front mech, set up myself using an extremely old xtr front mech and stx shifters, is great. I agree that it would be better to stick with 3 rings at the front fro the same reasons as above.
I think I've only ever used the 22 tooth once, attempting to cycle up a yorkshire dale, it was ridiculous though and we were faster walking at that point. Balancing a tandem at super slow speed is not easy!
I'm with trail rat. 3x7 on our tandem and it's brilliant. Xt shifters and an old school mech work beautifully and have been on since the early 90s. I'd be more worried about whether 1x10 or 11 will cope with the torque. There's always the sram ex1 group which is designed with high torque shifting and a large gear range 1x system.
pedal faster in the lower gears 😀
we tour with a couple on a tandem most years and their granny ring gets used to great effect on a number of scottish hills.
and usually by the end the middle and granny ring + cassette and chains need replacing as well......
yup - we use our very low gear (22/32 equivalent) a fair bit. spinning away up climbs at around walking pace
A slight thread hijack ...
tjagain - how do you find the rohloff? we are contemplating getting a tandem with one but I have heard comments about them being 'draggy'. Is this something you have experienced?
I've got a rohloff tandem and two with derailleurs. Very happy with the rohloff performance but the gear restriction can be a bit of a limitation, it's just ok on 26" but I think we'd struggle on a 29er which effectively loses you a gear. You can ignore the limit and might well be fine but it does void the warranty.
Yes it feels a touch draggy compared to a clean derailleur, though this may be mostly psychological (it can be noisy particularly in some gears). But conversely you don't get rides/trips ruined by chainsuck.
I have a rolhioff and a 3x 9xtr and have used both extensively on and off on the same bike for the last 7 years.
The rohloff is heavier and based on my local loop it's consistently slower and tires me out quicker.....
midlifecrisis. I love it. I am unconvinced about the drag but I accept it might be there. However we are not racing - we ride for fun and any slight loss of efficiency is way offset by never dropping chains, no chainslap, no missed shifts and vastly greater chain life. Being able to shift gears at a standstillis also good as it grabing a handful of gears in either direction. The one thing I don't like is the slow downshifts which mean a loss of momenteum on hills
Why not just 2 x 9, you will have the range you need if you get the 2 chain ring sizes right and it will be as cheap as chips and tough as old boots
The other thing with the rohloff is it need a ridiculous amount of running in. Ours is still getting smoother and quieter after a couple of years and a few thousand miles of running.
Despite its faults I still love mine.
But if I was off round the world tomorrow I'll still choose conventional gearing
There's some rubbish written about the drag on Rohloffs.
We're just back from a month in France during which we did 2000 miles of which 700 was off road. (previous to that it'd only done 1000 miles)
The Rohloff was ace.
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Having said that, if I was on a budget then 3 x 9 works well. Make sure you carry a spare mech and hanger in case you drop the bike though. 😉
OP. If you decide to go with a 1x10 or 11 I may be interested in your old rear wheel. Email in profile.
"Trouble is front shifting really sucks on a tandem"
Never had much of a problem after we sussed a technique. I'll call "going down to granny / going up to big ring in 1...2....3"
On 1 & 2 we push a stronger pedalstroke, then on 3 we back off the pressure as I shift chainring.
We've run a few homebrew drivetrains over almost 20 years, currently running 20/34/42 on the front with an XT mech & SRAM X7 shifter. We have run 20/36/48 up front for many years and that worked fine too!
TheBrick: My old rear wheel is currently an m525/Mavic 321 32 spoke on which 2 spokes are broken. Holding true despite that amazingly. I need to buy a new wheelset so will get something more tandem suitable like 36 spokes.
tandemwarriors: That's similar to what we would do but it was still fairly clunky.
Still pondering on whether to get the front mech fixed, I guess they're cheap now that no one wants them!
Agree with the comments about front shifting- should not be a problem. I've added a full length outer and Middleburn oiler to ours but that's been all and it's been absolutely grand.
What I would be worried about in your proposed change is the durability of modern alloy freehubs on a 10 or 11 speed setup- I'm on a Hope steel freehub and knowing how much I hate alloy on the normal bikes, I reckon the tandem will literally eat alloy freehubs.