Going 1x Road - need input

[kppolich]

Going to try the 1x route on my ragbrai bike this year. CAAD9. Red shifters, now do I need a clutch RD or will the wide/narrow chain ring be enough?

Normally I ride a 53/39 with 11-28 out back here in Iowa. My thought was to go 48T up front with 11-28 or 11-32 out back. Would a wiFli sram RD be good enough or should I go all in and grab the force cx1 RD with a clutch?

[Ken Robb]

I'm not being critical but I'm wondering how going to a single ring rather than the double you normally ride IN IOWA will help you on a long ride across IOWA? Aren't you more likely to need lower gears at the end of a long day in the saddle?

I must confess that I don't understand the whole 1x movement since my doubles and triples all shift perfectly. What am I missing----besides brains, good looks, charm and money?

[thermalattorney]

My experience from commuting on various 1X setups has been that the NW ring does the trick.

[sandyrs]

You don't even need a wifli derailleur for a 1x with an 11-32. But I don't understand why you're considering a 48/28 low gear when you previously had a 39/28, unless you never use your easiest gears.

[ANAO]

1x doesn't make sense to me. 48/28 sounds pretty tough for most climbs.

[benb]

Did you mean a 38 ring in the front?

It seems like it can work for you if you go to a smaller ring, 48 doesn't sound small enough.

The thing with these that would get me for road is the big gaps between the cogs.. tough to get your cadence/power in the right place when you're trying to hold a steady pace. Doubles and triples let you keep the cog spacing closer.

Still considering going 1X on my All City Space Horse.. it is due for some major work. I guess I don't want to buy any new Brifters but if I convert it to a flat bar it might work.

My left hand really hates the whole STI shifter motion. Maybe I should be considering SRAM or something else anyway as Shimano has the huge throw.

[FlashUNC]

That's a way taller granny gear going with a 48 up front.

Unless you're never using the 28, I'd think you'd want a smaller ring up front.

[stien]

My left hand really hates the whole STI shifter motion. Maybe I should be considering SRAM or something else anyway as Shimano has the huge throw.

Sounds like you're a candidate for Di2 (or at least the newest iteration 11s with PTFE cables, as annoyingly expensive as they are, it works). My wife had a very hard time getting used to the amount of effort needed for a front shift. The entire bike would move to the side when she shifted.

As for the OP, why spend money to make your bike less versatile? If you want to shift less, just don't touch the left lever.

[sparky33]

A 48T 11-28/32 could be just fine if the roads are not super hilly. I suppose each of us knows what gears we use and don't use.

fwiw 48x32 is the same gear as a 39x26

[cp43]

I can't help with the technical aspects of a 1x setup.

However, if you want to compare gearing ranges, I like this site:

http://gear-calculator.com/


Chris

[benb]

Sounds like you're a candidate for Di2 (or at least the newest iteration 11s with PTFE cables, as annoyingly expensive as they are, it works). My wife had a very hard time getting used to the amount of effort needed for a front shift. The entire bike would move to the side when she shifted.

As for the OP, why spend money to make your bike less versatile? If you want to shift less, just don't touch the left lever.

All the electronic groups are way too expensive for the bike I need to do some work on.. (Space Horse) I want to be able to lock it up and have a relatively low stress level about it. And putting groups on that are $1000-2000+ is not appealing on a $500 frame.

I do think all the electronic shift setups would be good for my wrist though. It's not that I have trouble with the motion, I just think 20 years of that motion is starting to have a toll. Doing things like raising the bars and such helps but overall the motion is just bad.. if you did the STI motion (the one where you swing the brake lever, not the inner lever) all day long on a factory line you'd be injured pretty quick.

I need to go try the latest SRAM shifters. I ran SRAM from 2007-2009 and I don't recall ever having any issues. You do everything with a finger instead of wrist twists which seems better ergonomically and I do remember the throw being less as well. I think the throw is the issue as I'm bending my wrist to the limits of it's ROM. (And doing that motion tightens things up and limits ROM!)

But that particular bike might work 1X too and I would assume 1X solves some cost issues and completely eliminates the problem motion on the left hand. It's a funny thing though, right now I have a 50/34 ring set and a 12-30 cassette and it's both geared too tall (riding off road, pulling a trailer) and too short (riding on the road downhill, tailwind, etc.. ).

[cp43]

All the electronic groups are way too expensive for the bike I need to do some work on.. (Space Horse) I want to be able to lock it up and have a relatively low stress level about it. And putting groups on that are $1000-2000+ is not appealing on a $500 frame.

I do think all the electronic shift setups would be good for my wrist though. It's not that I have trouble with the motion, I just think 20 years of that motion is starting to have a toll. Doing things like raising the bars and such helps but overall the motion is just bad.. if you did the STI motion (the one where you swing the brake lever, not the inner lever) all day long on a factory line you'd be injured pretty quick.

I need to go try the latest SRAM shifters. I ran SRAM from 2007-2009 and I don't recall ever having any issues. You do everything with a finger instead of wrist twists which seems better ergonomically and I do remember the throw being less as well. I think the throw is the issue as I'm bending my wrist to the limits of it's ROM. (And doing that motion tightens things up and limits ROM!)

But that particular bike might work 1X too and I would assume 1X solves some cost issues and completely eliminates the problem motion on the left hand. It's a funny thing though, right now I have a 50/34 ring set and a 12-30 cassette and it's both geared too tall (riding off road, pulling a trailer) and too short (riding on the road downhill, tailwind, etc.. ).

Another option, would be a triple with a bar end left shifter. It's not as convenient to shift as STI, but you'd get used to it quickly. The upside is that it solves the wrist problem, and the gearing range problem.

[kppolich]

A 48T 11-28/32 could be just fine if the roads are not super hilly. I suppose each of us knows what gears we use and don't use.

fwiw 48x32 is the same gear as a 39x26

That's what I was thinking. I can handle any climb around here pretty nicely with 39/26.

Part of me wants to go 46T and 11-32.

[adamhell]

i just set up my black mountain cycles with sram CX1 and an XT 11-42 cassette. it works perfectly and there is plenty of range with a 36t wolftooth up front. you probably don't need a 42t in iowa though.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h184/adamleibow/3CF9D19A-8A54-4798-AD66-1F2F9E8299D4_zpse4rlvpuq.jpg

[thirdgenbird]

I ride with a 42 with a 13-29 here in Iowa. The low end is fine on road, but I could use more top end.

I did my last RAGBRAI with a 53/39 and a 12-23.

[hollowgram5]

If you want a wider range, and are going to be running SRAM, just pick up a x9 or x0 type 2 10s (med cage) mtb rear der. You can run it with an 11s shifter, but it will clear a larger cassette if you decided you need the range. Doing that would allow you to run a larger chainring for a higher top end as well.

I'm running 42 NW x11/32 on my TwinSix and using a x0 t2 short cage and it's got range for everything I ride in Illinois right now, but may bump to a 44 or 46 as I move south.

[sparky33]

You don't even need a wifli derailleur for a 1x with an 11-32.

Yes. Bury the B screw.

Also, I would suggest setting the 1x up with a new narrow/wide chainring and the derailleur you've got. See how it goes. You might not need the clutch der if you are riding mostly pavement.
If you start dropping chain... then you go out and get a clutch derailleur.

[Cameron]

I ride a lot of miles on a 1x setup. Current fast commuter/weekend bike is my All City Mr. Pink running 44t front with 11-28 rear cassette. Works great for the Portland area. 44/28 is plenty low to get up anything for me. Only downside right now is that I spin out at 44/11 down longer, steeper stuff. Could be worse because that's still hitting 30-35mph no problem. It's a happy medium.

I'm running SRAM red crank and standard SRAM red road rear derailleur. Currently running a RaceFace narrow wide chainring. Prior to that with a standard front ring with the Red non-clutch derailleur I'd drop the chain even on pavement on upshifts about once a week. Lame. Swapped to the narrow wide and zero dropped chains since.

Bottom line, from my experience no need for a clutch rear derailleur if you run a narrow wide up front.

[jwess1234]

Gearing/range issues aside (I'm against it for road and my all-road/cross type setup is a double), one thing to consider is the bigger the back cog, the more revolutions of the crank you need to change gears. I can picture this as a potential issue up shifting on a big climb to one of those massive cogs.

[Vinci]

I've been riding 1x10 on my road bike and one of my gravel bikes for while now. No issues with a narrow-wide chainring and standard road derailleur on both. I think the clutch derailleur is just insurance if you ride really bumpy roads.

https://i.imgsafe.org/56da147.jpg

[benb]

I didn't decide to go 1x but I did just pull the trigger and buy a bunch of Rival stuff. I'm going to end up switching my All City Space Horse over to Rival with the exception of the brakes (TRP CX9) and the cranks (sticking with the original brick of a Tiagra crank).

I stopped into a bike shop on my ride today to get some electrolyte tabs and they had a Cannonale with SRAM on it so I got to check it out. Lever throw is about 1/2 the Ultegra bike they had next to it, so I think it's worth trying again for me. Since 10 speed came out I have never been as comfy wrist wise as I was in 2007 & 2008 when I rode SRAM. Hopefully the new stuff is more reliable as I put a pretty severe beating on my All City as it's my all weather bike.

Bonus is Rival has a 11-32 which will be a nice upgrade from the 12-30 cassette I have now. The 11 will be nice riding solo and the 32 will be appreciated pulling my son in the trailer.

If I like it I'll probably end up switching my Domane over next year or something.. the difference there though is that has brand new Ultegra on it that's working perfectly and I don't plan to ride that bike in the winter or really bad weather.

I'll be putting some stuff up in the classified soon I guess.

I gotta ditch the Tiagra BB & Crank at some point.. probably 2lbs to save there as the Tiagra crankset is not hollow.