Gearing question

[cmbicycles]

My daughters new, to her, mtn bike has a 32t × 11-36 1x10 setup. She needs a little easier gearfor some of the uphill sections we ride.
Options as I understand are limited as no one made 10s mtn derailleurs to officially take anything bigger than a max 36t cog, and the Zee rear derailleur on the bike has a pretty short cage.

Option 1... Goatlink and 40-42t cassette
Option 2... 30t chainring.
Option 3... add a front derailleur and a 2x10 setup.

Looking for opinions and whther there is anything I'm missing? I want mtn biking to stay fun for her so I dont turn her off completely. Her previous bike that she outgrew had a 3x8 and she had enough of a low gear with a 22x32t combo.

[jtbadge]

Deore M6000 RD will handle an 11-42, and the Shimano 11-42 cassette is only $35 at Jenson right now

[muz]

I would go to a 28T chainring. 32T to 30T is not even 10% improvement. I doubt she would miss the top end.

[sitzmark]

Assuming a 26” wheel and 1.25 tire, her low-end gear inches at 22x32 was 16.9
Would take the following combination to replace (commonly available):

RingxCog
24x35= 16.9 (24x36= 16.4)
27x39= 16.9 (28x40= 17.1)
29x42= 16.9 (30x42=17.4)
32x36= 21.8 (her lowest now)
High-end impact:
24x11= 53.4
28x11= 62.5
30x11= 66.9
32x11= 71.3 (her highest now)

You can work the combinations to see what an FD vs 1x yields.
30x11-42 could be a good middle ground if need to retain more high range

[prototoast]

For just a little more money, you can get a GX Eagle 12 speed shift setup with a sunrace (so it works on existing freehub) 11-50 cassette. The 32-50 gear combo lets me ride things I never could before.

[eippo1]

Deore M6000 RD will handle an 11-42, and the Shimano 11-42 cassette is only $35 at Jenson right nowGo this route if you can find it and throw a 30 on the front too. Should help. Otherwise, I know someone suggested an eagle, but the new zee is 12 speed and can take a a 51.

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[cmbicycles]

Thanks for the replies. The bike is a 26er. I would like to avoid throwing a bunch of money at upgrades if possible, so not looking to upgrade the whole group. A 30t is the smallest size that will work with 104bcd, but won't make that big of a difference by itself. Top end isn't a concern until her confidence on the trails increases, just want some help with getting up the hills.

Deore derailleur I wasn't aware was made for a larger cassette, so that and cassette looks like it will get close, possibly then the smaller chainring as well.

Has anyone used the goatlink? If I could extend the range of the rear derailleur I have and replace the cassette/chainring that would be a pretty minimal cost.

[sitzmark]

...

Has anyone used the goatlink? If I could extend the range of the rear derailleur I have and replace the cassette/chainring that would be a pretty minimal cost.

Goatlink-no. Roadlink-yes, temporarily. Probably a personal thing, but prefer to have RD bolted directly to dropout for routine use. Fewer connection points to go wrong. 11-42 takes a good amount of chain (30t will help) - question how well the existing short cage will deal with chain slack in mid/higher gears, especially on rough terrain.

[cmbicycles]

Goatlink-no. Roadlink-yes, temporarily. Probably a personal thing, but prefer to have RD bolted directly to dropout for routine use. Fewer connection points to go wrong. 11-42 takes a good amount of chain (30t will help) - question how well the existing short cage will deal with chain slack in mid/higher gears, especially on rough terrain.

The goatlink, if I read their info right, replaces the mounting arm on the mtn rear derailleurs, it's longer than the stock arm, so I dont think there is any additional mounting point. The Zee derailleur I have takes up to a 36t, I guess it is technically a medium cage, I'm just used to longer cages on mtn bikes. It has a clutch mechanism so presumably wouldn't slacken too much, but something I hadn't considered.