1x road setup

[solrider]

I am in need of a commuter and was thinking of opting out to 1x for simplicity. I have some spare parts and wanted to know if it will be compatible.
I have used 6800 Ultegra medium cage RD - it says it can take up to 32t. Since I am planning on using this with a 1x, can I go with bigger tooth cogs? if so up to how much?
I was looking at the ahimano 1x crank but the chain ring only takes 32t or 34t. can the m7000 or m8000 take bigger rings? if not, what other crank would be ideal for this? Sram looks like they have 42t single ring chainset but I rather not mix the brand. does anyone have a 1x setup for road/commuter who can give me some advise? thanks in advance!!!

[Cicli]

So,
The rear derailuer handling only a 32 is conservative and likely could handle a 34. That said, max cog size and chain wrap capacity are two different things. Wrap shouldnt really be an issue with a 1X but could be with a huge low cog.
Check out the Shimano Metrea crank for a cool 1X crankset.

[vqdriver]

need something bigger than a 34/11? you don't need a 1x crank for this. just take whatever you've got and remove one ring (or not). if it's a standard then you've got yourself a 39 or 42.
in the rear i'd bet it could take the ultegra 34, dunno about the 36.

fwiw, whatever low gear you get by going bigger in back will be more than offset by whatever bigger ring you're trying to fit up front. just take whatever spare parts you have now and start from there. i'm guessing for any type of stop/go or riding in traffic, you'd be better served with the 34 up front.

[commonguy001]

With a Wolf Tooth road link you can run up to a 40 or 42t cassette with that Derailleur. What cranks do you have now? If you have 6800 cranks just get a single ring in whatever size you want and be done. If you need cranks find a cheap set of 5800 cranks and get a Wolf Tooth ring for it.

[Mark McM]

When you say 'simplicity', what do you mean? There can be mechanical simplicity, and there can be user simplicity.

For mechanical simplicity, a double chainring isn't really much more complex than a single chainring. A double front derailleur is a very, very simple device. Adding one to a derailleur drivetrain increases complexity very, very little. The type of complexity introduced by the front chainring is mostly user complexity.

If you are really looking for simplicity, instead of a derailleur system, I'd look into an internal gear hub. In addition to improving user simplicity (only one shifter, and you can even shift while standing still), it also adds a lot of maintenance simplicity - there's no derailleur and chain dangling down below the frame, there's no fiddling with fine tuning the gear indexing, etc. And since the chain doesn't move side to side, you can run a full length chain guard.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by solrider

I am in need of a commuter and was thinking of opting out to 1x for simplicity. I have some spare parts and wanted to know if it will be compatible.
I have used 6800 Ultegra medium cage RD - it says it can take up to 32t. Since I am planning on using this with a 1x, can I go with bigger tooth cogs? if so up to how much?
I was looking at the ahimano 1x crank but the chain ring only takes 32t or 34t. can the m7000 or m8000 take bigger rings? if not, what other crank would be ideal for this? Sram looks like they have 42t single ring chainset but I rather not mix the brand. does anyone have a 1x setup for road/commuter who can give me some advise? thanks in advance!!!

I wouldn't do it without a clutch rear derailleur. Many do it and I did it years ago but then a friend lost half his teeth and jaw in an accident. At a minimum get a chain keeper that covers the chain/ring. Do you need bigger than 32? You can always run a smaller ring.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by charliedid

I wouldn't do it without a clutch rear derailleur. Many do it and I did it years ago but then a friend lost half his teeth and jaw in an accident. At a minimum get a chain keeper that covers the chain/ring. Do you need bigger than 32? You can always run a smaller ring.

How did the lack of a clutch rear derailleur lead to jaw breakage. Please connect those dots for me.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by mistermo

How did the lack of a clutch rear derailleur lead to jaw breakage. Please connect those dots for me.

He did not have a chain keeper on. He was a courier and was riding a fairly worn out bike. Not sure if it was a dirty drivetrain or a sticky pawl
but he was pedalling hard around a corner and up onto a bumpy bridge and the chain fell off the front ring. He went down on the bridge which is made of the metal grid surface and broke three fingers and hit has face on the ground.

[charliedid]

Janky SS conversions are a problem. You should see what comes into the shop...

[shoota]

Originally Posted by mistermo

How did the lack of a clutch rear derailleur lead to jaw breakage. Please connect those dots for me.

Originally Posted by charliedid

He did not have a chain keeper on. He was a courier and was riding a fairly worn out bike. Not sure if it was a dirty drivetrain or a sticky paul but he was pedalling hard around a corner and up onto a bumpy bridge and the chain fell off the front ring. He went down on the bridge which is made of the metal grid surface and broke three fingers and hit has face on the ground.

Dang near happened to me with my 1x10 conversion once. So yeah I'd either use a clutched RD or a drop stop chainring, not a chain catcher.

[jtbadge]

Narrow wide ring should be all you need. I rode all kinds of dumb crap with a 6700 derailleur and a WolfTooth ring.

[solrider]

thank u guys! starting to have a better idea as to what direction I should go!

[oliver1850]

I'm with Mark McM on this subject, though I guess it does depend somewhat on the frame and the parts you have on hand. A DT shifter boss makes it easy to add front shifting for very little additional cost.

[tommyrod74]

Originally Posted by charliedid

He did not have a chain keeper on. He was a courier and was riding a fairly worn out bike. Not sure if it was a dirty drivetrain or a sticky pawl
but he was pedalling hard around a corner and up onto a bumpy bridge and the chain fell off the front ring. He went down on the bridge which is made of the metal grid surface and broke three fingers and hit has face on the ground.

I've ridden 1x in every possible configuration (XC racing including elite category) since 2008 or so.

A chain guide with regular (or even singlespeed-specific) ring and normal derailleur would derail when pedaling backwards slightly over bumps. Happened at least 1x/race. This was my CX experience also.

A narrow-wide ring, as long as it isn't worn heavily and still retains the chain even without a clutch derailleur. I'd occasionally forget and leave the clutch off (did it once in a 3-hour XC race) and, while it made a bit more chainslap noise, no chain drop.

With a clutch and no narrow-wide ring - drops at least 1x/ride.

The ring is the important bit.

[tommyrod74]

Originally Posted by charliedid

He did not have a chain keeper on. He was a courier and was riding a fairly worn out bike. Not sure if it was a dirty drivetrain or a sticky pawl
but he was pedalling hard around a corner and up onto a bumpy bridge and the chain fell off the front ring. He went down on the bridge which is made of the metal grid surface and broke three fingers and hit has face on the ground.

I've ridden 1x in every possible configuration (XC racing including elite category) since 2008 or so.

A chain guide with regular (or even singlespeed-specific) ring and normal derailleur would derail when pedaling backwards slightly over bumps. Happened at least 1x/race. This was my CX experience also.

A narrow-wide ring, as long as it isn't worn heavily and still retains the chain even without a clutch derailleur. I'd occasionally forget and leave the clutch off (did it once in a 3-hour XC race) and, while it made a bit more chainslap noise, no chain drop.

With a clutch and no narrow-wide ring - drops at least 1x/ride.

The ring is the important bit.