1x still costing results

[Joxster]

Originally Posted by JStonebarger

A lot of time trialists go 1x for an aero advantage. My understanding is that most bikes will save around three watts without a FD. My frame is reported to save twice that.

I just switched, but on a TT bike it's pretty easy to stick close to an optimized chain line...

On a TT bike you generally only use 5 sprockets so no chain line issues. 1 x has had historically suffered from ghost shifting. Power down, back off and chain drops. Quite a few riders have suffered from it.

[JStonebarger]

Tee hee...

"Degenkolb ditches 1x..."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dege...kbank-classic/

"A wider range of gears needed." Yeah right!

[Rekalcitrant]

I suspect some of the issues with dropped chains in 1x systems on the road have to do with freewheeling at high speeds (e.g. downhill). In these situations, otherwise insignificant drag in the freehub can have a big effect on the tension in the top of the chain AND the chain tends to be in the little cog and hence cross-chained AND I suspect this is a context where a front mech really helps to keep the chain in place. It might even be the case that a narrow/wide front ring makes things worse in this particular context (chain under low/no tension coming onto the chainring at an angle) because the wide teeth make it a bit harder for the chain to settle onto the teeth.