Question for the bike gear nerds???

[MoparPorsche]

I saw the Campagnolo Ekar thread, and it got me wondering. With the advent of these big multiple ring cassettes being introduced mostly for gravel and the single ring crank. What is the likelihood this makes it to mainstream road bikes. How many gears do we as riders use anyway, and if you can customize a crank and cassette pairing for 13-14 different gear ratios, it just seems to make sense.

What am I missing?

[prototoast]

Hasn't gone well for competitive road riding in recent history: https://road.cc/content/tech-news/24...-talking-about

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by MoparPorsche

I saw the Campagnolo Ekar thread, and it got me wondering. With the advent of these big multiple ring cassettes being introduced mostly for gravel and the single ring crank. What is the likelihood this makes it to mainstream road bikes. How many gears do we as riders use anyway, and if you can customize a crank and cassette pairing for 13-14 different gear ratios, it just seems to make sense.

What am I missing?

With a 1by and particularly on the road..a single ring really means you can go uphill well, or downhill but not both. PLUS, front ders, shifters are almost fool proof..no reason to NOT have them on a road only bike. PLUS giganto gaps in 1 by systems..I suppose you could 'design' a 1by, with an appropriate to you rear cluster..that allows for downhill, flats, and uphill where you ride. But these gigantic 9/10-42, 10-52 cogsets, for a road only bike..I just don't see it, IMHO...

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

But these gigantic 9/10-42, 10-52 cogsets, for a road only bike..I just don't see it, IMHO...

I agree. I had a 1x on a "gravel" bike that ends up getting more time on tarmac than dirt, and hated it: jump between gear too big; rarely used the bailout 42, too often in the 10-11. Ditched it for a double subcompact and now enjoy riding that bike again.

[Clean39T]

Make mine 46x30 and 12x25/27 - plenty of gears at the bottom, coast when you run out, and enjoy tight supple clicks across the range.

[nickl]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

I agree. I had a 1x on a "gravel" bike that ends up getting more time on tarmac than dirt, and hated it: jump between gear too big; rarely used the bailout 42, too often in the 10-11. Ditched it for a double subcompact and now enjoy riding that bike again.

Agree, I had a similar experience. Campagnolo offering Ekar as 1x only is a seriously flawed strategy, especially considering how well their compact and subcompact doubles work. Don’t suggest Chorus or their other groups as alternatives, since that’s not how they’re designed or marketed.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by nickl

Agree, I had a similar experience. Campagnolo offering Ekar as 1x only is a seriously flawed strategy, especially considering how well their compact and subcompact doubles work. Don’t suggest Chorus or their other groups as alternatives, since that’s not how they’re designed or marketed.

Really wish Campy would release a 2x, mechanical gravel/all-road groupset that could be used for touring, gravel, etc.

[Dave]

Chorus only lacks a clutched RD cage to be gravel worthy, but the need for a clutch depends on how rough your gravel is.

A 32/34 is under 1/1 and reasonably low.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by Kirk007

I agree. I had a 1x on a "gravel" bike that ends up getting more time on tarmac than dirt, and hated it: jump between gear too big; rarely used the bailout 42, too often in the 10-11. Ditched it for a double subcompact and now enjoy riding that bike again.

I had a similar experience with a 38 pushing a 10-42. Just not enough top end for the way I used that bike and I was rarely in the 42 (though on the few occasions I used it, it was a life saver). I switched to 40 up front and it was just about perfect.

My current gravel/road bike is 46/30 x 11-36 and it does everything I want, but that's just because it came that way. I'd gladly ride 1x.

[biker72]

I did test ride a 1X bike at the shop but thought there was too big of a jump between gears. All my current bikes have 2X.

[phishrabbi]

Let's assume a 53/39 up front and an 11-28 in the back

53/11 = 4.82
39/28 = 1.39

This spread is exceeded by an ekar 44t chainring and a 9-36 cassette.

So the notion that 1x is good either for climbing or descending but not both is simply false. Math is Math.

Furthermore with 13 real gears, you have essentially the same unique combinations as you do with 2x11. Especially since 53/28 and 39/11 aren't really useful, and all the overlapping rations you get with a 2x.

Whatever "gaps" you felt with 1x11 you are unlikely to feel with 1x13.

I also run a double crank on my road bike, after all ekar is disc brake only. But it is no longer the case that you sacrifice either range or gaps with 1x13.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by phishrabbi

Let's assume a 53/39 up front and an 11-28 in the back

53/11 = 4.82
39/28 = 1.39

This spread is exceeded by an ekar 44t chainring and a 9-36 cassette.

So the notion that 1x is good either for climbing or descending but not both is simply false. Math is Math.

Furthermore with 13 real gears, you have essentially the same unique combinations as you do with 2x11. Especially since 53/28 and 39/11 aren't really useful, and all the overlapping rations you get with a 2x.

Whatever "gaps" you felt with 1x11 you are unlikely to feel with 1x13.

I also run a double crank on my road bike, after all ekar is disc brake only. But it is no longer the case that you sacrifice either range or gaps with 1x13.

The range you describe is lacking quite a bit on the easy end compared to what most people I know ride with. Just about everyone I know rides a compact in the front with at least an 11-32 in the back.

[kppolich]

1x road for competitive riding is OK if the terrain is consistently flat or hilly. Any mix of the two and the gaps are wide or chainline sucks something awful for the ratio you want.

Cool for pedaling around town, not ideal for the right gear option at the right time.

[Dave]

A 9-36 only has 400% range.

I can get up to 552% range with a 48/32 or 46/30 and a 10-36 12 speed. The 48/10 is the same as a 53/11 and has more top gear than I need, so the 46/30 was my choice. I'm on the cusp of being able to get by with a 30/33 low gear, so I might get my 14T back with with a 10-33 cassette. I'd still have 506% range.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by phishrabbi

Let's assume a 53/39 up front and an 11-28 in the back

53/11 = 4.82
39/28 = 1.39

This spread is exceeded by an ekar 44t chainring and a 9-36 cassette.

So the notion that 1x is good either for climbing or descending but not both is simply false. Math is Math.

Furthermore with 13 real gears, you have essentially the same unique combinations as you do with 2x11. Especially since 53/28 and 39/11 aren't really useful, and all the overlapping rations you get with a 2x.

Whatever "gaps" you felt with 1x11 you are unlikely to feel with 1x13.

I also run a double crank on my road bike, after all ekar is disc brake only. But it is no longer the case that you sacrifice either range or gaps with 1x13.

Yes, Math is Math. But yours is incomplete. As noted above, many find the jumps in gear size on 1x drivetrains to be larger than they prefer for road riding. An 11-28 11spd cassette has an average gap of 9.8% between gears. In contrast, a 9-36 13spd cassette has an average gap of 12.2% between gears, or an average of 25% larger jumps. This also disproves your contention that, "with 13 real gears, you have essentially the same unique combinations as you do with 2x11" - this clearly can not be the case, because there are more intermediate gears with the 2x11 drivetrain.

As 2 of the 3 major drivetrain makers now have 2x12 systems (and the 3rd looks to be introducing a 2x12 system soon), your claims are even less pertinent. A 2x12 system can easily have a wider range and smaller gaps between gears than a 1x13 drivetrain.