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1x11 - 34T vs 32T


Aaron_B

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Just now, DuncanDoughnuts said:

38t

I find that with a 38 I hit the motor cut off point so fast that its not even worth it. 

Happy with a 36 for jhb and a 32 for CT

 

Jip, I spend a lot of time on the 2nd and 3rd gears.  Going 38 in front will only help on downhills (on tar).  Such short sections where I spin out that these are welcomed to recover ....

 

Certainly not something I will spend on now ... but playing with the idea for when the ring must be replaced.

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4 minutes ago, DuncanDoughnuts said:

38t

I find that with a 38 I hit the motor cut off point so fast that its not even worth it. 

Happy with a 36 for jhb and a 32 for CT

My motor is my legs ... :), so I don't have that problem.

38 x 10/51 work for me 100%.  Will consider a 36 only and only if I'm going to do a crap load of climbing.

Edited by TheoG
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3 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

I am looking for a 38 104BCD chain ring .... (for the e-bike)

Chris - I'll send you a number for my lbs (in the beeg smoke). They have stock but we can make a plan to bring it down to you to save 100 ronts

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1 hour ago, 117 said:

Chris - I'll send you a number for my lbs (in the beeg smoke). They have stock but we can make a plan to bring it down to you to save 100 ronts

Me "two" please.  What stock do they have, 38T 104?  Brand?  Want to put 38 on the Rapidé and use the 36 on there as buck-up for the RM for tougher routes.

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2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Yip man and here I was quite chuffed with my 1x9 setup with 32 up front !🙄

Ja nee kyk ou .... ek hou maar die pienk bloes 😳

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For me in Port Elizabeth I am still managing on a 1x. Using a 36 upfront and a 11-46 at the back. Some hills I do battle a bit but have not had to walk in a longtime.

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10 hours ago, 117 said:

Run a 34 oval on 11sp 11/46 cassette - its about the best you can get for percentage spread

Anyone riding granny gear needs to spend time training to improve the relationship p = F * v, where:

p = power
F = force
v = velocity

The more force you apply to the pedals at the same cadence = higher power. Increase the velocity in a slightly harder gear will also result in more power = more speed.

 

it never gets easier, you just go faster.

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I ride a 34 with 10-52. The answer really comes from where you ride. 

I had a look at some of my rides on the AXS app (rides were in different parts of Spain and one in Singapore) and I generally ride in middle of the cassette - which was surprising to me.  So I tried to pick a few a rides that were varied in terrain as examples. Note, you really want to ride the majority of your ride in the middle to upper gears to save on wear of your cassette since the smaller rings wear faster. 
 
The first ride is approx 500m of climbing over 30km. It’s a lot of up and down but not much sustained climbing - none of the individual climbs are longer than 50m elevation gain. Probably more similar to riding in the cradle. The 24T is clearly the gear I like the most on flat trails. 
 

43FA98B2-25DB-4E0E-819E-5AE1190877C7.png.7667cbfa41da27575f05a528fa6927ca.png

The second ride is more moderate climbing, maybe on average 50-100m per climb also around 30km and total elevation gain 650m

2C08ADF5-5F33-45D3-A160-D41A7D476915.png.325500b40878b9e5b78685590567e835.png

The third ride was a 52km ride with a very long climb at the start - something similar to wapad up to Noordhoek peak. Total elevation gain was 1200m. You can see the 32 would probably move the ratio further down the cassette but it was still completely manageable. The end of the ride had a pretty nasty dirt road climb.

FBF67BAB-B4B9-4D87-A849-57CEB2D8767A.png.943228de5fe85a4b534a4ae5a46166ee.png

The last ride here had a 450m 4km technical climb. It was really loose and very rocky. Probably one of the hardest climbs I have ever done. Total ride was 960m over 37km. For this ride I would have liked a 32 but it’s the only ride in the last 20 I have done where I have thought that. 

C968F42E-1FB6-496C-B85D-9B82716FD05A.png.c060f05dc39f76d2bfb142579f938510.png

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I think as everyone has pointed out, it is person dependent and also based on the type of riding you are doing.

I'm a lightweight, and I use a 34T with a 10/42 cassette and it's perfect for me. Only once or twice have I wished for an easier gear (riding up a 25% gradient last week at Imana was one of those times).

If I were to move to Eagle (cost not being an issue), I would definitely put a 36T up front with the 10/50 cassette, or possibly even a 38T, as this gives an easier gear compared to the 34/42 (0.76 vs 0.81)

Edited by Schnavel
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5 hours ago, michaelbiker said:


I ride a 34 with 10-52. The answer really comes from where you ride. 

I had a look at some of my rides on the AXS app (rides were in different parts of Spain and one in Singapore) and I generally ride in middle of the cassette - which was surprising to me.  So I tried to pick a few a rides that were varied in terrain as examples. Note, you really want to ride the majority of your ride in the middle to upper gears to save on wear of your cassette since the smaller rings wear faster. 
 
The first ride is approx 500m of climbing over 30km. It’s a lot of up and down but not much sustained climbing - none of the individual climbs are longer than 50m elevation gain. Probably more similar to riding in the cradle. The 24T is clearly the gear I like the most on flat trails. 
 

43FA98B2-25DB-4E0E-819E-5AE1190877C7.png.7667cbfa41da27575f05a528fa6927ca.png

The second ride is more moderate climbing, maybe on average 50-100m per climb also around 30km and total elevation gain 650m

2C08ADF5-5F33-45D3-A160-D41A7D476915.png.325500b40878b9e5b78685590567e835.png

The third ride was a 52km ride with a very long climb at the start - something similar to wapad up to Noordhoek peak. Total elevation gain was 1200m. You can see the 32 would probably move the ratio further down the cassette but it was still completely manageable. The end of the ride had a pretty nasty dirt road climb.

FBF67BAB-B4B9-4D87-A849-57CEB2D8767A.png.943228de5fe85a4b534a4ae5a46166ee.png

The last ride here had a 450m 4km technical climb. It was really loose and very rocky. Probably one of the hardest climbs I have ever done. Total ride was 960m over 37km. For this ride I would have liked a 32 but it’s the only ride in the last 20 I have done where I have thought that. 

C968F42E-1FB6-496C-B85D-9B82716FD05A.png.c060f05dc39f76d2bfb142579f938510.png

Very cool feature! Based on your riding, it would seem that you have the correct sized chainring.

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