2x10 to 1x12 is it worth it??

[Allrounder]

Strange that you quote we me on this....

 

I am looking for a MTB now, since the road bike does not keep the weight as low as the MTB did. 

I am on a very tight budget, and most of what I can afford at this stage is 3x.....

 

I am waiting for January with the hope that there will be a few better deals.

[NGM]

 

 

I think you missed some of the upsides, and included some that (by your own admission) are irrelevant.

 

If you can:

• Get the same gear ratios as you would with a 2x
• have fewer moving parts (No front derailleur, no extra chainring, no front shifter, fewer cables) that could possibly break or malfunction
• have a much lower risk of dropping a chain
• Have a less cluttered cockpit, (possibly giving space from a dropper seatpost button)
• At a largely similar price to the replacement cost of a 2x system

Wouldn't you want that? That's a rhetorical question. You probably don't, but a lot of people do. 

[thisismyotherbike]

Just an update from my side, in case it can help anyone who is in a similar boat. Decided to do a step by step approach going with the cheapest option first, so I went from 30T chain ring to a 34T and left the cassette as is 10-42.

 

Noticeable increased top end speed and everything else feels good i.e. happy I made the change although I would probably like an extra granny gear but my view is that this is a means to getting fitter and stronger. The GX eagle option with 11-50 cassette sounds great but not sure 2 additional granny gears are worth the additional 6k! 

 

If you are on 10-42 you already have the xd driver; the additional cost of going 10-50 is less than R6k.  Seen a few deals for below R5k

 

I went from 32t 10-42 to 34t 10-50.  I commute with the bike and must say the extra top end (around 3km/h faster before spinning out) has added considerable joy.  I've yet to use the 50 much, but doing some tough climbing in the Outeniquas next week and I'm certain I'll appreciate it then!

 

Here's a great website for comparing setups

http://gears.mtbcrosscountry.com

 

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h68/thesasquatchz/eagle%20comp_zpsleg4tjbo.png

 

Adding the 50 will give you a somewhat better granny than even your previous setup.

[thisismyotherbike]

I think you missed some of the upsides, and included some that (by your own admission) are irrelevant.

 

If you can:

• Get the same gear ratios as you would with a 2x
• have fewer moving parts (No front derailleur, no extra chainring, no front shifter, fewer cables) that could possibly break or malfunction
• have a much lower risk of dropping a chain
• Have a less cluttered cockpit, (possibly giving space from a dropper seatpost button)
• At a largely similar price to the replacement cost of a 2x system

Wouldn't you want that? That's a rhetorical question. You probably don't, but a lot of people do. 

 

That to me is the big one.  Maybe I'm just unlucky, but if there's one component that has given me hell on all my road and mountain bikes it's the bloody front derailleur.  Noise from cross chaining, dropped chains on the upshift as the bunch was pushing up a hill at 947, my own ineptitude when fatigued having to think about which ring to be in.... My girlfriend had a CURSED Campy Veloce FD that would work perfectly every time I rode it or a bike mechanic worked on it but magically refused to get onto the big ring whenever she was riding.

 

I love what 3T and SRAM are providing for Team Aqua Blue and as soon as I can ditch the FD on my road bike I will!  The sequential shifting on Di2 is also a tempting option.  I like the simplicity of having pure sequential shifting, 1x gives me that.

[eddy]

I think you missed some of the upsides, and included some that (by your own admission) are irrelevant.

 

If you can:

• Get the same gear ratios as you would with a 2x
• Sure. But can you ? I read all the pre-Epic threads about being able to hang in on the flats whilst having enough to get up the hill.
• have fewer moving parts (No front derailleur, no extra chainring, no front shifter, fewer cables) that could possibly break or malfunction
• Sure, but in 30 years of cycling and around 20 bikes, I have never broken a FD, Shifter, Chainring or had a cable breakage or malfunction. But then I do preventative maintenance
• have a much lower risk of dropping a chain
• Sure. but I can count the number dropped chains on my fingers. Proper set up and good technique helps a lot. Chainsuck is a bitch though, granted.
• Have a less cluttered cockpit, (possibly giving space from a dropper seatpost button)
• Sure, but the benefits are mostly visual. I use Matchmakers and have more than enoug space on my bars.
• At a largely similar price to the replacement cost of a 2x system
• But you don't really replace a whole 2x system do you ? Chainrings and Cassettes get replaced as they wear out. I understand that an Eagle cassette costs slightly more than a house in Bantry bay so there is not much in the line of saving.

Wouldn't you want that? That's a rhetorical question. No, you have made me think but I remain on the wrong side of being convinced. You probably don't, for the moment you are right.  but a lot of people do. Sure, I get the idea of "fewer things to break" which I think is the most convincing argument but with good maintenance I have not yet been bitten so badly that I feel the need.

 

 

Also, I just realised that I have done most of my December riding on a 1x.     

 

Clean handle bars with space for a dropper lever, lack of clutter and fewer things to break on the front-end of the drive chain, no risk of chain drop. Ideal gear ratio for the Spruit. Inexpensive to maintain, etc. 

 

There are pictures in the MTB SS and Cotic threads. 

[eddy]

 My girlfriend had a CURSED Campy Veloce FD that would work perfectly every time I rode it or a bike mechanic worked on it but magically refused to get onto the big ring whenever she was riding.

 

 

My boet has the same problem. Can't shift for love or money. I think that it is a technique thing.

 

With practice/experience/a feel for mechanical things and how they work I find that I have an imperceptible unweighting of the pedals at just the moment the chain gets picked up. Instinctive now and can shift even when under pressure.

 

But I am probably certainly not as good as Andy Schleck and 1 bad FD shift cost him the top step of the podium, so I should probably not speak too fast....

[Shebeen]

I am on a very tight budget, and most of what I can afford at this stage is 3x.....

 

This is the funniest thing, and it's actually true. The setup with the most complexity and parts is the cheapest.

 

Because the newest one has dropped stuff, but still costs a bomb.

 

all and sundry defend it.

 

Bike industry, marketing geniuses.

[dasilvarsa]

In the early days of cycling all bicycles were 1X (one chain ring only).

At some stage Schwinn or another bicycle manufacurer around 1965 or so invented a 2X (2 chain ring) bicycle with 5 cogs at the back (10 Speed) The reason was to improve performance, giving the rider the ability to climb steeper hills as well as the ability to attain higher top speeds.

[Traveler]

2x10 was lekker (Front chainrings are expensive)

1x11 was lekkerder

1x12 is the lekkerste

 

I’ve found a sweet spot with the 34t oval chainring, 32t I used only perhaps bottom 3-4 gears on a full ride. With the 10t I can easy maintain 43km/h on an ideal surface, and with the 50t I am still to run out of momentum.

 

Both single ring setups are GX, and I have not dropped a chain. GX Eagle is as smooth as butter.

 

RIP front derailleur.

[Shebeen]

2x10 was lekker (Front chainrings are expensive)

1x11 was lekkerder

1x12 is the lekkerste

 

I’ve found a sweet spot with the 34t oval chainring, 32t I used only perhaps bottom 3-4 gears on a full ride. With the 10t I can easy maintain 43km/h on an ideal surface, and with the 50t I am still to run out of momentum.

 

Both single ring setups are GX, and I have not dropped a chain. GX Eagle is as smooth as butter.

 

RIP front derailleur.

Speaking of expensive have you seen the price of 12spd cassettes?!

 

the reports of the death of the fd are grossly exaggerated.

[MTBeer]

2x10 was lekker (Front chainrings are expensive)

1x11 was lekkerder

1x12 is the lekkerste

 

I’ve found a sweet spot with the 34t oval chainring, 32t I used only perhaps bottom 3-4 gears on a full ride. With the 10t I can easy maintain 43km/h on an ideal surface, and with the 50t I am still to run out of momentum.

 

Both single ring setups are GX, and I have not dropped a chain. GX Eagle is as smooth as butter.

 

RIP front derailleur.

No they're not they are cheap (24T @ 99 bucks from CWC). 12 speed casettes on the other hand

[Traveler]

No they're not they are cheap (24T @ 99 bucks from CWC). 12 speed casettes on the other hand

 

If you can buy chainrings for 99 bucks for an XTR M980/985 crank you are sitting on a pile of gold. The 42t chainrings are over R1,000 no matter where you go (go check CWC), some small shops would even quote you R1,500 just for the 42t. You'd be lucky to replace both rings for less than R1,500. https://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/shimano-xtr-m980-chainring-38t

 

I'd go through 2 maybe 3 chainrings & chains in a year where on a cassette I'd easy get over 2 years with proper maintenance. So the maths was more than R3,000 in a year on chainrings. 12spd cassette is R2,400. And Rapide DM Chainrings are but R549 each,

 

RIP front derailleur and multiple chainrings.

 

 

[Shebeen]

If you can buy chainrings for 99 bucks for an XTR M980/985 crank you are sitting on a pile of gold. The 42t chainrings are over R1,000 no matter where you go (go check CWC), some small shops would even quote you R1,500 just for the 42t. You'd be lucky to replace both rings for less than R1,500. https://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/shimano-xtr-m980-chainring-38t

 

I'd go through 2 maybe 3 chainrings & chains in a year where on a cassette I'd easy get over 2 years with proper maintenance. So the maths was more than R3,000 in a year on chainrings. 12spd cassette is R2,400. And Rapide DM Chainrings are but R549 each,

 

RIP front derailleur and multiple chainrings.

 

 

you'd go through 6 chainrings per cassette?

 

That's about 20 times faster than average.

 

Sheldon just shuddered

[Traveler]

Speaking of expensive have you seen the price of 12spd cassettes?!

 

the reports of the death of the fd are grossly exaggerated.

 

Your perspective is not particularly compelling...

 

https://www.rapide.co.za/product/sunrace-wide-range-12-speed-cassette-11-50t/

 

Having used the 11-46t Sunrace for over 2,000km's I know it works and is reliable even when clogged with mud. So you know the 12spd will be reliable, and it is even fitted as standard equipment on some Merida's....

 

 

[Traveler]

you'd go through 6 chainrings per cassette?

 

That's about 20 times faster than average.

 

Sheldon just shuddered

 

20 times faster than average... do we need to unpack what 20 times faster means??

 

If Y is the speed of A Chainring and X is the speed of B chainring....

 

Jan runs twenty times as fast as Koos means that the Jan's speed is twenty times Koos's.

So if Jan runs at 1 km an hour, Koos runs at 1 x 20 km an hour = 20 km an hour.

 

Thus if I got 2,000km's from a chairing, you can get 40,000km from a chainring? I need serious training on how to stretch my drivetrain....

 

Let us agree to disagree.

 

I am still dancing on the grave of the front derailleur, and you can make me eat my words if I am wrong on the death of the FD and multi front rings on MTB's.

[porqui]

.

What I would like to know is this.

 

With 2x10 and 1x11 1x12 you can have the top end and the bottom end you need.

 

BUT do you not miss the spread in between top and bottom. I find that my legs last longer if I can get the gear with the sweet spot and not the one just above or below?