24/34 crankset

[Chris NewbyFraser]

To make life for my old pins more comfortable, I put the Shimano M6000 Deore crankset on to my Giant xtc. With a ten speed 11/36 on the back I have a very nicely matched bunch of ratio's. With the former 38 chainring, I seldom used my full range of cogs. Now I can stay in the big ring for far longer, which means fewer bothersome big/small gear changes and I use most cassette cogs. I still have good hill climbing gearing without huge leaps in tooth count as is found on single chainring set ups.

The new Deore is now part of the stylish Hollowtec 2 family and is less than 80g heavier than the SLX. For riders who don't have awesome leg power, and those who's ego's are relaxed enough to permit the use of 'wussie' gearing, the 24/34 crank is a substantial benefit. There is an M7000 crank for the 11 speeders too.

[Chris NewbyFraser]

Rode the Legends trailseeker event. On climbs I could not help noticing how big the gear jumps were on bikes fitted with 1x chainsets. I definifely had an efficiency and comfort advantage over other equally unfit riders who did not have my 2x ratio's.