Converting Sram force 2X to 1X

[Bub Marley]

I’m toying with the idea of ditching my pesky front derailleur. 
 

Currently I am running a complete Sram Force 2X11 with 11-28 cassette. 
 

My questions are as follows: 

 

The parts I need: New clutch derailleur, narrow wide chainring, new shifters, new 11-36 cassette
 

Will existing chain work? I can’t tell if I need longer chain because of bigger cassette but smaller chainring. 

 

Can I just swop the chainrings n use existing crank arm? I need a 44 narrow wide chainring up front. Will a narrow wide automatically fit or do I need a complete new crank?

 

Sram have the Force labelled as a CX groupset. I assume this will work on a normal road bike with Rim brakes. 
 

Is there anything else I’m missing?

 

 My other option is to get the full groupset but it only comes in either a 50 or 42 crank which is not really what I want?

 

 Thanks guys

[Wayne pudding Mol]

 

watch this, might help

 

but you won't need as much as you think

shifter still works 

get a wolftooth hanger extender thingy and your derailleur should work with the 11/36

 

I am really not an expert but it seems totally doable - just not sure about your gear ratios for a roadbike

[Jewbacca]

I’m toying with the idea of ditching my pesky front derailleur. 

 

Currently I am running a complete Sram Force 2X11 with 11-28 cassette. 

 

My questions are as follows: 

 

The parts I need: New clutch derailleur, narrow wide chainring, new shifters, new 11-36 cassette

 

Will existing chain work? I can’t tell if I need longer chain because of bigger cassette but smaller chainring. 

 

Can I just swop the chainrings n use existing crank arm? I need a 44 narrow wide chainring up front. Will a narrow wide automatically fit or do I need a complete new crank?

 

Sram have the Force labelled as a CX groupset. I assume this will work on a normal road bike with Rim brakes. 

 

Is there anything else I’m missing?

 

 My other option is to get the full groupset but it only comes in either a 50 or 42 crank which is not really what I want?

 

 Thanks guys

Is this for a road bike?

 

A 44 is tiny. You will ride in the bottom 3 gears on the cassette 99% of the time unless you live in Lesotho.

 

I honestly don't think going 1x on the road bike is worth it. Too many jig arounds and you will struggle to find the right gears way too often.

 

If your front deraileur is 'pesky' then you need to have someone set it up for you properly. 

 

The idea behind this outweighs the results. I know, I tried.

 

But by all means don't take my advice! hahahahahaha I'm as  much a palooka as anyone else

[Bub Marley]

Currently I use a 50-34 with a 11-28 cassette. My 11 tooth cog hardly ever gets used. 
 

If I put a 46 tooth (44 was a mistake) then I get the same ratio with a 46/11 as I would get with a 50/12. So in essence I’m just losing the bottom cog. At the other end a 46/36 is almost identical as a 34/28. This is per Sheldon Browns gear calculator. 
 

I understand that I’m going to be losing some gears in the middle and the jumps might be a bit larger but I’m okay with that. I’m not really racing at the moment and don’t really have any plans to. I think I can make it work. 

[Bub Marley]

 

watch this, might help

 

but you won't need as much as you think

shifter still works 

get a wolftooth hanger extender thingy and your derailleur should work with the 11/36

 

I am really not an expert but it seems totally doable - just not sure about your gear ratios for a roadbike

This is great thanks. But seems more like a hack. I would rather spend extra on a clutch derailleur if it’s going to keep the system more solid with less chain slap and less chance of dropped chains. 

[Schnavel]

You would need the derailleur, as it has a clutch and the jockey wheels are a different design, helping to better retain the chain.

 

For the crank, if you already have a sram force, which it sounds like you do, you can just buy the sram narrow wide chain ring in 46T and mount it directly to your existing spider (110bcd).

 

For your cassette, depending on the area you live in, you can go even bigger than 11/36 if needed. Another great option is to get a XD driver and run a 10/42 cassette. I run this on my gravel bike with a 46T chainring and it works perfectly.

 

You will likely need to get another chain, but it will depend on the existing chaing length, it may work perfectly, in which case you are good to go.

 

TLDR summary:

New derailleur, cassette and narrow wide chain ring are a must, chain is a maybe, depending on current chain length

[Bub Marley]

You would need the derailleur, as it has a clutch and the jockey wheels are a different design, helping to better retain the chain.

 

For the crank, if you already have a sram force, which it sounds like you do, you can just buy the sram narrow wide chain ring in 46T and mount it directly to your existing spider (110bcd).

 

For your cassette, depending on the area you live in, you can go even bigger than 11/36 if needed. Another great option is to get a XD driver and run a 10/42 cassette. I run this on my gravel bike with a 46T chainring and it works perfectly.

 

You will likely need to get another chain, but it will depend on the existing chaing length, it may work perfectly, in which case you are good to go.

 

TLDR summary:

New derailleur, cassette and narrow wide chain ring are a must, chain is a maybe, depending on current chain length

Thanks mate. 

 

i thought about a bigger cassette but it’s just going to increase the jumps even further. I think a 36 is sufficient for the road. 

 

Would there be any difference with going with a long cage vs medium cage? The medium can accommodate a 36 but if I take the long it gives me more flexibility if I wanna change to a bigger cassette later. 

[Jewbacca]

Hectic... I ran 53/39 and now 50/34 and my 11 tooth gets warn out hard!

 

If that's the case then ja. It could be a fun experiment.

 

On the road you don't actually need a clutch RD. If you get a 46 tooth NW you definitely don't need a clutch RD.

 

The road is pretty smooth and it won't jump around much. I run a non clutch 9 speed RD with my 10 speed road groupset on the gravel bike and don't drop chains ever. I do also ride that bike like a hooligan on the greenbelts/kirstenbosch traverse etc

 

The wolf tooth extender will do just fine. I also managed to get a 105 short cage to work flawlessly with a wolf tooth road extender and an 11-42 cassette on another project a while back.

 

There are a few 110bcd front chainring options, but I found the SRAM DM cranks the easiest to find single rings for.

[DieselnDust]

For Sram Froce 2x to 1X change the spider to a 1x spider and fit a 0mm offset narrow Wide chainring.

Its a proper lass without a clutch drailleur though and as the Jewbacca says the gearing isn't lekker.

you'll be ok with a 46T front chain ring and a 11-28 Shimano cassette. I don;t like the 19-22-25-28 jumps ona 1x road system

[Bub Marley]

Hectic... I ran 53/39 and now 50/34 and my 11 tooth gets warn out hard!

 

If that's the case then ja. It could be a fun experiment.

 

On the road you don't actually need a clutch RD. If you get a 46 tooth NW you definitely don't need a clutch RD.

 

The road is pretty smooth and it won't jump around much. I run a non clutch 9 speed RD with my 10 speed road groupset on the gravel bike and don't drop chains ever. I do also ride that bike like a hooligan on the greenbelts/kirstenbosch traverse etc

 

The wolf tooth extender will do just fine. I also managed to get a 105 short cage to work flawlessly with a wolf tooth road extender and an 11-42 cassette on another project a while back.

 

There are a few 110bcd front chainring options, but I found the SRAM DM cranks the easiest to find single rings for.

So if I go this route I just need the extender, the NW chainring, larger cassette and the new shifter. Would I be able to use the existing front shifter or do I need to change that as well? The paddle shift will obviously just be a dummy.

 

By the way I’m only 1.63m tall and only weigh like 58kg. So I’m not the most powerful person. I don’t have enough power to push that 11t cog. The only time I would actually use it is on a steep descent and even then I would be freewheeling mostly. I find pedaling with a higher cadence more efficient for me.

Edited August 10, 2020 by Bub Marley

[Bub Marley]

For Sram Froce 2x to 1X change the spider to a 1x spider and fit a 0mm offset narrow Wide chainring.

Its a proper lass without a clutch drailleur though and as the Jewbacca says the gearing isn't lekker.

you'll be ok with a 46T front chain ring and a 11-28 Shimano cassette. I don;t like the 19-22-25-28 jumps ona 1x road system

Can you maybe elaborate what you mean by it’s a las without a clutch derailleur ? Jewbacca just said it was no issues so I’m a bit confused here.

[JulienR]

I did this with an older 10 spd force groupset. I went to a 42t narrow wide chainring, 11-36T cassette and opted for an X9 sram RD. The RD was an older non clutch version and i had no issues as the NW chainring kwpt everything in order

[DieselnDust]

Can you maybe elaborate what you mean by it’s a las without a clutch derailleur ? Jewbacca just said it was no issues so I’m a bit confused here.

yes I will.

 

It works satisfactory enough with a std derailleur. BUT

this is depends on the roads you ride. I had some derailment issues with my set up. However that was a Shimano drivetrain. My SRAM Force rear mech has a much higher spring tension so it may not be an issue with that system

[Martin PJ]

I think you should try fix the front derailleur problems. 1x on MTB is genius, on road, not so much. Your chain falls off more and there are not enough gears. The front derailleur does a very good job as a chain guide on front.

 

Only real benefit is that it looks cool.

[PeterF]

I can't comment on the SRAM Force setup, but I went 1x on my Shimano 105 equipped road bike.  I just swopped out the rear derailleur for a Shimano Ultegra RX derailleur, put a Shimano XT 11-40 cassette on the back and an Absolute Black oval 50 tooth chainring on the front and loving it.

[eddy]

I’m toying with the idea of ditching my pesky front derailleur. 

 

 

 

 

This is a genuine question, why would you do this ? What is the benefit.

 

The downsides are obvious: spending money to get smaller range, bigger gaps between ratios, sloppier shifting, bigger chance of dropping a chain, etc.

 

I don't get it.