1x10 conversion. Chainring size??

[ecsrobin]

I currently have a 2013 giant anthemX 29er 2 the large chainring is a 39T with 11-36 down back. I'm looking at going 1x10 and it's been suggested I should replace the front chainring down to a 32T but this seems in my head to be to small. Does anyone have any recommendations from their experience of going 1x10?

[Gren]

32T is what I'd be looking at. Any higher and you'll struggle up the nastier hills... unless you're uber fit that is. What you need to work out is whether you are happier losing gears at the lower or higher end of the range.

Not sure whether with 29ers you'd want to go higher/lower?

[Janosh]

Unless you're riding it on the road then 32t will be your best bet.

A 32 x 11 bottom gear should be plenty and (especially with a 29er) you'll likely need the 32 x 36 to climb decent hills offroad...

Try the narrow / wide type chainrings and you won't even need a chain device. I was using a race face ring during an uplift day at BPW and didn't drop the chain once

[ecsrobin]

Certainly not über fit and there's still 1 hill that defeats me at my local trails but I get further up it each ride. Kind of depressing last week when I was walking up it and 4 blokes flew past as if it was a downhill!!

Noticed a slight problem went to look at 32T rings and as it's a 120PCD there's nothing on the market. Think a cheap fix is looking more pricey.

[stuarthat]

34 works well narrow wide ring , clutch rear mech been running this set up for couple years 34 that is,looked at 1x11 but not really much benefit ,ride Surrey Epping and club events not had any hills can't climb or run out of legs on flats 29er .

[anonymous-user]

If you're in the Fens then you'll get away with a 34 on the front, for anywhere else in the UK that has hills then a 32 seems to be the sweat spot. Mind you, i've "cheated" and fitted a dinner plate at the back:




;-)

[Ian_sUK]

^ do this, you wouldn't know it wasn't like that from the factory when your riding. Will allow the use of a 34 chainring and still be able to climb well.

[ecsrobin]

So a 32T narrow wide and a dinner plate on the back sounds the best way to go. Thankyou for the assistance gents.

[rhinochopig]

Max_Torque said:

If you're in the Fens then you'll get away with a 34 on the front, for anywhere else in the UK that has hills then a 32 seems to be the sweat spot. Mind you, i've "cheated" and fitted a dinner plate at the back:




;-)

Have you seen the price of some of these though? Hope's is £50-60. Bugger that, it's cheaper to stick with 32 or 34 up front and get fitter

[D1bram]

Recently converted my Orange Crush (26") to 1x10 and I love it, simpler, quieter and looks cooler (which to be honest has to be a factor? )

I went for a narrow/wide Raceface 34T chainring up front, and also changed the rear mech to a new medium cage shadow plus.

I agonised over 32/34 but went for the 34 and haven't regretted it. I'm not uber fit but I'm fairly fit, I've got up everything no problem so far - infact on hill I was worried I was going to flip the bike rather than run out of legs!!! That said though my mate followed me up and was in a 24-36 granny gear.

[rossmc88]

I'm running a 38t wide narrow race face and can climb loads of stuff and I'm not that fit. If you are going that slowly climbing you may as well get off and push

[anonymous-user]

rossmc88 said:

If you are going that slowly climbing you may as well get off and push

I quite often hear that same thing quoted, and, imo, it's simply not true.

Take my 32/42 gearing on my 26" wheeled bike. At a sensible cadence of 80rpm, i'm doing 7.8kph (4.8mph), and i could keep that up all day. Now whilst it is possible to walk at nearly 5mph if you are fit, to do so whilst pushing a mountain bike up a steep slope is simply unfeasible.

This is born out by what happened last week on a 4km climb in the Alps. I used my dinner plate cog and simply span my way up, two other riders with only normal 32/36 gears got off and pushed. We waited ~15min at the top for them and i was i no way hitting that climb hard, just a relatively constant spin up.


The third important factor is that i bought my bike to ride it. If i want to go for a walk in the hills i shall leave it at home...... ;-)


Now, having said all that, if you don't regularly ride anywhere hilly, and hence don't mind the occasional push up, then saving money not buying a range extender cog is going to be fine. For me, it's ~£60 well spent !!

[D1bram]

Max_Torque said:

I quite often hear that same thing quoted, and, imo, it's simply not true.

Take my 32/42 gearing on my 26" wheeled bike. At a sensible cadence of 80rpm, i'm doing 7.8kph (4.8mph), and i could keep that up all day. Now whilst it is possible to walk at nearly 5mph if you are fit, to do so whilst pushing a mountain bike up a steep slope is simply unfeasible.

This is born out by what happened last week on a 4km climb in the Alps. I used my dinner plate cog and simply span my way up, two other riders with only normal 32/36 gears got off and pushed. We waited ~15min at the top for them and i was i no way hitting that climb hard, just a relatively constant spin up.


The third important factor is that i bought my bike to ride it. If i want to go for a walk in the hills i shall leave it at home...... ;-)


Now, having said all that, if you don't regularly ride anywhere hilly, and hence don't mind the occasional push up, then saving money not buying a range extender cog is going to be fine. For me, it's ~£60 well spent !!

Have to say it looks a nify bit of kit.

And I really do LOVE nothing better than buying unnecessary bike clobber

[dai1983]

Those with the Race Face narrow wide chan rings, what bolts do you use?

I'm considering a 42t in a 110BCD for my commuter. The cranks don't come with bolts so I'm confused about which ones to buy. I need 5 that are ideally steel and I don't want a bashguard

[D1bram]

Got mine from Evans, they were pretty cheap and are single chain ring specific. Didn't change the rest of the chainset, just unbolted the rings from my original slx triple and mounted the race face where the middle ring was.

[dai1983]

D1bram said:

Got mine from Evans, they were pretty cheap and are single chain ring specific. Didn't change the rest of the chainset, just unbolted the rings from my original slx triple and mounted the race face where the middle ring was.

The ID branded ones? I saw those but one review said it didn't fit his race face. I guess at a fiver they are worth a go

[D1bram]

dai1983 said:

The ID branded ones? I saw those but one review said it didn't fit his race face. I guess at a fiver they are worth a go

Just checked, yes they're the ones. I bought them on recommendation of a mate who also used them to fit a Raceface ring

They come as a five pack, as they're for MTB or road use.

[dai1983]

Excellent, cheers

[Pablo16v]

I currently have a 28t ring fitted to the XX1 cranks on the full suss, and a 30t Race Face narrow wide ring on the hardtail, both are 29ers, and both bikes are running 40t Hope T-Rex cassette adapters. The gearing is nigh on perfect for the majority of stuff I ride in Scotland.