Looking at 1x11 - how much will I notice gear inches?
Discussion
Afternoon chaps,
I've got a Stumpjumper FSR Comp Evo 650b. It came with 175mm cranks with 36/24 rings and an 11- 36 10 speed cassette. This gives a gear inch range of 18.5 to 90.2.
Looking at the new XT 1x11 options, the 11-42 cassette would give me 19.6 to 75.3 with a 30 tooth ring, 21 to 80.3 on 32 teeth and 22.4 - 85.3 on 34 teeth.
Obviously the claim that 1x11 can provide the same range as 2x10 just with less duplication isn't true, but how much difference would I actually notice? I typically only use the highest gears on flat or downhill tarmac linking up trails, so probably wouldn't miss it too much, but a loss of 15 gear inches sees like quite a lot? At the other end of the scale, 18.5 to 19.6 doesn't sound like a lot, but it's about 7% difference, which from that angle looks rather more significant?
Also, the easiest route in terms of fitting kit to the bike would be to use an XT cassette (so that I don't need a new hub) and a SRAM GX 11 crankset, as I assume this will make life easier with the existing PF 30 BB, but are the two compatible, and if they are, would it work better with a SRAM mech or an XT mech?
I've got a Stumpjumper FSR Comp Evo 650b. It came with 175mm cranks with 36/24 rings and an 11- 36 10 speed cassette. This gives a gear inch range of 18.5 to 90.2.
Looking at the new XT 1x11 options, the 11-42 cassette would give me 19.6 to 75.3 with a 30 tooth ring, 21 to 80.3 on 32 teeth and 22.4 - 85.3 on 34 teeth.
Obviously the claim that 1x11 can provide the same range as 2x10 just with less duplication isn't true, but how much difference would I actually notice? I typically only use the highest gears on flat or downhill tarmac linking up trails, so probably wouldn't miss it too much, but a loss of 15 gear inches sees like quite a lot? At the other end of the scale, 18.5 to 19.6 doesn't sound like a lot, but it's about 7% difference, which from that angle looks rather more significant?
Also, the easiest route in terms of fitting kit to the bike would be to use an XT cassette (so that I don't need a new hub) and a SRAM GX 11 crankset, as I assume this will make life easier with the existing PF 30 BB, but are the two compatible, and if they are, would it work better with a SRAM mech or an XT mech?
As a further thought on this, if I went from 175mm cranks to 170mm to reduce pedal stroke, am I right in thinking that this woud make climbing slightly harder, due to less leverage?
The more I look into this, the more of a pain it seems to be! Bloody annoying of Spesh to fit a PF30 BB and a ten speed rear hub, as it means one end or the other has to have a significant change made!
Can I fit a SRAM XD driver adaptor to my existing rear hub, or would I have to replace the hub?
The more I look into this, the more of a pain it seems to be! Bloody annoying of Spesh to fit a PF30 BB and a ten speed rear hub, as it means one end or the other has to have a significant change made!
Can I fit a SRAM XD driver adaptor to my existing rear hub, or would I have to replace the hub?
gazza285 said:
Do you actually use all the gears? After building my single speed I've found that there isn't much I can't climb now I haven't got gears, you just need a bit more leg power. I did find any long road sections were hard work, due to spinning out, so I've now got a 1x9 set up using a 36 up front and a 28/11 on the back on another bike if there are going to be any long road sections.
What's wrong with the current set-up anyway?
I definitely use all the low end of the cassette, as there's 17 stone of me to lug up hills. That's 2.5 less than at the beginning of the year, but still takes a bit of gearing!! Not so much the high end, but I do use it at times.What's wrong with the current set-up anyway?
As for why change, partly I'd like to fit shorter cranks to reduce pedal strike (low BB is nice, but it's ridiculous on this bike!), partly it's a case of "want shiny", partly having £150 in CRC vouchers for my birthday to put towards it, partly liking the simplification and doubtless partly being a victim of marketing!
gazza285 said:
BB shouldn't be that low that you are suffering from lots of pedal strike, could you pump up the shock pre-load a bit?
It's not lots - maybe 2 or 3 times on an average ride - but still annoying. If you read any review of the bike, it comes up, so it's not just me. Apparently, it's down to the compromise that Spesh performed to put a 650b bike out to market quickly once they finally decided 26" was dead. I've also got a nice steel hardtail with a fairly high BB for XC type riding, so I don't really want to lift the BB on the spesh, but an extra 5mm of pedal clearance wouldn't hurt...
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff