2016 Allez Sprint (1x) replacement

Equipment
1

I’m rocking a 52cm 2016 Allez Sprint 1x as my main crit / training bike, but living in Colorado, I’m really getting tired of getting dropped by friends / avoiding by climbs while stuck with the 48t (50t stock) chain ring. Anyone have any good recommendations for a 2x that won’t break the bank, new is fine, that would also be on the more aggressive side, like the Allez is? A 2x Allez Sprint would be the easy button, but everyone wants SL6 prices for them…

Just a FYI, these frames only came as a 1x with no front derailleur tab in 2016 and I’m not a fan of the strap ones.

2

Caad 10 or 12, if you can find one.

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3

Caad 12s look great.

I’m not in a rush, I don’t need a 2x to sit on the trainer all winter, but next year for sure.

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A lot more can go into this - what groupset are you currently running and have you considered simply changing the gearing on the bike.

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Not being in a rush is good—it’s pretty dire out there as far as locating a bike right now.

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It’s a 1x SRAM Roadforce, 48T chainring up front, 11-32 cassette.

A smaller front chain ring or a larger rear cassette will require a different cage. This is an absolute PITA as I would have to swap gearing between weekend crits or days where I want to do more climbing. The 1x wouldn’t be a problem anywhere for me, but Colorado. The climbs here are too long (not quite physically able to do threshold at 55rpm for an hour and a half or more).

I actually think I have a local solution (2x frame with a R8000 groupset) since I posted this and started talking to some people.

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If the R8000 does not work out for you you can consider running a rotor crank. The ALDHU is a nice 3 piece modular and uses very nice splined chain rings. After you have setup the crank initially it takes maybe 2 minutes at most to change the chainring out if you have a wrench sitting there.

This is what I do with one of my gravel bikes to change it between a 38, 42 and 48.

If you want to take it a step further you can even have a second chain waiting with a master link but I always just run the chain slightly long.

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Changing rings and chains based on the terrain for your given ride ain’t the answer—build up a 2x road bike.

If you’re like me, the thought of “ah, I’d have to swap my ring and chain before the ride” will kill any spontaneous ride ideas you have.

Possible? Yes. Will you do it in the moment? No.

It’s the same as the argument for having a trainer bike setup at all times—if I had to go get my road bike and put it on the trainer every time I wanted to ride the trainer, I’d bail half the time.

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Especially living in the Front Range of Colorado. One minute you can be in the foot hills / reservoirs, and the next, climbing from 6’ to 9k’.

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I have a roadbike with a 46t chainring and a 11-40 cassette.
46/40 = 1.150
34/28 = 1.214

So 46/40 is a “easier” gear than 34/28, so no problem with climbing.
1x rules.

I used a Shimano R8000 wit a Wolftooth RoadlinkDM. Yes, some cogs have bigger jumps, whatever.

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Emonda ALR? Very nimble, quick and light but not as stiff as the sprint.

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You could also get a second rear wheel and put a 11-36 or 11-40 cassette and combine that with a smaller chain ring. That’s less of a hassle and cheaper than a second bike. Personally, I’d err on the side of having an easier climbing gear.

In any case, I don’t think climbing and 1x is mutually exclusive this day and age. My new road bike is 1x12, and we have long, steep climbs where I live. (The longest is about 1,000 m of elevation in one go, but we have multiple other shorter ones of about 25-30 minutes.) My smallest gear is 42:36 = 1.17 and the longer climbs are very much doable. And I spin out at 60–65 km/h in my 42:10 = 4.2 = 46:11 = 50:12.

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There’s a 56cm ALR ultegra pretty cheap on eBay right now…

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I don’t think the question at hand here is whether you can climb on 1x; but whether it can be done on the same bike as fast, flat road rides or crits.

Sure, the total range may be there, but the jumps between gears are too great for when you may be on the limit in a race or drop ride.

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Don’t think of this as a 1x vs. 2x discussion, @hoffman900 has a 1x bike right now and wants to extend its utility.

And I think the answer is a clear yes. An 11-40 cassette would give you the same top gear as the OP has now and 48:40 = 1.20 is a slightly easier gear than 34:28 = 1.21. The second solution, SRAM’s 11-36 cassette would stilll give you 48:36 = 1.33, which lies between 34:26 and 34:25. Whether that is easy enough depends on your taste. You could also get a 11-42 cassette where you would trade slightly larger jumps between some of the gears for slightly more range.

Together with a second rear wheel with @hoffman900 ’s 11-32 cassette, I think he would be covered for everything. And if the OP parked his bike on the trainer like I do, the extra hassle would be literally 0, he would just have to decide which gearing he’d want to run that day.

From the 15-tooth cog onwards the relative jumps between gears on the 11-40 cassette are practically identical to the 11-32 SRAM cassette the OP runs now. The only difference is that at the very top end you get large jumps that you notice in practice. You’d have 11-13-15 instead of 11-12-13-14-15 with SRAM or 11-12-13-14-16 with Shimano.

But those jumps at the top end don’t annoy everyone. Whether they’ll annoy @hoffman900, I don’t know, but it is worth proposing. And as far as I understood @hoffman900’s post he wouldn’t race with this setup, it’d be for climbing and group rides. Plus, it’s still potentially a good solution to the OP’s problem.

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“jumps between gears are too big” = crybabies, HTFU, go race cross :wink:

I’m joking here, dont take it too serieus. I totally get the gear jumps can be a bit less than “optimal” but i think its more of a mindset. Then again, if you want 2x, go ahead

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It also depends on how often you use what gear, and how fast your group rides are. If the average speed of the group you ride with is 30–40 km/h on the flats, you wouldn’t be in the range of the cassette where you’d have 1-cog jumps even if he were on the 11-32 cassette. Instead, with a 48-tooth chainring you’d likely be in your 19-, 17- or 15-tooth cog My group rides can be faster than that (40–50 km/h), so I’d be in a different gear range and could feel the larger gaps in the cassette.

On solo rides, I reckon I’d quickly get used to them.