I have a 10-36 cassette with a 42-tooth chain ring in the front. I live close to proper mountains, so I opted for another climbing gear rather than a gear at the top end. I spin out at 65–68 km/h, which is plenty fast when out and about on public roads. At about 100 rpm I can easily do 50–52 km/h.
The 10-36 cassette is not gappy in any way, at least not any gappier than the 11-32 (SRAM and Shimano) cassettes I had on my previous road bike.
If I lived somewhere less mountainous, I might have gone for a 44- or 46-tooth chain ring, and perhaps even a 10-33 cassette.
IMHO 10-36 makes 1x an option for many road cyclists.
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Well, I’ve taken my 1x on a solo gravel ride, a group gravel ride, and two road group rides averaging 21 mph and the gearing has been great. On the steepest of climbs(1 mile ~7% with 11% steepest section), another gear might be nice, and I wasn’t able to content for a few KOM sprints, but otherwise it’s been nice only shifting with my right hand.
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Figure I’d jump in here and share my current project.
My wife hates thinking about what lever does what and wants simplicity… so for her birthday I’m going to present her with a 1x conversion.
Her bike currently has 2x10 Tiagra 4700. And I’ll be installing the following parts:
Shimano RX812 rear derailleur
Shimano M4100 cassette, 11-46 (yes, I’m aware that the derailleur has a max size of 42t, but I also know Shimano is very conservative with their numbers)
Wolf Tooth 42t chainring and some fancy blue bolts
New chain
I have the new derailleur mostly installed (I frayed the shifter cable while messing around with it… new cable on the way)
And I’ve installed the chainring:
I’ll post before/after pics once complete!
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That’s a great solution IMHO. I have the 11-46 cassette on my hardtail, and I love it. The big jump to the bailout gear does not bother me in the slightest.
Flawless with that 11-46t. No issues with the derailleur at all.
I got lots of oil slick stuff to add. And remove the rest of the front der. cable housing.
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I love the look!
How does your wife like it?
She is very excited to ride it! That is, when she’s no longer super duper pregnant!
This was really her only “complaint” about her bike, so I’m very happy that it’s going to work out for her.
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IMHO that’s a big advantage of 1x that most of us who grew up with front derailleurs do not think about: it isn’t exactly intuitive. My wife learnt to ride a bike in her 30s and she has a 3x10 drivetrain. The fact that the levers “work the opposite way” (big lever for FD shifts into a harder hear whereas the big lever for the RD shifts into an easier gear) is still hard for her. Her next bike will be 1x. It isn’t as if she needs all those gears anyway.
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Really nice. This is the way forward for my wife’s bike. You’re inspiring me to get that project done this winter!
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All done!
Sorry for the ugly yard… I took Salt Lake’s request to water less to heart.
Oh, and here’s a generic before photo:
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