They said it probably shouldn’t be done! I’ve done it, I’ve invented “1x by 1x” gearing…
Going on vacation with my 1x gravel bike. I’m bringing road tires for it too. There will be gravel rides with steep pitches and flat road rides. The rear derailleur is XLPR (1x only). I don’t fee like running lines for a FD, buying 2x rings, etc.
While debating gearing options, I was hit with an incredible moment of brilliance… run a 2nd 1x ring on the inner side and manually move the chain over when needed. Only problem I’ve found so far is that the chainline affects the positioning of the RD for the largest cog and the chain length isn’t right for either chainring (preventing 52x11-12 and 34x46) . My other option is just to swap out ring for the road gear, which is what I might do.
My questions…
Is there such a thing as a leverless/cable-less front derailleur? Just a manually slide able FD?
What would this setup called? “2x 1x”, “1x x 1x”, just “2x”, “dirty 2x”,
The chain line is gonna be crap unfortunately. My vote is for either run what ya brung knowing the gearing isn’t ideal for the road stuff, or find a happy medium chainring for both and snag a 2nd chain
Have a look at bikecalc.com or similar gear ratio calculator, and work out what you will miss. I’d probably run a slightly larger front chainring, but otherwise accept that you’ll miss some of the higher gears on the road. You’re not racing, so you probably won’t need them?
It’s tight. The wide teeth are pretty wide, but there’s no rub until you’re crosschained. The issue seems to be in the little ring in the faster gears, the big ring will just lift the chain off. If the rings weren’t so different (52 and 34) and oval, it probably wouldn’t be an issue.
I’m probably going that direction because of the RD trimming issue. Would have been nice to eliminate a maintenance task/risk on the road. Chainring bolts like to instantly bond to the ring, strip, and occasionally need to be drilled out even with a good greasing.
I actually had this setup on my mtn bike a few years ago. I had a 32t NW ring and everything setup perfect for this, and had a larger 40t ring in the outer position just for the road.
I had a 15km ride to and from the trails on pavement, so I’d just manually put the chain on the 40t for the road and manually put on the 32t for the trail. It worked flawlessly, but didn’t cross chain big/big (didn’t need to anyway). It took like 5 seconds max to change.
There’s no chance of doing a heel change while rolling. Most NW rings have teeth that are taller than the chain. It’s hard to move even with off the bike. Even with your hands off the bike and a 2x chain keeper (bar-style), it’ll just end in disaster. You’d have to put so much force in an odd direction, you’ll kick the chain into oblivion, drop it behind your cassette and onto the BB area, you’d miss the NW teeth/chainlink, and the ring will eat your foot. LOL
A buddy has that setup on his tt rig, has a smaller ring for going slow and a 58 for racing. Uses his finger to move the chain over. I’m planning on adding one to my tt rig too, it’s a good idea.
I have a friend who has an old 2x1 bike. It has some kind of double wrapped chain and pedalling backwards uses one ratio and forwards is another .
It is so confusing to me and I can not get my head around it.
