I’m currently in the market for a cross/gravel bike as I’d like to participate in our local CX series next year.
Looking at the offerings out there, I’m very hesitant to buy a cross bike specific to a 1x drivetrain. My main background is in TTing, and I had to change from an 11-25 cassette to an 11-23 to improve my comfort keeping the power high and cadence in a tight range during efforts over the mildly rolling terrain around me. A 10 rpm jump between gears was too disruptive when riding at my max.
I’ve noticed a lot of talk about maximum range in gear ratios, and sure, a 1x can give you that, but i feel that the cost is high if a rider cannot output a high level of power well in a wide range of cadences.
For me, and the terrain I ride, I’ve decided I’m not ready to switch to a 1x system with a wide range cassette. I feel I will get more out of the bike with a 2x and a tighter cassette. With the market trend being 1x at the moment, looks like I’ll have to save up a bit more and get a custom built bike. Oh well, maybe next spring.
I’ve found that I barely notice the jumps in gears. But personally, I have a harder time dealing with small jumps—I just find myself shifting multiple times in succession. If a shift only changes my cadence by two or three, it’s just an insignificant change. The way my road bike is set up, I get about a 5-8 jump in RPMs with every shift, and my gravel bike is about 10 RPMs. I find that this is actually where I’m happiest most of the time. There are a few occasions when a smaller jump would be nice, but more often than not I don’t even notice.
Perhaps it’s because I’m used to this now, but I can tell you that I haven’t missed my front derailleur once since I started riding 1x.
@Nate_Pearson (or anyone else who has experience with 1x gravel setups) curious to know a little more about your 1x set up. SRAM or Shimano, and if Shimano did you go Di2 or is it mechanical? I assume the 9-46 is the e*thirteen, yes? I think my mechanic is thinking Ultegra Di2 shifters to work with the long cage XTR Di2 derailleur…
I’m new to this drop bar stuff, and how the shifters for drop bars work with MTB derailleurs and cassettes…?
So I run SRAM on both of my 1x setups. My gravel bike has a 1x11 Apex drivetrain and my road bike is Force 1. Both are running long cage derailleurs and X-Sync chainrings. Both shift perfectly and have given me flawless performance. I have almost 8000 miles on my gravel bike and haven’t had a single issue from it. Honestly, I can’t tell a functional difference between Apex 1 and Force 1—the latter is just lighter.
That said if you want to go electronic, yes–Ultegra Di2 shifters will absolutely work with an XTR Di2 rear derailleur. You’ll need a wheelset with an XD driver to run the e*thirteen 9-46 cassette, but otherwise there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues.
But SRAM mechanical will also work perfectly. That’s what it’s designed for, after all!
Awesome; thanks for the confirmation! I may opt to go the lower cost mechanical route, to avoid too big of a $ hit once 1x12 is a possibility and I likely upgrade. I’m building up the IBIS Hakka MX with an ENVE cockpit and ENVE SES 4.5AR wheels, and Quarq PM–Di2 seems like a natural add-on, except for the transition we’re in on drivetrains. Wheel, frame, cockpit technology is not likely to change materially over the next several years, but the drivetrain is seeming to be in the midst of step-function change that should play out over the next 6-18 months. Once wireless 1x12 is out, I don’t see where things will appreciably better for a gravel bike. This will be my fall/winter/spring outdoor training rig with about 60/40 gravel/paved usage–it’s my version of a mid-life crisis sports car ;).
If that’s the case and you’re looking for a solid 1x drivetrain for the interim, I highly recommend looking at Apex 1. It’s SRAM’s entry-level 1x system, but like I said, it shifts identically to my Force 1 setup. And personally, I prefer it on my gravel rig anyway, where it’s more likely to get broken if I go down. It’s cheap to replace an Apex rear derailleur, where a Force 1 model is more than three times the cost.
TomJ if large jumps are disruptive to your riding style just go with 2x and whatever cassette your comfortable with. If 1x doesn’t suit your cadence range then that’s that.
In the not-to-distant past we used to ride on 5 speed cassettes that were like…14-18-20-24-28, I think? That was common for a long time. You would have been screwed! So it’s cool that bike tech has advanced to the point where folks like you are at least able to ride.
I have a Specialized Diverge which is a 2x, gravel bike and after doing some mountain biking I considered opting for a 1x. I experiemented a bit, and found for my personal style of riding, I ended up using both sides of the gear ratios to the point that I would be hindered if I went 1x. Where I live I have access to long rides with long decents where I get to use the big dog, and also long steep climbs where the granny gears really help. Take a look at where you spend your miles, you might be able to get away with 1x, but you’ll certainly have less options.
I favored the width of gear range, particularly because these events are long and can have some steep long climbs on sketchy traction terrain. I decided to go with 47/32 in front and 11-40 in back. No regrets there. Reasonable on the flat paved sections, and saves the legs end of day!
hi nate… front chainring in this set up ? 42 or 40? I plan on using this setup for Rock cobbler and then also for Haleakala. just swapping out tires 700x45 to 700x30 art
I concur. have the same Hakka. I just put a 9-46 on it the Ui2 shifting. went power2max pm with rotor q rings. and 2 sets of wheels. using it for rock cobbler and Haleakala its an awesome bike. nice choice… enjoy
I have a gravel/road bike set up with Force 1, 42t front, and keep 2 wheel sets, one with 11-40 for the road and one with 11-42 for easy trails, but could easily go bigger. On the road I spin out at just above 50km/hr, so going to an XD driver would make sense, so I could use a 10t top. With 11-40 I find the gaps are ok, and if I was a bit younger I could use an 11-36 for the road to keep the gaps down.
I think the 1x setup is great, in the summer I use a di2 setup with 50/34 and 11-30 and find the 1x just as capable, so much that I will often ride that on the road in preference to the “summer” bike.
I haven’t read every post here but why such large chainrings?
A 38T front with a 10 cog of an xx1 11 speed cassette is over 30 mph at 100 cadence.
Where are people riding a groad bike that they need to be hammering for any sustained time over 30mph?
That is what I currently run which I admit is a little easier than most but it enables me to ride mtb trails without having to slog a low cadence and I rarely use the 10T cog.
Just curious because I would bet that a lot of us are not really strong enough and riding a pace that necessitates a 42 or larger chainring on these types of bikes. I’m at 3.66 w/kg at 6000 ft altitude if that gives context.
