Hey all. I need some advice on a new TT bike that I'm building. I'm considering a 1x-10 setup (only one front chainring, likely 50T.) I have this set up on the road bike that I'm using for training and sprints. It works really well in my area, which is flat desert. I can see myself competing mostly in Southern California and Arizona events. Anyone have an opinion or advice on the "soundness" or long-term feasibility of my 1x idea? As I move into Olympics and maybe a 70.3 (oh my!), am I going to really wish I had a 2x set up? Thank you!
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Re: 1x Front Chainring... [Argoman]
[ In reply to ]
Argoman wrote:
Hey all. I need some advice on a new TT bike that I'm building. I'm considering a 1x-10 setup (only one front chainring, likely 50T.) I have this set up on the road bike that I'm using for training and sprints. It works really well in my area, which is flat desert. I can see myself competing mostly in Southern California and Arizona events. Anyone have an opinion or advice on the "soundness" or long-term feasibility of my 1x idea? As I move into Olympics and maybe a 70.3 (oh my!), am I going to really wish I had a 2x set up? Thank you!Tough to say, as a lot depends on you. I've been doing 1x for like 8 years now, and there are rarish times I did wish for an inner ring, even in SoCal. 10% ramps when I'm tired, etc. And also times when buddies are going on TT training rides with some climbing, and I'm stuck grinding away in the max cross-chained position. This is with an older 11s mechanical SRAM setup - if I went with a longer-cage RD and newer cassettes that *might* cover most of my situations
Going with a smaller front ring is also a risk, as in long tailwind sections where I only want to put out moderate effort, being able to have a nice low cadence and still power forward is preferable (for me) to spinning at like 90-100 RPM for long periods of time.
Re: 1x Front Chainring... [trail]
[ In reply to ]
trail wrote:
Argoman wrote:
Hey all. I need some advice on a new TT bike that I'm building. I'm considering a 1x-10 setup (only one front chainring, likely 50T.) I have this set up on the road bike that I'm using for training and sprints. It works really well in my area, which is flat desert. I can see myself competing mostly in Southern California and Arizona events. Anyone have an opinion or advice on the "soundness" or long-term feasibility of my 1x idea? As I move into Olympics and maybe a 70.3 (oh my!), am I going to really wish I had a 2x set up? Thank you!Tough to say, as a lot depends on you. I've been doing 1x for like 8 years now, and there are rarish times I did wish for an inner ring, even in SoCal. 10% ramps when I'm tired, etc. And also times when buddies are going on TT training rides with some climbing, and I'm stuck grinding away in the max cross-chained position. This is with an older 11s mechanical SRAM setup - if I went with a longer-cage RD and newer cassettes that *might* cover most of my situations
Going with a smaller front ring is also a risk, as in long tailwind sections where I only want to put out moderate effort, being able to have a nice low cadence and still power forward is preferable (for me) to spinning at like 90-100 RPM for long periods of time.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I'm bound to run into something down the road where I wish I had the 2x. Now, as for a "smaller" front ring, I have a 50T on all my bikes. I don't think I ever rode anything larger. Is there a possible benefit, for our applications, to moving to a 52 or 53T?
Re: 1x Front Chainring... [Argoman]
[ In reply to ]
Argoman wrote:
or our applications, to moving to a 52 or 53T?Pretty rare, but for me (as a pure 40K TTer), I've had a few SoCal courses where I was riding with a pure 15MPH tailwind, and wished I had something bigger than a 50x11.
That's purely personal though. Some people - just as fast or faster - get by just fine with 50x11.
I think I'm going to go with a 10-speed cassette. I like to use friction shifters and my understanding that if I run a 1x, a 10 speed is about as large as I should go because of excessive cross-chaining. I don't know if that's BS. Another concern is that using friction becomes challenging with 11 and 12 cassettes. Again, maybe just BS.