Please educate me; single, double, triple chainset

[hamster]

It's always a trade-off between gear range and spacing.

So by adding 3 rings at the back you can get rid of 2 at the front. :?

In the meantime chains and cogs get thinner and wear faster. And SRAM Eagle...£350 for a cassette! :shock:

Personally I don't think that there has been much real improvement in usefulness beyond 8 speed. However, they need a new story to sell the latest stuff.

 

[cce]

a 32t chainring with a SRAM 10-42 cassette gives gears from 3.2:1 up to 0.76:1

a classic 42/32/22 setup with an 11-28 gives you 3.8:1 up to 0.78:1

you're only really losing out at the top end. I'm definitely going 1x next time i change drivetrains

 

[Muddy paw]

Well tbh my gearing on my bikes is either 3x7 or 3x8 with the lowest gears being a 32 tooth and 28 tooth cassettes and yes the Sram Eagle is some what expensive for what it is and unfortunately although the principall of a 10x50 cassette is really good 12 sprockets is a bit over the top although i guess their trying to appeal to the cyclist who prefer the single chainset option but as you have quite rightly pointed out the quality of these parts is nowhere near as good as it use to be due to thining thickness's of the parts down which will work out pretty expensive for the average cyclist as pats wear out and i honestly thought 8 speed was going a little ott when it 1st came out but that's proven me wrong i'm glad to say ..

The sad truth is if the manufacturers don't bring out something new then companies will close due to the lack of custom as it's the same story with car makers too ..

 

[hamster]

Not sure I completely agree, a lot is simply planned obsolescence.
Just ask anyone who bought first generation Shimano DI2 - no spares and you have to junk the lot is it is incompatible with later DI2.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of worthwhile innovations (disc brakes and narrow-wide chainrings are huge steps forward) but increasingly I ride my rigid singlespeed as it's a lot less faff to maintain. Likewise my 9 speed 1996 Campag Record road stuff never needs the gears adjusted even in a whole muddy winter of riding.

 

[dyson]

Ive just gone from 3x9 to 2x9 as hardly used the big ring on my Cotic Soul.

What I found is that I spend all my time in the new big ring (32t) and for the steep stuff use the granny (22t) and 32t on the rear cassette. Its a bail out really. The next obvious step is to go 1x but I would use a sunrace cassette (11-42 10 speed) so you still have a gear for the big climbs. If I am on the road getting to a trail I often spin out so maybe a 36t on the 2x9 will sort that and for 1x maybe use a 34t chainring.

Or you can get 1x11 xt from overseas for £150.

Using 2x9 is great it is so simple just using the rear cassette and the front mech is nearly redundant barring big climbs.

Hope that helps!

 

[davidj]

Re:

befoore I went 1x9 I rode all my usual routes and noted the gears I was using, I then took this info to work out my gearing. I was tied to an XT cassette so only had to determine the single chain ring size to ensure I could get up the hills.

I won't be going back to double or triple rings up front on this bike, but I did today ride a 3x8 on the road for the first time in ages and climbing the steepest hill I typically ride I was so happy to have a granny again .

 

[Muddy paw]

Not sure I completely agree, a lot is simply planned obsolescence.
Just ask anyone who bought first generation Shimano DI2 - no spares and you have to junk the lot is it is incompatible with later DI2.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of worthwhile innovations (disc brakes and narrow-wide chainrings are huge steps forward) but increasingly I ride my rigid singlespeed as it's a lot less faff to maintain. Likewise my 9 speed 1996 Campag Record road stuff never needs the gears adjusted even in a whole muddy winter of riding.

I hadn't thought of planned obsolescence which does make sense to allow for new innovations as you can only improve a design to a certain degree before it becomes impossible to improve any further ..

Well i've never had disc brakes but have come across plenty of positive comments about them while i've been on Retrobike so i know their a good idea plus they've been used on motorcycles for years so the initial idea has been well proven for years ..

Ss has appealed to me for along while due to it's simplicity and that's all i had when i 1st got into cycling until i discovered the joy of gears and going faster ..

My 1st Raliegh road bike had 5 gears so i know from experience how simple they can be to cope with but unlike your lovely campag i had a very cheap sachs huret set up which is of course none indexed and you can't get simpler than that for maintaining and i rode too rode that all year round .

Funnily enough chain rings unless you use the wrong type of chain for them very rarely cause issues unless the chainline is out ..

 

[hamster]

Ss has appealed to me for along while due to it's simplicity and that's all i had when i 1st got into cycling until i discovered the joy of gears and going faster ..

Funnily enough chain rings unless you use the wrong type of chain for them very rarely cause issues unless the chainline is out ..

SS gets you fitter; when you get on a geared bike you see the benefit. What surprised me is that I learned to corner better. Of course it isn't faster, what is surprising is that it isn't very much slower. I miss out most on those long gentle downhills when you pop it onto a 42 ring and just cruise along at 20-25mph.

Interesting and very valid point you make on chainrings - removing the simplest parts of the system and instead adding to the finicky complicated setup at the rear. :facepalm:

Frankly I just don't get the advantage to have a reduced gear range.

 

[legrandefromage]

I'll leave this here for Muddy Paw

 

[legrandefromage]

In the bike shop and out and about, I noticed a lot of granny ring riders that left the chain in the granny ring and just used the rear. My neighbour's daughter for instance and plenty of inexperienced riders with little or no mechanical sympathy or knowledge, simply leaving in the 'easiest gear' to pedal.

Even with steel rings, stuff was worn out very quickly (lack of basic maintenance leading to that awful black paste wearing everything down) and after handling the latest XTR cassette, everything seems alarmingly thin for UK mud. But then does anyone ride in mud anymore? Is it all trail centres with us 'normal' cyclists now the new 'weird'?

As I've said before and plenty of others have said the same thing;

Cycling is a terrible business model. With minimum of maintenance a bicycle can last decades - that is terrible for share holders and dividends

Just keep that in the back of your mind when eyeing up the next trend magazines scream and shout about (I'm stocking up on quality 26" tyres before they disappear!)