the New Buzzword is 13spd cassettes, oh i can't wait for 14 spd cassettes. 8spd cassettes were cool, 9spd not so much ad infinitum.........

jim haseltine said:
I still remember what it was like when I went to 12 speed on my bike - six sprockets and two chain rings. These people who ride 12x1 or even 13x1, how often do they have to change their chains to stop the things unshipping from the chain ring - monthly?
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Once after about 7 years/6000km of commuting.
 
jim haseltine said:
I still remember what it was like when I went to 12 speed on my bike - six sprockets and two chain rings. These people who ride 12x1 or even 13x1, how often do they have to change their chains to stop the things unshipping from the chain ring - monthly?
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I can’t remember the last time my chain ‘unshipped’ from a single chainring. The move to 1x was facilitated by rear mechs with clutch mechanisms and better tooth profiles on rings to prevent chain loss.

Using it on my CX bike and my MTB on very rough terrain, not once have I considered it to be a problem.
 
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One thing I am clear about bike wise. You never want to be an early adopter.

But narrow wide chainrings coupled with clutches have massively reduced chains coming off - and the 1x setups don't seem to have any particular longevity problems.

Although to be fair, it doesn't happen that often on a well set up triple - especially if the rear mech has a strong spring. I was out on this last night, and absolutely no chain or any other rattle:

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My objection to 1x is that the range is never good enough and above all it runs horrible chain lines and accelerates wear.
A 7-speed double will do the job far better than 1x11 and last longer. It's also less finicky about things like hanger alignment. A 7-speed triple has a WAY larger range without silly extreme 50T or 10T sprockets - 10T being especially daft as they wear horribly fast.
 
I've been thinking for a while that if they manage to figure out the 14 speed rear cassette, it will be the pinnacle of the 1x external drive train and potentially kill the Rohloff hub.

I am pretty happy with 9 speed hyperglide with friction shifters and a double or triple up front, but some definitely consider it too complex.
 
Ref Range.
On none of my 1x have I (ymmv) run out of range at either the top or bottom end.
On my road bikes, the only one where I do run out of range is on my 2x5. The 3x10, 2x11 and 1x11 I haven’t.
Similarly off-road, 3x7, 3x8, 3x9, 2x10 & 1x12. No issues for me with range, except maybe lowest gears of the 3x7, but that’s as much to do with 48,38,28 chainrings vs 44/42,32,22 of the other 3x.

The lack of range issues may be down to my lack of fitness/power. 🙁
 
Range issues also depend on the task at hand - I'm talking laden touring where 24/30 or 22/28 are bottom gear.
 
I have gone over to 1x after a few years of getting back into cycling. I was carrying around a load of gears and stuff that was barely getting used, or not used at all.
I have 26x2.0 tyres and now have 42 x 11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36 at 11 speed spacing. Perfectly good for short sharp climbs, long drags and 30mph at 100ish rpm. The gaps between the gears really aren't an issue and most time is spent in the high middle part of the cassette so the chain isn't spending much time at the extreme ends of the cassette.
Modern chains are so flexible now that spending a tiny percentage of a ride at an extreme angle is not going to accelerate wear to any great degree.
 
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