Are Things Getting Out Of Hand?

A 50t... really? why not just get a E Bike
http://reviews.mtbr.com/oneup-goes-wider-with-new-10-50t-11-speed-1x-system

 

Could you even stay on a bike riding up something steep enough to make use of this? Perhaps a 78 degree rake is in order?

 

OneUp's 50-tooth cog might sound silly large, but you can easily manage your gearing by going with a larger chainring so that your easiest gear comes close to resembling what you had before, but the opposite end of the cassette becomes taller. So that's what I did. I went from a 30-tooth chainring to a 34-tooth oval ring, which meant that I instantly started using different cogs on the XT cassette than I would have otherwise. You can keep using the same chainring you had on pre-Shark Cog, but it makes far more sense to factor in the price of a new ring so as to adjust your drivetrain to the new, wider ratio.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/oneup-shark-50t-sprocket-kit-review.html

 

If it will lead to less woosies on E-Bikes I'm all for it!

 

I had a 42 briefly, but found I hardly used it... I couldn't go that low, large front ring or not.

But, if someone wants it, more power to them!

 

So maybe I'm looking at this wrong... it allows you to run a larger front ring and keep your low gear about the same but give you more high end?

 

Cool. I want to run 50/50 and paint my bike orange and white.

 

from a 2x perspective, I like the idea of having that 50t cassette so that no matter which chainring
I use, the chain line won't be as "crossed" if I never use the two biggest cogs. But that isn't
worth paying for a $300 cassette. Prob a silly idea...

I realize this is a 11sp, not 10sp but...

 

I should have put quotations around that blurb, I lifted it directly from the pinkbike article, but, yes, apparently it can be used to do just that.

 

And... Go back to a 26" wheel for that ultra-low gear effect

 

So, the end result is roadie gears on a mountain bike?

 

Why not. I could use that ultra low stuff a couple times a month... climing Big Bend, Canyon Acres, Dreaded- sort of, Perolta Hills.

 

F@ck all this!!! I'm going back to a SS
32x42

 

By the numbers, 10-50 with a 30t chainring still doesn't have the range that a 22/36 2x10 with an 11-36 cassette does.

Assuming 29er wheels with 2.2" tires on all bikes for the sake of comparing apples to apples:

Bike 1: 22/36 crankset with (2x10) 11-36 cassette goes from 17.59 gear inches on the low end to 94.22 gear inches on the top end for a range difference of 536%

Second gear on this bike would be 19.79 gear inches.

Bike 2: 30t crankset with (1x11) a 10-42 cassette goes from 20.56 gear inches on the low end to 86.37 gear inches on the top end for a range difference of 420%

Second gear on this bike would be 23.99 gear inches.

Bike 3: 30t crankset with (1x11) a 10-50 cassette goes from 17.27 gear inches on the low end to 86.37 gear inches on the top end for a range difference of 500%

Second gear on this bike would be 20.56 gear inches.

I included the 2nd gear figures to illustrate the jump between gears on each setup.

While it would seem that an 11-50 cassette would produce a ridiculous range, it still does not give as much range as a common trail bike setup of a 22/36 with 1n 11-36 cassette (a range I personally find comes up just a tad short on the top end on my trail bike). A 1x setup would need to have a 10-53 cassette to get a-l-m-o-s-t as much range.

 

With E13 producing a 9-44 cassette and others making a 50t cog, it's only a matter of time until some-one puts them together producing a 9-50 cassette. That would give a 555% range, wider than most 2x systems.

Meanwhile Sram is also going bigger and wants to add another gear. 11 speed will be dead.

 

Way too cool....you get five chainrings too???

 

Yeah…It makes me miss my BMX days when everyone used 44/16. I used 39/14 or so only because the cool red chainring I wanted was an orphan at the bike shop since no one wanted 39. (the ratio worked for me and gave better ground clearance)

The good old days…one gear. One brake and just hose off the bike after a muddy ride. Need a new tire? Go to Gemco! $4

 

Hah! I haven't heard the word "Gemco" come out of someone other than me in over 20 years!

 

The idea is to run a larger chainring up front. You can go up 4 or 6 teeth from the 30T ring with a 50T out back.

 

Facepalm.

Let's kill the front derailleur, then "innovate" until we get most of the range back. Did front derailleurs really cause that much trouble for people? Learn to make the stop adjustments and proper cable adjustments and they were pretty flawless. Oh, right the 1/2 pound difference was huge!

 

Hugely huge. Now we can just press a button and it'll shift for us.

 

SRAM has had their share of underwhelming success in the front derailleur arena *cough*understatement of the year*cough*, so it would make sense to me that they would prefer that FD's didn't exist.

 

I guess two things for a reality check for me...

1. Industry has to keep this shiat coming to keep making money so I get that. Changing up the industry keeps things on the grow, but also embellishes proprietary product. I dislike that.
2. My FD (as stated in an almost parallel thread) has worked flawlessly since conception on my bike (yes, my 2012 has the original FD and cable).
3. I'm only interested as I would like to lighten my bike, my 3X10 has worked perfectly since day one, so this stuff does intrigue me.

Okay that was 3 things...

 

Good question. Where will they stop? I have settled with my Shimano XT 1x11 11-42 with a 26t chain ring on my 29er. Never had a problem with a front derailleur but I do like the simplicity of not having one. With the 26t up front I have my original granny back. As far as top end goes I weigh 230. As soon as I point it down hill, off I go!

 

Well, you might be able to, or want to, but I certainly wouldn't do that. I can live with my top end where it is on 29+ (I'd feel the same about 'normal' 29" wheels too) and 10-42 cassette with a front 30t, but I would finally get a granny gear back with a 10-50 cassette. Of course, YMMV, and probably does. It's good to have choices.

The other part of the equation for the 10-50 cassette is that the jumps between gears are up in the 16% and 17% range. That is quite a jump, and certainly wouldn't be ideal for racing IMHO when you may need to match the cadence (or at least be close) of other riders, or just find the right gearing combo to maximize your speed in certain situations.

The 12 speed Grego mentions could help with those large gearing jumps, but I'm still not sure I'm feeling this whole "front derailleur is dead" thing given what is being required to kill it off. A 2x system is not hard to keep adjusted, and you either have to make part of the cassette with aluminum or titanium cogs (that are expensive and wear quickly) or the weight savings of not having a FD and shifter are offset by the bulky cassette required to replace the bits at the front.

 

Gravity always works a lot better on us not-so-petite guys!

 

I'd still take petite...

 

The lack of front derailluer has allowed frame makers flexibility in designs.

No longer do they have to keep the seat tube close enough to mount FD.

No longer do they have to keep the seat tube angle steep enough to make the FD work.

No longer do they have to be concerned with tire clearance in the granny gear.


I addition, sooo many people don't know how to shift a FD. You know who I am talking about. "My gears up front won't change when I am trying to climb up a hill. " teaching Newb's to ride is so much simpler with no FD.


Things got better when they went to 2x systems, but it was difficult to get the FD to not run the chain in certain gear combinations on 3x systems. Yeah, you probably shouldn't be in some of those combos, but it was still a PIA.

Personally, I look at gearing as a compromise. You are never gonna have the perfect gearing. 1x drivetrains will make you stronger....but so many people would rather take the easy way out. Maybe it was different years ago when we were all riding 32-35 lbs bikes that didn't pedal well.....1x systems were not ideal. However in the world of efficient climbing 26-28 lbs bikes, you should be able to adapt to 1x.


Personally we have 4 bikes in the garage.....none have FD's. Nor have they had them in several years.

My SS....self explanatory
My Tallboy....ditched the FD before I went to 10 Spd. 32 X 12/36
My wife's Niner EMD....we built it up as a 1x9 in 2011. 32 X 11/34 (this is how she wanted it built)
My wife's Tallboy....we ditched the 2x about 2 years ago. 32 X 12/36

Don't miss them.

 

Yeah... That dawned on me after I posted... my bad.

 

Not everybody has the time to ride 6 billion miles with elevation to the moon every year either, J-Zilla!