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Best 1x gearing options for gravel

Posted by Gerard Vroomen - 07 January 2020

99 out of 100 times when people ask us about the best gearing options for gravel, they really mean “how can I get a big enough gear range”.

So here we will discuss how to squeeze the most gearing options out of your Shimano, SRAM or Campagnolo 1x drivetrain. There are many options, so just scroll down to the set-ups that most interest you.

For the 2x options, you can find those in a future post.

Step 1 – Reduce the chainring

Seeing what gears people still ride with, it bears repeating. Do you really need that biggest gear? 53×11 is big enough to win the Tour de France. Now reduce that based on our power output relative to the top pros, the lack of domestiques and the slower gravel surface (and even if we ride on asphalt, unlike for the Tour our routes don’t get freshly paved just because we plan to ride there).

Then throw in other road users for good measure and realize that puncture protection is more important since most of us don’t have a team car on our Saturday ride! Finally, take into account that your gravel tires have a bigger circumference than your road tires (a wider tires is also a taller tire).

Soon you realize that a 20-30% gear reduction is not unreasonable (that would mean roughly a 42×11 or 38×11 as your top gear). Now, most won’t want to go that far and you don’t have to, but more likely than not your top gear sees little use right now.

Even for the descents, the advantage of having a large top gear is limited. If the descent is technical, your speed won’t be that high. If the descent is fast, you won’t be pedaling at your terminal velocity anyway. The top gear only determines at what point you can stop spinning and start coasting. You’ll keep accelerating regardless. That last little push with the bigger top gear provides just a small advantage, in the end any gear is rendered useless.

If you currently ride a Di2 or AXS electronic drivetrain, you can actually get a read-out of how much time you spent in each gear. Whenever I ask people to do that, they are shocked by how little they use their biggest gear(s). And that read-out even exaggerates the usefulness of your biggest gear because it also includes the time you spend in it while coasting down the hill.

For gravel I ride with 34×11 as its biggest gear. Even when I ride that gear on the road, I rarely miss having a bigger gear (sometimes I do, but it’s surprisingly rare). At 120rpm I get to 45kph, more than enough on the flats. Going downhill, I just enjoy the scenery as gravity pulls me towards terminal velocity.

I’m not suggesting you go down to a 34T, but there is room to reduce your top gear and gain a much more useful bottom gear. The most popular single ring for gravel is the 42T, while the 40T and 38T share second place.

So give that some thought; getting your top gear in line with what your legs really need is the best first step towards perfect gearing.

Step 2 – Increase the cassette range

If you don’t want to reduce your top gear – or in addition to that reduction – you can get a wider cassette. Sounds simple, but depending on what rear derailleur you have, there may be some tweaking involved. So let’s list it by the rear derailleur you have.

11-speed SRAM medium cage

If you have a medium cage SRAM rear derailleur on your gravel bike, you most likely have an Exploro Speed with a Force 1 rear derailleur and an 11-36 cassette. Which means SRAM tells you that is as big as you can go. If you want to believe that, there are two options to still increase your range:

  1. e*thirteen makes an 11-speed 9-34 cassette
  2. Leonardi has a 9-36T cassette

Because these cassettes start with a 9T cog, they all need an xD or xD-R driver. Additionally, you have to decrease your front ring by 18% to keep the same top gear. As a result, you will also get a smaller climbing gear despite the biggest cog not being any bigger than on an 11-36T cassette. So to compare:

BrandCassetteRangeNote
SRAM11-36327%Standard Exploro Speed cassette
e*thirteen9-34378%Can be difficult to find
Leonardi9-36400%Hard to find nowadays, mediocre shifting performance

 

But there is a second group of cassettes you can use to increase your range. And all you need to do is ignore what SRAM tells you about the 36T maximum cog spec for the medium cage Force 1 rear derailleur.

We’ve been testing all sorts of combinations in the lab and on the road, and we found you can use a much bigger cassette than recommended without a problem Here’s the list:.

BrandCassetteRangeNote
SRAM11-36327%Standard Exploro Speed cassette
Shimano11-40364%Use 1 linkset less than recommended (single-speed chain length method)
SRAM/Shimano11-42382%Use 1 linkset less than recommended (single-speed chain length method)
SRAM10-42420%Needs xD driver & 9% smaller chainring for same top gear. Use 1 linkset less than recommended (single-speed chain length method)

 

Why would you want to run a medium cage over a long cage? With the mid-range cassettes, a medium cage offers crisper shifting. It also gives you better ground clearance.

11-speed Shimano medium cage

If you use a Shimano standard road derailleur, I would strongly suggest to consider getting something with a clutch. It will make life a lot better on rough surfaces by dramatically reducing chain suck.

If you have an Ultegra RX derailleur with a clutch, it has a maximum big cog rating of 34T and the Shimano 11-34 cassette is likely what you have.

That’s not a lot of range for a 1x drivetrain (if you have this as part of a 2x drivetrain, that’s a different story, see the next episode). In reality, this derailleur can go up to a 36T without a problem. It also has sufficient capacity to start at a smaller cog, so cassettes starting with a 9T cog are not an issue. All in all it means you have these options:

BrandCassetteRangeNote
Shimano11-34309%Standard Shimano RX cassette
SRAM11-36327%100% compatible
e*thirteen9-34378%Can be difficult to find
Leonardi9-36400%Hard to find nowadays, mediocre shifting performance

 

11-speed SRAM or SHIMANO long cage

For SRAM, this means you have an Apex1, Rival1 or Force1 rear derailleur. For Shimano this would be a GRX RX-812 (mechanical) or RX-817 (electronic) derailleur. The bike may have come with any number of cassettes, but most likely it’s an 11-42T.

These derailleurs are all rated for a 42T biggest cog. You can squeeze it a little bigger, but not much. For example, you could run the GRX derailleur with Shimano’s 11-46T mountain bike cassette (XT M8000 11-speed). It works, but it’s a little noisy.

Let’s put it this way: I would ride it if I really needed the bigger gear, but I wouldn’t sell it. With any of these hacks, you can expect and accept shifting that is maybe not quite as crisp or silent, but this 11-46T is a bit too far removed from the shift quality we are looking for. That said, several customers run the 11-46T on their GRX bikes and love it, so it is subjective.

However, if you want that sort of range, the solution I prefer is to go with the SRAM 10-42T cassette. Basically it gives the same range but without needing such a large cog at the end. Drawback is that you need to install and xD driver on your rear wheel.

To get even more range, you need to look at the other end of the spectrum, reducing that smallest cog to a 10T or 9T and then shrinking the chainring correspondingly to maintain your top gear. These are your options:

 

BrandCassetteRangeNote
Shimano/SRAM11-42382%Use 1 linkset less than recommended (single-speed chain length method)
Shimano11-46418%Shifting performance suffers a little, IT works, but I prefer the SRAM 10-42T & smaller chainring instead.
SRAM10-42420%Needs xD driver & 9% smaller chainring for same top gear. Use 1 linkset less than recommended (single-speed chain length method)
e*thirteen9-39433%Can be difficult to find. Needs 18% smaller chainring and 1 linkset less than recommended (single speed chain length method)
e*thirteen9-42467%Can be difficult to find. Needs 18% smaller chainring and 1 linkset less than recommended (single speed chain length method)
Leonardi9-42467%Hard to find, mediocre shifting performance. Needs 18% smaller chainring and 1 linkset less than recommended (single speed chain length method)
e*thirteen9-44489%Apparently phased out. Really on the limit for the RD. Needs 18% smaller chainring and 1 linkset less than recommended (single speed chain length method)
e*thirteen9-46511%Poor shifting, the 46T is too much for these derailleurs. And 511% is too much range for almost any gravel ride

 

Note that these cassettes work roughly the same on Shimano and SRAM drivetrains. You do need to adjust chain length and the B-screw.

Your gear range can also be too big. The last four cassettes in the above table are probably not the best choice for most people on most terrain, as the huge range comes at the expense of big steps.

12-speed SRAM Rival/Force/Red AXS

The biggest SRAM cassette available for these rear derailleurs when they launched was 10-33T. That may work on some of your rides (and then it’s great as the steps are really small), but if you ever expand to tougher terrain it won’t be enough.

Then SRAM launched the “WIDE” range of crank, rear derailleur and cassette. The cassette ratio of 10-36T is nicer, and on 3T bikes it’s even possible to use the old SRAM rear derailleur with this new cassette – so no need for a new rear derailleur.

The next 12-speed cassette would be ROTOR’s 11-39. That one definitely does not shift well with either the standard or the WIDE rear derailleur (this is something SRAM, Rotor and 3T agree on).

12-speed SRAM XPLR

XPLR is the name SRAM uses for all their gravel-related products across various brands. So there is a Rockshox XPLR dropper post, some Zipp XPLR parts and there are SRAM XPLR drivetrain parts. Available in SRAM’s usual product levels, the XPLR parts are basically a longer cage rear derailleur and matching cassette. With this, you get a 10-44T range, enough for most routes for most people.

12-speed SRAM Eagle AXS

AXS is the “communication platform” SRAM has set up for their electronic parts to talk together. This means your AXS road shift levers can talk not only to Rival AXS, Force AXS and Red AXS rear derailleurs but also to Eagle AXS rear derailleurs from SRAM’s electronic mountain bike groups.

So you can combine your Rival/Force/Red AXS road shifters, crank & brakes with an Eagle rear derailleur, chain and cassette for a very wide gear range. And because it’s all wireless, switching out your rear derailleur is a snap. The bad news is, it will cost you, as the Eagle rear derailleurs are quite expensive compared to their road siblings.

Once you go this route, these are your options for cassettes (Note that SRAM’s 10-33T and 10-36T cassettes are too small to work with the Eagle rear derailleur, the B-gap will be too big):

BrandCassetteRangeNote
Rotor11-39355%Requires standard driver, works best with 12-sp KMC chain but this is really on the limit
Rotor11-46418%Requires standard driver, works best with 12-sp KMC chain
SRAM11-50455%Requires standard driver.
Only available in mid-range, so not the lightest
INGRID10-48480%
Requires xD driver.
SRAM10-50500%
Requires xD driver.
Available only in top-range versions, so expensive
e139-46511%Requires xD driver.
e139-50556%Requires xD driver.

One small note, the 10-33T cassette doesn’t work particularly well in combination with the Eagle rear derailleur. So should you want to have two different setups – one for speed using the 10-33 and one for tough routes using a bigger cassette – you will have to swap out the rear derailleur and chain every time (and potentially even the chainring). It might be worthwhile to use the 11-39T Rotor cassette for the fast setup instead, so you can do everything with the Eagle rear derailleur.

As in the case of 11-speed, the bottom 4 cassettes give you a very extreme range, likely more than you need.

13-speed Campagnolo Ekar

Probably the most surprising new drivetrain recently for many people, Campagnolo hit it out of the park with Ekar. 13-speed, great cassette combinations, no-fuss mechanical shifting and great brakes. A fantastic option for a 1x road bike and great for gravel too. I already wrote at length about what I like about Ekar for gravel, so here I will limit myself to the gearing options it provides:

BrandCassetteRangeNote
Campagnolo9-36400%Great for road, all-road and very strong gravel riders. 38×36 smallest gear is limiting (Torno rings are compatible to achieve 36×36. Requires N3W driver
Campagnolo10-44440%Great range, small steps. Requires N3W freehub driver
Campagnolo9-42467%Big range and small steps, one for everything. Requires N3W freehub driver

 

In detail:

  • 9-36T (9-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-20-23-27-31-36): 400% range is great, the only issue here is that the smallest chainring Campagnolo makes is a 38T right now. And 38×36 is a bit big as your smallest gear if the route gets really tough. On top of that there aren’t many alternatives for chainrings. One exception is our own 3T Torno crank which has the option of an Ekar-compatible 36T chainring. Otherwise, this is mostly for road, for stronger gravel riders, for less extreme terrain or for riders who mix a lot of asphalt and off-road sections.
  • 9-42T (9-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-21-25-30-36-42): This is a big 467% range, so bigger than what I would normally call ideal. But when you really look at it, the 13 cogs means you can increase the range and cover more extreme situations (you could say it’s a 12-speed 10-42 cassette plus an extra 9T cog).This becomes clear when you see how the steps are distributed: the first 6 cogs are the same as on the 9-36T). Only in the climbing range do the steps get bigger, so it is very functional. You only need a 38T chainring to get a great top gear (equal to 42×10 or 46×11) and 38×42 is a great climbing gear as well.
  • 10-44T: 10-11-12-13-14-15-17-19-22-26-32-38-44: This is a more traditional cassette range in that it starts with the 10T, and the 44T gives you that tiny  bit more climbing ability than most other cassettes topping out at 42T. Again the first 6 cogs are 1-step apart, so lots of options to dial in your gear.

Bonus: If you have a set-up of 1 bike with 2 wheel sets to combine road & gravel (or fast gravel & slow gravel), Ekar gives you a nice bonus. You can put the 9-36T cassette on your fast wheels and the 9-42 or 10-44 on your slow wheels.

Go with 10-44 and you get a 10% easier top gear with a 22% easier low gear. If you don’t want to give up any top speed, then the 9-42T cassette makes that happen while still giving you a 17% easier low gear.

Important notes

Linkset: I mention a few times that your chain should be 1 linkset shorter than recommended for the best shifting. By linkSET, we mean a set of 2 links, one narrow link and one wide link for a total of 1 inch in length. This recommendation is based on the “single-speed chain length” method, see below.

Single-speed chain length OFFICIAL method: Run your chain directly over your biggest (or only) chainring and your biggest cog. Do not run it through the derailleur. Take the chain length with the chains tight as you can over cog and chainring like this, and add 2 linksets (4 links, 2 narrow and 2 wide). Note that “as tight as you can” may not be very tight, because you always need to add links in pairs for 1x. So if the route around cog and chainring is just a tenth of a link longer than your chain, you need to add another “1.9 links” to make the chain whole again.

Single-speed chain length method HACK: The above is the official recommendation. For the big range cassettes in combination with the medium rear derailleur, you add only 1 linkset (2 links, 1 narrow and 1 wide) as described in the main article., instead of adding 2 linksets as mentioned in the official method. To avoid any confusion, this means with the hack, your chain will be shorter than with the official method by 1 linkset (2 links).

Correct chain length: Listed above are the ideal chain lengths for the best shifting performance using the single-speed chain length method. You do have some leeway here. If you use one of the setups only sparingly and can accept occasionally slower shifting, you can try to run your medium range and wide range cassette with the same chain length. In fact, with a bit of luck both of their ideal lengths are the same (since we recommend shortening the wide cassette chain length relative to the standard). In fact, in most cases (it depends a bit on the exact chainring size), the ideal length will be the 11-36T and the 11-40T cassette if you keep the chainring the same.

B-gap: When you start playing with these cassettes sizes and chain lengths, you will find that the B-gap (the gap between the upper pulley and the biggest cog has a big effect on how well it works. The exact recommendation for the B-gap differs from derailleur to derailleur, so best to check the manual for the exact number. And then you may deviate a bit to see if you can get the shifting even better.

xD vs. xD-R drivers: Whenever I say the cassette requires an xD driver, that means the xD-R driver will also work as long as the 1.8mm SRAM spacers is added between the driver and the cassette. xD and xD-R drivers are identical except for this 1.8mm length difference.Hope this helps, happy climbing!

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182 responses to “Best 1x gearing options for gravel”

  1. G

    Gregor says:

    22 February 2023

    Hi there I’m using a 38T front and an 11-36 cassette on a older voodoo bantu as I do more xc and exploring, the drivetrain is deore apart from the RD wich is an slx m675 shadow + clutch long cage, I want to use an 11-42 deore cassette I’ve had, but been told the rear derailleur won’t take the wider cassette? .
    Can you tell me if this is possible as I’m almost sure that this will work.
    Kind regards
    Gregor

    Reply
  2. P

    Piotr says:

    07 January 2023

    Need some advice guys – currently running 11 speed combo on my CX bike – 11:32 + 38T . Now I am going to switch to AXS 1x 12sp setup – what cassette/front chainring combo would you recommend ? I am pretty satisfied with current 11-32+38T, riding rather flat most of the time and it is fair enought for short cx races. Thank you

    Reply
  3. M

    Mark says:

    04 January 2023

    Hi Gerard, is it possible to fit Ultegra 50/34 2x to my Exploro Pro (2020 model).. Thanks

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      04 January 2023

      It is. Just keep in mind that for the rear derailleur, it would be better not to go with Ultegra but with GRX so you have a clutch (and won’t lose your chain as easily as on Ultegra).

      Reply
  4. M

    Mobe says:

    09 October 2022

    16 gear inches of my 2×12 let me crawl up steep ascents on a 2020 Stevens Sentiero in walking speed with just a little tradeoff in top speed . I was hoping to find a similar gravel option at a affordable price for long distance traveling for 2023 but nada njet zero. Its either 1x or 2×11 and none match my 36/22 front and 10-45 rear setup. So I’ll stick with my Sentiero for now.

    Reply
  5. W

    Wouter says:

    15 September 2022

    Hi, I’m riding a 3T race max. Front Sram Force 40t 1by rear Eagle AXS 11-50 . Now I’m looking for a bigger chainring at front. Currently its a X-Sync 40t. What would be the biggest option I can use?

    Reply
  6. J

    Jim says:

    19 August 2022

    Extremely helpful article, Gerard. Thank you!

    I too am building a new gravel bike with a 1×11 mechanical drive train (likely Force1 or Rival1).

    Need gear ratios of 0.9 on the low-end and at least 4.0 on the high.

    Seems e13’s 9-39 cassette with an xD driver body and 36T chainring is the best solution, assuming the Force1 and Rival1 crankarms accept anything smaller than 40T. SRAM’s website implies 40T is the smallest that will fit those arms.

    Will the Force1 and Rival1 medium-cage RDs shift a 9-39T cassette/36T chainring combo smoothly or is the long-cage version recommended.

    If the 9-39 cassette/36T chainring combo isn’t compatible with Force1/Rival1, perhaps GRX will better suit my desired ratio.

    If not, there’s always SRAM 1×12 (prefer to avoid e-shifting), EKAR 1×13 (prefer cantilever over disc brakes) or a custom Rohloff solution (prefer to avoid the extra cost and weight).

    Crossing my fingers the Force1, Rival1 and GRX groupsets will suit the above preferences.

    Reply
  7. R

    Ryan Radden says:

    21 July 2022

    I’m building a new Merckx gravel frame up from scratch. What would be the ideal gearing set up to have the best possible ratios for climbing? I consider myself a strong climber and there isn’t much flat terrain where I live. For me it’s all about the lightest possible bike that goes uphill fast. I was thinking I must have another Di2 spec’d bike because I love the reliability, shifting, compatibility and familiarity of Shimano on my Cervelo R5, but I’m leaving my options open. Definitely want to keep it in the 1X category.

    Reply
  8. f

    fabiano lopes says:

    14 July 2022

    Hey, great article! It has spoken to me. I totally resonate with the content. For my style of riding and my current fitness (not a pro here) I need to lower my lower gears. I currently run SRAM 11 speed cassete (11-42T) x 42T Praxis chain ring on the front and 700C wheels. If my calcs are correct, this gives me 29 gear inch ratio. By looking at the specs of my Praxis, It is a relative cheap upgrade for me to swap my 42T chain ring to a 36T. This would bring my gear ratio to around 24.8. I also can use my other set of 650B wheels that would bring the gear ratio even further down. Quick question, do I need to use the single speed chain method from scratch (after swaping the chain ring) or by just knowing I am reducing the chain ring my 6T, so i reduce the chain accordingly by 6 links (3 narrow + 3 wide)?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      14 July 2022

      Well, you’re reducing your chainring by 6T, but the chain is only (roughly) around half the ring, so that would be 3 links (but of course that’s not possible, has to be 2 or 4 then). And the angles of the chain change a bit too and thereby the length, although that’s a minor effect. So best to just doublecheck with the official method.

      Reply
      1. F

        Fabiano Lopes says:

        25 July 2022

        Thank you!

        Reply
  9. B

    Benny.mccutcheon2@gmail.com says:

    13 July 2022

    Hi can I run e thirteen 9-34 on a di2 xt medium cage 1x with 42 oval using shimano 600 climbing button thanks Brian

    Reply
  10. M

    Martin says:

    30 April 2022

    Hi, I am considering going 1x (Grx 42/11-34) with Classified Powershift hub. What happens if I swap the gravel wheelset for a non-Classified road wheels and will try to use 11/42 to adjust the lack of large gears? Would the shifter / chain length suffice? How to calculate that?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      30 April 2022

      That you use a Classified hub doesn’t matter, it’s purely a matter of the delta between the cassettes, the parts you use (GRX in this case) and the frame geometry. I don’t think you can really calculate this, you’ll have to try it.

      Reply
      1. M

        Martin says:

        01 May 2022

        Thank you Gerard:)

        Reply
  11. P

    PatrikN says:

    20 April 2022

    Hey, I really like the article. I’m pretty new on gravel biking, as I usually just ride road…but I like. Unfortunately I have a Force 1by 11-32 now 11-36…my chainring has 44 teeth’s, which is quite big but also nice within flat sections… Following the descriptions where it is possible to use the 11-42 SRAM cassette are there any restrictions how big the chainring in the front should be? Don’t really know if this is a factor as well keeping in mind for the mid size force 1 derailleur? Many thanks for your help!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 April 2022

      you would have to try. I can really only say for sure what works on the bikes we tried this on, so our bikes. With different geometries everything can work a little different (or NOT work). 44T is pretty big. I see more usual a 40T or 42T with those cassettes. Maybe every once in a while a 44×11 top gear is nice, but it’s much nicer not to walk up a hill!

      Reply
      1. P

        PatrikN says:

        22 April 2022

        Thanks a lot for your feedback. Totally agree with not wanting to walk up the hill 😉 I will just try it with a 11-42 cassette. I guess I have to work on the derailleur screws? Maybe one other question, if I keep 11-36 cassette and change on the front to e.g. 40 would it make live already easier or is it not really noticeable? Yet again thanks a lot…really getting into bikes and work with the parts – these kind of blogs really help like a lot!!

        Reply
  12. N

    NorthK says:

    19 April 2022

    You can also run a 12-speed mechanical upgrade kit from Ratio Technologies, and have an all-mechanical 1×12 drivetrain for less money than a SRAM eTap group. This kit converts a SRAM mechanical 11-speed brake/shift lever and SRAM 11-speed derailleur to 12-speed compatible with SRAM AXS cassettes. Then you can run a Rival or Force 1×12 AXS crank, Rival or Force AXS cassette, flattop 12-speed chain and a SRAM AXS chainring. You can also run the kit with an AXS XPLR 10-44 cassette for wider range. For that you need a long-cage SRAM 11-speed derailleur (which is rated for 42 teeth) but Ratio says it will work. I’m going to try it! Note that if you want to go this route your frame has to be compatible with their kit, so check their compatibility chart.

    Reply
  13. J

    Johnny Faust says:

    26 March 2022

    I just had a Colnago gravel bike with Sram, it does not work properly, when I have ridden with Campagnolo for more than 25 years, I would like to build an exploro racemax with Campagnolo Chorus or Record, but will i have problems with chainline or chainring clearance, if I use a campag crankset with 48/32 chainrings ??

    Reply
  14. Giuseppe says:

    10 March 2022

    Hi Gerard super interesting article!
    I have a Rival 1 medium cage and I am thinking to buy a 11-42 CS-M8000
    SHIMANO DEORE XT or a 11-42 SRAM PG 1130.
    Does the hack for the medium cage works for the Rival too, or it is only for the Force?
    If yes, can I still keep using the same chainring model PC-1130 with a link set removed as you suggested?

    Thanks a lot

    Giuseppe

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      10 March 2022

      Hi Giuseppe, I don’t know, haven’t tried and there are some differences in the RDs. So maybe, maybe not.

      Reply
      1. Giuseppe says:

        22 March 2022

        Thanks Gerard!

        I just wanted to ask if the medium Rival 1 medium cage is fitted on 11-42, and they work fine together, is there any safety risk?
        My local shop won’t do the job because it may be dangerous if the system break and I may fall off.
        Shall I change mechanic?

        Thanks!

        Reply
  15. M

    Mike says:

    08 January 2022

    Gerard. X7 10spd shifter/derailleur type 2. I Sram 11/36 cassette.

    I put a 28T chainring on the front (had a 32T 1x)

    What is the best value option to further increase the ratio and climbing power on my RSD Mayor Fatbike. New cassette, switch current cassette rings with wolftooth cassette rings?…

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      10 January 2022

      Hi Mike, on 10-sp I am not so sure. I don’t have experience with that product from Wolftooth, but in general I am impressed with their stuff so I presume this one is no exception.

      Reply
  16. N

    Nolan says:

    25 December 2021

    I recently purchased a 2021 Surly straggler. I do not know much about this kind of stuff so I need some help here. It comes stock with sram apex1 drivetrain. After riding it, I have noticed that I need much higher (?) gears. When pedaling up even slightly inclined hills I am in a very high gear if not the highest. And then when going downhill I never shift all the way down- usually somewhere in the middle. I care nothing about going downhill fast, just want to be able to climb steeper grade with my bike packed down and I know that I cannot do that effectively right now. I do want to keep it 1x. Any thoughts on how I could solve this?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      10 January 2022

      Easiest way would be to go with a smaller chainring, then your whole gear range moves towards lower gears (you mention higher gears but gears for going uphill we would call lower/smaller gears). But how small you can go depends also on the frame, so best to get that lowest possible number from our friends at Surly.

      Reply
  17. C

    Chris says:

    18 November 2021

    Shimano diora xt 11 speed with sunrace 11×50 cassette butter smooth for thousands of miles

    Reply
  18. G

    Gerry says:

    21 June 2021

    Just found this article. I’m a N+! cyclist, but lately I’ve been riding (mostly) 2021 Trek FX 4 Carbon Sport.
    It came with GRX. Limited to 40t up front. I bought Wolftooth 36t and 38t. After reading this, I’ll start with the 36 and go up if needed! This article explains everything I needed to know and just stumbled upon it today June 21!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 June 2021

      Hi Gerry, glad it helped you. Spread the word!

      Reply
  19. E

    Einar Magnussen says:

    13 June 2021

    Thanks a lot for such an ispiring article. Did as you suggest and inserted a PG-1130 11-42 cassette with a SRAM Force medium cage derialleur and used only one linkset overlap on the chain. Shifting is smooth. Thank you. My SPOOKY Gas Mask is ready for some hills without going XD.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      13 June 2021

      Hi Einar, you’re welcome. Spread the word!

      Reply
  20. b

    bazz says:

    02 June 2021

    hi, i currently have a 2×9 drivetrain and plannig to convert to 1x gravel.. will a 38T chainring and 11-46T casette work for both flats and climbing? or is it better to go 40T chainring and 11-50T casette?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      02 June 2021

      Hi Bazz, I don’t know how I can answer that question. It depends on how strong you are, what terrain you ride in, etc. I would say start with one and see if you like it. That’s the nice thing about chainrings and cassettes, they wear out anyway so if you don’t get everything you want out of it, you can always go for the other option next time around and see if you like it better.

      Reply
    2. J

      Jon Bingham says:

      28 August 2021

      I have 2×9 on my gravel bike – but my crankset is an old Ultegra triple, so I can get 30/46T chainrings on with chainguard in outer position – 11-36 on rear gives me plenty of gears – works great. I could go even lower 26/42 if I wanted to do laden touring

      Reply
      1. Gerard Vroomen says:

        29 August 2021

        Hi Jon, yes that’s the big advantage of a triple crankset. The only drawback is the bigger Q-factor than on 1x or 2x cranksets.

        Reply
  21. D

    David Pastore says:

    14 May 2021

    Thank you for writing this! Proud owner of a 3T bike. I have traditionally run Shimano 2x on my gravel bike for racing and desire to switch to 1x for simplicity. Having some anxiety about the change since it seems like most racers in my area all run 2x due to its range and tighter gear ratio. I am targeting Eagle Force AXS with a 42t upfront. My question is regarding the rear. It appears the Ethirteen Helix may solve my anxiety with the 9-50. Any experience with this cassette over the SRAM 10-50 version?

    Reply
  22. R

    Robert Samuel says:

    27 April 2021

    Great article. So if I read this correctly, I can buy an XO1 rear derailleur and it will talk to the front derailleur of my 12 speed 2x Force AXS group. I can run a Rotor 11-46 (KMS chain) with the 33-46 upfront? Meaning I don’t have to sell my full group on eBay and start over? If this is correct, Gerard, I will nominate you for the Novel Prize in Physics!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      27 April 2021

      I’m afraid no Nobel prize for me. You can do this with a 1x setup, but I don’t think the rear derailleur has the capacity to take up the slack of your 46-33T crankset. Maybe, just maybe, this works if you are very careful or if the automatic shifting happens to avoid the worst gears, but still I am doubtful.

      Reply
      1. R

        Robert Samuel says:

        29 April 2021

        I’m sad you won’t make it to Oslo.

        Reply
  23. m

    matt says:

    15 April 2021

    This is a great article. Thanks
    I have one question. I have 1 X1. SRAM FORCE 1 RD And SRAM PG1170 Chain and SRAM 11×36 cassette . With an Wolf Tooth Front Chain ring.
    Im looking to replace the Cassette with EITHER SRAM PG1130 11X42 OR SHIMANO XT M8000.
    Im more inclined to get the SHIMANO option as it sounds like it has better performance and it is much lighter. That said maybe the performance would be better sticking to a the full SRAM setup?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      15 April 2021

      I would stick with the SRAM cassette.

      Reply
  24. I

    Ivan says:

    11 April 2021

    Thank you for your post Gerard.
    Currently I’m running 42 x 10-42 on my gravel bike. If I want have a different wheelset, with larger cassette range of 11-46. Can I keep using the 42T chainring or Should I change the chain length? Or It just a matter of RD setup anyway?
    Thanks

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      11 April 2021

      Officially you need a longer chain. If you can get away with the current chain length, you’d have to try to know.

      Reply
      1. I

        Ivan says:

        11 April 2021

        Very well noted, I was thought the same thing you said, maybe change with 12 speed type of chain, correct?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          11 April 2021

          Are you changing the setup to 12-speed? Then definitely a 12-speed chain.

          Reply
          1. I

            Ivan says:

            15 April 2021

            No, 11 speed 11-46. I was thinking ‘longer chain’ here, you mean add missing link?

            Reply
            1. Gerard Vroomen says:

              15 April 2021

              No just because you said you were thinking of a 12-speed chain. I don’t see the point for that if you stay with an 11-speed cassette.

              Reply
  25. G

    GLC says:

    09 April 2021

    Hi Gerard, your blog is fantastic!

    I’m running a 9-42 cassette with a 810 derailleur and a single chainring of 34
    My difficulties is to go to the 9 when I’m on the 11, to do it I need to go up to the 13 and jump, without pedaling 2 click to the 9

    Do you have an advice for me?
    Do you think that change the 810 with a 812 can improve the shifting?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      11 April 2021

      In general, all these derailleurs can do a lot more than they advertise. So the 810 can sort of shift the cassette you describe, but the 812 spec is closer to what you “officially” need for the 9-42T. I really don’t know if switching the derailleurs will solve the issue, this sounds more like a general setup issue (or maybe a tolerance issue on the cassette), but it’s like kicking a TV. Sometimes it brings the screen back to life even if you don’t understand why.

      Reply
  26. M

    Mark says:

    18 March 2021

    Hi Gerard, what do you think of this?
    – rose pro cross frame;
    – I’ve modified my apex shifter and eagle derailleur to manual 1×12 with the Ratio technology conversion;
    – for winter roads l’ve got 44 x 11-46 ztto cassette on schwalbe g one speed 34c tyres (biggest I can fit with mudguards which my club requires). Ive also got a 46 chainring on the shelf but the smaller one gives more useful gears I think, I pedal more climbing than descending)
    – for gravel I’m thinking of getting a second set of wheels, with 38 x 10-50 eagle cassette on some wtb resolute 42c to cope with slippery chalk here in the south of england.
    I’d be grateful for your thoughts if you have a moment
    Mark

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      11 April 2021

      Sounds good to me, making the most of what the bike can handle.

      Reply
  27. T

    Thomas says:

    13 March 2021

    Hi Gerard,
    Thanks for your post. I have a question regarding the 3T cassettes (overdrive or bailout). You mentioned somewhere in the comments that these don’t get made anymore (because of larger gearing options – 12s?).

    I was looking at these two cassettes for a second set of wheels for the road. I have a gravel set running 42/10-42 (XD Driver) and a second set from DT Swiss with XDR Driver. I did not notice that there are not many options for 11 speed and XDR (hence the 3T cassettes).

    So my question is twofold:
    1. Do either of these work well with Rival 1x? I am thinking chain line and retention.
    2. Is it still worth finding one of these two cassettes, or do you have another option in mind for the road set, without me selling the XDR wheelset, and without having to fork out 1000€ for an AXS 12s group (as nice as that would be … just too expensive)?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      13 March 2021

      1) yes that works
      2) will be hard to find. There are other cassette options for 11-speed but even if they start with 3T, they tend to have a bigger range. That can be nice, but of course that also means the jumps get bigger quicker.

      Reply
  28. B

    Brian McGill says:

    17 February 2021

    Hi Gerard.

    I’ve bodged together a 1x setup using the original sram 11spd eTap system – I’m running a 36t narrow/wide chainring in conjunction with an 11-42 cassette on the old wifli rear mech with a hanger extender.

    It’s worked well so far but I’m always a bit anxious about chain retention when the terrain gets bumpy, plus concerned that my chainstays will be wrecked by chain slap.

    I’ve seen that sram recently released an updated rear mech (A2) with some of the same tech as on the axs rear mechs, most notably the Orbit dampening system.

    Do you think I’d be able to do a straight swap from the old wifli mech to the A2 version? If so, is it a worthwhile upgrade considering the cost?

    Many thanks.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      17 February 2021

      If it’s rated for at least 36T max cog or more, then it will probably work.

      Reply
      1. B

        Brian McGill says:

        18 February 2021

        Thanks for the reply Gerard.

        I think it’s rated for a max 33t cog, which I think is the same as the old wifli mech I’m currently using.

        Reply
  29. I

    Ian Tan says:

    15 February 2021

    many thanks, Gerard.

    nothing for it then – trial and error it is!

    Reply
  30. i

    ian says:

    11 February 2021

    hello Gerard,

    i have an exploro now with 1x (40T ) and setup with medium cage for use with 9-32 and 10-42 between different sets of wheels.
    the chain length has been set with your method described for the 10-42 cassette.

    if i am considering larger chainrings, how much larger than 40T before i need to start adding links?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      11 February 2021

      Given your chain is already short using that method, you probably need to add links immediately when you go bigger, if you want the best shifting performance.

      Reply
      1. i

        ian tan says:

        13 February 2021

        thanks for the reply, Gerard.

        the chainrings are in 42, 44, 46, 48, and 50 steps.
        for certain adding one linkset cannot be for each step.

        would you be able to recommend which sizes to add one linkset and which size to add two linksets?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          13 February 2021

          There is no general answer like that unfortunately. I think there should be one too, I had asked SRAM for a generic chain length calculator based on gearing and chainstay length, but it turns out this doesn’t exist.

          Reply
  31. B

    Bobby says:

    31 January 2021

    Great post, but I must admit at this point my brain is fried as I try to decide on the perfect 1x setup for me. From all the blogs and forums I’ve read, 42×11-42 seems to be kind of rare, is there a reason for that? Is there something wrong with your smallest gear being 1:1? Or am I completely wrong about it being a rarity?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      01 February 2021

      Hi Bobby, I don’t think it’s that rare. I mean there are a lot of options out there so there isn’t one combination that is very dominant. You could say all combinations are rare. Nothing wrong with a 1:1 smallest gear either, it all depends on how strong you are and where you live what your smallest gear should be. Around 1:1 will be OK for many situations.

      Reply
  32. J

    Jasper says:

    24 January 2021

    Great post, thx Gerard! I just ordered a RaceMax frame set and am contemplating now what to do in terms of set-up. Going 1x so much is sure, and I will predominately maintain my road riding with occasional off-road with my boys. Already having a DT Swiss wheelset with the XDR drive/hub as I would want SRAM AXS to stay with all my other rides in the garage. Looking at your blog, choices are rather limited (SRAM Eagle AXS derrie combined with either SRAM cassettes (too large for me; dont need the 50 and too big jumps) or either e19 or Leonardi Racing (not top quality shifting). Or am I missing something? And the FORCE AXS wide derrie only goes to 36t which again is too smal for off road. Right?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      24 January 2021

      Well, you want to stick with SRAM AXS, but why stick with xD-R for that? I understand some cross compatibility but will you be swapping cassettes between wheels? Not many people do, swapping wheels might be more likely, and for that it doesn’t matter if the free hubs are the same. So you could go HG freehub and try the ROTOR cassettes.

      Reply
  33. A

    Andy C says:

    24 January 2021

    Hi Gerard, I’ve been running 2 wheelsets on my 1x (42t) 11 speed set up. One for Road (the excellent 3T 9:32) and the other for my gravel 650b set (10:42). I’m now upgrading to a 1×12 Force Axs set up. There are some aftermarket rear cage/extender solutions (e.g Garbaruk) that claim to extend the range of the Force AXS rear derailleur to 10:52. Have you tested these? I’d be interested in your thoughts. Thanks for the sharing of your wisdom 🙂

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      24 January 2021

      I’m not sure what the advantage is of modifying a Force AXS rear derailleur to take a 10-52T cassette when you can just get an Eagle AXS rear derailleur and shifter the same cassette?

      Reply
      1. A

        Andy says:

        25 January 2021

        Main reason is that the 10:33 or 10:36 SRAM cassette that I want for the road wheelset don’t work with Eagle RD. I can’t find any suitable cassettes for road set up that are Eagle compatible.

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          25 January 2021

          There are two issues. 10-33 on the Eagle doesn’t work well because the cage is too long and because the pulley shapes don’t match the chain. Putting a longer cage on Force creates a similar problem for point 1, and the pulley issue isn’t really that big to begin with. Anyway, there are several blog readers who have used the Garbaruk with good success it seems, as have people modified things on their Eagle.

          My preference would probably be to use 11-39T for road and 11-50T for gravel (unless you live in a crazy area, 11-50T will be enough for most gravel riders. Both will work with an Eagle rear derailleur.

          Reply
          1. A

            Andy says:

            26 January 2021

            Thanks, makes sense. Think i’ll go for 11-39 and 11-50 with a 48T upfront, seems like a good option for both applications. Cheers

            Reply
  34. J

    Jurgen says:

    11 January 2021

    Hi all,

    How can you determine the right thickness of the spacer needed between the freehub and the cassette, when replacing the Sram 12 speed 10-50T cassette with a ethirteen cassette ?

    Greetz J

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      12 January 2021

      I would say by asking e13. These cassettes change regularly, so it’s hard to keep track for you as a rider and even for us in the industry. It’s also important if the free hub is xD or xD-R. If the latter, then you need a 1.8mm spacers to get the alignment that the xD offers without any spacers. So be careful what any recommendation is for, xD or xD-R and adjust accordingly with the 1.8mm.

      Reply
      1. J

        Jurgen says:

        14 January 2021

        Thank you so much! Your article has really helped me a lot.

        Reply
  35. J

    Jon M says:

    21 December 2020

    Thanks for the great post.

    I building a new bike from scratch, my current bike has 36T chainring x11 -10-42 cassette

    I’m thinking of going 34T x ethirteen 9-39 11 speed cassette, I worked out this would give me a similar spread but less jumps between gear.

    Was thinking of using a sram force 1 derailleur, do you recommend long cage or short cage if buying new for this setup?
    Thanks

    Reply
    1. J

      Jon M says:

      21 December 2020

      Sorry I meant long or medium cage
      Thanks

      Reply
  36. J

    Jayson says:

    20 December 2020

    My Diverge was set up with a 42t and an e-thirteen 11-46 cassette. The derailleur was a shimano Di2 deore xt. I read somewhere online that the best chain for this particular cassette was a Sram 12 speed chain and they were right! The only problem I had with this set up was I never seemed to find the right gear it was either spin to fast or too hard.
    Now I’m setting it up with Sram eagle axs 12-speed group set 42t – 10-50 cassette.

    Hopefully this will give me the gravel and road set up I’m looking for. I would be interested if anyone else is running this set up.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  37. R

    RJG says:

    03 December 2020

    Hi Gerard, I was wondering if you know of anyone with experience of using an M9100 10-45t cassette, HG+ chain and compatible 44 or 46t chainring running with a SRAM Eagle AXS rear derailleur. Considering it as an option as an all-road alternative to the Eagle 10-50t cassette on an Open Wide. It should match (roughly) the range of an 11-34 cassette with compact chainset with only a couple of useable gears fewer than a 2×11 setup.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      15 December 2020

      That can work, but it would work best with a Shimano chain and Shimano chainring. But then you have a wide Q-factor and everything so you don’t want that. If you go with a SRAM or other crank, then you’d need to experiment with the chain.

      Reply
  38. C

    Claudio Lima says:

    19 November 2020

    Hi, very useful blog post! For GRX812 RD with 10-42 cassette is the need to run a shorter chain (1 linkset less) because of the 10 cog? The official method from shimano recommends overlap of 2 linksets for their 11-40/42 cassettes, so why would you recommend the 1 linkset overlap for 11-42? My concern is that running a tighter chain will put more stress on the RD and chain when riding often on the largest cog (ultraendurance climbing events). Thanks

    Reply
    1. C

      Claudio says:

      19 November 2020

      Just noticed your comment on “correct chain length”, which answers my question. The reason would be better shifting performance. However, I think there’s still a tradeoff between crisper shifting and RD/chain stress if you use the largest cog often (with 1x). For bikepacking and ultra-endurance events one can sacrifice shifting perfection for reliability.

      Reply
  39. B

    Ben says:

    10 November 2020

    Hi Gerard,

    I ordered the EXPLORO MAX EAGLE AXS 1X. It comes with Sram Force AXS, 42T chainring but I need a smaller chainring. Can I set it up with stage power meter (32T or 34T chainring I think) or any other brand/Sram 32T/34T chainring? Thanks!

    Reply
  40. R

    Robert says:

    07 November 2020

    Hi Gerard.. i have complete di2 groupset on my ridley xtrail (11-42, 42T).. everything works perfect but my knees would appreciate lighter ratio on sharp hills.. Would 38T chainring work fine? What about oval, does it make sense to use it as well? Any benefits of oval chainrings..

    Thank you

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      09 November 2020

      I don’t know the BB area well enough of that Ridley to know the limitations but for the drivetrain itself 38T is fine. For oval, there are some studies out there but I haven’t really seen anything definitive.

      Reply
  41. B

    BL says:

    05 November 2020

    built a bike with XT 11-46 rear long cage SGS and oval 36T front. want to build another with 34T Any crankset hacks instead of XT M8000?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      09 November 2020

      Hi BL, not something we’ve looked into, sorry.

      Reply
  42. B

    BL says:

    05 November 2020

    Old slow rider Want build a 1X with 11-46 in back. With 34t crank was going straight XT M8000. Shimano is easier to find on web than sram. Where you buy parts?
    Instead of Crankset XT M8000 34t asymmetric 96 bcd is it possible to use a GRX 110 bcd with short bolts and a single 34T instead?

    You said “Shimano 11-46 418% Shifting performance suffers a little, IT works, but I prefer the SRAM 10-42T & smaller chainring instead.” Is it hard to change hub body? Compatible with what cranksets? Cost? Where buy parts?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      09 November 2020

      Definitely you can put a 34T chainring on, but with GRX the 110mm is not a standard bolt circle but a 4-bolt variable design. So “standard 110mm BCD rings won’t fit. That said, any crank with an 11-sp ring will work, so you can just pick one, get a ring from WolfTooth or similar, and off you go. And you’ll have a better Q factor than with the XT crank.

      Changing the free hub body is usually not that difficult, but it depends on the hub design. If the hub is new, it’s usually done in a few minutes (it is on our own hubs, but of course I can’t vouch for every hub out there).

      Reply
  43. A

    Arthur says:

    22 October 2020

    Hi, great blog post. I have a Shimano XT-RD M8050 and would like to run a 10-42 SRAM Cassette w/ XD Driver. The Shimano literature notes a minimum of 11t. However, it is a Medium Cage which if I am reading your post correctly should work. Do you see any issues wit this setup?

    Reply
  44. E

    Evgen says:

    17 October 2020

    Hey, thanks for another great article! I’m building a new gravel bike and choosing the front chainring right now. The bike will have SRAM Rival 1 long cage RD and 10-42 Sram cassette. I thought about trying an oval chainring, so now I have a question how does an oval chainring affect the gear ratio calculations?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      19 October 2020

      I don’t think it should change your gear ratio calculations at all.

      Reply
  45. R

    Robert B says:

    08 October 2020

    I have an older frankenTrek 520 that the previous owner did a ton of modifications to, and I’m trying to learn while improving it. I’d like to upgrade it to a 1×11 setup, but my 96 BCD Shimano Deore crank means I’m a bit limited in the chainring department (unless I want to replace the whole crank, and I’d rather not if I don’t need to). It looks like the 38T chainring from Wolftooth below would be as big as I could go, and I feel like a 38T chainring with a 11-42T cassette would be a good combination, but is there a reason that wouldn’t work as far as you know?

    I freely admit I’m a total novice and am just looking to learn more. Thanks in advance!

    https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/mountain/products/96-mm-bcd-chainrings-for-shimano-xt-m8000?variant=30847173125

    Reply
  46. J

    John Valdez says:

    16 September 2020

    He Gerard: You stated that for gravel you often ride with a 34-11 top gear. My question is, what 1X gravel crankset are you running which uses a 34 tooth chainring? I have not been able to find any gravel crank that goes below 38T.

    Second question, the Shimano XTR M9000 crankset has a fairly narrow Q factor at 158mm and a 49.0mm chainline with a Wolftooth 34T chainring. Would this be a decent solution to get that 34T front chainring on a PF86 or BB385EVO gravel bike? Thanks John V

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 September 2020

      Hi John, Wolftooth makes 34T rings for several BCDs. I used a normal 110mm 5 bolt BCD crank, in this case it was a THM Clavicula (ok, not so normal but you can also find a $100 crank with a 110mm BCD. It doesn’t really matter if the crank is a 2x crank, you just need shorter bolts (or some spacers). The crank you describe would work from a drivetrain perspective, but you’ll need some spacers probably to fit it in a BB386EVO bottom bracket.

      Reply
  47. N

    Nikolay says:

    11 September 2020

    I’d love to see a 12 speed successor to the bailout/overdrive… With tightly spaced high end a bit more range. The only thing that comes close is the 11-39 rotor, but it’s too expensive and leaves tiny bit to be desired.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 September 2020

      Just wait a week.

      Reply
  48. G

    Gary says:

    11 September 2020

    I’m running a Force AXS Etap 2x on my road bike with 33/46 chainrings and 10-33 cassette. I live in CO so not a lot of flat ground and I REALLY enjoy climbing. Having a tough time deciding on what chainring to go with on my 1x gravel build. Will be running Force AXS etap 1x setup with Garbaruk rear cage. I think the Eagle and Garbaruk 10-50 are too wide of range so looking at Rotor 11-39 and 11-46. But can’t decide if 40t or 42t chainring would be better. I don’t use my 46-10 gear much and do use the 33-33 on those long, steep climbs like Mt Evans, RMNP, etc but have been forcing myself in the 33-28 to work harder. I don’t like the spinning out feeling but get it on gravel. I also want the close gears from 11-17 as I use 14 A LOT. So I was thinking 40t Wolftooth/Garbaruk and 11-39 Rotor with KMC chain. Just not sure since I enjoy long climbs. Thanks and enjoy the blog.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      16 September 2020

      Same answer 🙂

      Reply
  49. L

    Luigi says:

    06 September 2020

    I have a rival on my Gravel bike. it is a 42 front and 10-42 at the back. Sram SA said that i can not get a 38 in front. I have a spare 13-46 from my MTB. I just need that one gear smaller for climbs. Will that work?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      07 September 2020

      Hi Luigi, this chainring will fit: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/chainrings/products/110-bcd-cyclocross-chainrings?variant=14782346952739

      It comes in any size from 34-52T teeth.

      Reply
  50. B

    Barrie says:

    26 August 2020

    Does the 3T Overdrive work with a SRAM Rival 1 Long Cage Derailleur? I have a gravel set up with a SRAM Rival Long Cage that I run a 42t Cassette on my 650B’s but i want another more road specific 700C wheel set with smaller gearing and the 3t overdrive looks perfect for that but i don’t want to swap out my derailleur. Will it work?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      26 August 2020

      It probably would be we’re all sold out and no new production run of these cassettes planned.

      Reply
      1. B

        Barrie says:

        26 August 2020

        I have located one, but i wanted to make sure it would work, prior to purchasing. Also why the discontinue? Not working out as well as planned?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          27 August 2020

          Because the world’s going to more speeds than 11, and with 1x, getting that extra cog makes a big difference.

          Reply
  51. Tony says:

    23 August 2020

    Does 3T have any plans to make anything bigger than 9-32? I’d love the tighter top end (9-10-11-12) but some bigger climbing gears. I live in Southern California and am running the 9-36 Leonardi on my Strada with GRX Di2. I don’t love the shifting quality, but the gearing fits our terrain perfectly.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      25 August 2020

      I’m sure interesting options will appear soon.

      Reply
      1. Tony says:

        01 September 2020

        Amazing! Can’t wait.

        Reply
      2. Tony says:

        03 November 2020

        The suspense is killing me!!!

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          09 November 2020

          Better than 9-32: 9-36 with 13 cogs: https://blog.3t.bike/2020/09/15437/campagnolo-13-speed-ekar-groupset/

          I know it’s a whole new drivetrain but with the world going finally in that direction, we’re not that interested in being in the cassette business (as we said from the start, we were never interested in being in that business but somebody had to do it).

          Reply
          1. Tony says:

            09 November 2020

            Haha! I was hoping for an 11sp cassette, but I hear you. I’ve already emailed Industry Nine and waiting for them to come out with the N3W freehub body. I’ll probably switch over to Ekar once I can order that piece! Don’t really want to lace up new hubs/buy a new wheelset if I can help it. Thanks for the info and guidance.

            Reply
  52. S

    Steve says:

    03 August 2020

    Have you tried a GRX Di2 long cage rear mech with an 11-36 cassette? I’m thinking about using a GRX mech and alternating between an 11-36 and 11-42 cassette on the road.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      10 August 2020

      As part of a 1x setup, that shouldn’t be a problem. As part of a 2x, it won’t work (but I presume it’s 1x you’re after).

      Reply
      1. S

        Stan says:

        03 October 2020

        This setup can/does work. I’ve been running this on a Spez Diverge: GRX 817 RD (1 x), 31/48 double chainset at the front and 11-42T cassette…need to be disciplined about not cross-chaining, but with synchro shifting enabled, it stops any mishaps…getting the chain length right from the outset is key for this setup working…

        Reply
  53. T

    Tobi says:

    13 July 2020

    Great wrap up of gearing options! I’m currently running a 10-46 Garbaruk 11x cassette with SRAM Force 1x long rear mech which works remarkably well once the b-screw is set correctly. I pair it with a 40x or 34x front depending on needs.
    That said, I’m eyeing a Shimano GRX 1x Di2 with 817 derailleur. Any real world experience about how well the 817 will work with a 10-46 cassette? Or rather go XT rear? Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      22 July 2020

      We have some customers who like the combo of 11-46T with the GRX. So that probably means the 10-46T will also work (10-42T does). I find it the 11-46T with GRX a bit noisy. But it works.

      Reply
  54. J

    Jim says:

    04 July 2020

    Running a rival 1 long paired with a 10×42 xd in the rear, swapped a 33 oval for a 34 eagle 3mm ring up front. When I’m in the 42 there’s quite an angle front to tear on the chain. I’m having an intermittent issue with the chain not wanting to stay on the 42. Wondering if a 6mm would have been the better option on the 34 chain ring. Any thoughts?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      23 July 2020

      The Rival 1 doesn’t have a very wide chainline so regardless of chainring used, it should go onto the 42T without a problem. I suspect there is another reason. Even a zero offset ring will work fine, in fact that usually gets you the best chainline across the cassette range.

      BTW, is your cassette body xD or xD-R? Could it be you have an xD cassette on an xD-R body without the 1.8mm spacer on the body? Even that doesn’t fully explain a shifting problem, but it might contribute a little bit.

      Reply
  55. B

    Blair says:

    25 June 2020

    I know its not in fashion, but the use of bar end shifters from microshift, I can utilize the MTB eagle derailleur with an Eagle cassette. Get the full range without the cost of AXS.

    Reply
    1. J

      Johan says:

      26 June 2020

      nice do you have a photo of that?

      Reply
  56. J

    Johan says:

    15 June 2020

    Great article, thanks for all that info. Just something to consider from my personal experience.
    Oval chainrings can benefit your top/low gear , for example an oval 34t give you an 34t top gear and 32t low gear. It’s a little but on long rides can help you a lot.

    Reply
  57. G

    Gerald says:

    09 June 2020

    Hi, and thank you for the work you have put into these posts. They are great.
    I have a sram axs mullet setup, and would like to change from sram’s eagle 10-50 cassette to Rotor’s 11-46, or perhaps 11-39(an 11-42, 12 speed would be a dream come true). You suggest a KNC chain. Do you recommend any chainring, or would my current sram chainring be fine?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      09 June 2020

      You could use an 11-speed or a 12-speed (MTB or road) chainring, once you have the KMC chain all of those will work on it. They may not all work exactly the same, but it’s pretty forgiving. So you can keep your current SRAM chainring no problem.

      Reply
  58. Ayaz Asif says:

    02 June 2020

    I have Eagle AXS 11-50 with Force 40 1x. Is it possible for me to go smaller than 38 in the front? My knees will thank me when going up 15% grades hauling 60lb+

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      02 June 2020

      Absolutely. SRAM has a 36T chainring and there are also other brands offering smaller rings.

      Reply
  59. R

    Rudolf says:

    31 May 2020

    Hi! Actually I’m running a complete 1x 11-42 grx di2 group. Now I want to upgrade the grx group with a powermeter. Is it possible to run this combo with a sram Quarq dub crank with a X-Sync2 chainring, Shimano 11 speed chain & the Shimano xt cassette?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      03 June 2020

      I don’t know for a fact but I think that might work. This advice is worth what you paid for it though.

      Reply
  60. J

    Joe says:

    24 May 2020

    I‘ve installed an Eagle AXS Derailleur with the Eagle 10-50t cassette using an Easton EC90 crank with a 47mm chainline. In the second to fifth smallest sprocket the chain grinds on the next biggest sprocket, as if the chainline was too small. I expected this to work with 47mm.

    What‘s you experience with this setup, which chainline range works, which specific chainline works the best?

    Thank You!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      24 May 2020

      This doesn’t sound like a chainline issue. Are you using an Eagle chain too? I don’t know what the issue is (B-gap, chain tension, bent derailleur hanger are options) but a 47mm chainline is nothing special, in fact that’s what we aim for so that shouldn’t be the problem (nor should it be a problem if it’s 45mm or 49mm).

      Reply
      1. J

        Joe says:

        25 May 2020

        You’re right, it’s not a „pure“ chainline issue. I‘ve tried to simulate a 49mm chainline by unscrewing the crankarm partly and it did not help. My optimal chainline is 47mm as it lies in the middle of the cassette. Yep it‘s an Eagle XX1 chain. Chain length, B-screw and derailleur alignement plays no factor as the chain touches the next higher sprockets at the chainring facing side, not at the derailleur side. I locked the derailleur cage in the fully extended position, so the chain hangs loose over the cassette and chainring and is not tensioned by the derailleur and it‘s still exactly the same.

        The sound I‘m hearing is a faint metallic scraping. I think I‘m not used to the quirks of 1x gearing and it‘s actually normal. The XX1 cassette has a really light one-piece construction and seems to resonate which amplifies these faint noises. They are caused by the chain touching the most outward facing teeth variant (the sprockets have like 4 differently shaped teeths, I guess for shifting and to help chain retention). It touches them as it is angulated towards the plane of the chainring which lies more inboard. So in this sense it is cause by the chainline, but the chainline is perfectly aligned to the middle of the cassette so it is not the problem.

        The one thing i find irritating is that if I pedal backwards in the 2nd-4th smallest sprocket the chain occasionally catches the edge of that previously described most outboard facing teeth of the next bigger sprocket and makes a little jump (gets picked up) but returns to the same sprocket with a clicking noise. All parts are new so I guess I will start riding and see if it gets better with a bit of wear.

        Reply
        1. G

          Greg says:

          11 July 2020

          Regarding the ‘back-pedalling’–I’m seeing this as a somewhat common problem on 1x SRAM configurations. I’m finding the problem is only getting worse as parts wear in, as the inner edge of the chain gains a slightly crisper edge and the chain finish wears off. The chain catches on the shift ramps on the cassette more easily as the wear progresses. I generally don’t back-pedal in the higher gears, so can ignore it. But it did annoy me on general principle early on because I paid good money for the SRAM parts and didn’t expect anything resembling poor performance from it.

          Reply
  61. N

    Nick says:

    22 May 2020

    Hi Gerard, will the new medium cage Force AXS work with the 12s Rotor Cassettes 11-36 and 11-39?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      24 May 2020

      with some tweaks. Answer coming soon.

      Reply
      1. D

        Davide says:

        11 July 2020

        Hi there. Awesome information. Wondering if you were able to determine if / how the new medium cage Force derailleur plays with an 11-36 rotor cassette? Can I use a “standard” (mtb) chain, either KMC or SRAM?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          22 July 2020

          Not yet.

          Reply
      2. V

        VICTOR says:

        01 August 2020

        Hi Gerard! Thanks a lot for the great information! Any news regarding medium cage force axs rear derailleur working with more than 36T? 10-39 would be just a fantastic combo!

        Regards

        Reply
      3. M

        Maxwell says:

        05 November 2020

        Any answer on the compatibility of a Force AXS medium cage and a Rotor 11-39?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          09 November 2020

          Unfortunately we’ve been a little too busy to work on these hacks lately.

          Reply
  62. N

    Naomi says:

    21 May 2020

    My brain starting glossing over because I am a bit ignorant and dyslexic grasping all the logistics in getting some lower gears on my 2020 Salsa Warbird Apex 1 (11-42t cassette w/42t crankset/chainring). I THINK I can just swap out the 42t chainring for a 38t? I tell people the 1x gravel bikes I’ve been looking at….imagine a road bike and MTB had a baby boy = gravel – then they cut it’s balls off. I feel next year more 1x’s will appear with proper gearing for climbing especially carrying bags. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 May 2020

      Well, for the most gearing options you’re looking at Eagle for 1x, but unfortunately to use that on the road you’d need electric shifting so that gets more expensive than Apex. Definitely swapping out the 42T for a 38T works fine. If right now you don’t need the 11T much, then you can go to the 38T and what used to be your biggest really used gear of 42×12 becomes now 38×1, same ratio. You could even go to a 34T ring and put on a 10-42 cassette, then you have a crazy gear of 34×42 as your smallest and you can ride anything.

      Reply
      1. M

        Mauricio says:

        28 June 2020

        Any suggestions on 34T rings for GRX?

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          29 June 2020

          The smallest I know of is 38T from Wolftooth.

          Reply
          1. P

            Pete. says:

            28 October 2020

            It’s killing me that shimano don’t just make smaller chainrings for the grx. Such a wilfully annoying company at times, really grinds my gears!
            Kinda surprised too that competition like Ztto hasn’t moved in on wolftooth turf.

            Reply
  63. Slim says:

    20 May 2020

    And Garbaruk now also has a 12 speed 10-48 for Xd driver to use with a SRAM 12 speed drivetrain. Personally, I would prefer an even smaller range, for smaller jumps between gears, but at least it is better than SRAM’s own 10-50

    Reply
  64. R

    Ron says:

    19 May 2020

    What crankset can I run on 1x shimano 11 speed, that is road q factor and will except 34 tooth chainring. I would be running this with a 10-40, 11 speed cassette from SRAM, but I want the possibility of lower gears than the 38 wolf tooth for GRX crankset. Will the difference in chainline from GRX mess up rear shifting with di2, if the crankset doesn’t have the grx alignment?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      25 May 2020

      Well, there are several options:
      1) The Torno combines a very narrow Q with a 47mm chainline and a 36T chainring, so that is an option (but given it’s a full aero carbon crank it is at the top end of the scale).

      2) You can run a pure Shimano road crank (Ultegra or any other) and then put a dedicated 1x chainring on the outer chainring position. So if you use a compact crank with 110mm BCD, you can use a Wolftooth 110mm chainring: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/chainrings/products/110-bcd-cyclocross-chainrings.

      3) Not sure if FSA may have smaller 1x rings available aftermarket that you can then combine with an FSA crank (1x or 2x on the outer ring position).

      4) This goes into major hack territory, but the new SRAM FORCE WIDE AXS uses a 94mm BCD. But it has a wide Q-factor. You could take the spider from the WIDE and put it on a non-WIDE crank to get you a narrow Q, a 45mm chainline and a 94mm BCD that would fit many MTB rings. For example Wolftooth all the way down to 30T: https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/chainrings/products/94-bcd-for-sram-x1-crankset

      Good luck.

      Reply
  65. N

    Nick says:

    15 May 2020

    Hi Gerard, I’m planning to use a 12s 11-39 Rotor Cassette with an Eagle AXS derailleur with a KMC X12 chain. Which chain length method do you recommend? Any hints about the B-Gap adjustment? Should I use the standard procedure? Any other aspect I should be aware of? Many thanks

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      15 May 2020

      Yes, the standard “official” method as mentioned at the bottom of the article should work for this. For the B-gap, the cassette is smaller than what the rear derailleur is intended for so you just go to the limit.

      Reply
      1. N

        Nick says:

        05 June 2020

        Hi Gerard, thanks for the reply.
        What do you mean go for the limit?

        Should I follow SRAM instructions that actually applies for the 10-50? Will they be valid also for the Rotor 11-39?

        What about the limit screws adjustment? Standard procedure or what?

        Thanks a lot

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          07 June 2020

          The B-gap adjustment ranges from matching the 50T on one end to just being able to work with the 39T on the other end. The limit screws are standard in their setup, as you would always set them to ensure the chain going easily onto the first and last cog but not over.

          Reply
  66. D

    Dalton Fayad says:

    07 May 2020

    I am currently buying my wife a 2020 Trek Boone with etap AXS force with 10-33 cassette. Whats the largest cassette you have tested that will work with the SRAM Flat top chain? I see that Garbaruk now makes a cage extension for the etap Force AXS rear der that allows you to run up to an 11-52 cassette! The problem is that you need to use the Flat Top chain with the etap Force AXS rear der and I have not been able to find a cassette larger than 10-33 that is compatible with the SRAM Flat Top chain. Do you know if the Rotor 11-39 or 11-46 cassettes will work with a SRAM Flat Top Chain? Or will a SRAM eagle 10-50 cassette shift properly using a SRAM Flat top chain? Please Advise. Thank you for your great content and the info you provide!

    Reply
    1. C

      Clifak says:

      09 May 2020

      If you use the Garbaruk cage/pulley system you can use a normal 12 speed chain with the derailleur. You also need a cassette that isn’t Red or Force AXS. For the Garbaruk system to work you have to swap the cage. It comes with an extender but the extender is only for making the Force AXS derailleur go from 42t to 52t with the cage installed.

      Reply
    2. Gerard Vroomen says:

      14 May 2020

      Clifak answered the Garbaruk part I think (I don’t have personal experience with those). As for SRAM going only to 33T, there is now an option up to 36T. See here: https://blog.3t.bike/2020/05/14264/gravel-bike-tech-new-force-axs-etap-for-gravel/ and here: https://blog.3t.bike/2020/05/14290/sram-force-axs-wide-gearing-hacks-gravel-bike-tech/

      Reply
  67. T

    Tomas says:

    02 May 2020

    Hi Gerard,
    you didn’t mention Shimano 12sp cassette 10-45.
    I think that would be one of the best combination with Eagle AXS RD and 44T chainring.
    What do you think?
    Thx

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      03 May 2020

      Haven’t tried the 10-45T. In a roundabout way, one could assume it works (Eagle works with the Rotor 12-speed, Rotor 12-speed works with Shimano MTB, thus Shimano MTB cassette works with Eagle) but from experience I know that that sort of logic sometimes falls flat. That said, the odds are OK. Of course the disadvantage is that you need a micro-spline free hub body (just what we needed, another standard).

      Reply
      1. Alexander says:

        09 December 2020

        Hi Gerard,

        I am assembling a gravel bike and will get mtb non boost wheels for it. There is an option to get a micro-spline free hub body which means 12 speed mtb cassete. I wonder if I can make mechanical GRX shift this 1×12 setup.

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          15 December 2020

          I don’t think so, I don’t see how. But if you do, let me know!

          Reply
  68. R

    Ruben Marzal says:

    28 April 2020

    Hello Gerard, first of all, thank you for all those usefull information that give to us.
    I Have a GRX Di2 48-31 and 11-34 on my gravle bike, wich is the best option, that works propertly, for updgrate my cassette? Maybe 11-36 Sram?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      28 April 2020

      Yes, 11-36T works well and is nice. Depending on the exact bike this is on, this may also require a slightly longer chain but you can probably get away for a while with the current chain.

      Reply
  69. S

    Steve says:

    21 April 2020

    Gerard,

    Maybe I missed this, but will the following 12-speed mullet setup work without issues: Rotor 12-speed 11-36 cassette, Eagle AXS RD, Eagle chain? Or, is the Rotor 11-39 the smallest cassette you’d recommend?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      21 April 2020

      11-39 is the smallest.

      Reply
  70. E

    Erwin van Gucht says:

    12 February 2020

    I wonder if the Rotor 12 speed cassette 11-36 would work with the SRAM Force eTap AXS rear derailleur in a 1x setup?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      13 February 2020

      Not really.

      Reply
      1. C

        Claudio ARZANI says:

        10 March 2020

        Thanks Gerard for all the precious information. Someone posted your link on road.cc. I was trying to find out if and how to replace my cassette with an 11-40 (My current: 50-34 , med cage RX800, 11-34 cassette). Possibly you might post a part 2 for 2x soon but maybe you could give me some advice already..? Thanks!

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          11 March 2020

          Working on it but these gravel tech blogs are not my “day job” 🙂

          Reply
          1. Jonathan Kamrath says:

            17 December 2020

            Thanks so much for all the great information and ideas you share. Might I find your gravel tech blog post about 2x gearing available now? Many thanks!

            Reply
      2. A

        Antony COSTES says:

        01 June 2020

        What would be the problem?

        Reply
        1. A

          Antony COSTES says:

          01 June 2020

          (Using a Rotor 12s cassette with a Sram AXS derailleur)?

          Reply
          1. Gerard Vroomen says:

            03 June 2020

            You could do it with the WIDE rear derailleur that was just released but it is not recommended with the short cage (33T max) SRAM AXS rear derailleur. That said, the 10-36T cassette works with the 33T max rear derailleur, see here: https://blog.3t.bike/2020/05/14290/sram-force-axs-wide-gearing-hacks-gravel-bike-tech/

            Reply
  71. A

    Andy C says:

    30 January 2020

    Hi Gerard, love this blog – so insightful. I currently have my bike set up for gravel (42T x 10:42 F`orce 1x) with a 650b wheelset. I want to add a 700c wheelset with appropriate road gearing to switch in for road riding. So i actually think a 2x set up might be better. I’m thinking Sram Red Axs 48/35 chainrings with Eagle AXS rear derailleur with an 11:36 Rotor cassette on the 650b wheelset, and Sram 11:33 cassette on the 700c wheelset. What do you think? Do you see any issues with running 2x on Eagle/11:36 cassette? Thanks a lot!! Andy

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      31 January 2020

      Eagle does not like those small cassettes, so that is not a great solution. It always means the B-gap is way off at some point in the cassette.

      The easiest solution (and I am not saying that because it’s ours) would be to get the 700c wheel set with the 3T cassette with 9-32T range (https://www.3t.bike/en/products/drivetrain/cassette-579.html). Then you have a top gear of 42×9 which is the same as 52×11, so that’s plenty. And the bottom gear is 42×32 so close to 36×27. And all you need to change in your setup is the cassette (and maybe shorten the chain a little bit).

      Then you can see how you like 1x on the road, and once the cassette wears out, you can see if you want to stick with that, move to 12-speed or move to 2x. And who knows, maybe there are more options in cassettes by that time as well.

      Reply
      1. A

        Andy C says:

        02 February 2020

        Thanks Gerard, sounds like a good mid term option. Just need to find one of your 9-32 Cassettes now as you seem to be sold out! All the best, AC

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          03 February 2020

          There will be some more stock coming in mid-February, so you can put your name in to get notified when it’s back in stock.

          Reply
  72. S

    Sam Spinks says:

    08 January 2020

    Hi, this year I moved away from the ‘one bike does it all’ camp and built a 1x road bike (I even cut off the FD braze on haha) with 44×10-33 force etap axs – it is great and I’m now thinking of upgrading my ‘gravel/cx’ bike to etap axs too (from force 1 44t 10-42) I’m tempted to go with a mullet setup but like the closer jumps of the 10-33. If I go with force axs 10-33 what front ring would you recommend?

    Reply
    1. Gerard Vroomen says:

      08 January 2020

      I simply wouldn’t ride 10-33 in gravel. Never. At the very least I’d want the range of the 11-39, so I could imagine riding that with the Eagle. I mean you are riding 10-42 now, do you really think you could do with 22% less range? If you can, then you can simply figure out which part of the 10-42 you’re not using right now. If you’re not using the top two cogs ever, then clearly the 44T ring works for you on the 10-33 (but then I also have to assume Sam Spinks is a pseudonym for Matthieu van der Poel). If you never use the 10T and 11T cogs, but need the 42T cog, then 44×42 would be similar to 34×33 and thus a 34T chainring is what you need. If you don’t use the biggest and the smallest cog of your 10-42 so you’re in the middle, then you need a 38T chainring.

      Reply
      1. S

        Sam Spinks says:

        08 January 2020

        Thanks for the advise Gerard, I will do some chainring size tests with my current road force axs setup and the 10-33 cassette. The 44t 10-33 works well for my local road riding and a few friends use the same setup albeit with a 40t for gravel/cx. The Eagle AXS and ROTOR 11-39 do seem a good option though, if only the force axs mech could cope with a little more….

        interesting blog, i look forward to part 2

        Reply
  73. R

    Rasmus says:

    07 January 2020

    Hi,

    When I look at 1x options, I always seem to run into crank issues. It appears to me that it’s not easy to find a road crank that will take a really small chainring. Especially if you want a power meter. Now that MTB pedal based power meters are finally emerging that might be less of an issue, but it still seems like you need to go 2x if you want a 30t chainring, like I would if I went Red/Force AXS.

    Also, and this is probably a sign that I’m getting old, but I am increasingly using a very easy solution to the problem of spinning (I’m comfortable pedaling at 110-120 rpm so it has never really been a problem anyway) out on descents, and that is using the brakes to keep speed down. I’m not racing, so why descend at 80 km/h? A crash at that speed is pretty likely to kill me, why take that risk?

    Finally, have you checked out the Garbaruk derailleur cages? I just learned about them, and they are made specifically for people who want to use huge cassettes with road derailleurs.

    Reply
    1. R

      Rasmus says:

      07 January 2020

      Oh, one more constraint for crank choice: I’ve discovered that my knees definitely prefer cranks that are shorter than 165 mm…

      Reply
    2. Gerard Vroomen says:

      07 January 2020

      Hi Rasmus, why would you want a 30T chainring? You absolutely want a 10-33T cassette and then you need the 30T to get the right smallest gear? Because if you go with a different cassette, you also don’t need that small a ring to get the same smallest gear.

      The big disadvantage of MTB cranks is that the Q-factor is bigger, so you are riding with your feet out further. Not a huge issue on a mountain bike, but if you want the best efficiency, also on faster (paved) sections, then you probably would prefer a road crank Q factor.

      Garbaruk makes interesting parts, but I haven’t tried them personally so I can’t give an opinion on how well they work.

      Reply
      1. Gerard Vroomen says:

        07 January 2020

        SRAM& Shimano start at 165mm for their road cranks, some other brands offer smaller ones. And remember, you could run a sub-compact 2x crank and mount a 1x ring on the outer ring position to get what you need, which increases the number of short cranks that could work for you.

        Reply
      2. R

        Rasmus says:

        07 January 2020

        Hi, If I wanted to run 12-speed Force/Red without getting an Eagle derailleur, and still use it for steep climbs I’d want something like a 30, 31 or 32, to get a climbing gear smaller than 1:1. On the other hand my current Shimano setups work well so I’ll stick with that for the time being.

        BTW, I like the new Strada pricing, I think I’ll try to get a Due RTP ASAP!

        Reply
        1. Gerard Vroomen says:

          07 January 2020

          Yes, for that I think patience will be a virtue, once there is more choice of cassettes available that work with the Force/Red derailleurs (maybe also starting with 9T) that would work better than it does today.

          Reply
          1. R

            Rasmus says:

            08 January 2020

            Yup. I believe I will be using some kind of 1x in a few years. Not now, though, I ordered a Strada Due RTP about 30 minutes ago! 🙂

            Reply
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