Does a 1x road bike actually work in the real world and is this the next disc brake debate? To find out, we’ve pitted 1x vs 2x in a road bike test to see the pros and cons of switching your road bike to 1x. With more pro cyclists using 1x drivetrains is now the right time to ditch the front derailleur?
Jamie thinks that we might see a lot more 1x road bikes in the future but Tom isn’t so sure…who’s side are you on? Team 1x or team 2x? Let us know in the comments section below…
https://road.cc/content/feature/1x-future-road-bikes-305509
⚫️ Other videos that might interest you
11 Bike Fit Tips To Make You FASTER & More Comfortable On The Bike
🎦 https://youtu.be/EwMHp38Uugs
The Best Value Road Bike Upgrades To Make You FASTER & More Comfortable On The Bike
🎦 https://youtu.be/wiQLeW13Ct0
Cheap Bike vs Superbike – How Much Faster Is An Expensive Road Bike and Equipment?
🎦 https://youtu.be/igc-TFtlfLg
Is Jonas Vingegaard Going 1x At The 2023 Tour de France!?
🎦 https://youtu.be/7oRpDpgVTFo
⚫️ In this video
0:00 Introduction
(Video chapters)
⚫️ Check out our other channels
On the Web
▶️ https://road.cc
Instagram
▶️ https://www.instagram.com/road.cc
Twitter
▶️ https://twitter.com/roadcc
Facebook
▶️ https://www.facebook.com/roadcc/
Podcast
▶️ https://road.cc/tags/podcast
39 Comments
1:09 Gear overlap is irrelevant, the idea of using a 2x is to keep gaps between gears as small as possible. On the road you choose either the small or the large ring, and you pick your desired cadence for a given speed by switching the rear sprocket. Constantly switching between the large and small rings while shifting the cassette just to find the "next" gear would be plain stupidity. Cadence becomes much less relevant when riding off-road, especially on singletrack trails with constant switchbacks and sudden elevation changes, where the simplicity of 1x can be beneficial.
In order for 1x to have a gear range equal to a 2x, you would just have to accept much larger gaps between each gear, which can be quite annoying during long rides on the road at constant speeds when you find yourself constantly chasing your cadence because one gear is too small and the next one is too big. Unless you ride only in the flats and can sacrifice the low gears in favor of running a small cassette with tightly spaced gears, 1x for the road is a no go.
This is a much better way to compare Tom's and Jamie's gearing.: https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=36,52&RZ=11,12,13,14,15,16,17,19,22,25,28&UF=2150&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&DV=speed&GR2=DERS&KB2=48&RZ2=10,11,12,13,15,17,19,21,24,28,32,36&UF2=2150
Even though the range is quite similar on both cases, the huge gaps between gears on the 1x setup is quite evident. Also, these gaps will just get worse if the range widens. For example, throw in a 11-34 cassette to make the 2x setup properly geared for climbing, and the 1x setup will need an MTB cassette with enormous gaps between gears to be able to match the range.
SRAM 1x fixes one big problem. The wireless battery on the SRAM front derailleur is so big ugly, it interferes with the rear tire. Say goodbye to wide rear tires! That’s why SRAM started doing 1X drivetrains. They are just marketing it like it’s a good thing.
If we look at it purely from the gear ratio point of view, a 1x is as good as riding 2x 8/9 speed.
It’s not about the over lapping gears, but the smaller jumps that matters, at least for me. I don’t race but I love long endurance rides. A 2x helps me maintain my cadence without abruptly jumping from a too hard to a too easy gear and this is true both when climbing or just cruising in the flats.
2x road has less range than many 1x systems.
I love 1x i have it in both my bikes.
I have given 1x a try in the past few months, and I have to admit it is nice to just shift up and down and not have to worry or think about when I need to be shifting my front derailleur. My gravel bike build has a mullet setup with a 48t chainring and a 10-52 in the back. There are definitely cadence implications but they don't affect me. It feels similar to how I felt with my old 10 speed bike as far as the shifts go, and I got on fine with 10 speed for years so I don't feel like I'm having any drop in performance. The 1x experience has me thinking of doing a XPLR 1x setup for road bike use since a 48t/10-44t would give me the same gearing range as a 48/35t 10-33 setup.
One disadvantage of 1x (electronic at least) is that when you forget to charge your battery, you aren't able to just swap your battery from the front to hold you over.
How about climbing 3 km %10 gradients?
Does one by effectively take us back to the mid 80s, so 6×2 speed. Now we're at 12 spd cassettes, and at one by….. same as the eighties?
I'm 6.5ft with huge legs. I do not need 11 or 10 cog with 52 front. Just 12t is mooore than enough. Instead of I have smaller jumps every gear. Much more appropriate than huge jumps s I had in 1x (11-36 with 50) and riding with stronger riders was a pain cos big jumps on cassette. So if you are professional maybe 1x is ok on the road. For the rest (something like 99%) 2x is much better choice
The 1x is more aero for sure but only efficient if u stay on the middle of the block
If u move towards either end it will be crosschaining a bit and looses its advantage and Moore .. what u can even hear if the drive train was not the cleanest
On the mountain bike it had other reasons and advantages that far exceed efficiency on the pedaling
But on the road bike …only if i ride in the flats (tt)
Why run such small chainrings and cogs only to throw a OPW
System on 2 seconds later 🤣
The simplicity of 1x is why I will never go back to 2x. The only thing that might change my mind is the Classified hub.
48×36 would be a vicious grind up many of my local climbs in the South Downs.
Liked the presenting style. More of that👍👍👍
With the hills around me, with a 1x, you'll either have no knees after a month or giant gaps between ratios. For me, 2x wins hands down.
i mainly ride in the alps and with 54-28 i would be in pain all the time.
Depends where you ride. I have a lot of steep hills where I live, in the 15%+ range so I need low enough gearing to get up them. If I was a pro maybe 1x be OK but I'm definitely not!
I’d be interested in a an additional vlog to this where you review a range of 1x setups for average bikes. How much does your setup cost? Would a budget 1x setup if available be worth a punt for experimentation?
this the most reasoned debate I've seen about 1x vs 2x. I wouldn't mind a 1x set-up like Jamies basically on my old Tiagra set-up I have a compact with a 12-28 casette, as I don't race I wouldn't mind bigger gaps inbetween the gears than I have so for a future bike 1x would be fine provided I get at least the equivelant range. Many cheaper 1x's only have a smaller casette size of 11t on the paired with something like a 42 tooth chainring, which doesn't offer a very high gear.
IMO… 2x will never die on long lumpy road, rides, stages and road specific grand fondos. You just need the full range. However, flat stages, TTs, hill climbs, crits, and pure gravel might all go the way of 1x very soon.
Not really, it's people like you who are pushing it 😂 "vInGeGaArD wOn ThE tOuR oN a 1X bIkE" no he didnt, he used it on suitable stages amd a 2x bike on other stages..
Living in Dorset, I am not strong enough to get away from my 52-36 11-34. The punchy sharp hill terrain means I need a wide spread, especially at the low end. Especially as most downhills aren't that long and have a gravelly T junction at the bottom.😂
36/28 isn't going to cut it for most people who live in hilly areas. Plenty of people around here are grinding up climbs on 34/34 or 34/36. 36/28 is a brutal gear to be climbing in for a lot of people.
From an old cyclist — when comparing gears, why not talk about "gear inches"? A single number that tells you all you need to know about a particuar gear ratio.
I have 2 bikes and one of them is 1X, for flat road I always use 1X with 54T chainring and 11-28 cassette and have never had problems and for flat road and a little hilly I think it can still be used.
105 2x all the way for me. 50/34 front and 11-28 rear with road wheels & tyres; 11-36 on the spare wheels with 38mm tyres. Literally takes 2 mins to swap over. No chain length issues switching over. Long-cage RD works fine without an extender.
Fresh a 1x is fine. Attempt a 500km Audax, then you need the extra gears due to being heavy in the legs!! PS, did you just cycle past Chew Valley lake?
I think you guys just need to find bigger hills, lol.
I have been rubbing 1x only for a few years. I've never felt I was missing gears. I run 44t changing and 9-50 cassette
I'm using road bike 1x 50T 11t-46t cassette. It's cleaner, less part to maintain, and i had climb any uphill in my locality without a problem so far. As a casual rider I don't have any reason to go for 2x
Love my 1by road bike 👌 never feel under geared with a 46 33t smallest gear , if it gets really steep just have to stand up
48 x 36 as your lowest gear? Bring that setup to Colorado, head into the foothills and then let’s talk.
I've got 1x on my Nukeproof gravel bike and 2x on my out-of-commission Allez. Now that I'm riding the gravel bike pretty much everywhere, I definitely miss being able to hit the perfect ratio on long road rides, especially as I start to get tired. That said, I love the simplicity of the 1x for single track and rough stuff where shifting under load happens more regularly. Plus, using the left brifter to control the dropper post instead of a derailleur is awesome.
probably depends where you live, i ride a fixed gear on 49×17 ratio and i live near the mountains. it gets really hard sometimes and I see lots of people on geared bikes going very slow as well up hills. if your more into strength and endurance like me the 1x should be more than plenty. those big cogs must be nice.
Of course 1x is the future. Until of course the marketing companies have rammed it down our throats enough and they change tack to something else every cyclist should have! (Yes, just a hint of cynicism 😊here)
… vs 3x.
I still ride 3X drivelines. If you’re not a manufacturer that needs for us to chuck out highly functional hardware & replace it, they just make sense.
As for cross-chaining, what are your 12 spd chain angles from 1st to 12th? Hmmm?
I don’t mind carrying a few extra grams worth of options. My bikes are geared for mostly mid-ring action. My go-to daily for example, from the mid-ring I use 5 to 7 of 9 gears in the middle of the cassette w/ a decent chain line. The big ring is for fast descents, or running flat & (or) downwind w/ the higher-gear side of the cassette & a decent chain line, The small ring of course, w/ the large-cog side of the cassette, is for climbing/upwind work w/ a decent chain line.
If I were expecting to qualify for the world tour any time soon I might be more serious about shaving seconds off a 200k ET, but I’m not & never will be. I’m a fitness & pleasure rider who happens to be on the strong side of completely average. For a truly competitive rider grams do count, & a couple of sq centimeters of frontal area actually do count. For those of us who aren’t, other factors count more – like comfort, durability & safety.
My light town bike, or what amounts to a cafe/pub bike, that’s a 1×7. The only bike I have that isn’t steel is a CF Specialized Allez w/ a 2x. Every other bike I have is a 3x – the road bikes, the touring bikes, the 80s MTB that was turned into what amounts to an urban assault bike more than 20 yrs ago – all 3x, because that works as well now as it did 50 yrs ago.
Love my 1x. 46T front, eagle 10-52 rear. No longer need to double shift because the ratio are so close together or having to live with that horrendous front shifting! Each to their own but for me…Riding road is blissful once more 👍
When offering both a 2x and 1x on the same folding gravel bike, we're seeing a lot of folks choosing the 1x option (Standard 40t + 11-42 GRX), but some 1X setups described here are much wider (50t + 11-46 or 48t + 11-50 or 46t + 11/52 or 50t + 11-44). What groupsets are you using?
2 by Shimano shifts smooth as butter.