My Ascend Armenia race bike could use a couple of extra-low gears for the steepest, most technical climbs on the route. Is there a simple and clever way to achieve this without replacing most of the drivetrain, adding a derailleur/shifter, or otherwise spending loads of money? Apparently yes!
The original Oxford Bike Works Outlander build was configured with a 1×10sp Shimano drivetrain (not 1x11sp as I incorrectly mentioned in the video!), combining an 11-42T cassette and Deore derailleur with a 32T Zee front chainring on an Acera FC-361 square-taper triple crankset. While this has been fine for ~95% of my test-rides so far, I’ve added a 22T inner chainring from an old 3×8sp triple. It shouldn’t be compatible if you believe Shimano, but after testing it seems to pair perfectly well with the largest five sprockets of the cassette (which is all I really need it for) before interference and loss of chain tension start to occur.
Further reading/viewing and links to some of the things I mentioned:
🚲 The bike – Oxford Bike Works Outlander custom-build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0mQ-lWCCw8
🏁 The race – Ascend Armenia 2024: https://www.ascendarmenia.com/ (interview with the race organiser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMGP3ynp7LY)
🪝 The “front derailleur” aka chain hook – IKEA Kungsfors stainless steel S-hook: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kungsfors-s-hook-stainless-steel-20334922/ 🤣
More from me at:
• https://tomsbiketrip.com – my long-running cycle touring & bikepacking blog and resource library
• https://www.patreon.com/tomallen – my Patreon page for those who want to help pay it forward!
so I’ve got my race bike up on the stand um and the reason for that is that I’ve been test riding it and I’m still finding going up the steepest Hills is involves a little bit more cranking than I would like I need lower gears but this is a 1×1 uh drivetrain uh I can’t put a smaller chain ring on because the crank set will not accept uh a smaller chain ring because of we the bolts are position um so not the easiest problem to solve but I had a word with Rich at Oxford Bike Works and um he suggested something quite simple which is why don’t you just put a 22 to uh inner chain ring on the crank set and you might thinking well how can you do that when you don’t have a front derer front shifter um well if this is only going to be used for the very very steepest of climbs in this race then you know you can just push the chain on to a different chain ring with your foot and hook it back on with a bit of wire or a spoon or something done it in the past where my bike’s broken down in the middle of nowhere so uh yeah I thought I’d try it converting my 1×1 into a 2×1 uh without introducing any extra parts or complexity apart from one more small chain ring let’s have a have a go because this is originally a three-speed chain uh crank set I can actually just take the uh inner chain ring bolts out and put this on put it back on and and then when I really need those extremely low gears just uh yeah use my foot to push the the chain onto this chain ring um I would only do this in a in a race situation and only if I knew I was going to be doing it like once a day maybe twice a day something like that because um it’s not exactly the most kind of ergonomic setup but it might work I’m going to give it a go um go for a few test rides go up some super steep climbs see how it works with the chain tension with this dero um see what range of gears on the rear cassette I can actually use with this 22 to chain ring and report back put the ring on put the new bolts in make sure that it’s actually the right way around this has some wear on it so I want to make sure that the uh the chain ring teeth are actually pointing the right direction uh of the existing wear or else we’re going to have some interesting chain slip issues uh or chains sock one of the [Music] two um do those up tighten them up by hand and maybe taking this off again shortly so I’m not going to overdo it here and reattach to Bicycle it’s definitely not happy in the combination of two small Rockets so let us Rectify that because I’m actually I’m not actually going to be doing that in real life move up a few all right that’s more like it yeah so that’s a chain uh that’s a chain shortened for a 32 to chain ring running on a 22 to chain ring in the fourth gear down from the top that’s got some good tension that should be fine um I should be able to go all the way up to this which is that is going to be so much easier going up some of these Ms that might even be too slow to actually keep the bike moving but um even if I’m just using this in like let’s say the top three out of the four top uh sprockets here um I think when it when it really when I’m really in need of those extra low gears this is going to be something I’m very very glad of in in the race um and literally all I’ve done is slap an old secondhand spare 22 to chain RNG onto the crank so no extra parts at all um let’s see how it shifts um put it onto the so this is how it’s going to be most of the time 32 to and then the idea is that I use my foot basically do that and there we go and in terms of getting the chain back onto the the Big Chain rooming without a derailer and without getting my hands covered in crap um Richard suggested getting a Spoke an old spoke bending it over at the end and then using that as a hook um thing is I don’t have an old spoke so but what I do have is uh some utility hooks from Ikea that I actually designed I mean the reason I actually bought these was for my kitchen but no I reckon that’s probably about about the right size let’s have it go so we’re pedaling along get our hook F the chain onto the chain ring hands completely clean who needs der rers it’s quite elegant and I can just stash this somewhere super handy um yeah that’ll work really well so much simpler than all of the various other things I could have done which involves spending money buying more parts buying bigger cassettes different uh crank sets adding a shifter adding a deror I don’t want any of that I want something that’s super simple and I think this is it so we’ll see how it goes now you can like comment and subscribe
35 Comments
Always good to have some extra range! Still I don't see the point in avoiding the front derailleur in this setup. Maybe a compromise will do: Put the derailleur back on and mount a thumb shifter on the seat tube to operate it. Extra benefit of having the front derailleur: No chain drop!
Just get a derailleur. If you pay for postage i will send you one and a shifter
if you want to keep the cockpit clean and avoid a bunch of cabling you can add a front derailleur and use a down tube or bar end shifter mounted to the seat tube (top pull type) or downtube (bottom pull type). they sell clamps for a single shifter (the seat ones are meant for dropper post). That would reduce the cabling and you wouldn't even need housing. I have done the Downtube method before. This was for a 1x setup that I needed 2x when fully loaded and with my kids in a trailer when steep climbs would be on the route.
works for me, shoeshift it down to the little ring and find a stick at the top of the hill to lever it back up. only need it 2-3 times a year, its been a life saver.
Deraillieur may not work too well with a narrow/wide front ring so this us a next best solution.
I would check the chain cant get jammed in behind the 22 ring and frame 👍
Luckily I knew, dont buy a 1X gravel bike.
Even with a 2X GRX 810 drivetrain I put a 11/40 cassette on the thing. It can go up most anything and keep a good spin going.
Of course once a small chain ring goes on the front, there's no top gear to speak of.
Shift with the foot…………………..well yeah. On some gravel rides, the guys that are pushing their bikes are always the 1X guys. The shop told them it would be great!
I combined a Rohloff and a Schlumpf mountain drive. Live on a mountain in Maine.
I was looking for narrow wide 22 tooth chainrings a while ago, you can get them but they are really silly expensive. Someone must make reasonably priced ones by now.
How would this work in a race where time is of the essence and I would have thought you would want perfect shifts as quickly as possible? You don't want to have to keep stopping to put your chain back on thus losing valuable time and falling down the placings.
I would just add a front derailleur and be done with it.
I personally use a stick.
You know the stick shift.
This is a job for a suicide front derailleur.
I have this for my bikepacking/ mtb with a narrow wide chainring to avoid chain drops. if you can deal with a normal chaibring then a seattube lever front derailleur is better I thinn
when using narrow-wide chainrings, do you have to make sure the chain fits onto the right teeth every time you shift between the two chainrings?
Well , this is an excellent hack for touring, but for a race ? And trying to derail the chain with a hook ? It's an accident waiting to happen.
I would suggest that instead of the ikea hook , have one 4 , 5 or 6mm Allen key on you for this , or even a tyre lever.
Cheers
This is nothing new.
Eg: For modifying Bromptons, the bikes circa 2009 had a Stronglight chainset with extra holes drilled in the arms which rather nicely accepts a 28T inner ring that can be fitted to the outside using spacers and chainring bolts. Instead of using a stick to change up and/or down between rings, just use your foot by pushing down on the chain and pushing slightly outwards to the right so that the chain is picked up by the larger ring then pedal normally and the chain will be pulled onto the larger ring and vice versa to move to the smaller ring.
So, modding a 1x by making it a 2x. Without the "complexity" of a front derailleur 🙄.
lmao, 1x vanguardists will eventually arrive at the revolutionary technology of a front derailleur
I would fit a Deda Dog Fang onto the seat tube – help the chain go onto the little ring and avoiding dropping the chain and possibly wrapping it around your bottom bracket/crank.
Personally (slow rolling not racing), I use a 2×10 – 24/36 with 11-36T on the back. Other bikes are triples – Deda dog fangs fitted on all of them (cheapest place to buy is Spa Cycles).
You should maybe consider a "rehook"
I'm never going to switch to 1x.
I thought it was conspiracy against people wallet, and I still do.
Absolutely ingenious. Really like that. This has whetted my appetite again for an oxford bike works . I’ve been obsessed with them to varying degrees over the years. Btw loving your stuff Tom since i first became aware of Janapar which i have bought btw. Keep up the good work
honestly? awful. you need a proper front derailleur or more spinny legs and short cranks for 1x while only using the 22 teeth chain ring. 22×11, 57-584 tells me 120 rpm for 27 km/h. short cranks make 120, 140 rpm quite possible i'm told.
(laughs in still running a triple)
One could have fairly close sized chain rings. And set it up at the start of the ride, according to mood and terrain. Even a special highly simplified mech with just a lever – so no cable to service. No smooth shifting it would crudely move it over.
Some viewers appear to be missing the context for this video, so here's a summary: this bike is a one-off experimental build on loan from Oxford Bike Works for an upcoming 1,100km self-supported bikepacking race across the mountains of Armenia, which I aim only to finish, not to win. I live in a remote area with no easy access to parts, and this video describes one whimsical attempt to optimise the bike within those limitations. It is not a commentary on 1× versus 2×/3× drivetrains, the effectiveness of front derailleurs, race-winning strategies, etc. So please take it at face value, and if you have something constructive to say, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks! 😉
People that tour on Brompton's/folding bikes do this sometimes, (although there are ways and means to get an FD on them, they tend to not work well and require constant re-adjustment after a "fold"). And then there are people that do this for touring/bike packing who aren't really trying to get a 2x as such, more like 2 independent sets of gears covering a huge range so very often an FD won't work well (if at all) as the difference in chain ring sizes is too much. I'd maybe fashion a "chain catcher" of some kind to stop you kicking the chain off the rings, other than that it should serve you well. Good luck with the race 👍.
Great video Tom, working with what you have and keeping it simple works every time.
Good luck with the race.
You got a point….: very interesting 🤨
Will be interesting to see how you get on with such a low bottom gear, I've always found that it then becomes a question of maintaining your balance at such slow speed, especially on tricky terrain. Thanks for the upload.
We dd it for a mountain tandem, works like a champ!
The solution I found when I needed super low gearing on my bikepacking road bike was I installed a sram 1×12 mtb drivetrain with a sram road 1x cranks. So i put a mtb 32t chainring on the road cranks. This gave me super low gearing on a road bike.
Great and very simple – straight out of the russian space mission. Very nice. There are many ways to improve it but the simlicity is genius. i understand it is a solution for extreme conditions which is not uses very often. I like it!
Do it not on the bike stand
Reading old magazines, it appears that idea of changing front cogs with the foot or a hook was quite common in the 1930s