Keep 1x Drivetrains Off Road Bikes

I have a Merida cx with sram force one by, which is used as a winter road bike. The novelty wore off riding hills, with a lack of range for both up and down inclines, and the chain coming off for no apparent reason at odd times. At least with a front mech the chain can usually be wrangled back on without having to stop and extract it.

Sorry but as someone thats been riding for 30 yrs now , I’ve never had ANY trouble with front derailer shifting , even on my first 8spd that was cable shift only in those days , alway had shimano over the years of trouble free cycling, upto Now , still on 2 x , my newest bike runs SRAM FORCE ASX 12 spd , and my personal opinion is shifting is sub optimal on SRAM . I have Durace DI2 11 spd on my propel / 12 spd XT on my MTB , and Durace 10 spd mechanical on my oldest TCR bike and they ALL change much better / run smoother / and quieter than my SRAM . Gone backwards for sure , those 10 th are very noisy/ draggy FORSURE !!

Great video, my opinion about 1x is comparable. We've seen an evolution in gearing in which the number of chainrings goes down (3 -> 2 -> 1) and the amount of sprockets goes up. One of the arguments for the increase in gears used to be 'tighter gaps', but with the last step going to 1x the gaps can only increase. There are situations in which the simplicity helpt (you mention them) but of normal road cycling?

I don't see the benefit for the riding I do and why would I change? If it ain't broke, don't fix it…

Funny part: I did exactly the same thing as you did. With the increase in cogsizes I also changes my chainrings. All my 'normal' roadbikes now run 53 or 52 bigger chainrings with 36 or 39. And like you mention: it just works fine and gives you a great range in gears. But: even my gravelbike sports a 52-36 chainring because the added higher gearing helps with the local 'mild' sections which are connected by normal roads.

The issue for me with 1x is how bad the chainline is and hav bad it feels and wears , everything else i could live with, just give me gearbox/rohloff and belt

I agree with all your points, but I do like the look of 1x on my revolt and I'm planning on rebuilding my old caadx with 1x simply because it's cheaper! 😂

My dream bike for almost 5 years now involved building an aero bike with SRAM's Red AXS groupset. I thought about going 1x for the build, but the front shifting to me was and is one of the coolest parts of the groupset, I just couldn't not go 2x. I think tubeless on road bikes is silly and unnecessary.

Mullets should be kept off YouTube. Yeah that's my opinion and 1x shouldn't be seen on road bikes is yours. I ride 1x on road (42 with 11-27) and yes I can climb on it and yes I can do fast club rides / chaingang rides on it without problem.

For most people in most situations, it’s up to personal preference.

The marginal gains for going either 1by or 2by, are only important for the top 1% and Fred’s

I race a SS for crits and CX and an occasional road race, gears are overrated! 😂

Stop the circle jerk. 1x is perfectly ok for the average enthusiast living relatively flat area (I average around 600 ascent meters per 100 km). I use 42t chainring and 10…44 cassette. I have never used the easiest gear and I spin out at 45 km/h that never happens aniway unless on descent.. might not be viable for racing or the Alps. 30…40 km/h per hour is in completely OK range for my setup. Fast, simple and easy to maintain. Not once I have had issues with the gear range.

I have no issues running 1x on the road. Love the simplicity and no issues on group rides.

I'd gladly ride 1x living where the mass majority of people in the world live. Got it on my gravel bike here in Utah and it's not fun riding on the road with the necessary wide range of gears. But most people don't need that wide range where they live. Mostly everywhere I've lived(8 states and 2 countries), 1×12 with a 10-36 or 10-33 would have been great. Totally wouldn't be fun with 1×10 but 1×12 with an XDR hub is outstanding.

I have 50/34 and 23-11 10 speed cassette and going to a 1x 50 and a 12 speed 36-10 would give me a faster top gear and an easier hill climb gear with decent choices in the middle.

The single greatest advantage of 2X or 3X is the ability to quickly drop a bunch of ratios (into a much easier gear) by dropping one's chain onto a physically smaller gear, which is easier than getting the chain onto a larger one. I have a 1X "gravel" bike and a 1X ebike, and I have a sort of franken-bike and a more-or-less dedicated wheel-on trainer that are both 3X, but my serious road bikes will always to 2X.

The 10 tooth cog in cassette is going to wear out much faster than the rest of the cogs. Even with my 11×36 cassette I have to replace the 11 tooth cog when I put a new chain on. I change my chain when my Park tool chain gauge shows the first level of stretch. Changing out the chain will extend the life of your cassette, but if the small cog skips you then need a full new cassette if you can't buy a separate small cog for it. So if you use a cassette with a 10 tooth cog make sure you can buy the 10 tooth cog separate from the cassette in order get full useful life of your expensive cassette. I change generally change the cassette after two chains.

The average rider will love a 1x. Dumping the front derailleur simplifies shifting and increases focus on the ride itself. The range can be virtually the same but with larger jumps as mentioned l, but most riders could care less. I have found climbing is almost always easier on the 1x.

2x, where I live I even want a 2x on gravel bike. I know Sram is forcing 1x on all manufacturers for all bikes. I personally do not see an advantage of 1x on drop bar style bikes. An I've never had an issue with cross chaining.

But why is 38 not more common? Why was 39/53 a "standard" pair? 38/53 has less overlap, or more variable gear ratios than 39/53.