As a 'bailout' high gear maybe 9t works. But as Andrew notes, its a chain wrap/rotation issue that's the real problem. The smaller the diameter (and thereby tooth count) of a chainring, the more rotation required by each link to make the turn. And this uses power. A tiny driver just EATS watts, and is hard on chains.
Its... actually a bit of an argument against some of Andrew's 'hatred' of big rear cogs - yes, the chainline is worse, but you lose less power through chainline than smaller chainrings.
(yes yes, this only applies to clean drivetrains, what about wear, etc etc etc. all this is in opposition to 9t rings, its not a total disregard for experiments like this Devinci. If you want to feel how bad small gears feel, [try my current EVIL](https://nsmb.com/articles/dadcountry/), with 23x9.)
Jan. 15, 2024, 3:31 p.m. - Cooper Quinn
As a 'bailout' high gear maybe 9t works. But as Andrew notes, its a chain wrap/rotation issue that's the real problem. The smaller the diameter (and thereby tooth count) of a chainring, the more rotation required by each link to make the turn. And this uses power. A tiny driver just EATS watts, and is hard on chains. Its... actually a bit of an argument against some of Andrew's 'hatred' of big rear cogs - yes, the chainline is worse, but you lose less power through chainline than smaller chainrings. (yes yes, this only applies to clean drivetrains, what about wear, etc etc etc. all this is in opposition to 9t rings, its not a total disregard for experiments like this Devinci. If you want to feel how bad small gears feel, [try my current EVIL](https://nsmb.com/articles/dadcountry/), with 23x9.)