30/32/34t - what do you guys run?

I'm curious to know what chainring setup people tend to run on their "main mountainbike". I'm on a Shimano 12 speed atm, with a 32t ring.

Consider trying 34 as I'm running out of steam beyond 30km/h usually, but I'm not sure it would make much of a difference and I don't want to ruin the uphills completely (or spend money/time for nothing).

Thoughts?

34T with a 12spd NX cluster, its an E-bike I've done > 4500 kms at an average of < 13kph so I don't need any more speed but more power would be welcomed

the last bike was acoustic , I went from 30 to 28 cuz the area is on a bluff and has lots of uphill i couldn't have imagined riding a larger chain ring

I had to take out a couple of teeth so if you go bigger you gotta add teeth and or get a new chain

edit: The ebike has a speed sensor on the rear wheel limiting top speed to 31kph so changing a chain ring doesnt change top speed, while I can easily top out on a flat road around the golf course on real the single track I am never in 12th

28T for me with Shimano 12 speed. Im a spinner and not a masher, so I like to have the easier gearing to get me to the top. I rarely/never have any road riding to get to the trails, so I have no need for taller gearing.

Good point on the chain indeed! According to the www, I should be safe going from 32 to 34 but it might also be a tad bit too short.

Due to how the cable is routed on my frame, the XT-Chainring bolts ever so slighty touch the cable which is always in my head when riding, and I want to swap to a Direct Mount version CR asap.

(/e: Unfortunately I do have a good amount of regular roads in order to reach the trails and get back home.)

Results are neck and neck at the moment... Ignoring my hardtail, on my mullet Enduro bike I'm 30t steel Sram ring with 11-46, 11spd Sunrace steel cassette. Max durability and affordability. The cassette has well spaced gaps all throughout the range, and the 30x46 is as much bail-out as I need for stupid steep stuff.

Just stock 32 with eagle 10-52. 30t on my hardtail with the same setup mostly because I had it lying around.

I think my favorite gear range for pure trail riding was 10-46 with a 28t ring though.

Chain ring is totally dependent on the person and terrain. What works for other people won't typically carry much weight for you unless they ride similar terrain in a similar way with similar fitness, same crank length (5mm in crank length is like 2 teeth roughly)etc.

On the north shore/sea to sky, I see more 28t rings than 34t, except for park bikes.

When were doing 30k+, we don't need/want to be pedalling, and we're sizing our chain rings so that the big cog is mostly a bailout.

Winching up steep stuff on a 29er with 165mm cranks, I'm good on 28 or even 26.

34t? Either you are super fit, or are residing/riding somewhere in FlatButtistan, in either case can't help you there. Haha. :)

28 with a 11-46 out back on the HT and 28 with 11-50 on the FS, my happy cadence is quite high and I like to use the 50t cog to de gas my legs after a climb

30 now but will switch to 28 when it wears out, not that I need a smaller gear but prefer to stay out of the largest cassette for better chainline on the long climbs and the smallest 3 cogs never get used anyway. I have no need to pedal for speed, this is the bike that only sees pavement from the car to the trailhead.

28t for my last few chainrings. 30 feels similar, but for longer or steeper rides I've got more left in the legs for the descents with 28t and I smile more.

32t was doable, but steep bits required getting out of the saddle and there was always occasional spinning out on gravel and again the legs putting out unnecessary energy and just generally making climbing lower performance. 

34t is only helpful for somewhere flatter than the North Shore or different riding type. I even ran 36 for just Fromme, can't imagine why, maybe to be macho. Hopefully had a matching mustache and cutoff heavy metal tee.

I don't care one whit about pedalling downhill off-road, even when going for downhill KOMs, so it's not a factor in my chainring choice. 

(There's always someone in chainring discussions that chimes in about big chainrings and doing more squats. I did heavy squats for many years, if that's important somehow).

28t on my FS for better chainline, 30t on my hardtail because RF doesn't make a steel 28t for Shimano 12 speed yet, and 32t oval on my commuter because that's an old 4x104 ring that I had to use. I hope that doesn't skew your poll too much : )

If it was me, just for the straighter chainline, I'd use a 28t on all my bikes (with a 10-51t or 10-46t cassette).

Posted by: Kenny

Chain ring is totally dependent on the person and terrain. 

That's an excellent point. It's all rubbish without any context. Rear wheel size, crank size, terrain/elevation gain, are very important.

Instinct - 30t/10-42 11spd.

Claymore - 32t/10-50 12spd. When I burn this stuff out, which likely won't happen in the lifetime of the bike, I'd switch to a 30t front and a tighter cluster out back.... especially now that OrangeSport is distributing Garbaruk.

Aurum 36t/11-25t 7 spd.

Do note, if given the option there's a decent chance I'd select a direct, impossible to climb hiking trail and push up rather than taking a longer pedal around. So I'm probably a bad example because it's not 2007 anymore.

Knolly Chilcotin - 32t/11-42 10 spd XTR with wolftooth expander cog

Specialized Stumpjumper Evo - 34T/ 10-50 12speed SRAM X01, I am running an O-chain on this bike, and the 34t clears the o-chain, otherwise, I'd likely be on a 32t

GG Pedalhead - 32T / 10-51 12 speed Shimano XT

Knolly Cache - 44T/10-40 11spd SRAM Force