How many chain rings are you running on your main mountain bike?

today i found the 1x11 is kind of hard to set up….

XC/Trail(?) bike (Tallboy with big tires, wide bar and 110/140mm Revelation): 2x10 XT/XTR, clutch d., 26/38 Chainrings on XTR triple cranks.

No chain drops since switching to clutch. Quiet operation in all gears.

Lots of gear range. I use the 38 most of the time off-road and it's tall enough to paceline out to the trailhead on the rides when that happens. I also do some real big rides on my own where I link up various trail networks and I don't want to be futzing around in a 30 or 32. I use the 26 for hard/tech/sustained climbs and when the legs have been torn off by faster guys or earlier workouts. I'm not into walking anything when I'm mountain biking, and lower gears are often faster than grinding tall ones, particularly when the legs are tired or there's a bunch more trail to ride.

For me the gear range will have to match this setup before I think about 1x systems. Then I'm all over it.

i can see for shorter shore rides and plenty of squamish stuff that a 1x system can make sense. but, if you're wanting to do more tech and steeper climbs and run multiple laps i think a 2x or 3x system makes more sense as it increase your efficiency which ultimately ups the enjoyment factor. at the end of the day i see 2x as a better system as leaves the rider with a greater range of options.

I run 2x10 (38/24, 11-36 that came stock on the bike) on a 29er and like I said before, don't seem to have any of these front derailleur issues that everyone else is having. I enjoy steep climbing, on trails, and like having the granny ring. Especially on long rides and during XC races. However, there are 2 reasons I have started thinking of going 1x10 (with a 42T cog). First, the 38T ring is too big for most of the trail riding I do. Most of the trails I ride have ups along with the downs so I spend tons of time in the granny ring. Second, I hate the way I cannot properly position my reverb remote with shimano brakes. Without the front shifter, I could put a RH remote underneath on the left side.

Looking at this chart I found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqCMFwBoZnLPdExRdDItZ2dEYWRoUXF6Tmx2dENPVFE#gid=0 it appears that my 24-36 easiest gear is 19 gear inches. A 30-42 would be 21 gear inches. That piques my interest.

I run 2x10 (38/24, 11-36 that came stock on the bike) on a 29er and like I said before, don't seem to have any of these front derailleur issues that everyone else is having. I enjoy steep climbing, on trails, and like having the granny ring. Especially on long rides and during XC races. However, there are 2 reasons I have started thinking of going 1x10 (with a 42T cog). First, the 38T ring is too big for most of the trail riding I do. Most of the trails I ride have ups along with the downs so I spend tons of time in the granny ring. Second, I hate the way I cannot properly position my reverb remote with shimano brakes. Without the front shifter, I could put a RH remote underneath on the left side.

Looking at this chart I found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqCMFwBoZnLPdExRdDItZ2dEYWRoUXF6Tmx2dENPVFE#gid=0 it appears that my 24-36 easiest gear is 19 gear inches. A 30-42 would be 21 gear inches. That piques my interest.

I had the same stock gearing on my bike when I got it. I was always in the granny on trail rides, so I got rid of the 38 and put on a 32. I was quite happy with that arrangement, to be honest. I caught grief for having a granny ring so close to a 32 "middle" ring, but it worked pretty well for me.

But I went to a 42t, 1x10. Having a 32 was still going to be too tall compared to my 24x36 on the climbs, so I dropped down to a 30t front.

I am now rich with rings I don't need in the parts bin. But I have a VERY quiet bike on the descents. I keep saying it, but it's very satisfying…

I had the same stock gearing on my bike when I got it. I was always in the granny on trail rides, so I got rid of the 38 and put on a 32. I was quite happy with that arrangement, to be honest. I caught grief for having a granny ring so close to a 32 "middle" ring, but it worked pretty well for me.

But I went to a 42t, 1x10. Having a 32 was still going to be too tall compared to my 24x36 on the climbs, so I dropped down to a 30t front.

I am now rich with rings I don't need in the parts bin. But I have a VERY quiet bike on the descents. I keep saying it, but it's very satisfying…

How close would you say the 30-42 is to your old granny gear?

How close would you say the 30-42 is to your old granny gear?

Two teeth bigger in the front, so 7%. Less than a one gear rear jump.

So is 30-42 easier or harder than 24-32? I'm sure it's simple math…I just dont know how to do it ;)

i didn't do exact calculations, but before I got a 30T front ring, i tried climbing a lot in 24/28, thinking being that if i could handle that in most situations, then 30/36 would be no problem.

i don't really need anymore gears, although that being said I haven't tried climbing vedder with a 1x 30T set up yet…. I personally think 30/42 is over kill, 30/40 would probably be better, and easier on a deraileur/drivetrain in the long run.

5x10 FTW

5x10 FTW

whoa, did I eat the brown acid?

How many chainrings am I running?

All of them.

So if I read that correctly the 30-42t ratio is the same as a 24-36t granny. Sweetaz, just what I was looking for on those grunt climbs.