Upgrading to a 1x11 ... confused about the gear combinations
 

Was wondering if anyone has a 1x11 setup, and if so, what do you have for gears, and how do you like it?

Currently my bike has a SLX 22-36t up front, and a 11-36t 10sp at the back.

Overall, like the gears, especially the granny ones when they're needed.

Looking to upgrade to XT, with either a 11-40t, 11-42t, or an 11-46t at the back. For the chainring I'm not really sure which would be the best to match up roughly to what I currently have (all I know right now is that I will be going with an Absolute Black Oval).

I've looked online to see what is common for 1x11 stock bikes, and see a lot of 11-42t paired with a 30t (I have seen a few 11-50t, but 50t isn't an option for me).

However, using the Bicycle Gears Calculator (Bike Gears calculator) it looks like an 11-46t paired with a 36t seems to be close, although lose a little on the granny side.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Depends on your riding and strength. Road, mtb, hills, deep snow?

My hybrid has 36t with 11-42. I barely use the low or high end. My fatbike has 26t with 11-46 and I'm often in the lowest gear, especially in snow.

The low gear is important. Your 20 speed system has a large range, even larger than most 1x12 setups. 1x11 gives a little up. You get to decide which end. 22/36 is about the same as 28/46, if you match the low and sacrifice the high.

I think I’d rather have the Sunrace ratios than Shimano for 11-46.

Velomine has the Box groupset on deep clearance right now... if there’s any left

Thanks. Just looked at the Velomine's site, and they do have a few Box One and Two groupsets available. Never heard of Box Components before, so will have to do a bit of reading.

If you could get the XT for a few dollars more than the Box One, which would you go for? I've found the XT set for $200USD (Box One is $139)

I've considered Sunrace, but heard that there's a bit of a downgrade from the XT.

Box is a perfectly fine group. I've built box rims into my daughter's race bike and their brakes on my son's bmx mini. Nice company to talk with.
When I switched to 1x11 from 2x10 I went from a 22/36 as well and went to a 32t. I changed from an 11-36 to 11-42. The climbing hasn't been a big deal since Long Island is fairly flat but even on the short steep climbs I run out of traction before I need more gear. Either the bike wants to lift up in the front or if i shift weight I spin the tire. Yours is a fat tire so a 46 might be better as it will have more traction and more weight to haul up the hills.

I've been happy enough with 1st generation NX on two bikes and M7000 another, no opinion on XT, it's probably lovely. The cassette is definitely lighter for having a spider, I've heard the shifter feels better. The tandem MTB guys (I'm sort of shopping for one) prefer the "full pin" or even better the $-Dome SRAM cassettes for strength.

XT is the best. You can use a cheaper SLX RD if you want. But the shifter should be XT. Superior feel and features. It lets you shift 2 gears up at once... a great feature.

Maybe observe which part of the range you use now.

So, so far it looks like I'll be going with a SRAM GX 1x11 10-42t, mostly because I'm getting a deal on it.

Still not sure about the chainring yet, maybe a 30 or 32t (will still be an Oval chainring)

I went with an XTR shifter and XT derailleur with my new bike. 46T Sunrace cassette works good with the combo.
So my front ring is 30T, seems like the right ratio for riding in snow, may be too low and lack some high gearing, but it's a fatbike after all, who am I chasing any ways? lol
On my other fatbike I run a 1x10 SLX setup with 42T cassette and 30T chainring. In deep snow, I'd often run out of gears. If your crank is direct mount, consider a 28T front. Looks tiny, but if you plan to do any significant climbs the extra lows will help. Only negative are the bigger jumps between gears.

I run a 32t Absolute Black oval in the front and an 11x42 10 speed. Love it so far. All the range I need for climbing and shredding (As much as I can shred at 63)
Good luck on this.

I just bought a 32t AbsoluteBlack Oval to go with a SRAM 11-42 11-Speed
Was slightly worried that I may lose the easiest gear ....

Not sure I will find out for a while now, as I won't be using that bike

The ab will help in the climbs. your low gear will be awesome! Love mine. My fatty is my all year go to bike.

Before I bought the Wo, I did a lot of road riding in my road bike and my adventure/gravel bike. Since I bought the Wo, I've probably used it the most and have the second most mileage on it vs the other bikes (which says a lot since I do a lot of long rides, 200km+ on the others)

Love riding the fat bike so much though, that I've upgraded to a while new one, which hopefully will last me several years