Originally Posted by
prj71
Don't hesitate. 2x or 3x is no longer necessary with the wide range cassettes available now. Pros: One less derailleur to worry about and adjust. One less shifter to worry about. Cons: None.
People are riding 29ers all over tight single track around the country. Not a problem anywhere.
Only con is fewer gears. You can with 2X - in theory, run a cassette with tighter gearing that have less pronounced big jumps between the cogs. That might matter to somebody using the bike for flat’ish riding on easy terrain. I DO notice the gaps on some of my rides, but it’s not typically like road riding where you might be into a headwind for miles. Unless you are and you might then almost want a tightly spaced road cluster.
But I’m not switching and don’t miss a 3x or 2x system.