I’m on my second 1x11 bike and I’m sold. For me it isn’t about the gear range. It’s about shifting. Rear shifting is just better... it was even without indexing. I don’t drop the chain and bind it in the BB any more, either.
I do think they’re ugly. That’s just the style right now. It’s not the engineering. Maybe someday pebbly insets in the forging or 1980s soap bar styling will return. The range is still a little short with 11-42 but I’d be hard pressed to invent a complaint about 10-50. If I wanted to think up another knock on it, it’s that they are saving it for the higher groups when it’d be even better for cheaper bikes. 11-46 with a 40 front would be great on a hybrid but they’re still out there with 28-38-48 cranksets that MTB’s abandoned when freewheels died, and “24 speed” drivetrains where no person likely to ride it can manage the 120” top gear and only 4 or 5 speeds aren’t overlaps.
Last edited by Darth Lefty; 04-04-20 at 09:07 PM.