trailangel

For riders that don't know how to shift or are frightened of a front shift, 1X and crosschaining is a good solution for them.

ThermionicScott 

Cross-chaining is far less of a potential issue (arguably not an issue at all) with 1x than it is with multi-chainring setups.

Think about it: when the solitary chainring is center-aligned with the cassette, a rider can't help but have the best chainline possible when riding in the middle of the cassette where they spend the overwhelming majority of their time. Chain angle for top gear and bottom gear increases from about 2.1° on a 2x bike to 2.4° on the 1x bike. Big whoop.

trailangel

I like your reply.^^
The 1X is popular mostly with right hand dominate folks. I'b be willing to bet the same folks also favor an automatic transmission when driving.

ThermionicScott 

Hmm, I hadn't even considered how lefties get along with 1x! Do they make left-handed rear shifters? Seems like there ought to be an option for folks with physical impairments.

Doge

Most our "dedicated" bikes are 1X. They were built with a purpose or road type in mind and the extra ring is added weight, or not needed or increases risk of the chain coming off.
The bikes with front shift-able rings are more general purpose.

I find it fairly common at a TT race to see many of the bikes with a single ring. Same for MTB etc.

Some of our 1X bikes...
1X Cross bike
1X MTB Bike
1X Hill climber


1X TT bike
1X Track bike
1X Fixie (tooling around)
1X Tandem

indyfabz

Smokin' hot.

DrIsotope

I'll take that bet. Because I have a 1X setup on my everyday/everywhere bike, and have never owned a car with an automatic transmission in my entire life.

The slights against people who rode 1X are akin to me saying that people ride doubles because they're too weak to pedal at different cadences.

No one is forcing anyone else to go to a single front chainring. It's not an outright assault on the purity of cycling. It's a choice. Choices are good.

Metieval

Like wise, It could be said that gears are for weak people.

Personally I really don't care that people have gears when I am riding my singlespeed. Neither do I care that people only have 1 chainring when I ride my double.

My MTB will go 1x, so I can fit a 2.4 tire, there are many reasons for going 1x, other than condescending reasons.

I even like my di2, because the shifting is FAST! Not as fast as my singlespeed though.

Oh and I think I want di2 GRX 1x. Just because.

markjenn

I'm "in" on 1x, on everything.... road bikes, CX, MTBs, hybrids, what have you. The minor compromises (at least for me) in gear spacing and/or range are MORE than compensated for by single-lever shifting and not worrying about cross-chaining and trimming. I can shift 2x (or 3x) just fine and have for many, many years, but now that I've found a system where I don't have to, it's a chore I'd just as soon forget, not to mention the hassles of maintaining another shifter and derailleur. Maybe my mechanical aptitude is suspect, but I've never installed a FD yet that didn't require a lot of fiddling and finicky adjustments to get dialed in. With 1x, you bolt the RD on, set the limit screws, and adjust cable tension for indexing - super straight-forward and it works properly each and every time.

- Mark

trailangel

There are a few times I have considered owning a 1X.

MikeyMK

Just remembered, the first e-bike I built was 1x...

FiftySix

Same as lefties riding motorcycles, or Americans shifting gears in manual transmission right hand drive cars. Not counting adaptive needs controls, one is gonna have to learn how to use it.

Wileyrat

This lefty doesn't have an issue, nor do I suspect anyone does. From downtube shifters, to brifters, and thumb shifters, we all have been shifting like righties for a verrry long time.

Now if someone would solve the right handed knife thing.

Darth Lefty 

How did lefties get along before with 2x? Did they only shift the front? Of all the imaginary problems you could think up...

<--- not actually a lefty

ThermionicScott 

"get along" wasn't my best choice of words. Wouldn't most people prefer to use their dominant hand if given the choice, though?

Darth Lefty 

I never thought about it before, but now having done so for a minute, I'm sure that all the rear shifting stuff is on the right because that's the side the freewheel screws on.

ThermionicScott 

Indisputably the case for Cambio Corsa!

Wileyrat

I think not wiping out what we just wrote while finishing our sentence writing on a whiteboard is a far bigger issue than how we shift.

Another thing to think about is we lefties can keep our dominant (strong) hand on the bars while reaching to shift on a downtube shifter. A lot of times, I also reach across and shift the front with my right. Also works the same when I reach down to grab a water bottle.

Metieval

the left hand is busy with remote lock outs and dropper controls.

MikeyMK

Manual right hand drive just feels totally natural for a righty, the sensitive hand being on the steering wheel makes a lot of sense! As does the stronger hand on the lever.. so I guess it just depends what you've cut your teeth on, and got accustomed to.

MikeyMK

The options do seem limited for people with physical impairments, I suppose someone with no hand could just use a l/h friction shifter - if such a person was happy riding a bike..

I'm sure left-handed people are just fine though, and probably don't wonder how we shift the front either. I do find it difficult to believe that, given hundreds of shifters available, it's not financially viable to offer the odd range for a reasonable percentage of cyclists...

Caliper

Glad it works for you, but you just highlighted the reasons I've stuck to 2x. Every group ride I do, there's always a downhill where the 1x folks wave goodbye, talking about how they spin out somewhere in the low 20mph area... Either that or they complain about not having a low enough low gear.


How often do you really have to trim a modern 2x drivetrain though? In fact my SRAM 2x11 has no trim capability up front. Yet, I can shift to all 22 gears (complete with crosschaining!) without any chain rub. If you think of setting FD height as equivalent to the B limit screw, FD setup only has one more step than RD - that is setting the angle of the derailleur body. I'll never understand the complaints, but then I'm one of those Americans who only drives a manual transmission....

mstateglfr 

Im a lefty.

I havent once, before now, even thought about shifting the rear with my right hand as being bad/less than ideal. And now that Ive thought about it, I dont find it less than ideal.
I am left hand dominant, but that doesnt mean my right hand is a useless bundle of wild untrained nerves.

We all(well most all) type with both hands and I dont see shifting as any different- its hardly some difficult coordination.
If someone cant shift with their non-dominant hand, I would be concerned for their safety when riding- totally serious.

Right side shifter controlling the rear makes sense to me because that brake controls the rear. Left side controls the front shifter and front brake. Pretty simple concept. If the left controlled rear shifting and front brake- that would be odd.




Besides- as a lefty who has been forced to adapt to a righty's world(drinking fountains, scissors, can opener- I have grown used to these hardships. The struggle is real. ***

FiftySix

I believe many bikes are right lever/front brake as sold new in countries that vehicles are driven on the left side of the road. Also, by some Americans that are influenced by the motorcycles they ride.

markjenn

Good point. Fast group road rides is one area where the range/step compromises of 1x do sometimes bite. But spinning out at 22 mph would be VERY low gearing - with an 11-42 cluster and a 42 front, you can have a 1:1 low gear good enough for very steep terrain and a high gear that gets you into the high 20's (or even low 30's if you're good for 90rpm or so). And that's if you care to pedal that fast to begin with. Personally, I have little or no interest in pedaling at 30+ mph and I don't like riding in fast downhills in a group anyway. YMMV.

Trimming is gradually going away, but it does require careful FD setup. By my count a FD has five adjustments to get right: upper limit, lower limit, height, yaw, and cable tension and they all have to be tweaked while you work through all the gears in the back. It's not rocket science, but with 1x it all goes away; I think the time it takes to setup 1x is maybe a third of 2x.

BTW, I like (and drive) manuals also. But I have no desire to drive a manual with 2-speed transfer case where you had to anticipate what range the transfer case should be in for the upcoming terrain and sometimes shift two things to be in the right gear.

- Mark