showlow

Building the newest All City Macho King ACE. But... Wait minute here... Did I really overlook that a 2x drivetrain can't be installed on this frame? There are no cable stops on the downtube. The outgoing model had a FD cable stop on the back of the seat tube.

​​​​​​The drivetrain I have for this bike is 2x. Is there a solution?

hermanchauw

Clamp-on cable stop.

Or side swing front derailleur.

DrIsotope

Potentially unpopular opinion, but I think the easiest and cleanest option would be to pick up a narrow-wide chainring and call it a day. Wolftooth makes them in 2-tooth increments from 36 up to 50.

showlow

I'm with you, but I want to occasionally do things like climb Mt Lemmon or whatever. Also, don't want to buy a new cassette and have a non functioning left shifter.

c_m_shooter

That cassette is huge. Just run a 46 tooth front ring and leave it 1x.

DrIsotope

I regularly do big climbing days on my 1X bike, with a 44T in the front. Honestly, 44-32 is enough for 90% of rides, 44-36 gets another 5%, and the rest is met with 44-42. I often go several rides in a row without using the 42T.

For the left shifter: dropper post. My dropper is sitting in a drawer, waiting for the day I luck into a Rival HRD left shifter, as I currently have a Rival 1, and got tired of the bolt-on dropper lever.

showlow

What cassette? I have a 30t cassette currently. I didn't include a photo of my cassette. My drivetrain is 50/34 w/ 30t rear.

c_m_shooter

Sorry, I accidentally refered to Herman's picture. I still think you would be best with 1x. When I had an 11-32 cassette on my Cross Check I never took it off the 46 tooth ring except for loaded touring.

showlow

I don't need a dropper post though. A side swing FD seems like the most hopeful option. There's gotta be another way though.

showlow

A.) New chainring, bolts, cassette and be left with a non-functional left shifter and not enough gear range in 10 percent of situations.

B.) Sell this frame and buy a different one that's 2x compatible.


​

showlow

Update for future reference. So it is looking like I can route the shifters using full length housing. This is something I've never done before, and I won't have a barrel adjuster for the FD unless I install an in line one. But, it looks like the braze ons on the down tube are made in such a way that you can route 3 housings and zip tie them all in. And, at the bottom of my FD there is a stop for a ferrule.

aggiegrads

Do you have a threaded hole at the bottom of the BB shell?

You can buy a cable guide with a housing stop:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...&category=1613

showlow

I'll check when I get home. Just bought a ton of housing and some clamp on guides that accomodate full housing for the bb shell. Some threads on FD adjustment w/o a barrel adjuster suggest it's not necessary to have a barrel for the FD.

Miele Man

What diameter is your seat tube? Is it too big a diameter to accept clamp-on cable guides?

Cheers

aggiegrads

You shouldn't need clamp on guides. All-City and QBP are pretty good about using "3 sided" housing braze-ons where they think that versatility is needed. I have them on an older Macho Man, a Salsa El Mariachi, and a Surly Troll.

showlow

Thanks. This would work perfectly for the FD. I am going to attempt the routing with full housing all the way to the cable stop on the FD and see how that works. If something doesn't work about it this is a perfect solution, for the FD at least. RD will still get a full run of housing all the way to the barrel adjuster on the RD.

aggiegrads

Even if the FD has a housing stop, the bend under the BB shell is an awfully tight bend for housing.

That's going to be a great looking bike. Nice choice.

cpach

Are you wanting Shimano 2x11? New toggle style derailleurs can run housing the full length to the derailleur without a stop. https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-RAFD001-04-ENG.pdf pg 16. These also have integrated cable tension adjustment and don't need a barrel adjustor.

hermanchauw

Full length housings for all 4 cables.

Amt0571

If a 44-32 is enough for 90% of rides, you don't live near me. I'm using a 34-32 and I know a couple of climbs that I can't do seated the whole time, with cadence dropping around 50rpm. Even when not climbing such steep climbs, I use the 34-32 on every ride. And no, I'm not weak or 70y/o.

In any case, I wouldn't use a single chainring on a road bike unless I lived in a mostly flat area, mainly because 1x means either small gear range or huge jumps between gears (which are a PITA in a road bike if you want to go moderately fast as you can't find an ideal cadence).

DrIsotope

Just because you can't doesn't mean it's impossible. That 1X bike has been to Onyx Summit (+8,000ft in 40 miles)twice and Forest Falls (4,500ft in 20 miles) too many times to count.

The tried and tired "huge jumps in gears" shout of the anti-1X... meh. I have maybe 25k miles, perhaps 650k feet climbed on 1X.

But I also don't believe there's some sort of magic sweet-spot cadence that I have to pedal at for every ride. Try riding a singlespeed sometime.

FastJake

Please tell me you didn't leave it like that...?

Amt0571

Try to climb a sustained 20% grade with your 1x. Good luck.

Professional riders have been seen riding compact chainrings during "La Vuelta" coupled with a 32 cassette, and most of what they climb is not that steep. I assume you're stronger than them!

BTW, on my commute I regularly do one of such steep climbs (so have lots of GPS records of it). I started with a 34-26, then 34/28 and finally 34/32. Guess what? The 34/32 is not only easier on you and doesn't leave you and your knees knackered at the top, it's also way faster.

DrIsotope

Use whatever gears you need, man. This isn't a "whip it out and measure it" contest. What bicycle racers do has absolutely zero impact on my life.

Oh, and I guessed wrong on my cumulative ascent on 1X-- it's closer to 800k feet.

robertorolfo

Says the guy trying to flaunt his Strava stats in his signature...