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Considering 1x with 42t Front and 11-46t Cassette

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Considering 1x with 42t Front and 11-46t Cassette

Old 11-23-19, 10:02 PM
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DarKris
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Considering 1x with 42t Front and 11-46t Cassette

So I’m currently running a 9 speed drivetrain with a 46/32 crankset and I just changed my 11-34 to a 12-36 cassette. I did this because I found that I wasn’t ever using the 46-11 and I thought about having a lower bailout gear if I ever found myself riding on steep terrain (keyword “IF”).

I plan on running either 10 or 11 speed GRX levers in the distant future and at that point I thought it might be worth trying 1x since most of my gearing I find is under-utilized anyway. I would end up using either the RX812 1x derailleur and *hopefully* hacking it to fit a 46t cassette, or if it’s easier/cheaper I’d use a SLX M7000 rear derailleur with a Tanpan since that’s at least confirmed to work with a 46t. As for why I want a 42t front ring the first reason is that my crankset is a Metrea and the only 1x chainring for it is a 42t. The second reason is comparing my top end and low with my current 2x setup:



2x9 Top & Low End


1x10/11 Top & Low End

I guess some other considerations would be if I can even fit a 42t front ring with an 11-46t cassette. As far as the gear jumps, I found that after the first two large sprockets the gear ranges were similar to 8 speed and 9 speed cassettes which I’m very used to at this point.

So anyone with experience running 1x for road/gravel, is there any other things that I should look out for while I consider making the switch? Also if anyone has or is currently running a 46t cassette on their gravel bike would you care to let me know how well you got on with it? Thanks!
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Old 11-23-19, 10:26 PM
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My Force 1x crankset came with a 42T chainring and I considered going with a 11-46T cassette but instead I opted for a 38T chainring and 10-42T cassette, which results in almost the exact same gearing. I went this route so I could have a lighter cassette but you do need to get a XD freehub for your rear wheel. While the RX812 probably could shift the 46T, and almost certainly with a roadlink, you should have no issues the 42T big cog. Not sure about 10T small cog though as it's rated for 11T. Are you set on Shimano GRX vs Sram Rival 1x?

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Old 11-23-19, 10:36 PM
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Originally Posted by loheiman
My Force 1x crankset came with a 42T chainring and I considered going with a 11-46T cassette but instead I opted for a 38T chainring and 10-42T cassette, which results in almost the exact same gearing. I went this route so I could have a lighter cassette but you do need to get a XD freehub for your rear wheel. While the RX812 probably could shift the 46T, and almost certainly with a roadlink, you should have no issues the 42T big cog. Not sure about 10T small cog though as it's rated for 11T. Are you set on Shimano GRX vs Sram Rival 1x?
Going to XD would mean I’d need to replace the free hub body on two wheels (650b & 700c) so I’d avoid that.

Sticking with Shimano would just mean that I’ll have fewer parts to swap out. I’d be upgrading my Giant Revolt 2 with the Shimano Metrea crankset I mentioned and so I could retain the crankset and BB and the brake calipers since they work with Shimano hydro levers.
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Old 11-23-19, 10:48 PM
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Originally Posted by DarKris
Going to XD would mean I’d need to replace the free hub body on two wheels (650b & 700c) so I’d avoid that.

Sticking with Shimano would just mean that I’ll have fewer parts to swap out. I’d be upgrading my Giant Revolt 2 with the Shimano Metrea crankset I mentioned and so I could retain the crankset and BB and the brake calipers since they work with Shimano hydro levers.
Gotcha. Yea then I think your best bet is going with the RX812 and a roadlink. Most people have no issues with a roadlink. I installed one on my cross bike to get my 105 10spd GS derailleur to shift a 11-40 cassette and it worked well.
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Old 11-23-19, 11:30 PM
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I think those ratios would work well for you. Four below 1:1 should be plenty. I run three.
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Old 11-24-19, 01:04 AM
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Pretty sure the RD-RX812 derailleur will work with just the limit screw.

I'm running a RX800 with a 42T with the limit screw almost all the way in. It's a little stiff to shift in the smaller cogs, but it works.
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Old 11-24-19, 06:29 PM
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So I'm gonna do the 46t setup with the 42t, however I decided to get an SLX 11 speed derailleur and will use a Wolftooth Tanpan. It's probably safer and it was actually cheaper than getting a GRX derailleur.
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