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Are 1X the future of road cycling?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Are 1X the future of road cycling?

Old 09-18-17, 08:25 PM
  #126  
tomato coupe
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Originally Posted by Doge
I don't know. Only that chain drop is an issue.

On a designed for single / 1X either a narrow-wide or long tooth it is not very likely there would have been drop. But it can still happen, just (as I posted) never seen it.

The other thing is they swapped bikes, so it may have been chain between rings. I've had that happen on the tandem. Once in, it does not want to come out.
"My chain dropped between my front chainring and the frame. I tried to reach down and pull it out but then when I looked up the gates (barriers) were changing direction and I hit a foot ..."
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Old 09-18-17, 08:34 PM
  #127  
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Originally Posted by DrIsotope
Powless has to be using a double (McNulty certainly was, there's an event photo where he's clearly in the small ring) because his S-Works has got a fancy eTap FD-- and I have no idea why they would leave that on there with a single chainring. Also looks like a typical S-Works Aero chainring (not narrow-wide) so if he was running it 1X on a ramped ring and dropped a chain... yeah, that'll happen.
So, Brandon McNulty needs his small chainring when doing a balls-to-the-wall time trial? Hard to imagine double chainrings will go the way of the dodo unless the rest of us mere mortals really HTFU.
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Old 09-18-17, 08:44 PM
  #128  
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I think it's that last few thousand meters that kept the doubles on the bikes...

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Old 09-18-17, 09:10 PM
  #129  
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Originally Posted by DrIsotope
I think it's that last few thousand meters that kept the doubles on the bikes...
Looks like about 10% for 3 km. So, if that climb convinced a (very) high level racer to keep a double chainring setup, what level of difficulty would likely convince an everyday rider to keep a double chainring?
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Old 09-18-17, 09:12 PM
  #130  
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I saw "so many chains being dropped" on a Facebook post. I am not aware of others. But I'm also not aware of any flats.
So similar to junior's experience - chain drop may in fact be a big issue for others.
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Old 09-18-17, 09:24 PM
  #131  
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
Looks like about 10% for 3 km. So, if that climb convinced a (very) high level racer to keep a double chainring setup, what level of difficulty would likely convince an everyday rider to keep a double chainring?
That is how the bikes come, so no convincing needed. Course change a lot each year. I'll be curious what the older guys use. I would not favor Tony Martin on this course, but he always does well.
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Old 09-18-17, 09:30 PM
  #132  
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Originally Posted by Doge
That is how the bikes come, so no convincing needed. Course change a lot each year. I'll be curious what the older guys use. I would not favor Tony Martin on this course, but he always does well.
These guys are competing for podium spots in the World Championships, and the reason they are using an inferior setup is because "that is how the bikes come." Seriously?
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Old 09-18-17, 10:04 PM
  #133  
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
These guys are competing for podium spots in the World Championships, and the reason they are using an inferior setup is because "that is how the bikes come." Seriously?
Sure.
They ride what they are sponsored to ride/give to ride. At Junior and U23 they don't always get the choice.

I think this course has good reason for a double. I could see a single here too. Last year was flat and riders still had doubles. Why anyone would need one, beats me, but they had them, for the same reason as this year. It is what they were given.

The old guys have a bit more choice over what they ride.
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Old 09-18-17, 10:11 PM
  #134  
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
These guys are competing for podium spots in the World Championships, and the reason they are using an inferior setup is because "that is how the bikes come." Seriously?
But looks like the world champion winner was on a 1X

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Old 09-21-17, 05:39 PM
  #135  
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I read Aqua Blue Sport Aqua Blue Sport 2017
is going to be racing with a 1X next year.

Top pro road team to race 3T's Strada, with single chainring, disc brakes and wide tires, next season | Bicycle Retailer and Industry News
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Old 09-21-17, 06:16 PM
  #136  
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I saw that on CN today. Going to be interesting to see what kind of gear combos they'll be running. I wonder how the riders and mechanics will like it.

Also, check out this 1x13:

https://www.bikerumor.com/2017/09/20...hubs-headsets/
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Old 09-21-17, 06:34 PM
  #137  
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The vitriol in the comments under the Phil Wood 1x13 is impressive, even by internet standards.

I must say-- any pro team willing to adopt 1X goes a long way toward confirming Doge's assertion that chain drop happens more often than many of us would assume.
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Old 09-21-17, 08:06 PM
  #138  
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Originally Posted by DrIsotope
I must say-- any pro team willing to adopt 1X goes a long way toward confirming Doge's assertion that chain drop happens more often than many of us would assume.
Or the common, and likely pretty accurate, assertion that pros will ride what their sponsors give them to ride.
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Old 09-21-17, 09:11 PM
  #139  
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Originally Posted by joejack951
Or the common, and likely pretty accurate, assertion that pros will ride what their sponsors give them to ride.
I agree with this.
However - chain drop is a real significant thing. I believe a bigger issue than flats.
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Old 09-21-17, 09:42 PM
  #140  
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Originally Posted by joejack951
Or the common, and likely pretty accurate, assertion that pros will ride what their sponsors give them to ride.
That flies directly in the face of the pros "irrational" fear of disc rotors dismembering body parts.
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Old 09-22-17, 01:47 PM
  #141  
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Originally Posted by cthenn
That flies directly in the face of the pros "irrational" fear of disc rotors dismembering body parts.
That's just an argument for the "sensational" effect it brings. I think the real issue is time it takes to change the wheel. Also during the transition, how will neutral service cars, much less the team cars keep enough inventory of disc vs rim brake wheel sets. Then you got to decide the different size disc's you are going to inventory.

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Old 09-22-17, 02:01 PM
  #142  
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Originally Posted by Iride01
That's just an argument for the "sensational" effect it brings. I think the real issue is time it takes to change the wheel. Also during the transition, how will neutral service cars, much less the team cars keep enough inventory of disc vs rim brake wheel sets. Then you got to decide the different size disc's you are going to inventory.
Off topic but I agree. It explains why some pros did ride disc bikes on flat stages where team cars are easily accessed for a new bike or wheel change but not on mountain stages where team cars might be way down the climb.
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Old 09-22-17, 05:23 PM
  #143  
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Originally Posted by Doge
I saw "so many chains being dropped" on a Facebook post. I am not aware of others. But I'm also not aware of any flats.
So similar to junior's experience - chain drop may in fact be a big issue for others.

That would be sweet to have a 13 speed. I would have a 53 x 12-19 sequential, then 21,23,25,27,32. My workout around town would be perfect. Unlike my sloppiness just minutes earlier.
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Old 09-22-17, 05:43 PM
  #144  
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Originally Posted by Doge
I agree with this.
However - chain drop is a real significant thing. I believe a bigger issue than flats.
Yea...it is why you can use these things called chain catchers.
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Old 09-22-17, 06:15 PM
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Only one chainring sounds very retro to me.

I like retro to a point; that being where it is no longer fun. So I think I'll keep my double chainring. For some people, a triple chainring makes more sense. Cool. More power to them.

1X is popular now because with an 11-speed cassette, many people no longer need two chainrings up front. At least, that's what the marketing lads would have you believe. It may be true for a lot of newer riders but I suspect that once they venture out and want to get over those hills to see what lies beyond, they'll pine for more lower gears.

And the marketing lads will rejoice, they've now sold two cranksets. Or two complete bicycles. :-)


I can just see the threads from Bikeforums.net circa 1928: "derailleurs: future of road cycling or just a fad?"

Talk about your flamebait. ;-)


I may be a bit behind with my fads, but isn't gravel grinding hot now? And wasn't Fixed gear/Single speed all the rage before that? Are we going in circles?
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Old 09-22-17, 06:51 PM
  #146  
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Originally Posted by bbattle
Are we going in circles?
Yeah - I generally like loop routes vs out & back.
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Old 09-22-17, 07:14 PM
  #147  
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As I said earlier in this thread, I have 1x on my MTB (SRAM Eagle 10-50; 30, yielding 17-84 gear inches). This serves me well for descending on technical mountain courses. But, I really would miss the higher end on a road setup. I feel I would really need at least 112 gear inches on the higher end for riding downhills (e.g. long sweepers) on asphalt. The fact of the matter is that you don't miss this higher end so much in MTB riding because you simply don't descend with the same kind of comparative, free abandon as you do in road riding (your mind is too busy processing the nature of--essentially--the obstacle course you are trying to negotiate and, so, you naturally seek to be in a lighter gear in order to get out of a rut should the need arise; it's a ton more difficult to descend in MTB riding).

So, 112 gear inches. Does anybody currently provide such a possibility to go from 16 or 17 gear inches to 112? Also, is it possible to get a 1x setup with drop bars instead of flatbars (commercially--I know the "Pros" have all sorts of resources at their disposal; I, however, do not)?

I'm all for the elegance of 1x; but it has to work for my style of riding. Until then . . . .

You aint' gonna take this at 112 gear inches:
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Old 09-23-17, 03:23 AM
  #148  
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Originally Posted by Scarbo
So, 112 gear inches. Does anybody currently provide such a possibility to go from 16 or 17 gear inches to 112? Also, is it possible to get a 1x setup with drop bars instead of flatbars (commercially--I know the "Pros" have all sorts of resources at their disposal; I, however, do not)?
It's hard to imagine 17-112 gear inches from a single chain ring. For 112, with an 11t cog you need at least a 45t chain ring, and for 17, with a 50t cog (cog doesn't seem the right word for something the size of a dinner plate...), the front can't be bigger than 31t.
Meanwhile, the Giant TXC gives 26-100 gear inches. I replaced the stock 40t chain ring with a 46t to make that 30-114 for more road oriented riding.
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Old 09-23-17, 03:35 AM
  #149  
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Even with twelve cogs on back, a 1x with a 17-112 GI range would require an average step size of nearly 19%. Sounds nightmarish.
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Old 09-23-17, 06:28 AM
  #150  
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Originally Posted by HTupolev
Even with twelve cogs on back, a 1x with a 17-112 GI range would require an average step size of nearly 19%. Sounds nightmarish.

It does, doesn't it? It touches upon something I'd written, earlier, about a road cyclist's need to preserve a semblance of cadence through the application of reasonable gear ratios. And, it is why I still have doubles on all of my road bikes.

So, as to the question of whether or not 1x is the future of cycling--I suppose if your race/ride features relatively limited topography the future is now. Otherwise, for the topographically challenged, it is hard to see how going to a 1x setup would not call for making compromises on either the low or high ends of the spectrum. I don't, personally, tour; but I can easily see how if you're riding through the Rockies or Wasatch or Sierras on a bike loaded down with panniers you would want a nice 16-inch gear for the climbs and a really tall gear for descents.

Topography is key.
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