hybridbkrdr

I was thinking of doing a build with 1x drivetrain but if I'm looking at the possibility of going with 36T crankset with 11-36T. But does this present a problem? I mean there are manufacturers going for 38T and 11-34T. So would choosing a cassette that goes up to 36T cause any clearance issues?

So would you go...
36T and 11-36T
36T and 11-34T
40T and 11-36T
40T and 11-34T

Eric F 

For me, it would depend completely on the type of bike, and the terrain I expected to ride. For me, and my terrain, I would not select any of those options for any of my bikes.

If those gearing combinations work for you, I don't see why any of them would be an issue, but what bike you're putting it on, and what kind of capacity your rear derailleur has might make a difference.

tFUnK

For what bike or use case? For road, I like 42, 44, or 46t up front for 1x. For gravel, I think I'd want a 36t or 38t front with a 40t cassette in the rear. For MTB, 34t front, 40-46t cassette in the back.

RCMoeur 

I use a 36 on the front on my 11-36 1x9.

DangerousDanR

I have two drop bar bikes with Ekar 9X42 cassettes on them. One is a road bike rolling on 700X28 tires and it has a 38 tooth in front. The other is more of a gravel bike, rolls on 700X38 tires and it has an other than Campagnolo 36 tooth in front.

Top pedaling speed for the road bike is around 35/40 MPH. I can't push hard enough to make the other one go past 30.

Ekar is a bit on the fiddly side, but seems to be nice once it is setup correctly. I do not have any plans to change either of them to something else. If I build another drop bar bike it will have an Ekar group set.

TiHabanero

My touring bike and road bike have a 34t chainring on them, and it is perfect for my needs as I am not a go fast rider. Spin around 80-90rpm in all combinations. Cassette on road bike is 11-32, and on the touring bike it is a 14-28 FW. The touring bike sees all terrains and I find the 34t gives me an appropriate low for most conditions. There is a 24t chainring available for extreme conditions.

Polaris OBark

I have a 46//30T in the front and an 11-36T in the back. It works fine. By extrapolation, a single chainring ≥ 30T in the front would work fine.

I really appreciate having the 30T in the front and the 36T in the back when I am climbing a 21% grade, or am really tired, or loaded down. I would not be able to ride a 1X like you are considering where I live, even on road.

The Chemist

I currently run a 46t front / 11-36t rear on my 1x11 Giant, and it's more than enough range for the flat terrain here in Shanghai. However, I'll be taking my bike to Calgary for the summer and will be switching to a 42 / 11-46 since there's going to be a LOT more climbing there!

veganbikes

You should go for the gearing that works best for you and your bike. Since you provided us with really no useful info we can only guess.

This has zero bearing on whatever your bike might be but my 1x hybrid is a 38t 11-32 9 speed and my mountain bike is 30t 11-46 but that is my personal gearing and may not work for you and your mystery bike. Plus in the end 1x9 is not my favorite but I didn't have any 11 speed parts when I built it and still don't have anything in my parts bin and if I did it would likely be a slight downgrade, from a bombproof XT rear derailleur and XTR 9 speed shifter, in a sense but the new 11 and 12 speed stuff is great.

hybridbkrdr

Well, I was thinking of getting the Bombtrack Munroe AL frameset and maybe the Schwalbe Marathon Mondial 27.5x2.00 tires. I saw the stock bike has 34T and 11-34T. But I wondering if 36T and 11-36T would cause any clearance issues.

I had thought about using the new Shimano CUES drivetrain but noticed there's no 36T single crankset. They have CUES in 32T and 40T etc. I guess I'll have to build my own crankset but have to decide between 104 bcd and 110 bcd.

veganbikes

Ahhh there we go...the info missing in the first post. Awesome that will help.
According to their website: Maximum chainring clearance 1x 38 T with 45 mm chainline

Wheels don't really care about cassette size unless going for something larger than the wheel or that won't fit on the freehub body you should be fine. It will be your derailleur that will have the issues with certain cassettes but that is all in those specs and if you get a long cage you should be fine.

Eric F 

What are you trying to get that you won't get with the stock setup?

tFUnK

Right. Usually one wants to extend the range in one direction (eg, lower gear for climbing), but I guess OP wants to extend it slightly in both directions?

Eric F 

Actually, it would just be in 1 direction. 36 x 36 = 34 x 34. He would get a little more on the top end 36 x 11 vs. 34 x 11, and the steps between gears would be a little wider. That was why I asked. It's not a very significant change.

tFUnK

Right, I was just about to edit my post after you replied. Extend top range while preserving bottom range. But I agree with you it's so slight.

hybridbkrdr

OK, I see how it looks. I meant I thought about getting the frameset and building it because I wanted to choose a lot of my own kind of gear like silver bars, stem, seatpost then WTB Speed saddle, Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires, the new sealed Shimano hubs, Shimano pedals etc. So it would be a custom build of my personal preferences on the bike.
But I do appreciate the replies. I think if I do it, I'm leaning on the idea of going 36T and 11-36T.

Eric F 

Understood. In that case, if 36T x 11-36 gives you the gearing you need for your riding, go for it.