Gearing Question

[Flat Broke]

Okay, so I'm pedalin my pig around the neighborhood, and its starting to become somewhat clear that even when my legs get going good again, I'm going to be somewhat limited in what I can climb with my 32 front ring and an 11/32 cassette. So I got to thinking, what if I droped the front ring to say a 26 tooth? It would still be a trade off over having a front deraileur and a 22 tooth ring up front, but it would make climbing much easier than the 32/32 ratio I currently have for low gear.

Since I relate everything back to my old BMX bikes, I try to gauge ratios based upon what I ran the most on my 20". If my math is right, a 26:11 ratio on a 26" rim is about equivalent to a 46.5:16 ratio on a 20" rim. That would mean high gear on my geared setup would be noticeably higher than the 44:16 ratio I used on most of my 20" deals. I'd still get a 19% or so underdrive in low, and hopefully the high end ratio would be steep enough to keep a relatively low cadence for long flat stretches and downhill pedals.

If anyone has any input on this, it'd be greatly appreciated. I can run a 26 inner ring to try it, but I don't think that setup will work long term as the inner ring wont work too well with a SRS guide, not to mention that I'd need to space things different on my cranks to get a a more neutral chain alignment on the inner ring since everything is set up for the middle ring position right now. I can make a spider that just has the 64BCD pattern on it, so that I could run a clean 26t setup, and e13 offers the supercharger, so it can be done; I just want to see if anyone has any feedback before I spin my wheels so to speak.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[dstepper]

I would try two rings up front first?

 

[Flat Broke]

I would try two rings up front first?

I have what I need to do that, but I'd rather keep a single ring up front. I guess I'll bolt a 26 on the lower ring, ride it like that for a while and if it seems to work out as a do-all gear, I'll fab up a new spider.

Chris

 

[jinks]

Sweet, another 1x9 on this forum . I run a 32 up front, and I got a 11-34 cassette in the back rather than a 11-32. It took some getting used to, but now I can climb anything that I'd ride normally. I'd have problems riding up something like Polls in El Morro, but who'd want to ride THAT regularly, hehe. Just keep at it. I thought about a smaller ring up front before, but decided against it, because it'd be too spinny on the flats and downhills. But whatever works for you .

 

[P-Funk]

Sweet, another 1x9 on this forum . I run a 32 up front, and I got a 11-34 cassette in the back rather than a 11-32. It took some getting used to, but now I can climb anything that I'd ride normally. I'd have problems riding up something like Polls in El Morro, but who'd want to ride THAT regularly, hehe. Just keep at it. I thought about a smaller ring up front before, but decided against it, because it'd be too spinny on the flats and downhills. But whatever works for you .

I run the same as you on my 1X9 29er. It's tough on some of the steeper climbs, but it's do-able. And no dropped chains! yet..........

 

[EndoMaster]

Sweet, another 1x9 on this forum . I run a 32 up front, and I got a 11-34 cassette in the back rather than a 11-32. It took some getting used to, but now I can climb anything that I'd ride normally. I'd have problems riding up something like Polls in El Morro, but who'd want to ride THAT regularly, hehe. Just keep at it. I thought about a smaller ring up front before, but decided against it, because it'd be too spinny on the flats and downhills. But whatever works for you .

Do you have any trouble with chain coming off the front ring?

I have been considering trying a similar setup, in my case 1x8. I have a blackspire 32 tooth, unramped front ring and a 11x23 road cassette.
The front ring is labelled as a SS ring but I think as long long as I use it with a 8/32 in. chain then I should be o.k. Anyone see a problem with this?

 

[jinks]

Do you have any trouble with chain coming off the front ring?

Yeah, the first couple rides my chain was dropping on the downhills. The first ride was because I had too many links on the chain for a 1 chainring setup. The second time was just because it is how it is. It's not like a singlespeed where the chain drive stays straight. I did some research and then I got a bashguard to stop the chain from jumping to the outside, and a chainguide to stop it on the inside. I got the NGear Jumpstop. That guy rocks. He sent it out right when I placed the order, even before I sent any money. You can also get a chainguide at REI for pretty cheap. Or you can get a nice guide that Freeride/downhill people use, but those cost bank and weigh more.

 

[Flat Broke]

Cool to see some other single ring setups. Tomorrow, I'll grab a 26t for the inner ring slot, and see how I like it.

As far as the question about the chain falling off, I set my chainline up so that it is straight on the middle to high gear cogs as they would see more load. The angle is a little extreme on the 32 cog, but the chain holds. Once I figure out what I'm doing for certain I'll either get something like the E13 SST (for 26t setup) or the 32 special.

Chris