SRAM 1X Groupset?

[johntea]

I've been using a bike with Sram Force 1x11 for the past 15 months now and ...it just works... There is the odd occasion when I could do with a higher or lower gear, but that occasion also comes with 2x11 at times so it's really a case of horses for courses. What I like about it is not having to decide if I should shift into the big/wee chainring, also the added bonus of not dropping the chain on the BB. According to Strava I've not been any slower on this bike than I an on 2x11.

[RickH]

I got a Kona Sutra Ltd with a Rival1 setup in Feb (the 2016 model with quite a big reduction in price, & I preferred the blue to the 2017 orange ).

Gear range with the 10-42 cassette a 36T chainring & 40mm tyres I calulate to be 23.7-99.5". All the gear steps are 11-14% apart from changing to 1st (42) & 11th (10) which run out at 17%. I don't notice the big jump into 1st as when I need it I am struggling up something pretty steep. I don't notice the big jump into top very much as it is seldom used - only if I want to pedal at above 30mph (I'm a spinner) - more frequently it is engaged but I'm freewheeling on a hill & it is just there in case I want any pedal power, maybe to keep momentum on a small flat or the like.

My previous bike (which hasn't been used since) has a Campag triple 26/39/50 & 13-29 cassette running 28mm tyres. I calculate the gear range for that bike as 23.9-102.7". I reckon there are 17 unique gears in that mix & 2 1 front/ 3 rear double changes required to use that range.

The system has worked pretty much flawlessly over 9 months/1500+ miles apart from the quicklink on the OEM KMC chain disintegrating after about 3 months (I noticed while I was on a train that it only had 1 side after having ridden 7 miles to the station. Another 6 months & around 1000 miles the replacement SRAM chain is still going strong.

I reckon I mostly use 4th-8th gear (at least distance wise if not time wise) - in 4th(28) I'm doing around 10mph & 8th(16) around 18mph. I'd be quite happy touring on this setup, although I might fit a smaller chainring - probably a 30T to give a lower range. When I went to the Welsh Festival of Cycling at Ruthin in July as it was 5 nights in one place I chose comfort over weight (3 man tent, folding chair, etc.) but there were only a couple of short sections on the 40 miles each way that I rode (with a stint on the Manchester-Holyhead train in the middle) where I felt I could have done with a lower gear even with everything I was hauling. Mostly it just has the seat pack on.

At the Welsh Festival of Cycling.

[mattsccm]

Most of us won't miss a higher or lower gear. You can do that with the modern system to the point that the range isn't worth talking about unless you want gear inches in single figures and I bet you could do that. wear and tear, whilst worth discussing isn't crucial as we all have our own tolerances and price brackets. The two real issues are the perceived reliability of a front mech and your attitude to the gaps between gears created by a wide range cassette.
To me the front mech is the most reliable moving part of a bike. I'd say its the only thing I have never damaged. I don't like gappy cassettes but I was weaned on a 13-17 5 speed block.
Other will feel the opposite. Try the shift levers for feel and that's probably the most important thing.

[reohn2]

Most of us won't miss a higher or lower gear. You can do that with the modern system to the point that the range isn't worth talking about unless you want gear inches in single figures and I bet you could do that. wear and tear, whilst worth discussing isn't crucial as we all have our own tolerances and price brackets. The two real issues are the perceived reliability of a front mech and your attitude to the gaps between gears created by a wide range cassette.
To me the front mech is the most reliable moving part of a bike. I'd say its the only thing I have never damaged. I don't like gappy cassettes but I was weaned on a 13-17 5 speed block.
Other will feel the opposite. Try the shift levers for feel and that's probably the most important thing.

I agree,what concerns me and I suspect others too,is that cycling is being led down a modular concept dead end by marketeers that involves more electronics and hydraulics and drivetrains and cassettes that are set practically in stone.
1x10,11 and more drivetrains are expensive to run and due to cassettes being evermore modular ie;3 or more individual sprockets riveted to spiders making,it impossible to customise ratios to the individual's preferences,so the only way to lower or raise top or bottom gears is by changing the chainring,the gaps in the cassette are still there whether the individual likes it or not.
Whereas a 3x9sp system offers almost infinite tune ability to the indivual's taste.
I strongly believe the those not familiar with this outlook are missing out on it's flexibility and being fleeced into the bargain,please check the price of a wide range 11sp cassette and chain not to mention a 1x drivetrain will wear out far,far quicker than a 2 or 3x9/10sp one due to smaller sprockets and chainrings,whereas a typical 3x9sp system has three chainrings to share the duties,a wider and stronger chain,and a cassette that can be split into individual cogs and if two cassettes of different ratios can be made up very simply plus much better chainlines.
The word "hoodwinked" springs immediately to mind when I think of 1x systems in all but limited applications.
Much is talked about duplicating ratios on a 3x9sp system but if the cassette and chainrings are chosen carefully those duplicates are minimised to three or four at most and IME those duplicates can be a boon when climbing especially long climbs of multiple miles.
Also the flexibility of the three chainrings means the overall range is far greater than any 1x system without the gappy cassette all too apparent with a wide range 11sp one.

I'm well aware people like me are considered luddites but not all old tried and trusted systems are superceded by better ones and IME 1x systems are a classic example of an answer looking for a problem