Cycling UK Forum

reohn2 wrote:Never thought about before,but am I right in thinking the narrow wide chainring has to be in sync with the chains sideplates?
ie; inner plates falling on the narrow teeth and outer plates on the wide teeth.

Yes, and consequently you cannot use chainrings with odd numbers of teeth.

Samuel D wrote:

reohn2 wrote:Never thought about before,but am I right in thinking the narrow wide chainring has to be in sync with the chains sideplates?
ie; inner plates falling on the narrow teeth and outer plates on the wide teeth.

Yes, and consequently you cannot use chainrings with odd numbers of teeth.

Something else that hadn't crossed my mind.

there's a review here

https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/cat ... iew-52543/

the terrible chainline gets a mention

The 1x13 groupset essentially adds an additional cog onto a 12-speed-wide cassette without decreasing the spacing between individual cogs. This means the chain has to perform impressive acts of contortion at the extreme ends of the cassette.

As such, if you’re the sort of cyclist who wants a completely silent drivetrain, Rotor’s 1x13 groupset — and, to be fair, any other 1x drivetrain — will not be for you. It’s perfectly well mannered in the middle of the block but makes a bit of a racket in the very largest cog.

Rotor are a small player and therefore don't have the clout to get chain makers to make an even narrower chain especially for them, so it is no surprise that they have piggybacked on another extant sprocket pitch.

Just how the big boys will play it if (when) they go to a Baker's dozen or more sprockets remains to be seen, but my guess is that they will suddenly find they have not yet exhausted the possibilities of using thinner, stronger, more expensive steels in the make up of both chains and sprockets, and that the sprocket pitch will yet further decrease.

Where will it all end? I dunno; it is already considerably more bonkers than I ever expected it to be....

cheers

Brucey wrote:Where will it all end? I dunno; it is already considerably more bonkers than I ever expected it to be....

It’s fair to say I have officially bailed out:



That stash of cassettes added up to less than half the price of a single Rotor cassette … and that’s 96 sprockets.

Samuel D wrote:

Brucey wrote:Where will it all end? I dunno; it is already considerably more bonkers than I ever expected it to be....

It’s fair to say I have officially bailed out:

That stash of cassettes added up to less than half the price of a single Rotor cassette … and that’s 96 sprockets.

good choice. Just about perfect with a 50/39/30

thelawnet wrote:good choice. Just about perfect with a 50/39/30

Right? I have that option if the hills get steeper or I get older … and in the meantime I use it with a 49T/38T double. There was a little experimentation before I settled on this cassette, but now that I have, I got a few to tide me over. I don’t see anything but higher prices and lower availability for 8-speed ‘road’ cassettes in the future.

The industry may now go to 15-speed for all I care! Just keep making 8-speed chains, please.

Samuel D wrote:

thelawnet wrote:good choice. Just about perfect with a 50/39/30

Right? I have that option if the hills get steeper or I get older … and in the meantime I use it with a 49T/38T double. There was a little experimentation before I settled on this cassette, but now that I have, I got a few to tide me over. I don’t see anything but higher prices and lower availability for 8-speed ‘road’ cassettes in the future.

The industry may now go to 15-speed for all I care! Just keep making 8-speed chains, please.

8sp works very well with 9sp chains

Is there a reason not to stock up on 8-speed chains at the same time as all those cassettes? I expect they'll still be made for the lifetime of that cassette pile, but increasingly rarely and of decreasing quality.

thelawnet wrote:good choice. Just about perfect with a 50/39/30

I beg to differ - mine was much better once I'd swapped the 30 small ring at the front for a 26 & moved to cassettes with a 29 largest sprocket (the biggest I could get on a Campag triple setup). I would always want at least 1 gear that is less than 1:1 ratio round here.

Bmblbzzz wrote:Is there a reason not to stock up on 8-speed chains at the same time as all those cassettes?

The main reason is that I don’t have unlimited funds to tie up in optional luxuries like stashes of bike components.

I have those cassettes. I have some spare SL-R400 down-tube shifters, because I like them and they won’t be sold forever. I got the shifters from a shop at close-out prices.

I don’t have rear derailleurs because suitable ones will be made for longer (I presently use a 10-speed RD-7800, but a wide range of suitable 8-, 9-, and 10-speed derailleurs were and are still being made. Besides, derailleurs last much longer than cassettes). Chains are consumables but several manufacturers still make 8-speed ones, and, as reohn2 points out, others will work anyway.

Thus the cassettes were the first priority. I find the Shimano 13–26T ideal. There aren’t many substitutes for that cassette if you like it and are fussy about your gearing. There are reasonable substitutes for any chain or derailleur.

Another thing I should have bought before they sold out was mid-range 10-speed 36-hole Shimano rear hubs. The 11-speed ones work with 8-speed cassettes but have worse dish for no benefit and dubious mechanisms for setting bearing preload.

I’m pretty sure you could make money buying any of these obsolete but timelessly good components, storing them carefully (so they don’t rust much), and trickling them onto the market in five or ten years. But I’ll leave that to someone else. I’m just buying for my own use because I can see the writing on the wall and intend to cycle for several decades.

Samuel D wrote:

Brucey wrote:Where will it all end? I dunno; it is already considerably more bonkers than I ever expected it to be....

It’s fair to say I have officially bailed out:



That stash of cassettes added up to less than half the price of a single Rotor cassette … and that’s 96 sprockets.

wow!!!! and here is me thinking I was a gear hoarder!!

zenitb wrote:wow!!!! and here is me thinking I was a gear hoarder!!

Tell us what you’ve got!

thelawnet wrote:the terrible chainline gets a mention

The 1x13 groupset essentially adds an additional cog onto a 12-speed-wide cassette without decreasing the spacing between individual cogs. This means the chain has to perform impressive acts of contortion at the extreme ends of the cassette.

As such, if you’re the sort of cyclist who wants a completely silent drivetrain, Rotor’s 1x13 groupset — and, to be fair, any other 1x drivetrain — will not be for you. It’s perfectly well mannered in the middle of the block but makes a bit of a racket in the very largest cog.

The relevant bit of the video review is here.

Samuel D wrote:The relevant bit of the video review is here.

I am not sure why they played music so you couldn't hear the noise

Samuel D wrote:

zenitb wrote:wow!!!! and here is me thinking I was a gear hoarder!!

Tell us what you’ve got!

how about this.. bear in mind this particular stash is just for one bike .. my ride to work Cannondale... there are similar stashes for my tandem, mtb, Galaxy road tourer etc.. This bike has a very rare quill 1 1/4" headset hence all the hoarded headsets !!

your stash was "vertical" in that you targeted one, hard to find component, whereas mine is a wider stash .. more like everything I can break !!

(I can see where you are coming from storing up the 13-26 cassettes BTW .. I am a bit sick of 11-up cassettes as well !!!)