Yeah… WE know its better but the bike-boner that normies have for 1x is strong.
I have given up on trying to talk people out of doing 1x on Endpoint bikes.
Also… at the OEM level I have seen plenty of FSA Vero and Omega sub-compacts. The customer for that bike is utterly unaware that it’s a thing and equally unable to understand why it’s great. Hell, I sell two bikes on the floor at Outpost with sub-compact cranks and literally did not even notice for over a month.
I’ve got a Bombtrack demo bike on loan for review. It’s SRAM 2x10 with a mountain crankset. Every time I ride it I’m reminded of just how much I dislike 2x drivetrains for my type of riding (commuting, off-road dithering). I guess I might feel otherwise if I was riding with other people in a spirited fashion, but being old/slow, I really like the 1x thing.
I think the key with yolo 2X is to have the big ring around the same as what you would run 1x.
Pair that with 11-28, 11-32, or 11-36 depending on your load/fitness/whatever.
That way the big ring is what you’re still in the vast majority of the time but that bail out inner ring (30 or even smaller) gives you all of it but only when actually needed.
On current CG I’m running 46/34 with 11/32 Feels good man. I’ll typically wear out a big ring 4 times as fast as the small. I’m going to go sub-compact shortly and it should be even better.
I still have 1x (42/11-40) on my more party drop bar bike and 1x for that is pretty good but I’m still tempted to swap the front hydrobrake for hydroshake but probably won’t unless a particularly hilly adventure rears it’s head.
I can handle the jumps on 11-32 but over that I actually find myself annoyed when riding on pavement for any amount of time.
That’s why I stressed a good marketing campaign. The problem is that Shimano’s marketing is complete shit, so instead of handing out cranks to ultraromance and prolly and paying them to post pictures of it and write about how much they love it, they’ll make an vague YouTube video with a disembodied voice discussing the increased ratios that 2x provides.
And to be clear, I don’t think it’ll beat 1x, but I think it could actually help stop the bleeding.
I really like not having to remember how many rear cogs I need to shift when changing between big/small rings. The next harder/easier gear is always just one push away, so even if the %-change isn’t perfect, it’s manageable.
Shimano is taking the same approach that plagues other Japanese manufacturers. Whether it be CatEye or Panaracer, their overtly conservative approach to R&D–and more importantly, marketing–embodies the day late/dollar short mentality.
I’ve seen some people starting to complain (most notably this at redkite) but for so many riders it’s just about perfect. I could totally switch for the terrain out here.
This is EXACTLY it. I started running 44/29 (11-32 cassette and 700x42 tires) years ago after talking with some folks who advocated for it. It’s basically a 1x9 drivetrain most of the time. Then when it got hilly I’d drop to the 29 front ring.
This was always my problem with somethign like a 50/34 or 48/34 110bcd double. I was shifting the front rings way too much. Going subcompact helped that a bunch. At the time the biggest rear cog you could get was a 34. Then cassettes with a 36t rear came out. And now of course it’s wide open so maybe I should give 1x a try again.
