I have been doing a lot of research into parts and compatibility when it comes to upgrading my drivetrain to improve climbing in the mountains and hilly terrain. I currently and running an 1×11 11-42t with a 42t crank upfront and I find that on climbs exceeding 15% I just can't keep a cadence to ride up them. The bike that I bought came with SRAM Apex 1 in the back, and then FSA cranks in the front.
Originally I had looked at adding a granny gear in the back to give me an extra edge on climbs, but since it's and 11 speed and the derailleur can't fit anything larger than a 42t sprocket the options are slim to none. My friend mentioned it might make more sense to just swap out the front chainring and then everything get's bumped, which in theory could work. The only issue is that there aren't really any chainrings that are 40t/38t with a 120 BCD for my FSA crankset up front.
My initial thought was to just replace the FSA crankset with something SRAM that would work with Apex 1 drivetrain the back, and then get a Wolf Tooth or other 3rd party chainring that is compatible with the cranks. Is this is a dumb idea? I know I want easier gearing and would rather spin out on descents than walk the bike on climbs but is it even possible to mix and match SRAM cranks like the Force or XPLR with an older drivetrain? This Wolf Tooth chain ring looks like it would be compatible with the rear, I would just need a SRAM crank with the 8-bolt mount to fit it (and new bottom bracket).
Any help or insight on gearing or where to look for upgrades would be appreciated!
TL:DR I am running 1×11 42T 11x42T and I can't hang on steep climbs, should I upgrade to a smaller chainring in the front? What are my options? Any help would be appreciated!
by thefury4
2 Comments
You won’t have any issues with compatibility, especially since you are running 1×11. You aren’t using a front derailleur so you can use any 1x chainring out there although I’d recommend a drop-stop type like the Wolftooth or SRAM. The brand of cranks you use has no bearing on compatibility so long as it maintains the proper chainline so FSA, SRAM, Easton, Rotor, Shimano, all good… Now you mentioned your FSA cranks have 120 BCD… that’s odd, I would change that to something that’s 110 with much better compatibility. I have Eastons and run a 38T with my 1×11 setup.
Here’s another thing you can do… I switched to SRAM in back (I was all Shimano Di2) except for my derailleur. That’s right for 11-speed the SRAM and Shimano derailleurs are compatible. So now I have a SRAM 10-42 in back with a GRX Di2 derailleur and SRAM chain/chainring. Of course I would prefer to have all SRAM but it’s expensive to replace shifter/brakes/drlr… Been running that for 2 seasons, working great!
One fairly simple option is to get the Ratio derailleur cage. That’ll let you run up to 52t rear cassette without changing anything else. (fyi probably will need a new, longer chain if you get a cassette in the 50t range.)
[https://ratiotechnology.com/product/ratio-derailleur-cage/?v=0b3b97fa6688](https://ratiotechnology.com/product/ratio-derailleur-cage/?v=0b3b97fa6688)