I have grx 46/30 with 11/36 11 speed. Currently am bikepacking with pods of gear and find the lowest gear not quite low enough for gradients >10 %. I also find the fd fiddly and unreliable at time especially with a handle bar rack which moves the cables and gives them tighter angles.
However I also am planning on entering gravel races. I am thinking of getting the 1x grx rd and doing the deorencahe mod to it get the higher Cadette range that the stock grx 1x doesn't have.
For people who have this setup do you find it sufficient for what I describe above. Is the jump between gears small enough? Do you wish you had the 1×12 (much more cost for this upgrade)
Cheers
Pictured by current 2x setup loaded for bikepacking
by glenngalea
14 Comments
Dunno what the deorencahe mod is?
But there is sort of no free lunch and what you want for a lowest gear vs what you want for gear steps are personal.
I have 2×11 GRX on the bike I tour on with 11-40 in the back. For me, 30:40 is enough for me to hump 15kg or so of luggage up anything paved and a fair amount of non-paved surfaces. If it gets steep enough and loose enough of course I prefer a MTB drivetrain with 32:51 or 32:52. Also worth noting that the 45mm semi-slicks I tour on don’t have the traction to climb some of the steep offroad grades I can climb on a MTB w/ a 2.4″ XC tire.
I wouldn’t want to go to 1x on my touring bike due to the desire to have shorter gear steps for the long mileage and the convenience of shifting the front on rolling terrain. I’m basically only concerned there about having a good enough climbing gear and having reasonable jumps in the middle of the cassette. But for bikepacking, it’s about a lower gear AND a better tire at the same time.
I do, but I have a 10-50 cassette
I ran 11 speed Ultegra with an 11-40 cassette, so I think that is what you should try. GRX should work just fine.
I would find that gearing inappropriate for the touring I do. Your set up has a gear range of around 500% and climbing combination of 30-36. The range is comparable to some 1x drivetrains, but most people will go for a much easier climbing gear. 32-51 for example.
I use an “old school” 3×9 44-32-22x 11-36 which gives me around 650% gear range and a 22-36 climbing gear. Better than any 1x on the market.
Gear inches/gear ratios and gear range are much more important than the “jump” between gears.
For my HT MTB gravel/all road bike… No.
I like the range and ease of shifting I have with mechanical 1×12 GRX.
I switched from mechanical 2×11 GRX and haven’t missed it for gravel.
But I do like Di2 GRX with an 11-40t cassette.
1×12 is sufficient
Yes. I got 32×11-50T, 30×11-46T and 28×11-42T. Sometimes I miss having higher, but now I climb anything and everything. For a while.
Get the 11-40 mtb cassette and a set of 44-28 specialties TA GRX chainrings and you can climb walls loaded. That’s how have my bikepacking rig setup currently and still prefer it over my 1×12 with the 10-51 cassette and 34 tooth chainring
1×11 no but 1×12 yes
38 in front and 10/50 in the back is enough.
Tremola, nice!
I’ve been 1×11 since I got a gravel bike because I didn’t like fishing with front derailleurs. 40T chainring 11-42t cassette. I find myself able to climb but it really wears me out.
I’ve been looking into changing to a larger cassette and weighing options of 11-46 or 11-51 just so I don’t wear myself out. This change will space out the gear jumps more and I don’t know how I’ll like it. Going to 1×12 essentially adds one gear into the 1×11 range. Technically you can go down to 9t and up to 52t though.
It’s all about the gear jumps.
I like powering down hills sometimes so you’ll pry my front derailleur from my cold dead hands.
I run a 1×11 with a 36T chainring + 11-42 cassette and I tour a lot with my gravel bike. If I’m heavily loaded (+15kg) I wish I could run a 34T chainring, but this would make me spin on small descents. It’s all about trade-offs but having a front derailer is also a source of issues, plus it’s ugly imo 🙂