I’m trying to convert my mountain bike into a hybrid road commuter, and I was wondering if it’s possible to change my 3x chainring setup to a 2x by removing the small chainring and keeping the middle and large ones.
Since I only ride on flat asphalt surfaces, this idea came to mind and I thought, "Why not?" It would save some weight and make the front derailleur easier to adjust, also would make the bike look cleaner. I know some vintage road bikes used this kind of setup.
For additional context, the image above shows that the chainrings can be removed by taking out the bolts (I removed one to show how it’s done). I also have friction shifters, so I’m thinking that removing the small chainring and adjusting the limit screw on the derailleur might be all I need.
Has anyone tried this before? I’m open to any feedback or suggestions!
by Joslaleb
10 Comments
You could certainly remove the small chainring, you will want to adjust your limit stops to ensure you don’t derail your chain.
You’re not going to save a ton of weight dropping the small chainring, and you should be able adjust a triple to shift nicely, especially if you’ve got friction shifters. Personally, I would keep the triple, but I live in the mountains.
Just go 1x
there is no reason to do this. you will lose a lot of drivetrain range for literally zero benefit. your front derailleur isn’t hard to adjust because it’s a triple; it’s hard to adjust because it is not a high-quality front derailleur. just keep what you have.
I don’t believe the small chainring can be removed in this case
Theres no point in removing the small ring if you don’t change out the chainrings because all it does is that you lose range. You either get rid of the FD or maybe go a wide range 2x. But if you keep the same outer and middle chainring, you still have to manage keep a FD. Just don’t use the small chainring.
The way to make a 3x front derialluer adjust easier is with a high quality derailleur and shifter. Like even shimano acera fits that bill. You cant really remove the small ring, its not enough weight. You lose a lot of effective range and will cross chain more often which is bad. And for it to be a 2x you need a different crank and bb since the 2x is closer to the frame and shell due to not having the smallest gear. Not worth it.
Is the small chainring riveted to the crankset?
I agree with others that there is no benefit. You also can’t articulate a valid reason to do this: Insignificant weight gain and “look cleaner” are irrelevant for a commuter. In fact the worse a commuter looks, the less chance it will get stolen.
You can probably remove the smallest chainring, but it might require some spacers to keep the chainline on the same place.
But best solution would be to keep the chainring and not just use it. Don’t shift down to the smallest chainring and you will have achieved the same thing.
yep. I reckon that would work. I did it before by removing the granny gear and setting the limit screws. It definitely wouldn’t cost you nothing. Good thing about yours is that you’ve got a friction shifter so shifting wouldn’t be an issue.
Don’t worry about gear range if you really don’t use the granny gear. If you’re mostly cruising and don’t have hills to climb, that would not be an issue.