I can't speak for others, but I only switched to a 1x8 after I noticed I'm entirely OK with my 3-speed Brompton for commuting purposes. I rarely spin out my 35x11 (Cat 6 racing, yay!) and I've not met a hill I can't climb with my 35x32, even with a sometimes heavy load (20 pounds of Lychees, laptop, files, clothes, plus, plus) on a fairly heavy commuter.
But why even change? In the spirit that a utility bike should require as little maintenance as possible; there's something about optimizing a setup that appeals to me. And for fun! What good is it if it's not fun? :) For what it's worth, my other bikes all have at least doubles and more are slowly getting triples with 26T grannies as I slowly accept the fact that I'm not nearly as strong as I used to be. On Monday, June 16, 2014 7:26:25 AM UTC-7, Montclair BobbyB wrote: > > I don't quite understand what to me seems like a growing aversion to the > front derailleur. Virtually all of my mountain biking friends (except me) > seem to be switching to 1x10, swearing it's the greatest innovation > since... well since the front derailleur (hah!). If simplicity is what you > seek, then fine... run a basic drive train, whether single speed, or a 1 by > whatever . But I seem to be hearing of more people trying to "get along > *without* a front derailleur" as if it's like giving up gluten or dairy > (simply because they're hearing from others there may be benefit to it). > Is this more fashion than function? Are we being lulled by the industry > into swapping out our 2x and 3x in favor of a whole new generation of 1x > drivetrains? I'm not into conspiracy theories, but this one (to me) > doesn't resonate with the logical side of my brain (I must be getting old > or just plain grouchy, I don't know...). > > The front derailleur serves a very deliberate (and valuable) purpose: It > enables the use of double and triple chainrings, which in turn enables a > wider gear range, AND better chain alignment. So what's the downside of > that? Dropped chains? Poorly trimmed chain / derailleur rub? These can be > caused by several factors, but the front derailleur itself is not one of > them. > > I have bikes without front derailleurs (by design), and I love them as > much as any bike. But I especially love the versatility and gear range I > get from my front-derailleured bikes... Personally... I will be a FD-lover > FOR LIFE! > > Peace, > BB > > On Monday, June 16, 2014 10:03:44 AM UTC-4, Tony DeFilippo wrote: >> >> "Chain is probably too long, but am too lazy to fix it" - D'oh, thats >> the sound of my hand smacking my forehead...I never adjusted my chain >> length when I made the change... chain falling off = chain to loose. >> Thanks Eric! I'm going to give this a try this evening. I did make it >> into work with no chain issue though. >> >> Patrick - Thank you for the links, the n-gear 'what-is' page in >> particular makes alot of sense. >> >> Chris, Benz, Matthew - Looks like I'm in good company with you all in >> your use of 1xN for general commuting! Either that N Stop or the third eye >> is probably in my future. I think I'm sold on the 1xN setup for myself. >> In fact I like it so much I may be going the same route on my wife's city >> bike as well, she never uses the front shifter anyway but it does sometimes >> get bumped. >> >> I'll provide some pictures when I get my setup settled out. Thanks >> everyone! >> >> >> >> >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
