exmechanic89

A little backround: my rides are all older mtbs which I use mostly for street riding, but also on trails occasionally. And although my bikes arent exactly beaters, they're all older CL buys, so nothing rare or valuable. Lastly, I do my own work.

Anyway I've found I never use the middle and smallest front chain rings on any of them - never. While I do use the rear cassette quite a bit, I never find the need to drop into the smaller chainrings - even on the steepest climbs. So I'm thinking of scrapping the front derailleur, shifter, and chainrings altogether. Anyone here done that, and what route did you go?

Also can you buy single chainring cranksets that arent bmx related, cranksets that are made for exactly what I'm contemplating?

Anyway I'm open to suggestions. Thanks!

EllDC

Yes. Sram makes 1x11 groupsets for cyclocross and road use as well. OEM MTBs with a 1xX setup are also available, so depending on the components the bike already has, there should be options available.

DrIsotope

We set up my buddy's bike this exact way as a 1x10 with a mix of discontinued Saint and Zee stuff. No need to change the front ring at all if you don't feel the need for a different tooth count-- just get chainring bolts for a BMX/singlespeed, and ditch the other two gears. You can get no ramp/ no pin chainrings in 104 and 110bcd, but they usually stop around 46T. I had a Surly SS 42T single on my old Cannondale, great chainring.

hopwheels

I converted an older MTB, '93 Giant Sedona to 1x7. It had a Sugino crank with removable chainrings to begin with, so I simply got a 44T no ramps/pins chainring (110BCD) and ran it in the middle ring position with a BBG (bbgbashguard) bash guard. I left the rear gearing alone. Worked great mechanically, just wasn't the right solution for my abilities on the roads around here. The 44T chain ring was an eBay find.

fietsbob

If its a triple crank, move the 1 chainring sized like you want, to where the middle is and remove the other 2.

If just 1 I like Surly's Stainless steel chainrings . they're flat, so you can flip them over for 2x the wear-life.

( my 1 by are running an IGH in the back, to build them I use double cranks + disc chain/bash-guards)

with a cassette / derailleur the chainline centers lined up with the central cog

in the odd numbered count, or the space between the 2 in the middle if an even number

that is where the middle chainring of a triple crank should line up ..

Slash5

You will need to use a single speed chainring or a narrow wide chainring.
You will drop chains constantly if you try to use a normal chainring without a front derailleur.
Old chainrings might work if they are unramped and pinned but I would count on changing the chainring.

The chainring just goes in the middle position with either single speed chainring bolts or spacers on the bolts or a bash guard.

Coal Buster

As touched on by fietsbob, internally geared rear hubs are generally used with single gear front cranks. Stormy-Archer makes some sets to use with their hubs. I'd be surprised if other manufacturers of IGH's didn't provide the same.

Bat56

I've done this to a number of bikes. I use a chain catcher on the inside and a bash guard (aka rock ring) on the outside.

JonathanGennick 

This is the approach I'm using now. Single-speed ring sandwiched between an anti-drop device and a bash guard.

I have also sometimes used a guide like the MRP 1.x, and then no bashguard.

EllDC

With a setup like this, wouldn't "cross chaining" pose an issue?

Bradleykd

I've got my mountain bike setup with 1X.

I bought a RaceFace Narrow Wide chain ring (mine is 30 tooth) and just mounted it where the outer ring was with spacers. Mine was 2x from the factory, so you would mount it in the center spot without spacers needed.

If you use a narrow wide and still have dropped chains, you can go to a clutch RD to alleviate the problem. I haven't dropped a chain yet and I ride some pretty gnarly single track on it. Make sure you shorten the chain to the appropriate length.

mconlonx

I had a beater/lockup mtn bike with two chainrings. Then the FD broke off and I removed the shifter, too. Still has two chainrings, low and middle, which I can move by hand if need be, but for my uses, I pretty much only use the middle ring in a 1x8 setup.

JohnDThompson 

Not really. By mounting the single ring in the position where the middle chainring on a triple would sit you can minimize the angle at which the chain runs in the extreme positions. And mountain bikes, such as the OP proposes using, tend to have long chain stays, which also reduces the chain angle in the extreme positions. Use of a specifically designed single ring (e.g no ramps or pins, and full-height tooth profile) will help prevent accidental derailment.

Andrew R Stewart 

All my bikes are a functional single ring set up. The chain only rides on one ring at a time. Andy. trying to inject some non marketing humor here.

exmechanic89

Thanks for everyone's comments, definitely some ideas here I hadnt thought of or didnt realize were possible. I've always thought anything over 5-7 speeds on a bike is overkill, even the old 10 speeds had more gears than necessary if you're a resonably strong rider, imo. I think I'm definitely gonna do the conversion on at least one of my bikes, they all have 7 speed cassettes so it should work out well.

JanMM

I ran a '94 C-dale hybrid as a single-ring seven speed (and then 8-speed) for a number of years. The chain only jumped off once in a blue moon. Ran it it with a plain ring.

intransit1217

I love this thread !

T Stew

How about a road bike with a double crank and 10 or 11 speed rear? I rarely ever use the small ring up front, and the price of new groupsets had me wondering if I really needed the front derailleur and hassle of setting it all up (and perhaps skip upgrading the crank too, except for perhaps finding a fixie ring for it like mentioned above). For the bike I'm setting up for racing, thought it would shave a few ounces also, minus the FD, cabling/stops, and extra ring gear. Was just a thought.

alex jb

Similar set up here.
1 x 10, 44t non ramped ring up front with bash guard, 11-36 XT cassette.
Without a chain guide on a ramped ring, you will drop the chain, I tried.
My bike is a drop bar 29er, it's easy to mix MTB and road parts in 8/9/10 speed kit.

exmechanic89

Ask yourself how many gears you honestly ever use, if it's not many I wouldnt bother with a 10-11 speed rear. Just a bunch of 'granny' gears you're not likely to ever use, imo. I really believe the bike makers have been marketing all the extra gears pretty much after 10 speeds came out when they realized consumers equated more gears with faster. They just keep adding them on. Then after they ran out of room on the cog set due to wheel dish problems and space they invented the 'compact crankset'. What will be next - maybe a 4 chainring crankset, or switch the drive-side to the left? Time will tell..

alex jb

The range of a 2 x 10/11 set up now is such that a triple crankset is not needed, SRAM are pushing their 1 x 11 system with the same range as an older 2 x 10's.
7, 8, 9 or 10... The range can be similar depending on the cassette you choose, just less gears = bigger gaps.

T Stew

I use 6 or 7, depending on which bike, because that's all they got. I'd even be happy with just the 6 or 7 but they don't make brifters for them, for one thing. And if I am going to upgrade, I don't see a big advantage on limiting myself to older and probably used 8 or 9 speed stuff. Heck a lot of those parts used on ebay seem to go for almost as much or more than brand new 10 & 11 speed parts brand new from Ribble.

And if limiting myself to just 1 ring up front, those extra 'granny gears' in the back are certainly going to be used!

I really don't care about having 10 or 11 though, but I'd like to put something on the bike that will last me for a long time (not something used that's half or more through its life). I also have never messed with bike parts before, I didn't know what a stem or a bottom bracket was until the last year. So thought buying a whole groupset would save a lot of hassle (and they are only 10 & 11 speed) also for something that would last for a long time and not need constant fiddling and adjustment I was even thinking about electronic Di2, which is only in 11 speed. I think I know enough to piece something together now, and on at least one bike I'd like to do a more budget build, which was why i was wondering if I could upgrade the rear end & shifters, but keep the same crank and not even bother with FD, both to save money, weight, and hassle of setup and adjustments.

I wonder if I could find one of the fixie front rings for my old Suntour crank? When I have asked before about using my old 7 speed crankset from my Prologue it was mentioned the big issue is with the thinner 10 & 11 sp chains falling inbetween them. That wouldn't happen if I never shift it right, so long as I could find one of those fixie front rings which I have no idea if they were ever made for Suntour Sprint.

That's pretty neat concept, and it would certainly be able to give me more usable range with only 1 gear up front compared to my vintage 2x6 and 2x7's. But I don't see this 1x11 available on any place I've looked like ribble, wiggle, etc...

Papa Tom

I've thought about streamlining my 1996 GT Outpost this way for some time now, but I can't figure out what the advantages might be. In the end, I always convince myself to save my money, forget that the other two chain rings are there, and just use the rear seven gears.

Is the weight savings that substantial? Also, I like the idea of eliminating as many potential "failure points" as possible, but if I never touch the front gears, what can go wrong with them?

T Stew

For me, it would be saving money (and time) in my upgrade not to have to buy a FD (and possibly crankset, minus a new ring gear) since I am upgrading the drivetrain. if you already have it installed and your happy with it, I see no big reason to change.

Weight savings is pretty small, probably insignificant for most. But being that its going to be my tri bike, any little weight savings is more important. Though if I need to run a chain catcher and a bash guard, sounds like that might even negate the weight savings. I have no idea what those are though, will have to look into it. Was hoping to use just a single speed chainring with nothing else.

There is another small reason this mod might benefit me, but probably doesn't pertain to anyone else reading this... I ride barefoot. I intentionally leave the chain on the big chainring so the teeth are not exposed should my foot slip into it. Though on my Prologue with 53t chainring and 13-23 cassette there have been maybe 3 or 4 times this year on a steep hill I went down into the lower ring. Hoping to widen my range up with a 10 speed cassette on that bike, perhaps like said above with even more range with 1 chainring than I currently have with 2...

exmechanic89

The weight savings would be pretty minimal, realistically. For me I just want to remove something I never use, plus I like the cleaner look. I set up my Trek 950 today this way - removed the front derailleur entirely. I'm ordering some single size chain ring bolts tonight so I can remove the two extra gears, and then mount the large chainring in the middle spot as suggested by other posters. Next is dumping the grip shifters for a single thumbshifter for the rear.