Converting to 1x9...
 

I want to take off the front derailleur on my Double Cross. Is there anything I should know before doing this? Like, will my chain fall off while shifting or something? LOL

I've seen people do similar setups, but some have gizmos where the derailleur's supposed to be that appear to be holding the chain on. Are these necessary? I'd need a more track-like chainring too, right? Just thought I'd run this past you guys before experimenting on my bike....


Thanks

If it was my bike, I'd definitely experiment. What fun is it to take orders from somebody else? Since you think that's what you want, I'd try the 1 X 9 with no derailleur or chain guide and see what happens.

If that doesn't work, I'd reinstall the derailleur without a shifter and dial in both limit screws to center the cage over the single front chainring.

My question is: What do you hope to gain by removing the front derailleur and extra chainrings?

My buddy runs a 1x9 without a bashguard or anything, he said the trick is getting the chain line to center on the middle of the cassette.. hope that helped.

triple chainring setup leave the middle one, then the chainline is centered.

On a double , the chainline is between them, so will be skewed off to either side.
unless you change the BB axle length by that much..


single ring Cross race bikes are done..
42t often.. chainguard disc intead of the outer,
and a chain-minder/ jump-stop around the seat tube
to keep it from coming off onthe inside

A track or other flat profile chainring, i.e. without the pins, ramps and shaped teeth designed to aid shifting, will make the chain less likely to spill. Surly make them in stainless steel in a variety of bolt circle diameters.

However, +1 to RG's question. What's the benefit of doing this?

Benefits: cleaner look; lighter weight; simplification.

In all the years I've had the bike, I don't think I've ever used the biggest chainring. After 9 years, it looks like I just bought it. I've maybe used the granny gear 10 times.

Rest of drivetrain's getting worn out, so I've been brainstorming what to upgrade it to. Maybe I should just go double up front with a narrower range including my current center-ring size....

MOAR GEARS! get a triple.

He just said he has a triple, and never uses the outer rings. :p

Depending upon your riding-style and terrain, you may add an unknown amount of frustration to the list. There's a rhythmic oscillation wave in the chain when you pedal. With the looseness introduced by a derailleur pulley, this wave is larger than in a fixed-gear configuration. Get the variables just right, speed, pedal-pressure, RPM, road-bumps, etc. and that wave will coincide with auto-shifting off the front chainring. You'll need to either keep the front-derailleur on there without the shifter & cable, or use a chain-guard/chain-guide of some sort.

Here is a Kit .. http://www.cyclocrossworld.com/thorn...-chainring-kit

if the littlebit of extra weight does not matter, Surly's Stainless steel chainrings are quite nice..

and being flat , you can flip them over and double the wear-life.