Originally Posted by
gsa103
The problem is those non-standard configurations greatly exceed Shimano spec's. A 9-speed Shimano Deore LG has a wrap capacity of 45t, which is basically maxed out by the 50/39/30+11-34 cassette. If you go to a 24t front, you're unable to use the smaller half of the cassette while in the granny gear. That's fine, but hardly a system suitable for the average rider. I personally rode a bike like that for a while, it was incredibly frustrating, because I was continually running out of gears while in the granny, and since it was a mountain biking, shifting the front wasn't an option due to load. I gave up, replaced the large ring with a bash guard and haven't looked back.
Shimano's specifications on their equipment is
very conservative. I have run a 50/39/24 with a 11-34 cassette with a 9 speed mountain bike derailer and it works just fine. The chain can be made so that it isn't slack in the higher cassette gears and still work in the 50/34 combination. The chain will be tight but not tight enough to cause break anything.
On the other hand, there is really no need to ride in any of the gears below the 21 or 19 because those gears are duplicated else where. I tend to use the inner ring only on the lower gears of the cassette in
any situation. By the time I would need the higher gears on the low range, I'm already moving fast enough that I want to shift up anyway.
If you were having problems doing an upshift on a mountain bike...or any bike for that matter...under load, there is something wrong with the mechanism. Downshifts can be tricky under load because you are depending on the spring in the derailer to knock the chain off and it may not be strong enough. But on upshifts, you are using the cable to drag the chain up and can put a whole lot more force on the system. That's actually one of the failings of the way front derailers are designed. They
should use the cable to drag the chain off the higher gears into the lower ones. Suntour did this long ago and the downshifts were far easier but the mechanism never caught on.
Originally Posted by
gsa103
I agree than 1x systems are limited, for example, the local hills are too steep for me to handle with a 1x mountain bike. At the same time, the wide range cassettes have really eliminated the need for triples, which basically just add a gear in the middle.
No, the
need for a triple has been eliminated. Shimano and Sram are eliminating the triple because they aim everything towards racing and young strong riders. Not everyone is young nor strong nor a racer. "Normal" people can certainly still use and may even want more than a 1x system because often hills are too steep for a 1x or even 2x system. There is certainly a market out there for lower gearing system that offer much wider ranges than what is currently being offered.