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Old 05-05-16 | 02:38 PM
  #216  
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grolby
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From: BOSTON BABY
Originally Posted by American Euchre
1X systems are also being pushed on gravel, cyclocross and crit bikes, not just mtb's.

I'm actually looking forward to 1X systems with 13 speed cassettes. Something like 42x11-40 13 speed as I've alluded to before.
Yes, I'm well aware of that. 1X makes a hell of a lot of sense for cross, in fact. Dealing with two chainrings is a PITA when you're trying to focus on driving your bike with your heart rate over 180 for an hour. I'm still racing a double, but they're disappearing from cyclocross extremely rapidly.

13 speed really will be an inflection point, in my opinion - probably not to the point that all doubles are killed forever, but at that point 1X becomes truly feasible for road riding. For racers and fit club riders, anyway. A 50T chainring with a 13-speed 11-36 cassette gets you all the range of a 53-39 double with an 12-28 cassette, with similar spacing to what you get on an 11-speed 11-28 cassette. It's pushing things a bit, yes - the last four shifts on that cassette are 12-14%. But that's just acceptable, I think. And 14-speed would be the nail in the coffin. I guess it's possible climate change causes the collapse of global civilization and manufacturing technology before we get there, but otherwise it's basically a matter of time. You can do a crummy 1X road bike now. 12-speed will make it marginal-to-okay. Meaning a 1x12 can get the range of a 12-25 with a standard double, and still have acceptable spacing. And 12-speed is almost here. Which means 13 speed in, what? A decade, maybe?

Last edited by grolby; 05-05-16 at 02:43 PM.
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