Originally Posted by
El Gato27
I recently converted an older Sirrus to 1X8. I’ve taken it out about 5 times and really like the setup. One issue I have is the front derailleur has chain rub when I’m in the highest gear. The chain would either rub in the lowest gear or the highest gear so I chose the highest gear as I’m more often in the lowest gear compared to time spent in the highest gear.
I would like to remove the front derailleur but I’ve read that it will help prevent chain drop. Have not had any chain drop issues, but I only have about 80-90 miles to refer to.
Has anyone done a similar conversion and removed the front derailleur? Any issues?
Thanks
If you remember one of the Tours years back, David Millar ran his TT bike without an FD for the weight savings, and ended up shipping the chain and losing significant time. Dedicated 1X chainrings usually have taller teeth, as there's no need to facilitate shifting the chain off the chainring, as with doubles and triples. 1X RDs also have clutches to minimize the chain bouncing around, which can also result in chain drop. Are all these necessary? Maybe, or it's possible that the manufacturers had to come up with "1X-necessary" components, otherwise where would be the profit in promoting 1X if we could all switch using our old 2-3X gear? So, running a home-made 1X setup doesn't mean that you'll always drop the chain, but it's more likely to happen than with a purpose-built 1X setup. Question is - will it happen sufficiently frequently to warrant keeping a non-functional FD in place? Speaking for myself, the dud FD would drive me nuts - I'd lose it and do the experiment.