Originally Posted by
alan s
On my relatively flat most recent trip, I went with 1x11. The chainring was 38 and the cassette 11-46. I used the lowest and highest gears frequently enough to justify the range. 21.5 to 89.8 gear inches. Really liked the 1x setup. For a more typical tour, I’d go with a wider range.
hey, I toured on this bike back in the 90s, with almost the same gear inch range, just about the same low and one gear higher than your 1x, and so I can see that this is a setup that would work well for all kinds of situations--and I suspect the jumps between gears are as good or better than my old 7spd setup with a 13-30.
That said, I'm still not really sold on the idea of 1x or even 2x, but just wanted to point out that your 1x setup is still a very useable setup, and comparing it to my old bike that I toured on and had a great time and was able to climb all kinds of hills, shows that your setup is still perfectly useable.
It will be interesting over time to see how chain life is with the diff 1x and 2x systems, 10 and 11 speed, and yes, cost of stuff to first put on a bike, and to replace chains, especially if there is a significant lower chain lifespan going on.
Ive used about 5000kms as a ruler ish for chain life for me, for the last many many years, thru the 7 to 9 eras.