Originally Posted by
RiddleOfSteel
I was going to say, I've seen plenty of 1x stuff on cruisers, hybrids, cheap bikes, and Dutch bikes. Many bikes have them. Conversions of road bikes from 2x systems to 1x with that number of cogs on the back? Impractical depending on location and desired speed range and riding style, or practical due to location, speed, and riding style. You won't see it from me, personally, as they are incongruous with our extremely varied terrain, road and path system, my personal riding style and goals, and the fact that operating a front derailleur is of no consequence, thus the ease of access to a wider range of gearing is greatly beneficial. A 1x system that covers the desired low and high end of my speed range looks ungainly at best. If I went to an upright position with swept-back bars, then yeah, a 1x or similar system would be swell, and would complete a classy looking bike. But as a drop bar road bike, 1x is not on the table.
The paradox is that those who go to the trouble and expense of converting a two- or three-chainring bike to 1X do so because they used the front derailleur often enough to tire of it, which means that the multiple-chainring setup was demonstrably useful for them.
I can understand that point of view (i.e., that front derailleurs are useful but not useful enough to outweigh what's annoying about them), but my recently acquired mid-1990s Cannondale H300 hybrid has eliminated any similar urge for simplification for me. It's the first bike I've owned that has a half-step-plus-granny chainring arrangement, and I'm reminded of how delightful that combination is every single time I shift between the large and middle chainrings. A perfect shift every time, and a "How did it know that that's exactly the gear I needed?" experience every time.