Originally Posted by
Maelochs
Sorry. That is how I interpreted this statement:
I only commented on how 1x has totally dominated the new mtb market in the last 5 years.
Your argument appears to be that 1x was forced on us keen mountain bikers to increase profitability (I’m not sure how?), but I think the reality is that it’s simply a better solution for the vast majority of riders. If that wasn’t the case then there would have been a huge backlash by now and the mtb forums would be raging.
Of course there are guys like you still happily riding older generation mountain bikes with the 3x drivetrains they routinely came with. I did the same up until 2015. They do the job, but they have been superseded and chances are you will be pleasantly surprised how effective 1x is on a mountain bike. For other applications 2x and 3x might well be still preferable, but it’s a close call now.
As I keep saying, and as I think all of us agree when not debating .... 2x is great for many road applications, and 1x is great for many off-road applications, but there are situations and riders for which 3x is better in both applications.
That is pretty much my position ... and the fact that 3x gear is still manufactured and offered for sale make me think that Shimano thinks so too ... but what does Shimano know about the bike market, anyway? They don't even read and post on BF..
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Long story short I found a nice MTB with low miles for my uncle in Italy and it was from ~10 years ago with 2x drivetrain. Also rode some 2x gravel bikes on trails and the front derailleur is the mother of many problems. It attracts so much dirt and suffers from so many failures and overcomplicates the trail experience. Recently riding with a friend of mine who has a cheap Altus/Tourney junky groupset reminded me of such, hard to shift, always losing your chain. You don't need XTR but boy there's a lower limit in quality and 1x simplifies things by a huge margin. You do lose top end that's for sure but how often to you get to descend pedaling on asphalt at over 25mph on asphalt on a mountain bike?