Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
Some people do not worry about wear or chain life, etc. To them simplicity in operation is the deciding factor. A 1X system has one shifter, you sequentially shift up and down without having to think about which shifter to use or how to avoid cross chaining.
I am not one of those people.
That said, I have a Rohloff touring bike and two derailleur touring bikes. Four years ago when I came home after a five week tour on my Rohloff bike with it's sequential shifter for all 14 gears, it took me several long rides on a derailleur bike with a triple to get used to thinking about using two shifters and how to avoid cross chaining again. That takes a bit more mental effort that I am happy to do myself, but some would prefer to avoid that.
People that do not care about wear or lifespan of components do not need to think about cross chaining. To them every possible gear is there to be used. And those people may be happiest with a sequential shifter, provided it gives them the range of gears that they desire.
And I think one thing we can all agree on, most bicyclists that tour on a bike do not replace chains and cassettes themselves, they hire a bike shop for that kind of maintenance. And many of those people are the same people that would prefer a single sequential shifter. Until they find out how much a new cassette and chain costs, when a mechanic replaces them, at which time they wish they had a 2X or 3X system.
Thank you for the link on 1X vs 2X or 3X systems.
People that I have spoken out in the real world while I was touring and bike camping, we would get together at camp grounds to pick each other brains, and they are all against 1x setups, some were even against the belt drive system due to more complication for repairing flats, but after I taught them how to fix a flat without having to take off the wheel they were a bit more at ease. You would be surprise as to what you learn talking with others, I learned a lot by doing that over the years. Even on forums, which can be questionable because I get the feeling that some people in forums are fakes, but I digress, you will get a larger response in favor of 3x, or belt, but even with belt they say you are limited to gears.
Also, something I failed to mention in my earlier comments, is that if a person is young, strong, no joint issues, a 1x could work, thinking back when I was first racing all we had was 10 speed systems and we climbed mountains using corncob gearing!! I wouldn't dream of doing that now that I'm 70 even on a unloaded bike! Also some people have joint issues and they need a lot of gears with very low ratios. It's easier to climb stairs one step at a time vs two steps at a time.
Keep in mind that touring on 1x vs 2x or 3 could also depend on the terrain, if you know all you have to deal with is flat land and rolling hills then you could be fine, but if someday you want to go beyond that area where you might encounter steep grades and mountains, then your bike should be ready to handle that now instead of later having to buy another bike to do it because you failed to plan ahead, or cancel doing such a trip because you didn't plan for such an event...unless you're independently wealthy and buying another bike is a non issue.