Originally Posted by
70sSanO
For most situations a 1x is an improvement over 2x and 3x drivetrains. Even more so with 10,11 and 12 speeds cassettes that have made the need for multi-chainring obsolete.
1x is an improvement over 2x mostly for beginners and bouncy conditions. 2x is needed for close ratios, even with 11 or 12-speed drive trains, which largely eliminate the need for 3x.
Originally Posted by
70sSanO
The one objection I find hard to believe is the inability of a beginner to be able to shift between chainrings.
Forty, 50, and 60+ years ago beginners, as in teenagers/young adults, were able to negotiate multiple chainrings with flat rings and downtube friction shifters.
Somewhat modern, as in the last 25 years, ramped and pinned chainrings with STI type shifters have made FD shifting pretty effortless.
People these days are just not as mechanically inclined as back in the day. It is not their inability to shift the chain between the two chain rings, but how to match revs by shifting the RD nearly simultaneously.
Originally Posted by
70sSanO
But with wide range double digit cassette cogs, they are truly no longer needed and a multi-chainring crankset is a solution looking for a problem.
No, I am a weakling with a narrow powerband who needs 2x to maximize what meager power I can make.