Originally Posted by Rowan
Not in my experience. I think you will find many riders use their centre ring on triples the most, and range between the biggest and smallest rear cogs without a care in the world. Cross-chaining occurs primarily going from the little-to-little and big-to-big, plus one or two cogs either side. Chainline is the critical measure to using a 1x9 satisfactorily.
i run a 1x9 and i agree. my big cog is a little noisy because i spaced the BB out 2mm on the driveside so my 36-tooth ring had a little more clearance (my mtb frame was designed for 34-tooth max, i figure).
still, i shift across all nine cogs with no problem.
ed rader