A few weeks ago the discussion on compact gearing convinced me to build up a 1x10 commuter. Someone in that thread said he'd show his if I showed mine, so here it is.

















2013 Kona Jake the Snake
Gevenalle GX long pull levers
Avid SD7 V-brakes
Deore Shadow Plus rear derailleur
Race Face Cadence crank with 40T narrow-wide chainring
11-36 SRAM PC-1070 cassette
Freedom Expanse rims with 105 hubs
700x25 Conti Grand Prix 4000S tires (which are really wide on these rims!)

So what about the rest of you? Let's see what you've got.

Here's my 1x3 I don't usually use it to commute from home to work, but do use it to go from work to the coffee shop, super market, lunch, etc. I have used it to do the full distance before, though.

Sweet! Only two bikes in and we're already showing the variety of commuter bikes!

I was thinking non-IGH, but obviously there is more than one way to get 1xN.

I haven't drunk the 1x Kool-Aid yet, but a 30-97" range with no duplicates or jumps larger than 17% is pretty impressive. Nice bikes, too.

I want to convert my 29er into a 1x ...but haven't started doing anything with it yet.

How do you like it?

Not that you necessarily need to replace everything, but in mountain biking I saw that SRAM and Shimano (playing catchup) have started releasing their own specific 1x11 groupsets.

SRAM started with their SRAM One which is incredibly expensive but was just the start. These are the ones that are available or officially announced and we're just waiting for availability:

SRAM Gx 1x11 - $564 (midrange)
Shimano XT M8000 1x11 - $424 (midrange)

Sram Nx 1x11 - $310 (lower end)
Shimano SLX 1x11 - (similar price, lower end)

Of course I found this out immediately after...my bike shop ordered a bunch of parts to replace broken parts on a family members bike with 8 speed stuff. :-/

Orange bikes rock. I love my 1x11. 34 front, 11-40 rear.

Specialized Tricross. 12-25 with 42 tooth Wolf front ring. Use this bike in the winter.

So far, so good. I used every gear today, but I didn't spin out the high gear and the low gear got me up my steepest hill. I can definitely feel when I'm in one of the 17% gaps, but it's not too bad.

I love the Gevenalle shifting. I've used it for years on my CX race bike, but this is the first time I've had it on a commuter. It works just as well as I had hoped it would.

As a life long Orioles fan, I've got a soft spot for orange and black.

That's quite a low gear you've got there. I like the look of those Aileron rims.

1x? Easy.

Here is my 1x14 commuter/travel horse. It's a little bit on the heavy side, but very low maintenance. I love that machine.

Raleigh Roper. 1x9, 42 x 12-26. Tight gaps and all the range I need. I easily make it up any of my climbs, and regularly pedal over 30 mph down hill without even hitting top gear. Unless I'm riding in some mountains, I'll never bother with more than a single chainring again.

Yes, orange bikes rock!

Mines a 1xX where X is infinitely variable (DaVinci N360). I've gotten so I almost dislike anything that's not variable now.

1x's are nothing new. Here's a 1974 model that I found in the trash. 1x5

That's pretty cool. It's amazing how a polished silver finish can make even a dork disk look nice.

Nice thread.

One of my options for N+1 is Volagi Viaje 1x10 in cream, but that would be a couple years down the road yet. (I'm trying to wear out my Surly CrossCheck first!)

That's an interesting parts mix -- very functional across the board. SRAM is really pushing their 1x11 stuff, but for many uses it seems like overkill. I've got a Shadow Plus derailleur on my bike, but only because I got it really cheap at an LBS warehouse sale. I don't need the clutch function and I had to add an inline barrel adjuster (which my frame makes challenging).

Good luck wearing out the Cross Check. I suggest a sledge hammer.

Yeah I know. I'm actually hoping to send the CC off to college with my son in a few years. But I think I'll have trouble convincing him to take that rather than the road bike which he likes more.

I might want to just buy a frameset and build up, it's more fun that way, although it would certainly end up more expensive. $1195 for frameset, and no third-party-seller market to look for better deals. But I would want to change a few things anyways, like Gevenalle shifter levers, maybe hydraulic brakes, a nice ultrawide cassette that goes to 40 or 42...

I've already changed some things since I took this photo, but I got a Trek 950 on Craigslist for $35. I didn't really use any of the original parts; built it up with stuff I already had.

In this photo, the 44T ring works fine in the center position and gives me good gearing with a 12-23 8-speed cassette, but has chain drop issues to the outside. The derailleur in the photo is a dummy, acting as a chain guide.

I've changed stems since this photo and it feels exactly like my road bikes.

Your chain looks way too long and there doesn't seem to be enough tension.

The rear derailleur also appears to be a long cage version where you could get by with a short cage. To prevent chain drop you could add a narrow-wide chain ring which should help.

Yes, the chain was at full length in this photo. I waited to remove links as I felt things out. The rear derailleur is an old SunTour XC Pro medium cage.

I'll look into the narrow-wide chain ring; I'm unfamiliar with that.

I like the mirror on one bar end and the shifter on the other. I have a bar end mirror on most of my bikes and it's something I miss on the Long Haul Trucker, which has bar end shifters. For some reason I never thought of this as one of the problems a 1x setup could solve.

After messing with a number of gearing options, I think I've finally settled on something. I went back to the original 3-piece crank and a 38T ring, and put together an 11-19 cassette with 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19. Zero chain drop issues in any direction.

I put the old long cage derailleur back on before I start chopping up chain.