Hi I use my 29er commuting and fitness mainly on cycle paths and some roads on steep hills 3x10 42t large ring 32t middle ring at front never use grany.

My new bike 29er I'm getting soon has 2x11 set up 36t 26t I'm concerned I'm going to miss the larger chainring? Which I found I used a lot on my old bike but did try just leave in middle ring 32t recently and seemed ok for my short ride could done with extra gear down hill but the 2x11 will have 36t so thinking it be fine for my needs.

Anyone comute on 29er with just 36t up front?

Also I don't see the need for the 26t ring would it be good idea to change to 1x11 for cleaner look? I really like this idea but is it daft idea for commuting




Any advice be appreciated

Play with an online bicycle gear calculator (this is my favorite). Click 'compare two setups', and put your current bike into one (or probably your current bike as a double with no granny, since that's how you use it) and play around with gearing on a second bike until you get a range/spread you like. I bet you could do very well on a 1x, if you are currently not using your granny at all. They make very wide cassettes now, up to SRAM Eagle 10-50 (but that takes a special derailleur). It should not be hard to slap on a 10 or 11-speed 11-40.

I commute with my 1x11 which is 32 up front and 11-36 in back (11-42 with my snow wheels). With large tires the 11 is plenty of gear inches for me, probably close to 90 inches.

My 29er is 1X10 and I love it.


As suggested, play with the calculator, then give it a try if you can find gears that work.

Looks like should be fine thanks for reply.

Just need find out out if can use the crank that comes with new bike will fit 1 chainring or have buy new crank

Crank is Shimano FC-MT700 not lot info on it will it take single chain ring?

If you go over 30mph you'll probably miss them. For instance, on rolling hills I like to build up speed at the end of one downhill to get some momentum to help get up the next hill. It depends on your route, but in some cases you can really make use of high gears even when you're not in a high performance mode.

Off road high gears aren't used much, so mountain bikes often don't have them, but on pavement it's a different story.

There are 38-28 cranksets available for MTB doubles. 38/11 is a 93" to 100" top gear depending on your tire. When I had a 48-38-28 triple, I didn't use the top ring much at all.