1x9 freewheel suggestions
 

Loving my new bike, hate the cassette . 45-11 is just too wide for my type of riding. Basically flat country roads with some gravel. I’m thinking more of a 40-15 but what are you guys running and how do you like the setup?

I think you’ll have trouble finding a 15-40 9s cassette. It’s possible that you could buy two 9s cassettes and mix/match the cogs to get the gears you want, but this might require a bit of digging to find two cassettes that (1) have individual, loose cogs, not one or more “clusters” that are permanently attached and (2) have the right combination of cogs to get the gears you want. I have done this with 8s when I build an 11-18 cassette for my trainer…pretty sure I found literally the only two Sunrace cassettes that would make it work…but it did!

Downside (which I’m about to run into now) is that each time you replace a cassette you are now buying two cassettes. What size chainring(s) and what crankset are you running? If you can downsize the chainrings, you might be able to get a similar range out of a more common 11-32 or 12-36 9s cassette. If you have a double or triple, you might not even need to do that if you are willing to spend more time in the next smaller ring.

I know it’s a highly individual thing, but since you asked about what gearing we are running: On my main bike I have a 50/34 double paired with an 11-36 cassette (11s). I could actually be fine with wider spacing…so much so that If I had to buy a new crankset today, I’d probably opt for 1x and an 11-42 or 11-46 cassette.

42t chainring

You can run a smaller chainring. Since you're asking, my gravel setups are 30/46 x 11-34 and 28/38 x 11-34

42x15-40 covers a very similar range to 34x11-32 or 11-34…not identical, but in the same ballpark. Both 11-32 & 11-34 cassettes are fairly common. Depending on the bolt pattern on your 1x crank (and frame clearances) there is a chance you can find a 34t ring that will fit.

I run a 42T or 40T with an 11-32 for "basically flat country roads with some gravel". I have 1x11, but the same principal would apply to 9 speed. I have no idea what kind of cassette sizes you can get for 9 speeds these days, so that is probably your limiting factor.

I'm kinda confused on the issue.

A 42t ring with 11-45 cassette is what you currently have and you want to move to a 15-40 cassette?
If that's correct, you are looking to reduce both the low and high gearing. So you don't use the first few small cogs or the last couple large cogs?


If that's correct, then wheelsmcgee ha a solid suggestion- get a smaller ring and smaller overall cassette range.
compare gear inch options on a website and go from there.

That's how I understand it. Maybe just using a few gears in the middle and not the largest or smallest. A wide range 9 speed cassette has big jumps between gears. It would be annoying on flat road riding where you're only in a few middle gears to deal with that.

A narrower range cassette solves this problem. Given that the OP is riding in the middle of their current cassette with a 42T chainring, I'm not sure what problem a smaller chainring solves. If the OP is really on flat roads only, a 42x32 is likely more than enough for any minimal climbs they encounter. A smaller chainring would just move everything down to the smaller cogs and limit top-end. For flat road riding, I'd rather have extra gears on the high-speed end vs low speed.

My biggest complaint is the big jumps in gears. I’m mainly on the 22t and one shift up or down is not a very smooth transition.

Shimano's 12-36 is one of the best for minimal gaps. I run mine with a 45t for 1x9 or 48x45 for a great half step.

I run my 1x9 with sora groupset. My set is particular as its 11-34x45 but of 20” wheel so on 700, it is equivalent to 11-34x32T which is plenty enough with the child carrier ;)

but, when comparing the gearing with 45T it s the same as my gravel 11x1 10-42x38T minus the hardest and easiest gears (if i put a 43 or 44, i loose the 2 hardest gears) so as I dont use them much is not an issue.

either way, you may want to create a XL sheet with gearing comparisons to see how usual 11x1 are then look at what 9sp cassettes is available to you and derailleur and set the chainring accordingly.

i personally prefer loosing 2 hard gears rather than having big gaps between gears.

Good point. A smaller chain ring will bring you into the smaller cogs on the cassette, and that should give you smaller gear jumps. After you do that, you can get a tighter spaced cassette if you don't need the low gears.

Yes and the CS-HG201-9 11-32 as well. Very similar gear jumps, but it has to be the HG201. Id get a smaller chain ring tho, no matter if its the 11-32 or the 12-36.

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