topflightpro

Hello all,

I recently helped my brother in law in getting a circa 2010 Giant Reign to ride trails with his young boys. The FD didn't shift great, he started tinkering with it, and it soon became such a hassle, he yanked it off. Now he wants to convert it to a 1x9. I am trying to figure out the best way to do that.

Someone told him to just install a narrow-wide chainring, but he does not have a clutch RD. It's an old LX or X7, and my recollection is that without a clutch RD, you also need a chain keeper.

I was thinking of just adding a K-Edge chain keeper, setting up the chain in the middle ring, and leaving the big ring in place as the external guard (like a bash guard). Another option I was looking at was removing two of the rings and going with a Paul Components chain keeper?

What are your thoughts on these ideas? Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks,

Canker

You don't NEED to do any of that. Just ride it and deal with the chain falling off every so often. I rode a non-clutch 1x10 setup for a long time and it never happened often enough to bother me. Don't spend a bunch of money to band aid fix a 1x9 setup when for a few bucks more you can just upgrade to a 1x11 setup.
https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...gknb3mrcbijsk3

Kevin stafford

It should work just fine with a narrow/wide chainring on the front, if the crank is a 104mm bolt circle, there are several on Amazon that are cheap and work well. I have a 1x9 with an old non-clutch XTR RD, and a 1x10 with a non-clutch XT RD, never dropped a chain on either one.

c_m_shooter

You could install the old front derailer and use the endpoints to lock it in place.

xroadcharlie

He should have been able to leave the bike on one chainring even with a malfunctioning derailleur. If the chain is still falling off, Something else is wrong IMO. Perhaps the chain or chainring are worn or the rear derailleur is malfunctioning.

While adjusting the front derailleur isn't rocket science, It still requires skills many average people do not have. I would have had the local bike shop correct the problem if u-tube videos do not help. Front derailleurs are cheap, and if there are more defective parts, they can be replaced at the Same time.

dunrobin

He can get a narrow wide chainring and an 11-40 9 speed cassette at amazon fairly inexpensively. No chainkeeper required and rear derailleur should be fine for that range. 104bcd should be the required chainring spacing. Otherwise just buy a 30 tooth chainring and top speed might be compromised, but doable for kid cruising.

fietsbob

leave triple crank remove outermost & innermost chainrings and the remaining one is centered, just like a 1 by..

mack_turtle

most cost-effective solution: replace the chainrings with a single narrow-wide chainring of your size choice that fits the crankset. most people will use something between 30 and 34 teeth. shorten the chain by a bit. you can find generic chainrings pretty cheap online that work very well. ride it like that for a bit. narrow-wide rings do a pretty good job of preventing chain drop, but they are not perfect. if you still get dropped chains, look into a retention system like the ones you listed above.

if you keep the same cassette, the range will be limited. you may want a wider range cassette, but that is up to the rider. I usually ride single speed, but I tried a 1x10 for a little wheel. 32 front with a 11-36 in the back on 29x2.4 tires. I rarely used the 36t cog, so I don't have any use for a giant 42t cog. YMMV,

a clutch derailer can help prevent chain drop but I feel like the main advantage to them is that they stop most of the chain slap from the chain bouncing and rattling on the chainstay. if you get excessive chain slap and/or dropping, a clutch derailer is the next step. I am out of the loop, but are clutch derailers for 9-speed available from Shimano, or do you need to go 10 speed or more?

The other option is a Microshift Advent drivetrain, which is a relatively cheap system that would convert that bike to a 1x drivetrain with a clutch.

70sSanO

I love hacks. I've never done this one, maybe someday, so I have no idea if it works. But it is the same principle as any alternate cable routing in that it changes the actuation ratio, and gives you a clutch.


John

Kevin stafford

A good way to use a 10 speed Shimano clutch derailleur for a 9 speed cassette is to use it with a SRAM 9 speed shifter, I have this on one of my bikes running an 11-40 9 speed, shifts perfectly, no alterations to any parts required.