Gearing, inflation?
 

Just wondering what MTB gearing most of you use?
Seems like most MTBs, with 1X12, gearing are geared really low.
I was also wondering how many still take along a pump and don't rely entirely on CO2?

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not a mountain biker, so I can't speak to your questions. However, I do know enough to suggest that those two discussions might have been better discussed in separate threads. Also, your title suggested (to me) that you felt actual gear ratios were inflated.

I definitely carry a hand pump. I would never rely on CO2 or some electric inflation gimmick. A CO2 gives you one inflation and if you screw up you're going to waste it and have to walk, a hand pump gives you thousands of inflations. Same goes for these new electric pumps. Forget to charge your battery or your battery goes flat and you're going to be walking. It's not hard to use a hand pump.

1x12 with a 28t chainring here. I love being able to recover while climbing slowly, but stronger riders sometimes make fun of my gearing.

BTW I like 1x12 so much that I eventually converted my gravel and road bikes (albeit with bigger chainrings).

1x11 30t with an 11-46 cassette at the back. It is Shimano XT (with some SLX). I usually carry a pump and C02 in case I need to get out quick or there is some other issue.

Interesting observations. Noted.

When I put together my gravel bike I went with 1X12 gearing before 1X12 was common on gravel bikes. All my bikes are 1X12 now.

What prompted my question was getting on my new MTB for the first time and thinking the chain must have fallen off. I was spinning like mad and not getting anywhere, I almost fell over, and it wasn't even in the lowest gear. There is a minimum speed that I can still maintain control and, at some point, the gearing gets so low that I can't pedal fast enough to maintain that minimum speed.

Me thinks you exaggerate a bit given

What kind of elevation are you riding?! It sounds like your chainring is much too small. Easily changed. why not just match the gearing ratio on your gravel bikes with a larger chainring.It is easy to compare with https://www.gear-calculator.com

I did the opposite... since I have some steep climbs on my MTB rides. So, I went from 32t to 30t with 10-50t. and can make the climbs I want these days.

Depends on the bike for me...my enduro bike is heavier, I'm not racing it, and I'm riding steep terrain at high elevation on it, so 30t paired to a 10-50.

My XC bike is currently running a 34x10-50...if/when I go to Sram Transmission on that bike, it will have to run a 10x52 cassette, so I'm even thinking about going to a 36t chainring in that case.

Actually, the video is a good demonstration of what I'm talking about. The 32X51 low gear, on my new full suspension MTB, is so low I have a hard time pedaling fast enough to keep upright. If I was on a hill so steep that I needed that a gear that low I'd just get off and push.
But that's me. I wanted to know about you.

I don't know where you ride... or how big of a rider you are... or how strong...

My bike came with a 12x w/30x51 and I flat love it. Trails around me typically have short punchy climbs, 10-20%+, with a few slightly longer 10-15% climbs of 150' elevation gain or so. Constant up/down, just about zero flat conditions - the extra gear range is awesome.

I ride 28 X 10 - 51 for socal trails which can be super steep and long at times (for me; I'm old and won't HAB unless forced to). I take two (electric and manual) pumps.

The most extreme MTB gearing was set in the 8-9 speed era when bikes had 5:1 or even 6:1 range from the top to bottom gear. Although this was "27 speed" it was really effectively 14 speed with 13 overlaps and cross-chains. 10 speeds were often doubles so they didn't really get any more range.

When we started doing 1x for many good reasons, the range of the 42 tooth cassette alone with no front shifter was 4.2:1 with an xD driver or 3.9 with an HG. We tolerated this by deleting the lowest and the two highest speeds. We missed the lowest gear, which led to 12 speeds, which is where we've been for quite a while now. There are a few 13 speed systems but I don't think anyone is whining for more than 12, like they did loudly at 11

I'm 72 and have had more than my share of surgeries, injuries and health issues. Some affecting my cycling abilities, like the open heart surgery.
At 6'1" (used to be 6'2") and 195 lbs. I'm, at least, 10 heavier than I'd like to be.
I'd say my cardio is compromised more than my muscle strength, though both aren't what they were when I was 25.
Lately, I've been trying to work out whether I'm better off working on my leg strength and pushing a bigger gear or working on my cardio and learning to spin a smaller gear.
Either way, I'm not sure I want to do or am capable of, a cadence much over 110.
Just wondering if that's weird.

Some common sense solutions:

• If you have a hard time pedaling fast enough in a low gear you switch to a higher gear.
• Don't pedal in a low gear when going downhill.
• A steep hill is exactly why you have that low gear...so you don't have to get off and push.

Mr RR, I'm in a somewhat similar situation and I think that the cardio component is the one that would be best (for me and I suspect for you) to improve. I think the strength will improve to a suitable level as the cardio is optimized. Just don't "over train" IMO.

You're joking, right? Or you've missed the point.
I've been riding since 1960 and started riding with clubs in 1973, so I think I have a pretty good understanding of how gearing works.
I'm pretty sure I don't have a first generation Stumpjumper, since the fork crown is wrong, but I think I could have a second generation. I'm now on my fourth hardtail and my first full suspension. I've lost track of how many road bikes, gravel bikes, hybrids, etc., I've gone through, but do know I have four custom steel frames, starting with an REW Reynolds back in the mid seventies.
I've been around the block more than once.

I'm not sure you do since nobody else is having trouble with 1x12 gearing on a mountain bike.

I have three mountain bikes with 1x12 and even lower gearing...28 x 52 or 30 x 52 depending on which one I grab. I've never experienced this and neither has anyone else I've known.

I have a 1x11 mountain bike and I have nothing but trouble I have other bikes with 1x12, 1x13 and 1x14 but no mountain bikes in 1x12 and I am missing out and what if that has been holding me back the entire time. That 11 speed XT is so dated it should be on 26" :50:

I have never really had pedaling problems.

I'm not having trouble with 1X12 gearing. I love 1X12 gearing. I like it so much I even have it on my main road ride.
What I'm asking, and you don't seem to understand, is if others find that a 32X51 low gear, or any similarly low gear, is too low to be of use..
I find that, in order to maintain sufficient forward speed, I have to pedal faster than I care to or am capable of. There is a useable lower gear limit for just about everyone. For some, it might be 22X51. For me, it's something more than that.

Given how long you've been riding, you must realize that one of the advantages of 1x12 is the ease with which the chainring can be replaced. Why not install one with, e.g., 38 or 42 teeth?

Let me take a different tack, since at least one person seems confused about my position.
I live in Colorado and, until comparatively recently, I was primarily a road cyclist.
I've ridden over most of the passes, in the state, at one time or another.
I've ridden up Mt. Evans a time or two and I've ridden up Trail Ridge Road many times.
I've ridden super Flagstaff, if any of you know what that is.
I don't think I've ever used a gear lower than 32T front by 28T rear.
A 1:1 gear ratio, like a 32X32 seems excessive to me. I'd rather grind it out in a bigger gear, even if I have to stand.
I realize, with the bigger tires on a 29er and the higher weight. I might go even a little lower than 1:1, but I just can't see needing or wanting a 32X51 low gear.
That's me. I was just wondering if I'm the only or if others feel that way too.

You are coming from a roadie position which is different from mountain bike riding. Even the pros are using similar gearing so unless you are some super pro why would you not use a similar gearing to what everyone else is using for good reason. On a smooth flat road it is much easier to grind when encountering roots, rocks, mud and other loose bits it is better to have a more sensible gearing.

You do you I guess but for someone who has been doing this a while to deny that having useful gearing is well useful just doesn't make sense. But I guess if all your time is on an extremely different surface it might be tough to change that mindset when you don't know it as well or at all.

Mr RR, that should have been your first post, and it appears that you're more competent than many of those who responded. As above, try a bigger ring(s); each individual has his own breaking point.