Hiro11

SRAM brings 1x to the road with new Force 1 and Rival 1 groupsets - BikeRadar

I'm somewhat interested. I live in a flat area and am rarely out of the big ring. I've done many relatively fast group rides on a 48x17 single speed without issue. A 48T chainring with a 10-34 11 speed cassette is more than enough range for me. The biggest potential downside for me is the relatively large gaps between gears compared to a 2x. The primary upsides are zero chain slap due to the MTB-style RD clutch, almost zero chance of ever dropping a chain and never having to shift an FD again.

I probably won't buy this but it's not a bad idea for some people.

TrojanHorse

Not me... even when it's flat I shift the front when I stop at a light, but it's hilly as heck around me so I definitely need at least a double.

It seems like this idea would move you further from the BF ideal of small gaps between gears. I reckon the 41 will pan it something fierce.

Drew Eckhardt 

IMHO cassettes which stop their one tooth jumps before the 19 cog are unsuitable for road riding.

A reasonable range runs from about 39x25 which is sufficient to get fit riders over everything in the Colorado Rockies through 52x13 which was big enough for Eddie Merckx to dominate the spring classics. We're still short of the 13 cogs needed to achieve that range via something like 39 x 10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25, or maybe 12 cogs 37x10-23 for a high like 52x14.

Chain slap is an occasional annoying noise unless you're riding carbon and might chainsaw through your chainstay, although some sort of protector would be a better fix for that problem.Yo

CafeVelo

Maybe on a commuter, but even then, what's the advantage? The ability to mount a bash guard?

tekhna

Definitely interested. I'm increasingly of the opinion that indexed mechanical front shifting is the devil, so my future setup will either be one of two extremes: Di2 with it's handy dandy auto-trim or a 1X setup like this.

tekhna

Although this setup is mostly geared toward cross.

Road cyclists should spend more time fixed, they'd eventually stop being such weenies about gearing. I know I've basically stopped thinking about it.

RollCNY

I also do relatively fast group rides on a single speed (47x16), and for 6 months had a 1x9 46T with 12-25 cassette (and I had an 11-26 "climbing cassette"). It was alright, somewhat easier to climb with than the single speed, somewhat easier to go fast through rollers and long gradual descents. And far better on windy days.

But you have to have some sort of chain retention on the front, or the chain will fall off, especially on points where you are gaining speed quickly and going from largest cog to smallest in a hurry, and it will fall of to the outside. For me, a bash guard fixed it, with no need for inside coverage.

I don't miss having it. A 1x10 or 1x11 doesn't seem an improvement.

gsa103

Seems ideal for inexpensive commuter bikes. Pair that with an 11-32 cassette, and you cover the range that the average commuter needs. Heck, I've done flatter group rides without leaving the 50t ring, so I can see a 46t or 48t with 11-32 cassette working for most people. It's more robust, and should be cheaper, so I fail to see the problem. And a 1x setup would be a huge improvement over the 3x setups you find on most cheap bikes.

Serious cyclists doing mountains are going to need a 2x setup, but that's the minority.

gsa103

The chainring teeth are shaped to provide retension. The MTB community has been running 1x10 setups for several years with good results using a narrow/wide chainring and clutch type RD.

cale

Sram has hit a home run with the Force 1 and Rival 1 groupsets, as far as I can tell. The simplicity of the system is entirely logical and I applaud Sram for its initiative.

Having 11-speeds frees the rider to enjoy riding more; no dropped chains, reduced chain slap, and stupid-simple gear choice.

It's not a "run out and buy" sort of development for me but I'll definitely be putting Sram Force 1 and Rival 1 on my short list for my next bike purchase or build.

PiLigand

Ehhh... neat, but no.
I've never had any problem with a front derailleur.

RollCNY

I was using a single Surly ring, designed without ramps and half teeth specifically for single speed applications. It is certainly possible a different design would work, especially if the goal was retention.

Jiggle

Absolutely no interest whatsoever in any discipline, road, cross, or xc.

topflightpro

The FD on my older bike doesn't really work anymore, but the bike is fine for racing -- I rarely shift out of the big ring in races. Mountain events would be different.

And I've been running a 1x10 setup on my cross bike for a few years now. There's no reason for two rings up front in cross.

RJM

This is actually pretty awesome...I have been thinking of turning my Sam Hillborne into a dedicated gravel bike and the Rival of Force group, 50 tooth front and big old cassette in back, could work great for it.

Hiro11

SRAM offers cogs up to 42t. I doubt most anyone needs more range than these setups offer. In a 44x42, you'll be crawling. Again, the gaps between ratios is a reasonable potential concern but the gearing range really shouldn't be.

Hiro11

I don't think this is true for these purpose-built 1x groups. The SRAM 1x chainring is a dedicated 1x design with alternating "thick" and "thin" teeth. The design can be much more secure than 2x designs because it (obviously) never needs to shift. These groups have been available for other, rougher disciplines for a while and I don't think anyone has ever complained about dropping a chain on them.

Again, this idea isn't ideal for me, but dropping chains shouldn't be a concern.

BoSoxYacht

What a joke.

rms13

Have you tried 11 speed Shimano? Front shifting is a pleasure. Set up properly you get positive shifts every time and shifting into the big ring is so light you barely have to apply any pressure on the lever

JohnJ80

This would not be for me. I prefer the tighter gearing you get with two rings on a compact. On the dirt, this makes a lot of sense, but I don't think it works for most on the road where cadence is a primary concern.

j

cale

So I'm looking for where you make something other than excrement but find nothing...

cale

You make a good point. Front shifting has been refined to the point where it really is easy. Could it be easier? Sure, eliminate it altogether.

BoSoxYacht

why should I care?

It's funny to me that some SRAM fanboys will eat up anything SRAM gives them.

rms13

When is the last time you dropped your chain? On my last 3 bikes with Shimano 10 and now 11 speed I haven't dropped my chain once and have put about 6000 miiles combined on the bikes

tekhna

I have, yeah. But in reality on a 2x11 how many unduplicated gears are there on that setup?

On a 50x34 12-25 setup 50x18-25 is basically (basically) duplicated by 34x12-17, leaving you 12 unduplicated gears.


50x18=5.5, 34x12=5.6
50x19=5.2, 34x13=5.1
50x21=4.7, 34x14=4.8
50x23=4.3, 34x16=4.2
50x25=3.9, 34x17=3.9

That's 10 gear pairings that are functionally identical in a 50x34 12x25 setup.