Hi,

Just need you opinion on 1x10 gear set up for touring.

Is this sufficient enough to tackle some of the big hills in Europe like the Alps?

The reason that I'm asking is because I own an On-One il pompino with the rear triangle re-spaced to 130mm. I'm thinking of adding gears and perhaps tour with it around europe next year. So rather than buying a new bike thought I'd use what i've got now.

I know people have done touring with this bike, but on a single speed.

https://pompinos.blogspot.com.au/


Thanks

filbone, As long as bottom's gear inches are somewhere in the 20s you should have reasonable success. Regardless, walking up a few hills or coasting down a few hills won't ruin the trip. Have fun.

Brad

Hi,

It depends on you and how you load the bike. I personally like a very large range of gears, but everybody has their own taste. As much as possible, find a bike that is geared how you are considering and take it up one of those mountains loaded how you expect to be loaded.

If you do end up going with a 1x10, I'd probably recommend making sure that you have the lower end you want (and you'll end up coasting down the big hills).

Cheers,
Charles

Here is what an 11-36 ten would look like with a 32t chainring. You can play with the ring number and find the lowest GI you think you will need and then see what your top gear is.

https://home.earthlink.net/~mike.sherman/shift.html?R0=32&R1=NaN&R2=NaN&C0=11&C1=13&C2=15&C3=17&C4=19&C5=21&C6=24&C7=28&C8=32&C9=36&C10=999&C AS=0&WI=8&CR=170&RT=0&ST=0&RPM=90&SRT=0&lRPM=80&hRMP=100&G=show&S=no&TITLE=&HL=1

A lot of people suggest mountain bike gearing with a crank of something like 44/32/22 and a 11/32 cassette. That would result in a highest gear that is 5.82 times as big as the lowest gear.

I am running a 52/42/24 front with 11/32 cassette, that gives me a high gear that is 6.30 times higher than the lowest gear.

Some people are sold on Rohloff hubs for touring. (I have never seen one.) They have a high gear that is something like 5.26 times greater than the lowest gear.

If you wanted to tour on a 1 X 10, your highest gear would probably be no more than roughly 3 times as big as your lowest gear. I would not be happy with such gearing. If you had a compact double, that would at least increase your range to roughly 4.2 but if it was me I would want a triple in the mountains.

I agree a 1X10 isn’t going to be a first choice for almost anyone and as the OP points out people have toured on a single speed. Given the choice there and a 1X10 the 1X10 looks a lot better. I also had a 52/42/24 until a couple weeks ago when I switched it to a 45/42/24, and in terms of the wider range I lost “times bigger my large gear is than the smallest” I didn’t really loose anything of value. A 52-11 gear was nothing I needed even though it made my range bigger I only kept it for the overlap gears.

I posted a link above of the 1X10 with a 32t ring as a starting point and that could work for a strong rider lightly loaded. If I was forced for me to ride a 1X10 under load I would personally pick a 26t ring and 11-36 cassette that would be a GI range from 19GI to 63GI. 63GI is like a middle gear for me so I would be coasting a lot because at a cadence of 90 RPM I would spin out at 17MPH. But it wouldn’t be all that bad riding along at say 10MPH with 5 or 6 gears to select from.

If you take the Postbus to the passes. then coast down hill ..

quick math Chainring & rear cog 1:1, at 36t, low gear is, say, 27", high is 88"

I like my 1X14 IGH.. 18" to 90" range..

a SRAM Dual Drive will give you the look of a single chainring,
But the function of a triple, because the Cassette
drives a 3 speed IGH .. I think they take a 8 or 9 speed cassette..

I have a Dual Drive on my foldup bike because the frame design prevents use of a triple. Yes it takes an 8 or 9 speed cassette, I am running a Sram 11/32 eight speed cassette.

I would suggest a half step plus granny layout and go as small as possible on the granny gear, say a 24 or a 28. I don't yet have experience with the cogsets for 10x, but if they can be had with a 12-36, I wouldn't turn it down. I knolw some of the cogsets for 8x and 9x are availble in 12-36.

Rationale; I have never had a problem going fast downhill on a mountian tour so I don't gear up for that (in fact add lots of brake capacity to prevent it). Problem getting one of those long steep hills with a touring load after 6 or 8 hours in the saddle? You bet I have. Being able to drop down into a 24x36 granny will at least allow you to make progress and it will keep your spinning up enough to get the lactic acid out of your leg muscles.

FWIW
Kerry

Just one question. Where are you going to attach the rear derailleur?

maybe thing about planetary gears.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...px?ModelID=249

Also found this last night :

https://sunnypowers.perso.neuf.fr/pat...ilpompino.html

Thank you for that link, that was very helpful

FWIW, most german touring bikes go with a Rolhoff 14-gear speedhub or a 48/36/26 (Shimano FC-781/FD-T780) with 11-34 on the rear (CS-HG81/RD-T780) with SL-M780 shift levers.

These combos are possible because most serious german touting bikes don't run drops.

Those are some nice hardware answers. But whether it's enough of a ratio range for you, only you can answer. Maybe somebody can tell you what grades you'll be facing, but won't know your strength or what load you'll be carrying. On my last ride across the US on the ACA Northern Tier, I rode with a triple but never used the granny gear until I was 4000 miles into the ride in the Appalachian Mts. My load was light enough and I was strong enough to climb all the Western Mts (easier grades, generally) and Midwest river bluffs (steep but short) with my middle ring. I had this huge range and didn't need it. I think I would have been very happy with a 1x10 setup, and would definitely try it if it's what I had. Good luck with it and enjoy the tour--sounds excellent.

Interesting solution, but maybe do something with multiple free wheels, a flip flop hub and and a double chainring. White ENOs and double freewheels spring to mind.

that is why they fitted the dual drive the IGH 3 speed IS the triple.
it's IN the hub.

My touring gear was 52-42 and 12-34 5 speed freewheel (real old school). I was mid weight loaded (35 pound net load on a 30 pound bike (racks & panniers but no front fork panniers). All up (bike + me) weighed in at a tad under 220. What I discovered was that speed was dangerous, particularly speeds over 25 mph. The bike was a French touring bike with a very raked front fork and "flexible" frame, which is to say it was (still is) smooth riding but noodly. But gear on the back & front (front bag) meant the load could wag the dog if any oscillation came in (road imperfections, braking, out of true wheel, loose head set) and was a problem above 25 mph and definitely above 30 mph. My whole point in this is that tour gearing really depends if your "cafe touring" like a randoneur or loaded touring like a backpacker. Possibly more important for a C & V bike in that modern bikes don't have crazy rake and frames can be stiffer. I rode 4k miles with the above, never wallked a single hill, but learned to coast easy down big hills and avoid speed. Since few of us are professional tourists, I'd suggest gears that keep you cruising in the 11-12 mph range with climbing gears at 4-5 mph and tail wind gears at 15-17 mph. Cadence of around 75 rpm. IMHO. If your a randoneur...well that's less weight, more choices.

This calculator https://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm helps on figuring out speed and cadence.

built up a new road bike last summer, a 1x10 with an 11-36 cassette - over a thoudand km, the set up has worked well.
i know it is not touring, presuming 32x622 tires - a 30 t chainring would give a low of around 23 gi and a high around 74 with the 30 t x 12 t combination yielding around 67 with about a 27 kph cruise speed at 80 rpm. 67 is the ratio i cruise in most often, when touring a low end gi below 20 is nice to have - the 1x10 is doable.

Lots of factors come in to play, but I am pretty sure that I could happily tour with a 1X10. I had a low of 25 gi and a high of 88 gi on a very lightly loaded Southern Tier ride and think I could have managed fine with a lower high gear. Things like personal preferences, fitness level, weight carried, and terrain all come into play though.

I have a crankset with 38t chain ring and my plan is to use a 11-36 cassette. according to the calculator it should give me 93Gi for high and for low 28Gi.

I know that's pretty high in terms of gearing, I'll probably replace it with a 34t

I don't mind coasting going down hill or walking up if I have too. I guess it's a good excuse to get off the saddle.

Yep get a 32t or a 34t for your tour and hang on to the 38t ring for when you return and ride with less load at home. See if you can work it out so one chain length covers both if not it’s not a big deal to swap chain and ring when you tour.

The questions and solutions about the RD were very interesting. If you can post some photos of how you end up doing it after the switch. I think many people myself included would love to see the finished product. Before and after.

Good luck.