1x9 // Single ring setup on the XC bike

Started with triple chainset, then used double for a while and now I dipping my toes into the world of single chainring cranksets on XC mountain bikes. I've been thinking about this for a little while but now is the time when I make the move and give this setup a shot.

The idea is very simple: having only one ring on the crankset and keep the rear gearing the same. This way the bike is more simple and not to mention that it is lighter also. So, if the size of the ring on the chainset and the size of the casette on the back is right, then there should be no problems, right? Right! :)

I've been using a 42-28 double setup with a 11-34 casette for about 2 years worked great. When I've heard about having a single ring only I thought that is maybe a bit extreme and also limited as well. But after doing a fair bit of a reading up and chatting with XC riders who has single ring setup I thought I'd give it a try.

The ingridients: 32T Shimano SLX chainring & seat tube mounted chainguide

The first step of the project was to get all the parts that I'd need. This list was obviously very short, just got a chainguide and my original Shimano SLX (32T - 104BCD - 4 bolts) chainring. 

 

All the parts that I took off.

The next step was to remove all the parts that I won't need anymore: front mech, front shifter, inner + outer cables, both chainrings and chainring bolts.

Little bit old, little bit beaten up but the still good SLX crank is ready for the transformation.

After I got everything removed and cleaned the next step was to fit the 32T chainring on the crank (to the middle ring's place). Then got the chainset back on the bike, so this part of the job was finished. 

The next step is ready: one ring on the crank & crank fitted back on the bike

Once I was ready with all this the last step was to get the chainguide fitted & adjusted and then the bike was pretty much ready to rock. The chainguide took a little while to work properly but it seems like I managed to get it just about right.

In the middle of the guide adjustment

Operation transformation is ready: 1x9 is all good to go!

Ready for the first test spin up in the hills

So, the 1x9 XC bike is ready to roll, can't wait to test it out and see how it is going to work for me. I already have a good route plan that will give this setup a proper run indeed! Can't wait!! :)

Winter spin along the coast // A nice photo says it all!

The Sram X.0 with Gripshift is ready to rock!

After I've decided to switch from Shimano to Sram the most important task was to pick up the ingridients. I'm still running 9 speed system on the bike, so this kind of made the situation a bit harder 'cause everything is heavily 10 speed focused these days. The other thing that has made this task even more tricky was the fact that I needed to find a particular setup: Sram X.0 rear mech and Sram 9 speed GripShift...didn't look too easy but I got very lucky and managed to pick up everything within just a few days! Great stuff! 

After few years break I'm back to my faithful gripshift setup.

  

I got the rear mech from my former team mate Richie and after a bit of work it got back to life no problem. ( I will write about the refurbishing in another post) Works like a dream! The shifters seemed like more tricky to find but I got a set in fantastic shape from the MAD MTB forum. I just couldn't believe how absolutely spotless they are! Amazing! 

So, the bike is ready to roll with Sram gear system on it again. But that's not the only change on the machine, there's another tale to tell. :)   

Shimano VS. Sram // For me Sram it is! Again!

The decision time is here I need to say...Shimano VS. Sram...Sram VS. Shimano... Everyone prefers one for whatever reason but the truth is: they are both fantastic in my opinion.

I've started mountain biking with Shimano gears because there wasn't any other good and reliable option back then. They were fine, worked very well without any hassle. In fact I loved them because they were easy to use and were easy to replace, since the Shimano parts were available all the time. Everybody used Shimano and it was the No.1 thing to have on the bike! 

Year after year I was a happy Shimano fan until an unfortunate crash that left me with torn ligament in my right thumb. Was slow and problematic recovery but when it got healed and I managed to get back on the bike I needed to do a major change to my bike...

The only solution was to get the Sram X.0 GripShift shifters fitted and obviously it ment to transfer the gears from Shimano to Sram. This was the only shifter that was operating without having the riders to use their thumb to change gears. So, I've started to use Sram gears and I have to say I simply loved them! The 1:1 gear cable pulling ratio was really good, it has provided easy adjsutment and the gears performed very well, even in crazy weather conditions. I was using them for about 6 years non-stop and I was one of the "few" who preferred Sram against Shimano. 

Them I got a new bike back in the beginning of 2010. The bike was kitted out with Shimano gears and I just couldn't invest more money to have them changed to Sram. So I sticked to Shimano for 3 more years and ended up having XTR gear system. Now, obviously it works like a dream but it's still doesn't change that fact that I need to use my thumb a lot. In the summer time it's not that bad but in the winter time when it's cold and wet things aren't easy. Got away with it for 3 years but now I just got to the point when I needed to make a decision: give up on Shimano again and start using Sram gears again.

The thumb has "healed" but it will never be as good as it was and since it is a 10 years old injury I need to be careful with it. The GripShift gives me such a nice and easy way to change gears on the bike that is a true relief. So it is time to change! 

The mission to pick up parts begins today! Hopefully I'll find everything nice & quick! :)

Back on the mountain bike!

7:15 am on a Sunday morning: dark and raining...

Today I've had my first mountain bike spin since the beginning of September. It's been a long break indeed, but I've been busy with all the cyclocross & road lately. But enough is enough I say! It was really time to get back in the game and do what I always really preferred: ride mountain bike! :)

I pulled out my faithful MTB from storage and after a small TLC repair it was ready to rock again. Happy days! 

Normally I ride my bike on my own, but this time I had my ThinkBike.ie CC team mate Ben on the spin with me. This was our first mountain bike spin together since he joined our club. We have decided to leave nice & early and get a proper spin in before the place goes mad and gets flooded by people. So we met at the Dundrum Luas Bridge at 7:15 am and took off towards Threerock. It was a very wet and dark morning and it didn't improve too much later on either. Grey sky, coulds were sitting on the hills, water and mud everywhere - typical February morning in the mountains. But hey! This is what we can expect so get on with it and have fun! :)

Basicly we did most of the trails up there including some WW and also visited the Fairycastle. Got loads of natural trail riding also (they are the BEST) and a little bit of the Metros as well. The truth is that I had very questionable confidence on the way up to the hills. Well that was a bit more of a wandering how rusty my off-road skill are after all the "easy-mode" months on the cyclocross bike. But to be fair I had no trouble really on the rough trails. Need to speed up a little and also need to get my body to get used to ride on those bumpy trails again...after 3 hours spin today I felt like I got beaten up. But after a few more spins like this I'll get back into rhythm properly! 

I have to say that I really missed mountain biking and had so much fun on the bike that is hard to describe! Really missed everything about riding XC and it's just felt right to be up in the mountains again this morning! Happy time!! :)

Good bye cross. Hello road! // Converted TCX

The cyclocross season is over (for a while...) and I managed to get rid of the ankle injury as well, it is time to make the obvious move: ride the XC bike off-road and with some little changes use the TCX as a road bike until the next cross season. So I turned the bike into a road bike this afternoon. 

All it takes is just put the road pedals back on the bike and fit a set of 700x23c tyres and it's all set. I've decided to give it a go with the single chainring setup for a little while to see how will I get on with it. 

The skinny road tyres look a bit funny in the cross fork I have to say :)

 

So, from now on I can do proper road spins with this setup instead of grinding on the cross tyres. Will be faster, will be better, will be real 100% tarmac fun! Yeehaa!! :)