After today's super cool & savage mountain bike spin I think it's time to say a few words about how do I feel about running the XC bike with this new 1x9 setup.
I've had two test runs since I converted the bike. One was a fairy short little spin but the second one was a proper tough going. I've picked a route that put the bike under some real testing to see how will I coop with things.
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| Test spin at the Leadmines |
The key things that I've been looking for were the folloing: how steep climbs I can deal with and the other one was to see how fast I can be on this setup on flat(ish) tarmac / fire roads. Thankfully I got the answers I've been looking for!
I have 32T chainring on the front and run a 11-34 casette on the back. This way the lightest gear ratio is a bit lighter than 1:1 wich seemed like perfectly fine. I picked some of the hardest and steepest climbs up around Threerock and I managed to coop with them all in the 32-34 ratio.
But how about the speed? This was one of my main concern before...The fastest gear is 32-11 and that is fast enough to be able to still spin into a bit at about 40-42 km/hour speed. Let's be honest: that is perfectly ok for me!
I tested the bike on the Epic Club Course at the Leadmines and also up on Threerock. Did a little on the Wicklow Way as well. I think this way I managed to put the bike through a bit of everything: tarmac climbs, technical XC race course type course, steep off-road climbs, techical downhill and all the rest.
First impressions
I'm impressed! I'm impressed how simple it is and how easy it is to get used to it. I'm impressed how well it works for me on the climbs. I'm impressed how much lighter the bike is this way and how much benefit I have from it.
I like it. I like it a LOOOOOT! :)
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