Thread: Should you ditch your front derailleur? Here is my take! (1x10 review)

Originally Posted by nickwm21

New setup on the El Mar.

Those widgits look sweet. Want one for my stumpy. Bit torn between the 28t or 30t though. It's setup 2x9 11-34 with the stock rings now, but I wanna go 1x10 11-36 when the new clutch type deraillers become available this fall...

haven't paid much attention to this thread, but from glancing over it it seems the topic of 'what bike are we talking about here?' hasn't been mentioned.

For a hardtail 29er with large but more xc-oriented tires, like the 2.4 Ardents, the typical CO/UT/CA/PNW long rides are totally fine with 1X10 regardless of length, IME. 5 hrs, 7+ hrs, whatever. But on a 6 or 7 inch travel FS bike with more durable and descent-oriented rubber, I'm sticking with 24/36 dual up front despite the strong thighs I have from single speeding.

However if I moved somewhere where more of the long climbing was on fireroads or moderate angle singletrack, I suppose I'd convert those bikes to 34T X 10....

I'm also curious to try the new clutch rear derailleurs on my 2 X setups. Reports seem to be that chain slap is greatly reduced.

FWIW both the XT and X9 versions are supposed to be out in the next two weeks.

Originally Posted by Catch22

FWIW both the XT and X9 versions are supposed to be out in the next two weeks.

This. WantWantWant the X.9 version. Looks as if I need a new one for one of the bikes anyhow, so I'll just wait a little bit...

I've always liked my Salsa El Mar. I had a stock one with SRAM X9 9-spd, sold it, and have another with XT 1x9 (32T chain ring, 11-32T). I'll probably upgrade it to 1x10 X9 over the winter. Maybe see if I can get a little lower gearing - maybe 10-36T or something like that.

I love the clean look, quiet operation, reliability, and it doesn't really leave me wanting for much, as my expectations are reasonable of what I ask of it. I have 2x10 X9/Apex on my Salsa Fargo, and am always searching for the right gears with that, so 1x seems to be a good thing. Same with my Mukluk - too much searching.

Originally Posted by frorider

I'm also curious to try the new clutch rear derailleurs on my 2 X setups. Reports seem to be that chain slap is greatly reduced.

The clutch (shadow plus) works as advertised as far as reducing chain slap. But when turned on it also makes the shifting really stiff. Like you're running 10 year old cables and housing stiff. I think the way to do it for long mountain rides where you are doing sustained climbs followed by long descents is to turn the clutch off for the climbs then back on for descending.

Oh, and for the record I'm running a 2x and my front derailleur works just as it's supposed to. No 1x for me at least until Shimano comes with a 9-42 cassette.