40t upgrade. Yay or nay on 16t as well?

[iscariot]

Initially, for the install yesterday, I preemtively maxed the b-tension to facilitate an easy install. Before the test ride today, I examined everything and found that could readjust the B-tension to about 50%, so it just clears the OneUp 42 tooth with no rubbing. This is with a medium cage SRAM X9 Type II derailleur.

Has more wrap around the rear that I had thought it would. The reports online and the pics on line that I've seen, look like the chain only has 90 degrees of contact with the casette. I have 180 degrees, so pretty much maximum contact.

Removed 4 links from the SRAM 1091 chain (running 110 links) and have just enough enough play (read perfect) in the derailleur for full suspension flex in the 42t (Slayer has 13.2 mm chain growth).

Set up was easy. Rides awesome. Shifting from the OneUp 16 tooth to the 19t is smooth, unless it's under a decent amount of tension, then it does have some trouble climbing into 19t. Zero issues shifting from the 16t down to the 13t.

This is a obviously a first test ride, and more time is needed to give a full review. So far pretty damn easy and works way better than I figured. I'm pretty impressed by it so far. I'll keep you posted.

[rideit]

most of the rings will have the tooth count on them, line up the numbers.

I need new glasses.
Fuck.

[That was Pontus]

Fwiw, just went for my first ride on the new drivetrain (X9 type 2, Wolf Tooth GC42 & 32t NW) on my Kona Taro. No issues to report, everything shifts fine, can't say I notice the jump from the 15t to the 19t . Setup went fine other than initially cutting the chain too short. More frayed cables than nerves (mega props btw to Sport Chek for outdoing the 3 LBS by being open on a Sunday afternoon and offering up a new shifter cable free of charge).

[PeachesN'Cream]

Just put a Wolf 40T on my MasonFS.

I went 40T as I'm running a Zee and Wolf N/W 30T front. Didn't think the 42 would work well with the Zee and didn't want to drop $ on a new RD. Plus 42/30 would be almost too eggbeater-ish — I fully embrace pushing as a gear speed.

Set up just fine in the stand, plenty of B tension threads left, but found the chain too short when sagged in — was probably new chain time anyhow. The 15-19 jump is notable. I'll move to a 12t first gear and put the 17t back on at some point — it's so rare I use the 11,loosing one tooth is seriously NBD.

[nickel]

Curious to hear iscariot's follow up re: 16tooth shifting. It's basically the difference maker to me between to wolftooth and the one up. If he's having problems too then wolf tooth might get the nod. Moar shiny colors!

On another note, has anyone with the 42t conversion pulled their casette off after a dozen or so rides to see if there's any noticeable hub body damage?

[iscariot]

Curious to hear iscariot's follow up re: 16tooth shifting. It's basically the difference maker to me between to wolftooth and the one up. If he's having problems too then wolf tooth might get the nod.

On another note, has anyone with the 42t conversion pulled their casette off after a dozen or so rides to see if there's any noticeable hub body damage?

So far so good.

I want to get a decent month of riding before I comment on the long term. Get more technical climbs, so I can assess the 42t and check the hub body, as this is a concern of mine also.

What I will say, is that the gear range is pretty darn good. Not giving up a lot of the granny-gear side of things with the 30x42. The 30x11 spins out a little fast for me, so I'm coasting a bit more, instead of throwing down pedal strokes. I have a 32t that I will try out, lose a little granny gain a little speed. But I'm going to wait (ie. stick with the 30t), so that I can get to know the system first.

I don't know how fast or slow the OneUp 16t is going to wear, and I think that will be the deciding factor as far as performance goes. If it hangs in there with the other rings, then cool. If not, then shifting will degrade, and I'll replace the OneUp 16t with the Shimano 16t, as I know that will last.

As for OneUp vs. Wolftooth vs. whateverelse...I say go for it and keep us posted. I don't think the performance difference between them is going to be huge. I think the swap from 2x10 to 1x10 is a significant change, and that will provide a bigger and more noticeable difference, when compared to the smaller differences between the 40/42t cog brand names.

The 16t can be had from the old parts bin at any bike shop, so don't wait based on the OneUp 16t quality, as this is a relatively minor part of the system, IMHO.

[smslavin]

Set up was easy. Rides awesome. Shifting from the OneUp 16 tooth to the 19t is smooth, unless it's under a decent amount of tension, then it does have some trouble climbing into 19t. Zero issues shifting from the 16t down to the 13t.

This is a obviously a first test ride, and more time is needed to give a full review. So far pretty damn easy and works way better than I figured. I'm pretty impressed by it so far. I'll keep you posted.

Finally got mine dialed in yesterday afternoon. My problem with the first time around was the B screw and cable tension. Didn't take too long to get it fixed once I realized the issue. Only a quick ride around the neighborhood but it seems to shift okay. Planning on trying to head out tomorrow for a dirt test so we'll see how it does under load.

[FlimFlamvanHam]

The 16t can be had from the old parts bin at any bike shop, so don't wait based on the OneUp 16t quality, as this is a relatively minor part of the system, IMHO.

As long as your LBS has a bunch of torn down 10speed cassettes. The problem with the smaller cogs is they do wear significantly faster than the larger ones so a new one out of the old parts bin would be desired. I find the leap from the 15t to the 19t does, in fact, suck. It's not just the slightly delayed shift up or down but that gap in gearing is really noticeable.

Anyway, I the one-up 42 with a N/W 30 up front. So far I like it. The "granny" is slightly taller than a 22/36 but that allows me to clear more as it forces me to push a bit harder (carry a bit more speed/power over balance/spin) over technical climbing sections.

For the past couple seasons I've run a 22/36 double and 11-36 cassette. i can probably count the number of times on one hand I've used the 36-11 or 36-13 combo so cannot see losing that high end being a factor in my riding.

I've got a couple long xc races coming up so that should really show me how well it performs for range of gearing.

[D(C)]

I'm not into the jump, nor what the cranked b-tension does to my shifting. I have some races coming up and will be ditching the 42 and just running 11-36. The 42 really only gives you one extra gear anyway. I'll probably miss the bail-out on longer rides but if it really sucks, I'll throw the FD back on. But I find the shifting with the 42 quite unreliable, mainly when dumping a bunch of gears when in a small cog. I need to trust my shifting for races.

[nickel]

D(C) , when you say unreliable in the small gears, do you mean unreliable in that it doesn't always engage when you select a different gear, or that it'll switch gears unexpectedly?

[gtdrew]

From what I have read it seems those running a Shimano derailleur should stick with a 40t cog.

[D(C)]

D(C) , when you say unreliable in the small gears, do you mean unreliable in that it doesn't always engage when you select a different gear, or that it'll switch gears unexpectedly?

The main issue I was having was when in the 11 or 13t cog, blasting down then encountering a punchy climb that required dumping gears, often under load. Rather than shifting into the desired gear, the chain would skip off the cogs until I pedalled with less load. It's not a huge issue if you know about it and reduce load while shifting, but in a race situation that can't happen.

I went for my first ride last night after going back to 11-36 and the shifting smoothness is night and day.

[cptpowder]

So upon further riding this is not actually working that great at all. Just can't get the shifting to be smooth. If it good on the high end it sucks on the low and vice versa. Really thing of just going back to 11-36 rear. I might miss the 40t once in a while but I don't wanna kill my drive train either.. So tired of fucking around with this system to make it work.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

So many threads/sites on this topic. Looks like I could benefit from a 42t upgrade. Currently running 22/33/bash guard up front on a basic sram s1000 3-by crank. 11-36 in the rear. I do alot of my climbing in 33/36, but would love a little more. Dropping to the 22 sucks cause then I have to quickly downshift several gears in the back so I am not suddenly in super granny mode. fwiw I have an x9 type 2 that is finally shifting well again after some stupid cable issues.

Am I asking for trouble dropping a 15 or 17 and adding a 42? Should I just go 40 instead. Is the jump from 36 to 40 enough to make it worthwhile?

[frorider]

From what I have read it seems those running a Shimano derailleur should stick with a 40t cog.

not true at all. I have a hardtail and a Bronson running shimano drivetrain and one up 42T with 16T cog....great shifting, no backpedal issues.

Different bike hangers position the rear der differently..which is why b tension screws exist in the first place as a bandaid. Another factor that may explain poor results on biggest cog is short CS bikes (sub 17 inch). And the other usual factors like incorrect chain length or front ring chainline (inward is better IME).

[nickel]

Installed my OneUp 42t with 16t the other day. Two rides in and everything shifts very well so far. Some care when shifting under load is advisable to avoid unnecessary clunking, but shifts are surprisingly crisp. Running all x-9 drivetrain with type 2 derailleur. B tension is less than halfway in as well, surprisingly. Plenty of chain wrap left around the casette. 49mm chainline with a 30t N/W up front. I had to add one more link than I thought I would to my chain. I'm curious how much variability there is bike to bike, as I'm perfectly content with shift quality at this point. Must do more rides to confirm.

[jamesp]

What bike are you running this on?

[smslavin]

Well, this did not work out for me. Trails were finally dry enough to ride today. I was climbing along nicely in the 40 and then it just stopped. Looks like I bent the RD cage just a bit so that everything became way out of line. Over torqued maybe? Managed to bend it back and complete the ride with 9 cogs. The 16 also did not work all that well. In the process of going back to the 11-36 standard cassette and cannibalizing an old RD for its cage.

This may work better with a different setup but it's definitely over the limit on a Saint drivetrain for me. Not sure how all those other folks on the interwebz are making it work with a Zee/Saint setup. If I find a decent deal on a XT RD, I may give it another shot.

[iscariot]

Well, this did not work out for me. Trails were finally dry enough to ride today. I was climbing along nicely in the 40 and then it just stopped. Looks like I bent the RD cage just a bit so that everything became way out of line. Over torqued maybe? Managed to bend it back and complete the ride with 9 cogs. The 16 also did not work all that well. In the process of going back to the 11-36 standard cassette and cannibalizing an old RD for its cage.

This may work better with a different setup but it's definitely over the limit on a Saint drivetrain for me. Not sure how all those other folks on the interwebz are making it work with a Zee/Saint setup. If I find a decent deal on a XT RD, I may give it another shot.

Did you leave enough links in the chain to account for suspension chain growth?

From what you describe in the failure, it sounds like you may have set the chain length with the extension on the rear der. maxed (most people would set their rear der. this way on a conventional 2x or 3x setup, but with the chain crossed from big ring to big sprocket, knowing that you'd never actually cross chain). Then you go and pedal, and the rear suspension causes chain growth, torque, and either chain failure or a bent derailleur.

[smslavin]

Did you leave enough links in the chain to account for suspension chain growth?

From what you describe in the failure, it sounds like you may have set the chain length with the extension on the rear der. maxed (most people would set their rear der. this way on a conventional 2x or 3x setup, but with the chain crossed from big ring to big sprocket, knowing that you'd never actually cross chain). Then you go and pedal, and the rear suspension causes chain growth, torque, and either chain failure or a bent derailleur.

What you describe makes total sense. Pretty sure I had the right chain length but apparently I might be a few links short. So, on a 1x10, the length would be front sprocket, around the 36 (or 40) plus about 2 or 3 links?

[frorider]

Cycle the suspension to make sure your chain is long enough. Sure, it takes an extra 3 minutes, but saves you $$ and hassles.

I've taken off the 16T one up cog. As pics from someone show on mtbr, it has a weird tooth profile that tends to skip under big loads. I had that issue a few times despite chain and cassette being new. I had no shifting issues however.

Also I think I prefer having a15T ratio.

[iscariot]

What you describe makes total sense. Pretty sure I had the right chain length but apparently I might be a few links short. So, on a 1x10, the length would be front sprocket, around the 36 (or 40) plus about 2 or 3 links?

Yah. You run the chain on the front ring (obviously) and then the biggest sprocket in the rear (40t or whatever you have).

Then you need to account for suspension growth. The most accurate way to do this is to remove your rear shock, and cycle the suspension/linkage.

Take whatever point in the suspension cycle that uses the most chain length and add a link or two from that. Then its impossible to run out of chain and bind your derailleur.

You can eyeball it instead of removing your shock, but different suspension systems have different amounts of growth, so it can be difficult to be sure you've left enough chain length with the eyeball method.

[nickel]

What bike are you running this on?

A chromag Stylus

What you describe makes total sense. Pretty sure I had the right chain length but apparently I might be a few links short. So, on a 1x10, the length would be front sprocket, around the 36 (or 40) plus about 2 or 3 links?

i almost did the same thing. Had to add another link as I almost damaged my derailleur, even with a hardtail and no suspension to worry about. For measuring chain growth, I like to cycle the suspension with the shock still in so I don't overdo it by measuring at a point where the shock would be bottomed out. For coil shock, cycle suspension with coil removed. Not sure you can cycle an air shock with all air removed without causing problems?

[smslavin]

Yah. You run the chain on the front ring (obviously) and then the biggest sprocket in the rear (40t or whatever you have).

Then you need to account for suspension growth. The most accurate way to do this is to remove your rear shock, and cycle the suspension/linkage.

Take whatever point in the suspension cycle that uses the most chain length and add a link or two from that. Then its impossible to run out of chain and bind your derailleur.

You can eyeball it instead of removing your shock, but different suspension systems have different amounts of growth, so it can be difficult to be sure you've left enough chain length with the eyeball method.

ah. thanks. i'll do that later this afternoon and remeasure.

[pogs4ever]

i believe i am going back to 11-36 standard as well, though i am a total bike jong so i might have incorrect info/analysis. maybe 50-60 hours of riding in since i put the WT42 on, and was really digging it. my rear der b-tension screw area doesnt have tension anymore, im guessing the coil in the b-knuckle is toast? anyways it just basically twists my rear der into the gear ring so that even in the smallest rear gear i dont have any chain tension. i was leery of the setup, so i always stored my bike in the smallest gear for least tension when in the garage.