I want my granny back

[toast2266]

So what happens if you want to shift into an easier gear but are pedaling too much? Does it just wait until you are off the pedals and then shift, does it grind, or what?

It just doesn't go. You try to twist the shifter and it feels like it's at the end of it's range. There isn't really any grinding noise, and you're not gonna break anything, but the shift doesn't happen. Ease off the pedals, and it'll go. But you can't really just hold pressure on the shifter and gradually ease off pedal pressure - you have to ease off, then move the shifter.

[TahoeJ]

That sounds... not great. Grip shift is a deal breaker on its own.

[Bunion 2020]

The beauty of getting rid of the front derailleur is to spend less effort thinking at all about your shifting. This is the opposite of that.

You spend effort thinking about shifting? That is weird.

[adrenalated]

IMO the biggest advantage of 1X is that you can shift and operate your dropper simultaneously. It doesn't sound like it'd be a big deal, but it's actually way better. That and not dropping chains, ever.
I don't think you realize how much front derailleurs suck until you don't have one.

[TahoeJ]

You spend effort thinking about shifting? That is weird.

No... I have a 1x11. But when I had 2 front rings I would often debate whether or not it was worth making the clunky shift or not.

I don’t know anyone who I consider a good rider that hasn’t liked ditching the front derailleur.

[jono]

The gears in the Pinion are constant-mesh so they'll never grind. What causes the hang-up is trying to downshift while a driving pawl (which has to be extracted in order to downshift) is loaded too heavily for the cable force to move it. Like penny-jamming a door so the knob won't turn.

Upshifts are literally effortless regardless of load, but as I implied earlier, the 4-5 and 8-9 upshifts in a C1.12 require a downshift on the second stage (it's a 3x4 in there and the 3 seems stickier than the 4 for some reason), so those shifts are generally harder than the rest. That might be why it seemed like some were different from others.

This scenario is common to IGH's, too. But once the pawl moves you get instant response. Learning to time shifts to avoid hanging up is a minor pain coming from derailleurs, but learning to take advantage of that instant response probably takes longer. Both require recognizing and expecting the instant response, which rear derailleurs teach us not to expect.

[toast2266]

This scenario is common to IGH's, too. But once the pawl moves you get instant response. Learning to time shifts to avoid hanging up is a minor pain coming from derailleurs, but learning to take advantage of that instant response probably takes longer. Both require recognizing and expecting the instant response, which rear derailleurs teach us not to expect.

Part of the issue with the instant response is that the "freewheel" within the gearbox for the cranks has terrible engagement - 16 points. So when I click off a shift, then yes, the gears are instantly engaged. But the cranks still have to rotate 22.5 degrees before anything actually happens at the rear wheel. And with a normal decent quality drivetrain, a shift is mostly done in that same amount of pedaling, so I'm not sure there's all that much of an advantage.

[jono]

That hurts the Pinion in some cases, for sure. I think they get away with it to some extent because it never actually takes that long to engage. 22.5 would be the maximum, but it's reduced by random timing between different gears/freewheels (and, on the 3-speed portion, the gear ratio on the 4-speed), so you more often see half that. It also helps if you're shifting at bottom dead center rather than letting off somewhere else in the stroke, because when the cranks jump forward around the point of lowest torque it's not as noticeable. It definitely sucks when moving slow and trying to ratchet, though. I expect they'll decide to change it at some point; it's a dumb design choice that only benefits you when going for multiple gears. The shift from 6 to 4 is easier than 5 to 4, for example, because 5th never makes contact if you're even a little quick.

Did you try shifting down while standing? I'm always surprised how easy that turns out to be. With a year on the thing I'd think I would be used to that by now, but I seem to be pretty conditioned not to do it often.