After a lot of experimentation and deep thought I’ve landed on the notion that with a 2x front chainring a derailleur is a very good idea.

I have been using 1x on all my bikes for over a decade and i don't miss the front derailleur at all! On my road bike i use 11-42T cassette with 44T chainring and i never need a higher nor lower gear.

It’s pretty flat where I live so I use a 42 in the front and a 10-28 in the rear. Works absolutely perfect.

I run a similar setup that the 1X showed in the video, but with a bigger cassette and smaller chainring, it works for me. 40t front, 10-44 on the back.

I have GRX 1x with a wolftooth 38t chainring and 11-42 cassette. I much prefer this over my 2x setup on my other bike. Top speed is reduced with a 38t of course but I'm not a racer and its definitely worth it for the climbs.

It's really hilly where I live, so I'm sticking with my front derailleur. If I lived someplace flat, I'd probably go 1x. That said, I think most people who ride bikes should be running 1x drivetrains. I think we too often forget that most people who ride bikes aren't hardcore cyclists. They just ride for a few miles on the weekends and/or to run short errands. In that context, 1x is king. And it makes it a lot easier for people learning to ride with gears

Changing the chain ring on the roadside. Awesome! You rock. 😀

I ride a 1 X 8 flat bar road bike. I use it as my general run around and commuter. Gearing is 48t X 11-32. I'm a fairly light weight rider at 66Kg. It's actually my favourite road bike setup I've ever ridden. I like it because where I ride it means you use every single gear regularly. On steep inclines I have to stand out of the saddle but I've yet to find an incline too steep for my gear ratio!

I've been planning my next build around a mullet Rival / Force Shifters /GX rear mech. When I ride in group rides, the extra gears of a 2x are nice, but I have found myself riding fewer group rides and I don't miss the added steps. I've always been a big ring grinder, so losing that small ring isn't as big of a loss for me as it might be for others.

Just changed my roadbike to a 1x using a 44t Absolute Black Oval and a 11-28 Cassette. I have also got a 11-42 cassette I’ve tried and that works well as well. Love it.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts after some longer term testing

Hey @David! 😊 Try an oval chainring. Ovals are the better chainrings for 1x because they are kinda a bigger and smaller chainring in one piece, -2 and +2 teeth (depends on the ovality). The other big plus it, that ypu no longer have to hassle with the front derailleur, which ussually should get spaced out and get angled and still could rubb and throw the chain off. I get my chainrings custom cnc machined in China (`Stone`) with 16* ovality, cause i am used to Rotor Qxl rings which are not longer in production. Working since day 1 off Sram Axs group introduction. But you could try an Absolute Black aero dm ring as a beginner.

People always talk about how gappy 1x cassettes are, but they aren't as gappy as your 2 front rings....

For me its 2x all the way. If you need proper low gears that is . I have a 46/30 front and 11/36 rear. Works for me. Its,a decent enough high gear and i could be happy with perhaps 40t on the front to give 40/11 x 27 = 100 inch gear. But thats getting pretty low for a top gear. To match my lowest gear id need a 11/50 cassette on the rear. On a road bike! Good luck with that !

Totally depends on where you live and what you ride. Living in CO and being a lighter weight climber who is not a "masher", I live by the 2x on my road and gravel bikes and would not change.

I love how quiet a 1x setup runs. The narrow/wide teeth engage and hold the chain unlike a 2x system which has to derail easily, so you get more chatter. And theres no chain rub or cross chaining issues. You use all the sprockets all the time unlike a 2x system where the smallest cogs are usually the cleanest! Makes the cassette better value for money 😊

When I switched from a triple to a single ring on my mtn bike, it took maybe 5-10 minutes to get used to not having a front shifter. I'm sure the same would be true with a road bike. The thing is, I run Shimano Di2 on my Tarmac and it never has an issue with the front shifter. I guess if you were racing, anything that lessens the chance of dropping your chain would be an improvement.

thanks for this, it has really helped with my decision!

Road shimano 2x for years but picked up a second-hand salsa warroad w/sram apex 1 last year. First time on sram and first on a 1x road bike set up. Didn't like the feel of sram, however, I was pleasantly surprised with how well the the bike climbed. Thought it would be worse than my old road bike, but it was better. My new bike w/105 (cannondale synapse 3L) is better than the warroad, but my positive experience with 1x has me considering it at some point again, if because the right ratio overcomes much of the advantage of a 2x setup and there is a nice simplicity in not worrying about whether I should be in the big or small ring. Same time, 2x lets you play more in finding the best gear for a particular condition.

I'm just a casual city rider, I'm using 1x setup with 11-46T cassette. The setup is more than enough to climb any steeps in my area. Cleaner look and less maintenance.

I just recently switched to a Rival XPLR 1X on my Giant Revolt, 46-10 cassette and 46T chainring. I ride mostly road in the mountains of Colorado, and my friend and I like to climb. We shoot for 100FT of elevation per mile. I also ride gravel and singletrack on this, my only bike. I haven't done any road riding in the mountains yet, but have yet to really need sub 1 to 1 gearing. I have given up a little on the top, but not so much as to be a real bother. I suppose with nicer riding weather here, we shall see shortly! Great to see some hard information, and hear your thoughts as always!

Great video, the best comparison and 1x and 2x I have seen. 👍

Love the helmet color matches that frame nicely 👌

Convert to 1x it is my upgrade planned for may. 42 at front and 11-34 at rear for "very average" rider who lives mainly in flat area - i think it will good.

Another great, informative video, David! Appreciate the effort you put into it with a roadside crank replacement! Thanks. I can see the utility that a 1X system has for strong riders. For them it may be perfect. But I'm not one of THOSE guys! I like to keep my cadence and small jumps between gears. With my 2X I have a 556% range with 14 unique gears - the little ring effectively gives me 4 extra lower gears for climbing, if you discount the cross chaining big-big combo. For me it's a very small price to pay for carrying around an extra ring up front and a front derailleur. And the chain line is generally much straighter and more efficient. To top that I have a 3X10 touring bike with a 600% range with 14 unique gears.

I run 1x with 54 chainring and 10-33 cassette and never had any problem. Even London to Brighton incl. Ditchling Beacon can be made without break.

A very balanced, and well explained video. Far better than any 1x vs 2x video that GCN have done, so kudos! Personally, I use 2x on my road bikes but, as you say, there's probably not much difference. The only thing I would suggest is that 1x is considerably more expensive, with those "dinner plate" cassettes costing big bucks. It might be interesting to see a "1x vs 2x" price comparison video at some point, which I don't think GCN have ever done.

I use 1x on my climbing bike, 46t 10-36 cassette. It has no problems on hills at 7% or so, I did have a slight issue going up Bank road in Matlock, but I don't hit hills like that too often.

David thanks for the intuitive video 👍🏼…. this topic causes many an argument between me and my neighbour, he is old school and does not see the point in 1x 😂…. since having a gravel bike i now ride 1x on road off road simply by having two wheelsets and two cassettes, i perform no worse than normal and im happy with the simplicity of 1x, i dont race i do ride in group rides and never struggle to keep up, maybe i use a little more power 🤷🏻‍♂️ but its not enough for me to miss or need 2x

I recently bought a Scott Addict gravel 20 with Rival AXS. It's set up w/ mudguards, Panaracer GravelkingSK 38´s, a 46 t chainring and a 10-44 cassette. I have taken it on several group rides on tarmac and have found no issues in keeping up with some of local fast guys. I even did a 120 km ride with an average speed of 32 km/h. Until I got this bike, I swore by 2x setup but I've been pleasantly surprised about how well it has worked out. I don't feel the jumps in gear are too big and I've had no issues on the top end speed of things either. Even on the weekly fast chaingang rides 🙂

Thanks! 1x is more simple and no cross-chaining - wears out drivetrain quicker - happens but less gears and 2x used right - chain mostly straight - is more effective and versatile in different terrains and weather conditions, but then again one has to pay attention to avoid cross-chaining, but then again with 1x chain in outmost sprockets is bit curved/cross. But I would maybe like to have less sprockets, wider chain and thicker chainrings for better power. 12-speed drivetrain feels kinda flimsy.

After 0ver 30 years of riding 2x on the road including 20 years of racing I decided to try 1x set. The main reasons are, firstly I no longer race and my riding is now more of long steady rides (16,000 miles last year). I have also been bitten by the gravel bug, or as I like to call it 'Bridal road rides. As we don't have any real America style roads in the the UK. So these ride for me are Tarmac sections linked to together by Bridal ways, Farm Tracks or roads. Having used a GRX 2x 46/30 with a 12/25 cassette mostly on road for winter I hardly ever use the little ring and spend most my time in the the middle of block. I recently fitted a new 12/25 cassette but only 17,18,19 sprockets were worn out. I also have a Giant Revolt with Sram Force 2x 43/30 with 11/34 Shimano Cassette. I tend to use 43 ring on the road and 30 off road which makes full use to the cassette range. If you actually spend the time work out each gear size for all 24 possible gear combinations against Sram XLPR 1x set up of 40T C/Ring with a 10/44 Cassette there a 14 gears on the 2x 43/30, 11/34 set that are either the same gear size or very close to XLPR 1x setup. So 1x XLPR is actually makes sense to me. Also for my type riding I'm essential running 2x as 1x , as Ispend 90% of my riding on the 46T outer ring. So by going to 1x I will utilise more my cassette, have a better set up for off road riding (I also mountain so know how good 1x works) and lose nothing when riding on road. Dave this video really confirms what I suspected for non race riding if you select the right c/ring and cassette for your riding then 1x is fine. I will be finding out myself soon.

I tried using 1x for a year worked ok but there's always some compromise. The fact that you can run closer ratio cassette on a 2x is the most important thing for me. 50-34 chainset with 11-30 cassette is perfect for where I live.

David, I'm interested to know why you chose ave speed as the constant matrix, would it not be more conclusive using the same power and recording cadence as the main matrix? Also, the same big chainring on the front with an explorer cassette and derailleur would have arguably given a more direct comparison as you alluded to at the end. FYI, Silca discovered that the 10t on the SRAM, and subsequent chain line costs 6w more than using the 11t!

Thanks David Arthur I believe 1x for me is a win thanks again for the informative information

Everyone should try both, and see which they prefer,i was riding double chainrings in front for years and by chance tryed one by and loved it,tryed again few months ago double chainring and didn't really like it, all on the road bike. You need to know how to setup your gearing on one by, i use 44 NW. with 11-32 or,46NW with 11-36.

I’ve been a long time mtb rider, recently switched to road! A front derailleur was alien to me, but I used it as it’s the norm! Recently built a gravel bike and use the same parts as my road bike so they’d feel similar. And I just knew it was wrong instantly! done a few hundred miles and I want 1x! so a new 11-42t cassette, rear derailleur and 42t crankset ordered later.. I’m now waiting for the post fairies to get them to me! hoping a 36-50t crank translates well to a 42t! only ever used the larger 4-5 gears so dropping down a few teeth should mean I’m using more of the cassette.

I guess it’s down to the individual. I have 1x set up on my gravel bike, which I hardly use for gravel and 2x set up on road bike and love both. For those who mention about quiet drive terrain, both my bikes are extremely quiet. So depends on your set up and maintenance I guess. ✌🏾

im going 1x on my cinelli build. 46t up front and a 10-44 xplr cassette. I will have a 42t chainring in reserve and eventually will get a GX Rd and 10-52 cassette for ultra races in the mountains.

For my local roads here around Berlin, I barely even need my small chainring even with a 10-28 cassette. In the end I ride nearly everything on the big chainring and actually cross chain more then on a 1x setup. But when I'm visiting my family and riding there, I need all my gears. The solution is clearly another bike :D

You need to talk about E thirteen and Garbaruk or Miche and Campagnolo offerings , David . Also discuss wired derailleur systems as well .

@davidarthur been running 1x for nearly 10 years on my winter bike. Its does take a bit of research into gear ratios. I've settled on a 52t chaninring and 11-36 cassette, top gear slightly lower that 53/11 and low gear equivalent to 39/27. I'm still on 11spd shimano so 10-36 cassette not avaialble unless i go with a non shimano/sram cassette with an XDR driver. From experience i do think 48t chaniring with a 10-36 cassette would be perfect for me. For racing, I still use 2x for racing because jumps between each ratio (sprocket) are too extreme when looking to control your cadence.

Very useful info. Thanks from Sweden. I think the 2x is history soon. At least as front gearing...

Tried both. Simplicity of the 1x is refreshing but I've only got 8x in back so 2x is better for gear range and cadence. For road bikes with shorter chainstays where chainline is exaggerated and required more drivetrain fiddling.

My winter training bike has an 11-28 11 spd cassette with a 44T chainring. It also has 32mm tyres which again raises the gearing slightly. I’m 65 years old and skinny. I can get up most of the steeper hills around Bristol and Bath. I think some of them are approaching high teens in percentage terms. So it can be done. However, I’m guessing Mr Arthur wouldn’t have chosen such a set-up for last year’s Fred Whitton challenge. Horses for courses. Great on a winter bike; less good on a summer “best bike”.

for as long as the chainring to cassette ratio is almost the same, I think no problem with that. lowering 1x chainring no. of teeth and getting smaller either 10T or 9T on the rear just to compensate for the ratio. On the other hand, as you took smaller cogs to 10T moving bigger as well for bigger cogs let's say 46-52T for the climb.

For what its worth, i am totally fine with you stating your findings were “inconclusive.” Am currently relying on a 1-x for the first time for predominantly road riding. I think i liked the concept of it more than the actual riding experience.

i went to 1x on my road bike about a year and a half ago. i lost patience with my mechanical SRAM front mech that never seemed to work very well. it is 10 speed, and i have 46 front and 11-32 rear. i know times have changed, but my lowest gear is lower than the 39/25 i had on my first real road bike 20 years ago, but unfortunately i am 20 years older. For almost all of the riding i do it is perfectly fine. Maybe spin out a bit earlier than i would like, but i can live with that. The times i miss having lower gears are when i am exploring new rides and a gradient goes above my comfort zone and the top isn't in sight. For that reason i am seriously considering going back to 2x. But mechanical - so Shimano.

Made the switch to 1x only on the road, don't look back. It's just so much more fun without a FD. More time on the bike, less time in the stand. Switched to Rival 1 (11 spd mechanical) on my 2ndary bike a year ago. 42t chainring coupled with 11-32 in the back. Quietest drivetrain I've ever ridden. Spinning out downhill quickly (which I don't care about since I don't race) and a bit grindy on long steep gradients. On my main bike I was forced into 1x, irreplaceable carbon FD socket got squashy over time, chain would drop more often than not. Replaced 48/32+11/27 (11 spd with 16t cog) by a Force AXS 1x 40t +10-33. Got the missing gear for 12%+ climbs now but the 24-28 jump feels big, would prefer a 10-32 cassette. The 13-15 jump of the 10-36 cassette would drive me crazy. I'd love to see a 10-35 or 10-36 13 spd cassette to use with Ekar.

I went back to 2x on my gravel bike this year. More range in both directions. It was the large steps between gears that ultimately made me switch back to 2x GRX. I found myself either at too high or too low a cadence (for me) the majority of time spent on the bike. I was very excited to go 1x and was planning on doing it to my road bikes too, but as the season wore on the excitement turned to disappointment and regret.

Both races mentioned for WvA do have not steep hills but only one fastish descent. Pro peleton told us one by doesn't work if you need full range of gears on the road

Great content as always....I wonder what wear and tear would be like over time, as essentially cross-chaining in a few of the gears?

I ride a allez sprint with rival axs and 48t front and 10-36 rear it’s essentially the same range as a 52/36 paired with an 11/28 cassette. It works fine for riding rolling hills fast group rides, or criteriums

If you live somewhere flat or with gentle rolling hills 1x is probably a good option. I live in an area with mountains though. 15%+ roads in the foothills with straight fast downhills, flat riding in town, and 1000 m hillclimbs at 7% average. The best option for a 1x I could see would be a 10-42 cassette paired with a 44 tooth chainring but even that is on the limits of happiness on both ends of the gears while having a huge spread for a road bike

Ratio technology makes a 12 speed conversion for apex rival etc that works really good. You just swap the cage/ratchet and you can run a 12 speed mountain bike cassette.

I run a 1x on my gravel bike with a second set of road wheels. I have a 38 tooth wolf tooth on the front with an 11-42 on the rear. At 69 yo I’m more concerned with having a low enough gear more than having a really tall top gear. For flatter rides I run an 11-34 on the road wheels. I don’t race or do fast group rides so having closer gaps in gear ratios is not an issue. I really like the simplicity of 1x.

The problem with 1x setup comes down in group rides and going downhill in a bunch also maintaining cadence going uphill. I have used 46x34 setup, it bites you on hilly rides as grinding on steep grades eventually hurts here around Glasgow, moreover in bunch rides one always keeps shifting to achieve proper cadence in group rides and always struggles to find enough speed going downhill with the bunch. Most notably is the amount of chain wear occurs compared with 2x it’s half life for chains which is expensive. I was optimistic with 1x but it proved a expensive experiment now happy with 2x setup and yes SRAM are shite with quality therefore they need to find some way to keep profits coming 😅

I run a SRAM Force XPLR 1x group with a 46T Chainring and 10/44 12-speed cassette on an Allez Sprint. It's faster than my Trek Madone Sl6 running Shimano 2x Ultegra. Key is to mix a road bike with a gravel-specific groupset and run the most significant ratios your bike can handle.

There is an element to cycling I've only recently begun using. . . "fashion" as reference to manner of doing and keeping with norms. What pros do informs us but they will be the ones who (freely) use what tool their sponsor designs for them. The rest of us ought to reflect on where we come from - like "not racing" and how many bikes we plan to own.

Hi David, thinking more about this excellent video…what would also be very interesting in the 1x v 2x comparo discussion is the type of bike it is used on. For example compare across the range of bikes from one brand - road, endurance, gravel. I currently ride a ‘gravel’ Cervélo Aspero as my ROAD BIKE with GRX 2x gearing. How would this compare for example with a Cervélo Aspero with 1x AND also say a Cervélo Soloist, Caledonia, R5 or S5 with 2x and 1x gearing? Gravel race bikes these days arguably make better road bikes for most of who don’t actually race because wider tyres are better. Does that also mean that 1x gearing might be better? And is a road bike, endurance bike or gravel bike better with 1x or 2x for mere mortals?

Cost. I switched to 1x about the same time that shimano made their chainrings $300 to replace, and proprietary so you couldnt run aftermarket. Just use a 11-32 cassette instead of 11-28 and its pretty much the same. Plus its nice to have the di2 buttons identical on each side for easy 1 handed shifting on either side.

1x may work only on flat terrains, not more than 5% gradients. Otherwise you will need some monster cassette at back with big jumps between gears. Personally I prefer 50/34 with 11-25 or 11-28 at back. I think, 1x will be fine when we get to 15+ gears at the back.

I’ve been riding my titanium gravel bike with sram force one 38 chainring with 11-36 and I have no problems riding with my roadie mates. I recently changed to 42 front and 10-42 rear for a recent trip to Gran Canaria. Fat tyres, 1X + no dropped chains

I recently did a ride where I stayed in the big ring the whole time (48T with 10-36). And no, it wasn't flat. 90km with over 900m of climbing. Made me think about going 1x, but it's not really practical for anything other than high intensity rides (at least around here, different in the Netherlands or in Florida). Sometimes you just want to (have to) chill. Zone 2 is impossible with that setup. Maybe something for N+1.

Let me start with the fact that I live in a very flat area. I've been running a 1by Sram Red for almost 2 years, 26-10t cassette and 50T chainring. No issues in that time frame. Also I have a 2by Red that the front mech is never used. So it works for me!

The problem with the 1X on mountain bikes is that the largest front chainring you get is 32 or possibly 34 tooth. So if you have long flat or slightly downhill sections, you're coasting quite a bit.

For me, on my 2 hybrid bikes, after 8,000 miles, using 44 and 42 Wolftooth chainrings and 11-34 cassettes, I'm sold on them. Much better than the 2x's the bikes came with. However, if I were younger, I'd go with a 46 tooth (hills get harder when you get older).

once we hit 6 & 7 cogs, I typically treated the drivetrain as having two 1X, w/ occasional selection between them. {the exception being racing, obviously - can never have close-enough gearing} but I'm very old school... on one bike I'm even up to having three 1X drivetrains. may become a trend someday.

Campagnolo Ekar (1x13) works great for me. It does 60 km/h (coming down an alpine road) just as fine as going up steep trails with rough gravel.

I have Sram apax one by setup with 42 chainring and 42x10 casate and it was good and sufficient till I start riding more often and I get my cadance up to around 90rpm and then I ofthen find myself searching for inbetween gears... It is nice to have one to one gear for climbs and not botther with front mech but not having inbetween gears for most common use is anoying. I also tried 44T front chainring, but it was the same case... not enaugh gears...

2x 50 34 front 11 32 rear, good enough to tackle most scenarios in the UK, I honestly don't know why you would bother with 1x unless you're a CX or MTB rider.

Hi Dave, given that some of us like a huge spread of gears (older rider, living in the alps, not as fit as I one was and not a weight weenie) what are your shouts on my setup which I've had for a number of years and which works flawlessly - SRAM PG 1170 11-36 rear cassette matched to am Ultegra 8050 11 speed di2 compact 50-34? I have a BMC Roadmachine SLR01 that I run with 28mm rubinos on 44 Carbon rims for road and have another set of exactly the same rims that I use with 35mm Panaracers for light gravel.

Great video. One observation, you didn't change the cassette. Instead, you effectively just reduced the range of your gearing. The whole issue with 1x is if you switch to a cassette to approximate the range of your 2x gearing, what is the impact of the jumps between cogs. Just changing the chainring does not give a lot of information and you could get most of your information simply by calculating gear ratios (You will easily know if gears are not small or big enough, but not get to the heart of the 1x issue). That said, thanks for taking a pass at exploring this. It is a very interesting topic! P.S. Love the color of that Giant. Wish I could find one!

Nope. Been running XPLR with a 40 chainring and for the first time yesterday slapped aero wheels with 30c slicks on the Revolt A1. Did not spin out on flats and was fast enough on the descents, albeit with some head wind from time to time. Did not miss the extra range, but as I am mainly a mountain biker who has dipped his toe into gravel and all road, I'm at home on the 1X.

Not sure about road bike, but on a gravel it totally makes sense to me. I have got 11-46 cassette and 44 chainring for normal riding and 40 chainring when I go bikepacking. I would love SRAM 10-44 or Campa 9-42, but its not worth upgrading yet.

As David mentioned here, there is a British bike company who offer which ever 1x combination of chainring size and cassette ratio that suits your riding, on a fully dedicated 1x engineered frame .

Run a 50/34 with a 11-34 on road and a 11-40 on gravel. Checkpoint ALR with two wheelsets. We have BIG hills and all the gears are used. I see the 1x gravel bikes limited all the time.

Like everything, it’s a compromise. I currently run a 46 up front and 10-50 in the rear on my gravel/all road bike and have no issues. The gaps would be annoying to me personally if I were taking pulls on a fast group ride, but I wouldn’t use my bike for that anyway.

Riding on the road, my preferred cadence is 88-92rpm which dictates the gearing I need. If I can’t hold that for a given speed (especially with others) the 2x will always be superior..for me. I may have the min/max ratios but on 1x I’ve dropped the number of available gears by 50%.

I just using one chainring now! 50teeth by 13to32COG. I omit my 34teeth chain ring since it has no use at All. And it far way better than i expected

been running 1x11 on my kinesis RTD dream build for last 18 months. Even done full panniers touring on it as well as fast club run. I don't regularly ride over 25 mph so don't spin out and like simplicity of the setup alot.

Back in the day I rode a 52-42 with a 7 speed 28-13 on 5000’ feet of climbing over 30 miles. Not much else available at the time. Now I’m 1 by because I ride mostly single track and commute around. I do see the need for 2 by on the rode with a group that goes all out. The fact that the 44 was sold out might give you your answer. My tandem is 2 by with a 42-28 only because I don’t want to scare the crap out of newbies I’m introducing biking to😬

Regarding the pretty large power discrepancies: Were the crank arms different lengths? If they were, might that account for the difference, if you didn’t alter the settings of your pedal-based power meter?

The one second difference in time between runs would be closer to .10 difference in speed. Also when I compared an 11-34 cassette to a 11-42 cassette they both are the same in the steeper gears so they both have the same 11-13-15-17-19-21 cogs and only vary above that. Since I'm using the higher gears 95% of the time on the 50T chainring when I went 1X I just used a 50T chainring with an 11-42 cassette. It works fine for me even on 10% grades uphill.

definitely more applicable to gravel where avoiding front mech issues also comes into play. That said not all front mechs are created equal. Mullet on Gravel or Ekar have definite advantages on range. Also nice to meet you in person at Sea Otter!

Coming from the fixed gear to road, I’ve tried the 1x… I found that 1x works well enough on CX and gravel… road I can’t figure out the correct range/ratios… 2x works the bes (at least for me) on road.

Interesting power delta. I'm putting it down to weight/aero gains of losing the FD

In my opinion, the best setup is the shimano grx with 46-30 on the front and 11-42 on the back. Unfortunately, i don't have one. I ride 50-34, 11-34 on my gravel bike and 32, 11-50 on my mtb. I find that i don't have easy enough gear on the first one and big enough gear on the second one, as i live in a very mountainous area, where almost every climb has a 15% or even steeper gradient sections.

No mention of chain line noise - because you didn’t use a realistic 1x cassette. You should watch Rides of Japan’s video on why he give up on 1x for road. Spoiler alert - the chainstays on road bikes are too short to offer an acceptable chainline at the extremes with an acceptable range of gears on a 1x setup. And I say that as someone who is quite happy with his 1x system on a gravel bike - which has longer chainstays, obvs.

The Vegan Cyclist runs the same mullet setup on his road bike that he runs on his gravel bike. That gives him good top end and climbing gears. Although, I think that setup would be a bit nuts on the road for me. On my gravel bike, I don't mind the 1x 99% of the time. There is that rare occasion in which I feel like I'm between gears. That is usually when I'm on pavement or when I'm tucked into a big group. As for efficiency losses, I don't find that much of argument either if it works well for you. A wrinkle in your jersey can be 5 watts. Over the course of a ride, that would mean extremely little. It only makes a difference if you are in a race at an elite level.

Nice video. I just think it is a bit misleading to only change the crankset and not change the cassette/sprocket. Going from 2x to 1x without adapting the range of the sprocket will always make you lose a bit of performance (flat road) or convenience (climbing). And obviously you will never have the same capabilities on high percentage climbings as with a 2x.

Thank you, David. I was wondering, having seen this setup yesterday. QUESTION: What pedals are on the bike? Are they magnetic? Have you done a video about them?

Overall with the same 2x Sram Rival setup, I can ride up to 25 mph in the 36 chainring. I only use the 48 chainring to descend. I have a lot of descents around here and I like to spin it out, so I don't think a 1x setup would work for me. Plus, with that 36 tooth cassette, I can climb a wall as well. I hated front derailleur changes, but just a tap of both shifters I never miss a beat. Just a tap though, if you hold down too long you will drop your chain eventually.

Surely it depends more on the jumps between gears on the rear cassette than anything else? A more objective test would replace both the front chain-rings and the rear cassette to afford the same range with fewer net gears. The interplay of gearing, cadence and speed is what matters. Some 1x systems are better than others.

Yes you do! Pro's tried 3T 1x bikes a couple years back, that didn't last long did it? You cannot get benefit of ratios with just a single chainring. One can opt for a 1x if they live in Holland or Florida, but it is not practical for the rest of the world.

I'm curious if you get that 44t chainring as an oval chainring.... It's suppose to make your climb more easy, which will close the gap even more....

I have watched all the videos available from Safa Brian. I especially like his gravel videos. For a long time he drove a front derailleur. Then he experimented for a couple of months with just one gear in the front. But eventually he went back to a front derailleur. My mother-in-law rides her bike to the grocery store with one gear in the front. I'm not my mother-in-law.

I have 2 road bikes I've built, one with 2x and the other with 1x. My 2x bike is definitely more versatile and can tackle most any terrain. My 1x bike though is the smoother bike to ride geared with a 44t/11-32t setup. I can really maximize all the gears, focus on cadence and go out of saddle when I need to sprint or climb. Honestly it really depends on the elevation you ride in and whether or not you have fitness to handle 1x. On a side note, I've done fast group rides with the 1x on hilly terrain and it's pretty easy to keep up in that scenario, but on more flatter rides it would probably be harder to keep up. BTW - you can build a 1x road setup on the cheap, I'm just using a 105 R7000 RD and you can convert a 2x crank into 1x with the appropriate chainring. Chain retention is still good on a non-clutch RD and appropriate sized chain.

Would like to see this same test except with the classified 2x internal rear hub compared to the normal front 2x chainring setup. 1x chainrings are not great to find ideal cadence.

Only way I’ll go 1x on a road bike is if I have a Classified hub :-) Even though where I live the hills aren’t huge, I still use the full range on my 2x and also still notice the mid cassette cadence gap.