Can anyone give recommendations on what I need to upgrade to a double? Can I just add another chainring or will I need a new crankset? How about my shifter? I'd like my lowest gear to be about a 1/1 ratio, which I currently require to get up my 400' driveway on my conventional road bike, but I need a high top end, as there are some downhills around here where 45 mph can be achieved. I hope to get it done before the weather breaks, as I am planning to do some extended tours on my Q45 for the first time. Thanks.
Upgrading Q45 to a double
- Thread starter Jonathan
- Start date
ak-tux
Zen MBB Master
My two cents:
Retaining an 1:1 ration on the lowest gear and still somehow getting a top gear capable of pedalling upto 72Kph(45mph) on a 1x drivetrain is possible but largely inefficient. You can do a 10-46 or a 10-50 cassette paired with a 46T or a 48T chainring for a custom 1x setup.
But for an 11-speed cassette You are going to have lots of large jumps in the middle of the range. 12-speed (or even the new 13-speed Campy Ekar) may be better. But those tiny 10T or 9T sprockets are not efficient.
If you want efficiency and a wide range, get a double chainring setup. You can get better performance with a double mid compact 52/36 paired with a closer packed 11-36 cassette (11-speed or even 10-speed).
I have a sunrace 11-46 cassette (11-speed) 1x setup on my S40 paired with a 48T chainring. The rear derailluer is the stock SRAM Apex that came with the bike. It is a wide range but I do notice the gear jumps especially when cruzing on a flat terrain. Even with this 48x11 I spin out at about 63Kph(40mph).
For my S40 I wish I could build my own custom 11-speed Cassette. I would make the top end have closer ratios and put the big jumps at the bottom 3 sprockets.
11,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,34,40,46 would be ideal instead of the what Sunrace offered which is: 11,13,15,18,21,24,28,32,36,40,46
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