UKH

I've got a 2016 1x11 Canyon Spectral - awesome bike but I'm struggling on hills with my current 32 teeth chainring and 42 cassette. What would give me a better range of gears to help me spin up hills - a 2x11 or a SRAM GS Eagle 50 tooth cassette?

Cheers

Davie

Get a smaller front chainring? How often do you really use that top gear?

Depends what ratios you go for on the 2x11 ?

32x42 is a massively low gear, you should be able to ride up the side of a wall with that

Or buy a larger range 11 speed cassette? Shimano do a 11-46 not sure if Sram do a 10-46 though. Sunrace make cassettes too. 

Have you looked into an electric conversion?

On my way to uni I get passed every by an elderly gentleman maybe in his 70s who just SCREAMS up the hill on his electric mountain bike, while I struggle on whichever bike I use that day (usually my cyclocross bike, unless wet, as my work commute is mainly forest paths).. 

I have sworn not to convert, but this guy is just teasing me!

CB

I've seen loads of electric bikes in Holland, especially going round the Dunes of Loon  - in fact last time think we were the only people not charging our bikes at one of the cafe/bar stops!

Becoming more common in the UK - I cycle the same commute as a guy on an electric - his is dressed in work shirt/trousers whilst I'm in full lycra - he seems effortless on the uphills whilst I am a mass of perspiration and red faced.

Electric bikes are here to stay, they will become more and more common - I will probably convert, one of these days, when I reach my 70's/80's etc.

Perhaps.     

Is it ? My lowest is 22 x 36 (on a 2x10), which I calculate at 61% as opposed to 32x42 which is 76%. And yes I do frequently use the lowest gear, as I do like to ride up steep hills as well as down them, and there are quite a few around Sheffield.  

Depends on what derailleur you have but there are a few companies that make dinner plates for 11spd cassette. Hope come to mind but wolftooth etc also are there. Just need to check the max capacity of your derailleur.

A 12 spd eagle cassette won’t work with whatever shifter you have at the moment.

 I've been playing with ratios recently. I think 1x works well at trail centres and less steep places, but requires some pretty strong legs and can get tiring quickly in properly hilly areas. I can get up everything around me (west peak so common to find gradients well over 20%) in 30x36 but it's much easier on my 2x by a considerable margin. I think 2x is often better suited to natural riding with proper hills. I guess a 50 cog would help, but it's out of my price range! 

Yes

I been using 1x11 32t on a 9-46t E13 casssete(s) (needs xD hub) for a good while now.

Its a great set up and bigger range than Eagle 1x12. 

I've corrected that for you:

... 1x with the right rear cassette is better suited to natural riding with proper hills.

Fair point

Thanks for all your replies. I'm obviously not as strong as most of you - I'm 51 and not as fit as I'd like to be. I used to live and ride in the Lakes and moved to Scotland in May. I prefer natural mountain riding to trail centres and I used to be able to spin up a lot of stuff with my old 3x10 but find the 1x11 really tough. 32x42 doesn't give me anything like the range I used to have.

I'll have to do some more research...

Davie

What's your rear rub - Shimano or SRAM xD.

I have recently switched to a SRAM 1x11 and the gear spacing is just about wide enough for my purposes. I find it a bit tricky to keep the drive train silent (as you have to use the extreme gears, certainly more maintenance than in my old 3x9 where I could keep the chain running more parallel by not using all gears.

For me, the advantages still win out, but I doubt I would opt for a 1x solution if I needed an even bigger gear spread.

CB

Davie,

I have a Trek Fuel 9.8 29er with XT 2x11 which, as a 56 year old, I much prefer to any of the 1x rigs that I've ridden. I tend to do long'ish (80km) XC rides and definitely find the small chainring useful on the hills towards the end of a ride. Its also useful for grinding through the winter clag and mud. Having said that, both front and rear XT mechs failed within warranty and were replaced (clutch failed on rear; spring broke on front).

Get what you think is right for you.

N

There's a good chance you don't need to swap to either 2x11 or 1x12. Assuming you already have SRAM driver and 10-42 cassette try just putting a smaller ring (30 or 28) on the front. This would be the cheapest, quickest and easiest solution to your climbing problem, and as Joez said above you're unlikely to miss the gear you lose at the top end.

30T would be easier for climbs than your current setup but still a gear or two short of bottom gear on an old 3x setup (so if you're fit would get you up almost anything, though sometimes it'd be harder than it needs to be), top end would still be alright for pedalling along or downhill on (fire)roads.

28T would give you equivalent to bottom gear on old 3x setup, allowing you to sit and spin up anything but probably overkill unless you do a lot of steep climbs / long rides, you'd spin out trying to pedal downhill on the road but top end gearing unlikely to be a problem off-road.

I decided to put a 28t ring on the front of the bike I've just bought as I live up a hill in Calderdale, do a lot of steep climbs and finish most of my rides with one of them. Spinning out downhill on roads doesn't really matter to me as that's not what the bike's for and having that easy bottom gear just makes riding in this area more enjoyable. I did consider going SRAM Eagle 1x12 but was put off by all the problems people have had with it (sensitivity to setup, dropped and stuck chains, exploding rear mechs, crap jockey wheels etc.). I might go 1x12 in the future but not until the SRAM stuff's reliable or Shimano trickle their new stuff down to affordable levels. In the meantime I'd rather have a reliable drivetrain with a gear range that's already sufficient.