>>1118495They are ok when you only ride in a low variation of speed.
That means they are work for:
>MTBSince you don´t go fast while pedaling
>TTSince you don´t go slow and would stay in the big ring anyway
>commuterSince you don´t go fast, usualy don´t have steep climbs anyway and can get away with a 8-speed.
They have less range than a conventional 2x, wich means 2x are better for:
>mountain stagesYou can´t have all the possible gearing range from a 2x in a 1x and a 1x has much more crosschaining in verry high and verry low gears, wich leads to much more wear on the chain and chainring.
These 10 or even 9 tooth cassettes are also torture for a chain due to the polygon effect and less teeth to spread the wear on.
Cassetes, wich tend to wear faster with smaller cogs, are more expensive for 1x drivetrains due to the added complexity and sieze.
Chains also get more expensive with more gears on the cassette.
In conclusion a 1x drivetrain can be cheaper than a 2x drivetrain, it will cost more to maintain it and lacks the range in the mountains.
