>>1187969I'm a road cyclists, I got my first real road bike about 10 years ago after riding around on a $350 MTB on the streets for 5-6 years, and I've been trainin for the last 8 years and racing for the last 7 years, and honestly I don't get this whole "1x11" thing at all except maybe it being some marketing scheme, or maybe it's yet another sign of people getting dumber as the decades pass instead of getting smarter (sidebar: has humanity reached/passed "peak intelligence"? Read the news every day, you'll wonder, too), maybe too many people can't manage to figure out which chainring they need to be on and why?
The major flaw I see in this whole "1x" thing is you end up with too many large jumps in cog-to-cog cadence. For instance if you're currently cruising along at 90rpm and you change up to the next smaller cog, which has 3 fewer teeth, now maybe you're at, say, 81 or 82rpm. For some rider who lacks leg strength this means they feel like they're mashing pedals. Even for a rider who has strong legs, they have a "self-selected cadence" that they're most efficient/comfortable at, and now they're much less efficient and comfortable (ergo lower performance). In the opposite case where your cadence was 90rpm and you switch to a cog with 3 more teeth, now your cadence may be 100rpm or higher; unless your pedaling efficiency is high (i.e. your pedal stroke is smooth at >=100rpm) now you're bouncing on the saddle, literally wasting energy fighting with your own muscles. Just doesn't make sense to me.
I won't lie; I've still got the triple crankset (30/39/53) from the original road bike I bought (frameset has been replaced by Trek last year, bad weld after 9+ years) but I run a 11-23 cassette so I don't get lazy. I've tried a 11-28 cassette, and the jumps in cadence make a difference in how you ride.
BTW scoff all you want at any/all of the above. I'm used to it around here. :p
