Advice on building budget 1x10 or 1x11 groupset

[Devon]

I'm in the proess of building up a super budget crit bike with a 1x groupset. I'm only looking at SRAM parts (unless anyone knows some black magic to make Camapag work).

My current thinking is to use a 2x crank with a 50-53t narrow wide fitted on the inner position (apparently this works fine), and a Rival/Force Type 2 mech at the back.

Is this going to work? Is there a better option?

Do I really need a narrow-wide AND clutch mech for road use?

Where can I find a budget 50t+ narrow-wide chainring?

[Ettore]

I'd take a look at the 3T Strada bikes of Aqua Blue Sport team. Sram Force 1 apparently.

[Devon]

Force 1 as a groupset is way out of budget unfortunately. I'm looking at second hand and ebay parts to build up as a custom. I'll find brakes and shifters elsewhere and make it work.

[Marin]

You don't really need a clutch rear mech - any SRAM derailleur will work, the N/W chainring will keep the chain on just fine.

I used to run MTB 1x without clutch for a while, and I'm running 2 of my 3 1x bikes non-clutch, the 3rd being the gravel bike.

If you want a clutch mech, Rival 1 or GX will work, or any MTB derailleur with "Exact Actuation" -> https://www.sram.com/sram/road/technolo ... -actuation

[Devon]

Thanks Marin, that's the sort of thing I wanted to hear. So I can run any old SRAM rear mech and save some hassle/money; the difficulty will be finding a big N/W.

[morganb]

I can see a 50 tooth ring not fitting on the frame when run on the inner position on some bikes. Look at how close a normal small ring is to the DS chainstay on the bike.

[Devon]

Fair point, will have to check the frame. I meant the inner of the big ring position. I'm in process of calculating what gearing I'll need but I expect dropping to a smaller ring will be detrimental to the sprint (assuming 12t in the rear, a 48t drops ~1mph at 90RPM over a 50t).

[Marin]

You can get any size you like from Garbaruk - I run his rings. Superstar components and B.O.R. (check bike24.com) have cheap 50t road 1x rings. Wolftooth do larger road rings too.

@morganb is right that the inner position might not work depending on your chainstays.

Why a 12t? Use an 11t cassette and you can run a 46t ring which will be fine except for very fast sprints or steep downhills. I did a hilly TT this year with 46 / 11-30.

I used to spend a lot if time tweaking my gearing on here: http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=DERS&KB=39, ... 8&UF2=2135

[Devon]

Superstar were my go-to but list 48t as the largest for a 110BCD currently so will check the other options, thanks.

Good point re: 11t, I chose 12 fairly randomly for the calculation, not thinking that an 11t would allow a slightly smaller ring. I'm hesitant to go below 50 because I tend to favor power and lower RPM over spinning, but I can experiment and see what gear I usually sprint in.

[Marin]

Not only slightly smaller, it's almost a 10% difference, so 4t smaller on the front!

BTW I have a SRAM 50t N/W ring which I used for a Team TT. I got it cheap 2nd hand. Note that the SRAM rings have a built-in offset which meant it didn't clear my chainstay - I had to run it reversed which worked fine.

[topflightpro]

I've been running a 1x cross set up for years with a basic Rival RD and regular cross chainring. But, I have it set up with an FSA Carbon "bash guard" (not really a bash guard, but it keeps the chain in place) and a K-Edge over the top chain keeper. Combined, the bash guard and K-Edge keep the chain on the chain ring.

[Devon]

Okay so I found a NEW Rival 1 crankset with a 50t ring for less than it would cost to build a custom one. Problem solved providing it fits with the frame.

So current setup will be Rival 1 crank with a regular Rival/Force 22 rear mech, running 50:11-28.

[Marin]

Nice.

[aaric]

Heads up on the GX derailleurs: 10 and 11 speed ones have different pull ratios. The 10 speed ones have exact actuation and work with road levers. The 11 speed ones do not.

[dcorn]

I have an S-works crankset from 2013 with the carbon spider and I'd like to run it 1x for a bit. I was thinking I could throw a bigger chainring on the inner spider position and it would be fairly well lined up. Can't use a 1x ring right? Because of the built in offset for 1x cranks?

And what do I do about chainring bolts? The carbon spider uses proprietary bolts so I'm not sure if I can just throw in any random 1x bolts to work. Should I try putting a small ring on the outside position and run the stock bolts? Or make a spacer to take up the space of the outer ring?