Mountain bike gearsets is something important to consider when buying or updating a mountain bike. I am going to go over some different sizes of gearsets.to give some idea of what you might want to go with.so it depends on where you ride.
you want to get the right ratio gearset for the type of riding you are going to be doing.whether it be technical or flow trails or a mixture of both the right gearset will make your ride a whole lot more enjoyable.
HOW MANY GEARS
Most mountain bike gearsets use a 1×11 or 1×12 setup nowadays.if you do a lot of climbing or riding through technical terrain. I would go with a 1×12 setup seems to be the best platform right now in my opinion it is the best.
Some of the 1x11s do still pedal well but if you are doing a lot of climbing the 1×12 is the best in my opinion. If you are not going to be riding up a lot of hills or where you live or ride is fairly flat then a 1×11 might be an option.
GEAR RATIO
Gear ratio is something important to consider.when buying a new mountain bike or upgrading. I myself like the 1×12 30 or 32 front chainring and a 11thr50 or 10thr50 rear cassette.
If you ride where there is a lot of hills or pedaling in my opinion I would go with this setup or something similiar.if I had to go with the 1×11 setup I would go for a 30 tooth front chainring and a 11thr46 rear cassette.
Shimano usually offers this which is not a bad setup at all.Lets look at speed a 1×12 with a 30 tooth front chainring 1st gear will go about 4.59 mph then 12 will go 23 mph lets look at the ratio 1st gear is 0.600 and 12th gear is 3.00 which they say is 500%.
Ok a 1×11 with a 30 tooth front chainring 11thr46 rear cassette 1st gear ratio is 0.652 and 11th gear is 2.73. In 1st is 4.99 mph and in 11th is 20.9 which they say is 418% that dont seem like to big of a difference but it is notable when you are pedaling up a very steep hill.
But to me the main difference is in gears 1 thr 4 that I look at because those are the gears that you will use the most if you are in technical trails. 2nd gear on a 1×11 is 6.21mph and 3rd is 7.18 and 4th is 8.20 on a 1×12 2nd gear is 5.47mph and 3rd is 6.38 and 4th is 7.18.
There is a lower jump in speed on the 1×12 than the 1×11 which makes for better pedaling effiency in the lower gears gives you more to work with when you are climbing or in a tough spot.
SRAM DERAILLEURS
Sram makes a very good product they have a lot of different options.from the sx which is the lowest priced option which is still a very good option. Then the nx I have used the nx and it does very good then gx this is the one I have on both my bikes right now and works very good all three options are good quality.
Then you have the higher end options the ox1 or the xx1 which is very high quality if you want to spend the extra money all these options are all very reliable.like I said I have used the nx and the gx and they have both worked flawlessly.
GX EAGLE DERAILLEUR 1×12 NX EAGLE DERAILLEUR 1×12
CRANKSETS AND CHAINRINGS
Sram has a lot of options on there cranks and chainrings.the sx eagle comes with the options of 30,32,34 front chainring.crank arms comes in 165,170,175mm lengths the nx,gx,xo1,xx1 all come with similiar options.
GX EAGLE DUBCRANKSET NX EAGLE DUB CRANKSET
GROUPSETS
A whole groupset might be the best way to go if you are replacing the whole set besides if you buy it as a whole set it will cost less sx,nx,gx are all good or you could go for th ox1 or xx1.for me I prefer the nx or gx all are good quality.
GX EAGLE GROUPSET 1×12 NX EAGLE GROUPSET 1×12
SUMMARY
I have covered some of the basics about sram gearsets.if you ride in hilly and steep terrain like I do.you want the best gear ratio you can get which in turn makes your ride a lot easier and more enjoyable.and I think we all want the best ride experience that we can get.so I hope these basics can give you some idea of how you want to go.if buying a new bike I would go with the 1×12 if possible.but if you can’t and you ride a lot of hills I would go for the 1×11 30 tooth front chainring and 11thr46 rear cassette.which would still give you a good gear ratio.wish you the best on your choice Dave.
