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3x8 to 2x9 About to PULL the TRIGGER on my UPGRADE

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What Should I do with my current 3x8 setup?

  • 2x8 with 24-36-Bash

    Votes: 2 8%

  • 2x9 with 24-36-Bash

    Votes: 18 72%

  • Don't waste your money on that hard tail

    Votes: 3 12%

  • Wear out your current 22-32-42 drive chain then upgrade to 2x8

    Votes: 2 8%
  • Total voters
    25
21 - 33 of 33 Posts
Discussion starter · #22 ·
Funny I did my 3x8 to 2x9 swap and its a dream. The X9 stuff shifts without blinking on climbs under load whatever I throw at it it's super smooth. So I took what I thought was a minor spill on my inaugural ride. I'm still recovering from a really bad sprained possibly broken ankle so unclipping on my right side isn't very fast. Anyways there was a mob of people riding so slow on the main trail that I found myself dismounting and walking behind them with no hope of passing. So I started riding on some unmaintained side trails, I took a spill trying to ride up a near vertical embankment out of a washbed without enough momentum. I went down on my right side. I even grabbed a tree trunk and practically lowered myself to the ground. Afterwards I started pedaling and my shifting was all out of wack then I took a look and saw I had twisted my front derailleur around some and even better upon closer inspection I saw that my rear wheel was about to fall off. When I got back I noticed the derailleur hanger was loose. I tightened it up but when I reattached the derailleur I found the threads of the hanger were toast. So now I'm waiting on a new hanger to arrive

It's nice to work on my own bike I feel pretty proud that I replaced my own BB, crank, stem, handlebars, Hydraulic brakes, and shifters but there is definitely a learning curve being your own mechanic. Every time I get frustrated I think I'm gonna take my bike in and let the pros deal with this but I'll never learn if I don't keep after it.

I also have these really cool bird nest looking things at the end of my cables because I didn't have any cable ends. Now as the cable has further unraveled I find myself wanting to replace brand new cables and immediately cap them next time. Also I noticed the cables seem to have cut into the cheap plastic ferrule on the short cable housing run that goes into my RD. Now I'm learning all about cable housing etc..

Already scratching my head debating the pros and cons of installing a fully housed cable run My cable is naked on the downtube currently. I'm gonna start by just throwing on some metal ferrules and capping my cable ends and see if this doesn't work for a while.
 
#24 ·
First post, woot!

I'm in a similar situation as the OP... Recently bought a Trek 29er which comes with a Shimano Alivio (44/32/22) crankset and SRAM PG-950 11-34 9 speed cassette... I very rarely use the 44 ring, and dont think I've ever used the 22.

I guess I have a few questions if anyone feels inclined to help a noob.... Is it a huge undertaking to move to a 1X9 setup? Do I need a whole new crank or can I just get a new ring? If it's just a matter of getting a new ring, what size is recommended given the 11-34 on the 9 speed rear?

If I wanted to go the route of 2X9, similar question - do I need a new crankset? Also, I assume I'd need a new front shifter and possibly front derailleur?

I appreciate any help!!
 
#25 ·
You don't need a new crank for either setup. You'd probably want one for a weight-conscious 1x9. Except for really high end stuff, there are no purpose-built MTB doubles. Just stick a bash guard on in place of the big ring.

You can use your same front derailleur and shifter.

In your shoes, I would probably not get a new chain ring. Just ride the 32t middle until I wore it out, or found I wanted some higher gears.

For 1x9, you'll probably need a chain retention device, and may want a singlespeed chain ring.
 
Discussion starter · #27 ·
OK so until my new Jagwire Ripcords arrive in the next couple days I'm without a rear shift cable. Check em out they are pretty shiny. Mafia Racing - Jagwire / Mafia Racing / IMBA - Ripcord Derailleur Kit

I picked up some metal ferrules and a new Teflon coated stainless cable to install to go for a ride yesterday. Who knew cables could be so frustrating. By the time I get the cable threaded through my X9 shifter the thing is frayed and a few strands of the cable are being stripped off just entering the shifter. So after re-cutting and trying several times I called the game. I even tried taping the ends but that made them too fat to pass through the housing. The first time the cables I installed were pre-cut and threaded super easy. I thought cables were an easy install. These cables were double ended and as soon as I cut them the fraying began. Geeze what a pain. So depending on what the ends of the Teflon cables in the Ripcord kit look like I guess I need to consider super glue or soldering the tips or something? And before anyone asks I was using a pair of Park cutters fresh out of the box.

Learning to work on your bike is is a pain. It seems like it requires a lot of finesse and some specialized tools. Making 1/8 and 1/4 turns to adjust stuff is a pain when you're used to tightening stuff as tight as you can without stripping it.

So any tips or simple tricks to make installing cables a breeze? I really want the satisfaction of installing my new ones myself and not letting the LBS handle it.

Also I mentioned on here before about buying longer Limit screws for my FD. If I install the limit screw to the point where it stops the shifter from pushing the derailleur over as far as the shifter wants then the shifter won't lock in place will it? I've seen and read all I can on adjusting my derailleurs. I found that the least chain rub on my FD came from having a little slack in my shift cable so that when I shift it didn't push my FD over quite as far. I'd love however to take the slack out and be able to use the limit screw to stop my shifter from pulling it too far over. I'm thinking the shifter pull length and the limit screw would be fighting each other though. And I suspect that shifters don't typically allow for adjustable pull length.
 
#28 ·
Old-school shifter cables are a little harder to work with. They're double-ended because Campagnolo uses a different standard. The ones you have coming are going to be easier - most shifter cables only have the metal thing on one end.

The big trick is when you start pulling the cable, it needs to be in good shape. You don't necessarily need a fancy wire cutter, but you do need a real one to make a clean enough cut. Then twist the end of the cable if it's started to fray, so everything is lying in a nice clean twist again.

Solder's a good idea too. I've never been able to get it hot enough to finish a cable permanently, and new cables are usually coated in something that interferes, but it would give them a little more cohesion while you're working on the bike.

You can also take the routing in steps - get the cable through the shifter pod, then thread the housing section from the shifter to the first stop onto the cable with everything straight.

I think you're over-worrying about the front derailleur trim. If there's a little slack in your cable when you're in your lowest gear but nothing falls off, it's fine. If you set up the upper limit screw on your derailleur so it can't shift to the largest chain ring, or wear it would be if you didn't remove it, that should stop the shifter from being able to shift high enough to lock. But cables have a little stretch, housings compress a little, and there's some wiggle room with these things. I'd say your best setting would be such that you can shift from the small to the middle ring without extra pressure and without chain rub in the middle/small combination, as long as that also lets you do the small chainring/big cog combination without chain rub. If you didn't have a third position on your shifter, the high limit screw would basically be along for the ride in this situation.
 
#29 ·
AndrwSwitch said:
You don't need a new crank for either setup. You'd probably want one for a weight-conscious 1x9. Except for really high end stuff, there are no purpose-built MTB doubles. Just stick a bash guard on in place of the big ring.

You can use your same front derailleur and shifter.

In your shoes, I would probably not get a new chain ring. Just ride the 32t middle until I wore it out, or found I wanted some higher gears.

For 1x9, you'll probably need a chain retention device, and may want a singlespeed chain ring.
Click to expand...
okay, so i'm thinking of doing the 2X9. just a few questions if i go that route...

1) i assume i need to adjust the front derailleur for the new 2X9 setup... anything in particular I should do? I'll be keeping the shifter the same as well. i'm concerned about making sure it shifts smoothly between the two gears now without over-shifting, etc.

2) i want to change the small and middle ring from 22/32 to 24/34 (and also put a bashguard on). i found some salsa chain rings in those sizes to replace the old ones. i should be able to just take the old rings off and put the new ones on with a bashgard without any issues, correct?

3) finally, given that i wont be shifting to a 44T front ring anymore, i can remove some links from the chain, yes or no? if so, how many would you guys recommend?

thanks again for the help. sorry for the lame noob questions again.
 
#30 ·
Hopefully someone more familiar with these drivetrains will post too...

1) Assuming you're sticking with your same front derailleur, don't bother. Take a close look at the derailleur cage. Triple derailleurs have some steps shaped into them to facilitate the shifts on all rings. The track for the chain when it's in the middle ring is still appropriate when there's no big ring, and you still don't want the bottom of the cage low, where the old small ring position gives the chain an extra escape route to screw up your day. I don't know if you could even move the derailleur down that far... Unless you're getting a purpose-built double front derailleur, just position it as if you still had a triple crank. TBH, I haven't converted a MTB triple to a double - my MTB is set up as a triple, and my road bike that's a double has always been a double, although I have monkeyed with the ring sizes. Bringing me to

2) Yes, kind of. Small chain rings are really simple. There are no ramps, pins or shift gates. Large and middle chain rings don't really need those things, but IME they shift more smoothly with them. With an old-school, friction-shifting setup, it's not that big a deal - I just haul on my front derailleur until that bike shifts, and trim if it comes up. Indexed shifters can't do that - they're smarter, in a sense, but they don't give the rider as much opportunity to be smart. So I'd want to read the description, and I'd choose a 34t ring designed to be used in a multispeed setup over one designed for singlespeed use. It would also need to be designed to go in the middle position, although I doubt that anyone makes a 34t ring for the outer position on a triple crank.

3) Yes. The instructions for your rear derailleur will have a suggestion on how to size a chain. Or check out Park Tool. I don't know how many, exactly, and while I have some ideas involving math, they could be wrong :p and it's easier to just do it over anyway.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
So I got my new Jagwire Ripcord installed today. It was a breeze I ran my rear derailleur before a ride and the other when I got home in the dark with no lights. The difference between precut and Campagnolo is ridiculous. I can't even believe they sell the double ended style anymore. The Ripcord has a nice sleeve on my downtube runs of previously exposed shift cables. Also my chainstay run to the RD is sleeved now. I have enough leftover cable housing that I wouldn't mind scratching my head on how to go fully encased but I may just save that for my next bike.

As for the FD chain rub. I consistently get chain rub in both my front rings when I'm on the small side of my cassette. I maxed out my limit screw today and dialed it in about as good as it's gonna get. I get a little rub on the largest and smallest ring of my cassette now. I figure that's better than worrying about dropping my chain off my granny and having lots of rub on the small side of my cassette.

I'm hoping to get some pics posted on here tomorrow. All "AndrwSwitch's" hard posting deserves some rewarding eye candy. I swear I've gone from nearly a complete idiot when I started posting on here knowing very little about my bike and how it works to someone who is fairly confident in doing all their own bike wrenching. I'm not eager to tackle wheel building mind you but who knows.

My next item of interest is my seatpost. I was initially leaning towards a zero offset but the closer I look at my current stock post it appears like it may be offset a little and its hard to tell. I find myself scooting back a little on my saddle from time to time which makes me think I may go for the Crank bro 20mm offset Cobalt 3 to match the rest of my cockpit. I shortened up my stem from 100mm to 80 and went to full width Handlebars and it made a world of difference in the handling. Anyways I'll keep you guys posted on the continued evolution.

After the seatpost all that's left is a new fork and wheelset and I'll basically have a whole new bike. I still haven't even learned how I want my preload dialed in yet so i doubt I need a high speed fork yet. I'm sure as heavy and aggressive as I am I'll kill my wheels and have a good reason to replace them. Until then I'll wait and see what I can learn about wheels. I'm sure I'll break my headset with enough riding and get myself a nice matching blue Chris King or Crank brothers.
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
tedlove said:
okay, so i'm thinking of doing the 2X9. just a few questions if i go that route...

1) i assume i need to adjust the front derailleur for the new 2X9 setup... anything in particular I should do? I'll be keeping the shifter the same as well. i'm concerned about making sure it shifts smoothly between the two gears now without over-shifting, etc.

2) i want to change the small and middle ring from 22/32 to 24/34 (and also put a bashguard on). i found some salsa chain rings in those sizes to replace the old ones. i should be able to just take the old rings off and put the new ones on with a bashgard without any issues, correct?

3) finally, given that i wont be shifting to a 44T front ring anymore, i can remove some links from the chain, yes or no? if so, how many would you guys recommend?

thanks again for the help. sorry for the lame noob questions again.
Click to expand...
Hmm I can only speak from stumbling through this process myself. You will have to pull your crank to change all of your chain rings and slip the bash on. If you haven't done it it sounds scary but it's easy. Its possible to replace the largest ring with a bash without yanking the crank in a lot of cases but you need to pull the crank beyond that at least as far as I know. Also aside from a crank puller you need the chainring nut wrench to hold the back side of the nut and bolt that hold the chain rings together. cheap like 10 each for park tools.

As for removing links you will be able to remove a few. Just stick it on your largest front and rear rings and take the links out accordingly. Since you are already running a 9 speed setup your existing Derailleurs and shifter will work fine. Depending on the size of the bash you may find that your Front Derailleur cage rubs the bash and the FD has to be slid up your tube a little to accommodate the bash.

After rereading your initial post I think you have a very easy transition from 3x9 to 2x9, a lot less work than my 3x8 to 2x9.

There is a sticky post on here about derailleur size you might want to read. Your existing, probably long cage derailleur, will probably work fine but next time you upgrade or replace your rear derailleur you may want to switch to a shorter cage to maximize the crispness of the shifting. Read through this thread and you'll see what I mean, but basically the bigger the chainring and cassette the longer the cage on the RD needs to be to allow for all the extra chain you need for all the combinations.

http://forums.mtbr.com/drivetrain-s...ters-derailleurs-cranks/when-use-long-cage-vs-short-cage-derailleur-284688.html
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Ok so now I'm facing the issue of whether I should go ahead and grab a new wheelset and that Shiny New Fox 32 29er fork with a Thru Axle or save my money and get the regular qr skewer on the Fox so I don't have to grab a new wheelset right away. The only thing on this bike I haven't replaced is my saddle, wheelset, headset and fork.
 

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Spartan14
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