[sneakyracer]

Hi, I do a lot of XC riding and racing and at least in the places I ride in I find that the 44 ring is basically too much, the 22 too little and the 32 sometimes is just a tad too much for some climbs even with 34t rear. So basically I want to have 2 rings, one around 38-40t and a second one around 28-30t with my current 11-34t casette. Is this setup posible? Ive seen a similar setup on the bikes of some professional riders, in photos, but searched around and couldnt find them for sale, not surprising.

 

[Shayne]

Sure

You'll have to buy the pieces separate but you can do that.
I'd suggest trying to find an old 110/74 crank as it will make getting chainrings much easier.
Otherwise that's pretty standard road triple gearing 53-39-30, just remove the big ring and use single ring chainring bolts. This will give you a 39T and a 30T.

 

[thecrazyfinn]

Yes, this is doable. I'd recommend going for something similar to the classic Ritchey 42/29 2x9 setup.

It's easiest to do with a 94BCD MTB crank (A 110 is not ideal as getting rings smaller than 34t in 110BCD is difficult, although you could go for a 28t granny and 42t middle ring).

Raceface sells the rings you'd need in 94BCD.

 

[mrpercussive]

i'm running a 22/36/bash and works perfect!!!

 

[Shayne]

I suggested 110/74 For chainline purposes

That way you'd be using the inner 2 positions which lends itself better to fully utilizing the low end of the cassette.

And yes, getting a 110 ring in less than 33T is impossible.

 

[SeenYour Crash]

2x9 is the ticket

I switched my Truvative Stylo GXP Crankset to 2x9 and I love it. I found the same thing, that stock gearing was a bit ridiculous given my terrain and a 11-34t cassette. For my rings I chose 26 and 38. Pretty hard to spin out a 38x11 combo and the 26x34 is about as slow as I'm willing to ride. For the rings you are looking to run, a 74/110 BCD makes the most sense.

The following advantages have me sold:
*Reduced chainslap - shorter chain and I can run a mid-cage derailleur.
*Reduced the number of front shifts per ride; lets face it front deraileurs basically suck. *Additional clearance of the smaller front ring for riding technical terrain both logs and rocks. I contemplated at bash guard, but found it unnecessary for me and my style.
* My chainline is actually improved by 2x9 as external bearing cranks (in my experience) typically have too wide of a chainline center.

On the other hand my wife has a similar setup which I put a 24 and 36 on and she hates it. Claims she's always in the wrong gear now. So that'll be coming off...to each there own I guess.

Crash

 

[tolleyman]

I run 1x9 on an older Race Face 94BCD and love it. The 94mm rings are still pretty easy to find.

 

[ATBScott]

I was running a 26 + 36 ringset on my 29'er for about 2 weeks and really liked it overall with the 11-34 rear. I ended up putting a 22t on the inside for the Telluride-Moab trip, as I was going to have 30+ lbs of gear. A lot of touring cranksets are running 26-36-46 ringsets and you might be able to find a take-off if you need the crank too.

 

[G-Live]

A 36 middle "big ring" will only lose you the 44 by 11 and 12 on your cassette. Combos that I never needed trail riding even on my 26" bike. so I am running 24/36 and have even run 22/36. Prefer the 24 though.

G

 

[Troymx576]

Crash,
Thanks for the info. I also used the single speed hardware to bolt on the middle ring wihtout a second ring and worked great. I have now just finished my new 2x9 setup. It looks great and shifts great so far. Now I just need to find some time to ride it.
Troy

My setup:
Ritchey WCS cranks
FSA BB
Blackspire pro chainrings 24/34
Sram PC-990 34/11 rear cassette
Sram PC-991 corss step chain
XT front deralier

 

[tiggles]

Hey, what is the 'maximum' gap between rings before you notice performance loss? Would a 22t & 36t be fine? I definitely don't want to sacrifice the 22t.

 

[Natalie Portman]

Yes, this is doable. I'd recommend going for something similar to the classic Ritchey 42/29 2x9 setup.

Middleburn Duo 42/29 with 12-27 Ultegra Cassette.

I use a 170mm ISIS Duo with SKF-BFR Bottom Bracket.

This gets me up the tough climbs and down the steep descents.

 

[ATBScott]

Tiggles, I used the 22 - 36 on the front of my 29'er for the Hut trip a couple of weeks ago and it worked fine. Rode a total of 8 days (one in Moab) and on the entire trip it shifted off the 22t one time when shifting down to the smaller ring, while on a really rough stretch of trail. Neutral! It's a big gap, but if you adjust it right it works fine.