Dingus and Dangol: Front Derailleurs
Dingus: Front derailleurs are the worst! I hate them. I'm so glad I got a 1x.
Dangol: I dunno, I really like my front derailleur.
Dingus: It's so much extra weight! And it's another component that can go wrong.
Dangol: The system doesn't really end up being lighter, and how often do you really have a front derailleur go bad?
Dingus: What are you talking about? A front derailleur alone is about 106g, and the shifter is another 150g. Not to mention the cables and housing. Then you've got two chainrings instead of one, plus the spider. It's probably a pound of extra weight to have a front derailleur.
Dangol: Well, that's true. But if you only remove front shifting, you lose a tremendous amount of range.
Dingus: Is it really that bad?
Dangol: Well, an older system might have an 11-36 cassette with a 42/28 chainring. That's a gear range of 0.77 to 3.81, which is 494% range.
Dingus: Hah! SRAM's Eagle is 500% range using 10-50.
Dangol: ... And the newer Shimano 2x can do 11-42 with 36/26 rings, or 0.61-3.27 for a 528% range.
Dingus:
Dangol: So let's compare NX Eagle and Shimano SLX components, since they're a similar level. The big difference is in the cassette - the NX Eagle cassette is 615g! The SLX 11-42 is 476g. 139g buys us the front derailleur. So the weight difference is really just the shifter, extra chainring, and cables/housing.
Dingus: Yeah, that's like, probably a half pound or so. That's still a big difference!
Dangol: Is it really? A half pound is a single cup of water. The bigger gear range means that it'll be easier to climb and you'll go faster on the descents.
Dingus: Save ounces and pounds will follow, man.
Dangol: Yeah I guess that's true.
Dingus: It's still a lot of extra complexity that can fail, and parts to buy, and stuff to setup.
Dangol: How often do you have issues with it? Setting up a front derailleur is way easier than a rear.
Dingus: It's not just about initial setup. It's another variable at play in optimizing the system. You have to ensure the rear derailleur shifts smoothly in both the chainrings. And dumping the chain is the absolute worst. Not to mention the cost of the relevant parts.
Dangol: Is it really all that bad?
Dingus: Since you like SLX, let's tally it up - a front shifter is $34.99 MSRP, a front derailleur is $30, cable is $5, and housing is probably a few bucks - it's probably $80 to get a front derailleur on the bike.
Dangol: The rear price difference somewhat makes up for it, again - an NX Eagle cassette is $30 more expensive than SLX, and the rear derailleur is $40 more expensive than SLX. So it's kind of a wash. It's actually cheaper to run an XT 2x setup than a GX Eagle setup!
Dingus: Not to mention the ongoing maintenance for the shifter and derailleur - it's basically an extra tune at the shop, plus cabling replacement, plus housing replacement.
Dangol: Yeah, and that's countered again by more expensive cassettes.
Dingus: You don't change your chain very often huh?
Dangol:
Dingus: Look, weight and cost are nice benefits of a 1x, but the real reason I like it is simplicity. There's less to go wrong.
Dangol: You keep mentioning 'go wrong'. I don't have problems with my front derailleur. What problems are you experiencing?
Dingus: I ride when it's muddy, dusty, snowy, slushy, icy, etc - I ride all the dang time. Any moving part on the bike can break or get contaminated and stop working, and then it's another thing to fix. I was on a snow ride with my fat bike (still had a 2x at the time), and the front derailleur got totally clogged with snow and wouldn't shift anymore.
Dangol: Yeah, but then you just have a 1x, which is .. what you're advocating.
Dingus: No! I have a non-functional 2x. It's got all the weight disadvantages and the tiny cassette of a 2x.
Dangol: Huh. I mostly ride in decent conditions and I've never experienced that. Speaking of fat bikes, though, I have had chainline issues on mine - the super wide Q-factor means that backpedaling will cause it to upshift into a harder gear, which sucks when you're trying to climb.
Dingus: Yeah that's not a problem on normal bikes. Fat bikes kinda suck sometimes.
Dangol: Lmao yeah. But I'm trying to keep my stable small, so my fat bike has to play a lot of roles.
Dingus: Wait, really?
Dangol: Yeah. I use it for bikepacking, mountain biking, and snow biking. Sometime, aspirationally, bikepacking in the snow.
Dingus: Oh man I only use my fat bike for snow biking.
Dangol: That explains the tiny chainring you use - I'd go nuts if I were limited to a 24t ring.
Dingus: Yeah, my summer bike has a 34t ring, and I love the top end for going fast downhill.
Dangol: Huh. I have one bike for both situations, and I've got 24/36 chainrings on it. But you have two bikes, one with a 26t chainring, and another with a 32t chainring. It seems like we have the same number of chainrings but a differing number of bikes!
Dingus: Yeah dude N+1 expand your stable.
Dangol: A compelling argument. But I like versatility, and I'd rather have my money in fewer, nicer bikes.
Dingus: Is it really nicer? You have a front derailleur.
Dangol: Lmao my fat bike is carbon and your bikes are both aluminum
Dingus: Yeah and they're still lighter!
Dangol:
Dingus:
Dangol: I think I understand better why you like your 1x. You have more bikes, and so you can afford to specialize your bikes to the conditions more than I can.
Dingus: Yeah I guess I get the appeal of a 2x. The cost and weight differences aren't all that big when you account for everything, and if you're not in shitty conditions that mess up a derailleur, then you won't benefit from the simplicity much.
Dangol: I can definitely agree that a bike looks cleaner with a 1x.
Dingus: Yeah dude a front derailleur is awful to look upon
Dangol: I dunno, I really like my front derailleur.
Dingus: It's so much extra weight! And it's another component that can go wrong.
Dangol: The system doesn't really end up being lighter, and how often do you really have a front derailleur go bad?
Dingus: What are you talking about? A front derailleur alone is about 106g, and the shifter is another 150g. Not to mention the cables and housing. Then you've got two chainrings instead of one, plus the spider. It's probably a pound of extra weight to have a front derailleur.
Dangol: Well, that's true. But if you only remove front shifting, you lose a tremendous amount of range.
Dingus: Is it really that bad?
Dangol: Well, an older system might have an 11-36 cassette with a 42/28 chainring. That's a gear range of 0.77 to 3.81, which is 494% range.
Dingus: Hah! SRAM's Eagle is 500% range using 10-50.
Dangol: ... And the newer Shimano 2x can do 11-42 with 36/26 rings, or 0.61-3.27 for a 528% range.
Dingus:
Dangol: So let's compare NX Eagle and Shimano SLX components, since they're a similar level. The big difference is in the cassette - the NX Eagle cassette is 615g! The SLX 11-42 is 476g. 139g buys us the front derailleur. So the weight difference is really just the shifter, extra chainring, and cables/housing.
Dingus: Yeah, that's like, probably a half pound or so. That's still a big difference!
Dangol: Is it really? A half pound is a single cup of water. The bigger gear range means that it'll be easier to climb and you'll go faster on the descents.
Dingus: Save ounces and pounds will follow, man.
Dangol: Yeah I guess that's true.
Dingus: It's still a lot of extra complexity that can fail, and parts to buy, and stuff to setup.
Dangol: How often do you have issues with it? Setting up a front derailleur is way easier than a rear.
Dingus: It's not just about initial setup. It's another variable at play in optimizing the system. You have to ensure the rear derailleur shifts smoothly in both the chainrings. And dumping the chain is the absolute worst. Not to mention the cost of the relevant parts.
Dangol: Is it really all that bad?
Dingus: Since you like SLX, let's tally it up - a front shifter is $34.99 MSRP, a front derailleur is $30, cable is $5, and housing is probably a few bucks - it's probably $80 to get a front derailleur on the bike.
Dangol: The rear price difference somewhat makes up for it, again - an NX Eagle cassette is $30 more expensive than SLX, and the rear derailleur is $40 more expensive than SLX. So it's kind of a wash. It's actually cheaper to run an XT 2x setup than a GX Eagle setup!
Dingus: Not to mention the ongoing maintenance for the shifter and derailleur - it's basically an extra tune at the shop, plus cabling replacement, plus housing replacement.
Dangol: Yeah, and that's countered again by more expensive cassettes.
Dingus: You don't change your chain very often huh?
Dangol:
Dingus: Look, weight and cost are nice benefits of a 1x, but the real reason I like it is simplicity. There's less to go wrong.
Dangol: You keep mentioning 'go wrong'. I don't have problems with my front derailleur. What problems are you experiencing?
Dingus: I ride when it's muddy, dusty, snowy, slushy, icy, etc - I ride all the dang time. Any moving part on the bike can break or get contaminated and stop working, and then it's another thing to fix. I was on a snow ride with my fat bike (still had a 2x at the time), and the front derailleur got totally clogged with snow and wouldn't shift anymore.
Dangol: Yeah, but then you just have a 1x, which is .. what you're advocating.
Dingus: No! I have a non-functional 2x. It's got all the weight disadvantages and the tiny cassette of a 2x.
Dangol: Huh. I mostly ride in decent conditions and I've never experienced that. Speaking of fat bikes, though, I have had chainline issues on mine - the super wide Q-factor means that backpedaling will cause it to upshift into a harder gear, which sucks when you're trying to climb.
Dingus: Yeah that's not a problem on normal bikes. Fat bikes kinda suck sometimes.
Dangol: Lmao yeah. But I'm trying to keep my stable small, so my fat bike has to play a lot of roles.
Dingus: Wait, really?
Dangol: Yeah. I use it for bikepacking, mountain biking, and snow biking. Sometime, aspirationally, bikepacking in the snow.
Dingus: Oh man I only use my fat bike for snow biking.
Dangol: That explains the tiny chainring you use - I'd go nuts if I were limited to a 24t ring.
Dingus: Yeah, my summer bike has a 34t ring, and I love the top end for going fast downhill.
Dangol: Huh. I have one bike for both situations, and I've got 24/36 chainrings on it. But you have two bikes, one with a 26t chainring, and another with a 32t chainring. It seems like we have the same number of chainrings but a differing number of bikes!
Dingus: Yeah dude N+1 expand your stable.
Dangol: A compelling argument. But I like versatility, and I'd rather have my money in fewer, nicer bikes.
Dingus: Is it really nicer? You have a front derailleur.
Dangol: Lmao my fat bike is carbon and your bikes are both aluminum
Dingus: Yeah and they're still lighter!
Dangol:
Dingus:
Dangol: I think I understand better why you like your 1x. You have more bikes, and so you can afford to specialize your bikes to the conditions more than I can.
Dingus: Yeah I guess I get the appeal of a 2x. The cost and weight differences aren't all that big when you account for everything, and if you're not in shitty conditions that mess up a derailleur, then you won't benefit from the simplicity much.
Dangol: I can definitely agree that a bike looks cleaner with a 1x.
Dingus: Yeah dude a front derailleur is awful to look upon
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