Advice needed: Should I switch from 2X10 to 1X11 on a touring bike
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As some of you know, I built a custom Salsa Vaya a couple of years ago. It has a SRAM X9 mountain bike group on it geared at 42/28 double crank and a 12-36 cassette. The full build is here. THIS IS NOT A MOUNTAIN BIKE. The bike gets a lot of use and will need some drivetrain attention relatively soon so I am thinking about taking advantage for this future maintenance to upgrade. I like this setup a lot with the exception of the front derailleur. I have had issues with chain suck and jammed drivetrains over the last few months. It has been recently tuning and dialed in as well but the front of the drivetrain continues to be somewhat problematic.
This hasn’t been a huge deal because the bike generally stays in the big ring except for the worst hills or when fully loaded. But its annoying and I have been tempted to transition to one of SRAM’s new 1X11 mountain bike groups such as GX or X1. My White Industries hub will accept the
freehub body to install the 10-42 cassette and I can easily use the mountain bike trigger shifter with a Paul mount. Here is the thing: I see lots of reviews online for cross and mountain bikes but not much in terms of touring style bikes with any load. This bike functions as a commuter, loading tourer on pavement and gravel. It has done the GAP/C&O with 60 lbs. of gear. The bike weighs about 28-30 lbs unloaded I’d guess including full front and rear racks with fenders. It pedals along at 27-28 mph without much trouble and the gearing to low enough to handle pretty much anything loaded. But I hate the derailleur and simplifying is a good thing. So is considering a 1X11 setup on a bike like this a mistake?
I want to stay with a mountain bike group for the durability and my bike is already setup for it. So, considering SRAM GX or X1 with 34 or 36 tooth crank and the 10-42 cassette. In this scenario, I would change to whole group set: shifter, rear derailleur, cassette, freehub and crankset. As long as I can pedal along on 20-25 mph I’ll be happy.
Has anyone done this? Should I ditch the front derailleur? Any advice? Too big of gaps between gears with a bike like this? Will I be walking up hills?
Thanks in advance.
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