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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2538 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 19, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Supposedly, the reason for fewer gears is that back wheels have improved to a bigger range of teeth, which means you can hit a similar range of gear ratios with only 1x12... and of course derailleurs are everyone's least favorite part of mountain bikes.

I assumed that the advantage of the 3x system was using a front shift to rapidly change gears, going from 3-5 to 2-5 only takes one shift where going from 1-12 to 1-7 takes five shifts. I would think the speed/reliability of the shifter would be the limiting factor here, though that might be my lack of exposure to higher end bikes.

3x systems are really more of a vestige of "More Speeds!" marketing that was devilishly effective against consumers. Secondarily, there were the engineering reasons:

  • A desire to reduce chainwear through cross-chaining
  • Limitations in derailleur reliability on the front chainring: To get to a small front chainring you needed a useless one with duplicate gearing in the middle

1x is all the rage right now for many of the reasons you've stated, and because the cycling industry has to reinvent what's popular to sell more. 2x Drivetrains have the same-or-greater ranges than the 3x systems of old. Note that 6/7/8-speed bikes all use the same chain size, and 8 is the most ubiquitous gearing out there. Once you get to 11/12/13 every drivetrain component is more expensive and proprietary.

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