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... I am still deeply suspicous of the performance losses associated with "one-bye" (single chainring) drivetrains in all but the middle cogs of the cassette. The variations between smallest and largest cogs on the cassette occur at the most extreme chainline angles and the difference in cog diameters is also extreme (i.e. 10t vs 40t+). Perhaps sheer convenience in shifting and relatively greater simplicity accounts for their popularity. I'm not yet sold, preferring to run my derailleur triples (three chainrings, front mech) and shift to keep my chainlines as straight as possible to minimize friction while maximizing component life. ...
Fully agree.
My derailleur bikes all have triples, except my road bike is a double because I bought that as a complete bike, not one I built up from parts.
My two derailleur touring bikes, the Thorn Sherpa (26 inch wheels) and Lynskey Backroad (700c wheels), both have 3X8 half step plus granny drive trains. When I avoid the two most cross chained gears for each chainring, I still have 18 effective gears with a total range of 558 percent. I went with this gearing for touring, as it gives me a few widely spaced gears for hill climbing on my granny chainring and closer spaced gears for where I spend most of my time on flatter ground.
https://gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=24,42,46&RZ=11,12,14,16,18,21,26,32&UF=2204&TF=72&SL=2.2&UN=MPH&DV=teethThe technology is 30 years old, but it beats the 1X drivetrains in performance, plus the cost of expendable parts is much less.
That said, I understand the preference for a 1X system for a single shifter with sequential shifting, anyone that rides a bike with a Rohloff certainly can appreciate that.