1x vs 2x Range and Weight Savings

All the cool kids are riding 1x setups these days and it makes sense for a lot of folks but I'm not yet ready to give up on 2X. I have been racing XC and many of the races have flat fire road sections where you would simply spin out on 1x. It's true you can go with a bigger ring in front but then you are going to suffer (maybe) on the climbs. Of course more powerful riders may not experience this situation so 1x just works for them.

Also it's important to note that with the Shimano 11-speed line, they have reduced the max difference in chainrings in 2x to 10 teeth, so you can have 26/36 or 28/38, but not 24/38 as they offered in the 10 speed lineup.

I did some research into the ranges that are possible with 1x vs 2x and 3x (Shimano only). In short, 2x10 offered 518% range, while 2x11 only offers 493%. With 1x11 it drops to 407%. There are some aftermarket options (OneUp 50T) that could get you to a 10x50 and maybe even 9x50, which would best 2x11. I didn't look at SRAM since the cassettes are OMG expensive.

Of course there's some weight loss to be had with 1x systems. I couldn't find any concrete numbers so I did a little bit of research and came up with:

XT Front Derailleur adds about 137 grams

XT Shifters are 237g, so subtract one to get 119g

Small chainring weight? I'm guessing 60g, maybe it's less

But 1x increases cassette weight: 11-36 (268g for 32) cassette vs 11-42 (433g) + ~60g

Total 255 + chainring - 60g. 

So I'm calling it just under ½ pound of weight savings for 1x (Shimano XT). XTR should be less

Lots of noise in this table but the number to focus on is the range in the far right column. I wasn't able to paste the column headers, the second from the right is the number of feet the bike travels per revolution of crank.

3x10	22	32	25.73	80.7922	4.63	555.37%
3x10	22	28	25.73	80.7922	5.29
3x10	32	11	25.73	80.7922	19.59
3x10	42	11	25.73	80.7922	25.71
2x10	24	36	28.68	90.0552	5.00	518.18%
2x10	24	32	28.68	90.0552	5.63
2x10	24	28	28.68	90.0552	6.43
2x10	24	11	28.68	90.0552	16.37
2x10	38	13	28.68	90.0552	21.94
2x10	38	11	28.68	90.0552	25.92
1x11	30	42	28.68	90.0552	5.36	407.27%
1x11	32	11	28.68	90.0552	21.83
1x11	32	50	28.68	90.0552	4.80	500.00%
1x11	32	10	28.68	90.0552	24.01
2x11	28	40	28.68	90.0552	5.25	493.51%
2x11	28	35	28.68	90.0552	6.00
2x11	38	11	28.68	90.0552	25.92

Niner RKT is Bloated

I've been looking for a new carbon FS bike, and something I'd expect in a carbon bike is it will be lighter than my alloy FS. First issue is bike mfg. seem to have a great aversion to listing weights for their products. Some do and sometimes they are way under (claimed weight vs actual). I've found that while looking at bikes any bike shop is more than willing to toss a bike on the scale when I ask.  I had my current Jet 9 weighed and it comes in just under 27 lbs. I'm considering a Niner RKT, yet Niner does not list any weights. I had the shop weigh the Large and it came out at 26.7lbs!!! I couldn't believe it. This is a full carbon frame, hi-mod carbon, at around 4.5 lbs (claimed). I think and my alloy frame is at least 6.5lbs. This particular Niner RKT was built with some questionable components (not a standard Niner star build), so I started to lookup weights to see what I could lose with by moving a few parts from my current bike:

• This bike has test pedals, so I'm going with a cheap wellgo weight of 348g (candy is 304g, so not much difference there 

• It has 2.4 EXO/TR Ardents, which are 800g vs my 2.2 ikons at 640g, so significant savings of 320g

• It has a stealth reverb dropper, so losing that will save about 250g 

• I thought it was setup with tubes which would add about a pound but it's not according to the shop.

• It has alloy bars 300g. My carbon easton's are listed at 188g, so will save about 110g there

• But it is setup as a 1x and I want 2x, so I'll add about 300g for extra chainring, shifter and front d.

So, taking all this into account I come up with about about a 430g savings (1 lb) savings, when I make a few changes. The bike would be still rather hefty for an XC machine at about 25.6 lbs. This is really disappointing for a $5K bike, compared to my ride. I know there are advantages other than weight (carbon stiffness, remote rear lockout, stiffer wheels), but I expected to be at least in the 24lb range. I imagine the Boost components are adding weight, also I'd be going from Crest to Arch wheels (about 160g difference), but I still can't make sense of this. If the bike does in fact have tubes in it then that would at least get it to 24.5 lbs and make a lot more sense, but sales tech swore they were stans valves.

BTW, another bike shop that had a Niner RKT in a proper 3-star build (with niner carbon cockpit) weighed in at 26.1 lbs, and they swore it had tubes, so that would be just about 25 lbs even, tubeless, no pedals, still a bit chunky.

Carbon Frame Search and Boost

I've been looking for a carbon frame to upgrade my Niner Jet 9. I always seem to upgrade my bikes over time, instead of just buying new, which doesn't make sense financially but I do it for some odd reason. So my current setup is a Jet 9 frame that is a couple years old and new XT, SID fork, and Stan's Crest wheels, as of last year. At this point I'd be happy to just go to a carbon frame. The frame I really wanted was a Niner RKT, but that is now on the Boost standard, so that won't work with my components. It seems a number of bikes are now on the Boost standard (Trek Fuel, Niner RKT), and this will likely take hold and become the new standard. Boost requires Boost hubs, cranks, and forks, and no adapters, as of yet are available to work with non-Boost components. I get that the industry needs to innovate but Boost is a drastic change that introduces incompatibility for forks, wheels and cranks. Undoubtedly it will sell more bikes and industry knows that but not sure the supposed advantages (stiffer wheels, bigger tire clearance) are worth all the incompatibility headaches.

The Parting of the Yeti ASR Frameset

After my yeti asr cracked, I decided to disassemble and sell the good parts. I had dirt labs take apart the rear shock since one of the bolts was impossible to remove, for me at least. I sold the pivot bolts and rear shock locally on craigslist. I sold the dogbone on ebay and it went to a buyer in France. The rear triangle was sold via craigslist to a guy in nyc. The total of parts fetched $355 (150 + 40 + 135 + 30), so not bad for a six year old broken frame.

Mt Evans

I had been thinking of this ride for a while. The road closes after labor day and with a ideal weather forecast, I decided to give it a go. I parked at the clear creek middle school. There's lots of parking and it's right off 70, so you're not losing any climbing.

From the school it's just shy of 28 miles to the summit, with 6.6K of climbing. It's a gentle grade, averaging 4%, with only a few areas of steeper grade, but nothing steep.

The Chicago Creek and Squaw Pass roads are in excellent condition, but once you get onto Mt Evans road things go to shit pretty fast and you got to pay attention. There are plenty of pot-holes, road anomalies and tons of annoying water bars/channels.

Above the tree-line the wind started to gust and things got demoralizing at times, but it was nice when it pushed you along in a few sections.

I underestimated how cold it would be. The forecast for Idaho Springs was off about 10 degrees. It was 43F when I started at 7:45AM (late August). I have no idea what the temp was at the top but probably not more than 50F and felt colder with the wind.

I wore a short sleeve jersey with arm warmers on the ascent and while initially it was a bit chilly, it was fine once I warmed up. For the descent I brought along windstopper gloves, a wool hat, leg warmers and a wind breaker. This was just about right in terms of comfort. I can't even imagine what it'd be like if it rained or snowed.

The descent was unnerving for me in a few places since you need to deal with speed, questionable road condition, terrifying drop-offs in places and drivers, who may not be accustomed to or considerate of cyclists. But for the most part the descent is fine, although bumpy. Once you get to Squaw Pass road it gets super smooth but you can collect a lot of speed and gotta watch it with cars.

Overall it was a great experience and I plan to ride it again next year.

Race Nutrition

I started mountain bike racing this year. I had no idea what I was doing at first and I'm still learning. Here I'll share some of my nutrition related preparations. Feel free to dispute and mock.

The day before a race I eat basically what I eat for typical meals except for the following:

• higher sodium 
• more carbohydrate, less protein
• nothing spicy
• I eat a bit more than typical (carb loading)
• Low fat

Example

Spinach salad with tomatoes, extra olives, and mushrooms. Fat free soy vinaigrette.

Chicken taco:

• whole wheat tortilla
• shredded chicken breast
• black rice/quinoa
• guacamole
• olives
• tomatoes

Then about an hour before bed some fruit/yogurt, ex

Sliced peach with nonfat plain yogurt

Not just for race preparation but for all my meals I tend to eat smaller meals, more often. It just works better for me and I don't feel bloated or experience food comas.

For breakfast on race day I have the following at around 6am (Race starts at 10am)

1 cup coffee
1 1/2 cups homemade granola (low sugar, low fat) with soy milk
Fruit: blueberries and maybe half a banana
No dairy (though I've read others have no problem with dairy as long there's enough digestion time)

About 2.5-2  hours prior to the race in the car I'm snacking on sweet potato, banana and toast. I want to finish all eating with at least 2 hours prior to the race, to allow for digestion, though I may have some banana with 1.5 hours to digest. I drink about 32 oz of water with a scoop of EFS during the drive. I want to be fully hydrated prior to race start.

Just before the race I take a gel. During the race I will attempt to drink and take clif shot bloks but sometimes there are few opportunities. My hydration drink of choice is EFS, 1.5 scoops. Anything around 1.5 hours or so I don't worry as much about food. But over 2 hours and it's critical for me. Ideally I'll take a blok every 20-30 minutes. And drink about 18oz over 2.5 hours. I've been racing at Winter Park and they start in the morning so it's never going to be hot, but the sun can be intense.

I bring a cooler so after the race I have an ice cold protein drink waiting, burrito or something lunchy and green tea.

So far this has been working okay for me. I'm sure there are things I could do better and I'll continue to tweak it as I go along.

Animals I've seen on rides

Riding on the east coast I never saw many interesting animals. So far in Colorado here's what I've seen while riding

Bear (in the boulder canyon tunnel) Changed course and rode down canyon, which was probably more dangerous.

Moose (winter park) Steered clear of this guy

White pelican (Dodd reservoir, off neva road)

Snakes (bulls on walker ranch, rattler on 36)

Pack of coyotes (marshal mesa)

Fox (crested butte)

Wild turkeys (betasso, flagstaff road)

Racoons (on my roof, everywhere etc.)

Skunk (bike path)

Marmot or beaver type creature (winter park)

Deer (everywhere)

There was a mountain lion in my neighborhood which got tranquilized by animal control by the time I saw it.