Going without a front derailleur seems like the "smart way to go" for many of you readers, I would guess. I do not prefer it, to be honest. I will admit to being pretty overly sensitive to certain elements of a bicycle's drive train, touch points, or other nuances many people do not even consider a "real thing". I think many read my thoughts and probably think I am making things up. Well, that simply is not the case for me, at any rate. These things are real.
So, when my chain gets pretty angled going from a single drive ring to one of the lower gears on the cassette, I can feel this. Don't ask me how, but I can shift to a gear I feel is "good" and almost 100% of the time it is the straightest from the cassette to the drive ring possible. So, 1X set ups have never really been my preference as 2X or 3X allows you to keep your chain the straightest and most efficient.
This makes me wonder if I need a lower end range if I would not be better off going smaller on the drive ring. Bigger rear cogs create more extreme chain angles in the lower gears, so sacrificing high speed combinations for the lower end makes sense while allowing me to keep the rear cassette I have now on the bike. I'll have to examine some gear ratio comparisons before I decide, but this is where I am at with the drive train at the moment.
The bearing still needs to be upgraded on the non-drive side of the bottom bracket, although it spun well enough on this test ride. I still need a proper lower cup on the head set. And I still have not found my stash of six bolt rotors. I cannot mount a single speed cog on the front wheel until I settle on what is happening with the drive train. I'm getting closer to being done, but I'm not quite there yet.
More soon.
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