A single chainring drivetrain has a number of advantages: it’s lighter, simpler, faster changing and more efficient. It lowers the chance of a mechanical, and it requires less maintenance and cleaning.
If you forget to change down to an easier gear for a steep climb or encounter a sudden technical section or obstacle, you are only a few quick rear derailleur gear changes away from the correct gear ratio. Changing gears with the rear derailleur is always faster and more reliable under load than a front derailleur shift.
More gears on a single ring means less gear overlap- which means no doubleshifting/recovery shifting when going from big to little. It’s nice to have a seamless run through the gears.
Clean looks and less clutter, no front mech to get caked in muck, more chainring clearance, less cables to clean and lube.
Dropping the big ring means more ground clearance, great for clearing the larger trail obstacles like logs and big rocks/drops.
You will find yourself more “in the right gear” for more of the time with just 1 shifter and only 10/11/12 ratios.
A quiet drivetrain, without any of that usual front mech rub and clattering.
A single point of interaction with your drivetrain. For racers, the ability to keep the power on as long as possible, then shift rapidly is of vital importance when those few seconds do count. Even for the casual rider it means that when we bite off a bit more than we can chew we can get into the gear we need, with little to no time delay.
The simplicity of just having one control to twirl or tap to get a full range of gears frees you up to worry about other things, important things – like where the fastest lines are!
