Removing front derailleur - less is more, right?

Couldn't find anything on this with search but feel free to link me to a thread if there is.

I've got a CX bike I commute on and I only ever use the 52t on the double. Can't even recall what the other chain wheel is. I was thinking of getting rid of it and all related components but wasn't sure what I'd do about the lever.

Has anyone done this and have any tips? Would a standard brake lever with a different shape to the brake/shifter on the other bar feel weird and unbalanced when riding?

Is there much point and should I just keep it in case suddenly a massive hill appears on my route for some reason?

Why change the brake lever? It is still a brake which you say you want to keep.

Good point. I suppose it already annoys me that sometimes on the rare occasions I use my rear brake, it has some lateral play because of the shifter. My brain also has a mild twitch about having a bit of equipment on the bike that is superfluous, too - I guess the reason I want to ditch in the first place.

1 x 11 groupsets from SRAM and Shimano make a matching left hand brake only lever. But they're expensive for what they are.

Yeah, I only really want to spend a few quid on a basic lever, if anything. Did hold a tektro rl340 up to the sora levers on the bike and actually they're not far off - quite beefy hoods. Not linear pull though.

surely you could epoxy the side to side pivot?

I guess so, but I wanted it to be reversible. For when I inevitably decide it was a stupid idea and that I'm not fit enough to cycle up hills without all the gears.

There is an an alternative which did to my bike to turn it into a 1 x 10 by replacing the shifters with a pair of standard brake levers and a right hand bar end gear lever. I later changed it back but worked ok and wasn't too expensive.

If you use a friction bar end shifter like Dia compe then you can run any speed you like.

Did hold a tektro rl340 up to the sora levers on the bike and actually they're not far off - quite beefy hoods. Not linear pull though.

Tektro RL520's are the thing for you then.

Are they fairly chunky as well then? Not had a fondle of one in the flesh.

TBH I've never used them, it was the linear-pull compatibility I was noting. From the photos it looks like they're less chunky than the RL340s, more like a classic aero-lever.

take out the rear mech too and go single speed

get rid of the freewheel and go fixed

get rid of the front wheel and have a unicycle

ditch the wheels entirely and walk

Sold it and bought a better sofa.

Forum ends

CX bike with a 52t chainring?

Yeah I'm an idiot - it's a compact so 50t.

Bit of a bump here but on a similar theme...Have a road bike with a 52t and a 32t up front. Never use the 32t and was thinking I could remove it, get some shorter chainring bolts and just have the 52t up front. Is this going to cause problems with the chain coming off the chain ring if it doesnt have a derailleur keeping it on? Should I shorten the chain so its "tighter" on the chain ring? Any disadvantages of removing the front derailleur? Cheers

Never did it to that bike, but i've just done it to my 26" beater - we'll see how much the chain comes off!

You could chuck one of these on?
http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/xcr-chainkeeper-keeper.htm?gclid=CKiT-5KfoM4CFYQy0wodabsN6Q

Don't shorten the chain. It will just cause problems shifting to the larger sprockets. Chain keepers are not usually needed on road bikes, only on mountain bikes where the front mech doubles up as a chain keeper with all that jumping and bouncing around.

What you might have a problem with is chain line. Shifting to the largest sprocket when on the big chainring is not usually recommended but you might get away with it. You may get a better chain line by putting chainring on the inside of the spider or replacing the bb with a shorter one.

Try it and see.

You might have a problem in that some teeth in the outer chainring are designed to be shorter to assist in upshifting. With an extreme chainline (when at biggest sprocket for example) this could result in the chain de-shipping. I'd advise to look out for a chainring specifically designed for single-ring setup (longer teeth). You could also keep the derailler on for a while to make sure the setup works for you. Once you're confident, you can then remove the front derailleur.

i run my beater like this, only issue i have found is that the chain falls off the front chainring at one end of the gears on the cassette, so you need to choose (on my bike at least) if you want to essentially delete a gear on the low or high end.

so just figure how you want your gearing and set your rear derailleur to stop at the right gears. ive got 52t on the front with a fairly compact 8 speed cassette but only using 7 of those gears. the chain ring is moved from the outside to the inside of the cranks and it keeps the chain line fairly regular that way and the chain stays on with all of those 7 gears.

You're gonna wear out the chainring quickly that way, because the chain bend at an awkward angle from the biggest sprocket to the biggest chainring.

Alternately, I recommend learning how to change gears more effectively rather than using the entire spread of the cassette on one chainring.

My beater is set up similar to dog temple's in that it's a single up front, but essentially mounted in the middle position. Would that not minimise cross chaining?