A couple of weeks ago, we asked the question “10 Speed Mountain Biking, Have you converted yet?“. The results are in and they are about what we expected.
10 speed mountain bike components have polarized mountain biking in a way. While many are saying “why, 9 speed works”…others are taking on the new standard and using this as a point of upgrade or enjoying it on a new mountain bike.
If you haven’t been around the sport a long time, the argument over the amount of gears you need vs. what is being released to the market is not a new one. While there was the argument on 7 speed vs. 8 speed, the controversy on the move from 8 to 9 speed was much more heated. This latest move from 9 speed to 10 has many mountain bikers asking…where does it end?
On the other side of the coin, the 10 speed gearing setup allows for a wider range on the rear with the ability to run an efficient 2 ring setup up front with minimal gearing choice loss. The ability to drop one ring in the rear (also able to do with 9 speed setups) but run an efficient 36T rear cassette opens up possibilities without having too much of a step through the range in the rear.
Do we need 10 speed mountain biking? Can we expect 11 speed mountain bike components in the future? Time will tell…but in the meantime…just like we saw with 8 speed mountain bike components…9 speed mountain biking will soon be a thing of the past.
60% of riders polled are still in the “No” and “Holding Onto 9 Speed Crowd” while the 40% polled either have made the switch or plan on it in the near future. As the availability of 9 speed parts starts to become a rarity…this percentage will continue to overtake the no crowd until we are wondering what will be next for the mountain bike industry. Electronic shifting maybe?