WHAT JONAS KNOWS ABOUT 1X DRIVETRAINS THAT OTHERS DON'T | RDMN PODCAST CLIPS

Jonas breaks down what makes a 1x drivetrain truly fast, from the specific chainring and cassette ratios that competitive cyclists are actually running, to why a Shimano Dura-Ace chain will save you precious watts. You'll learn the real performance differences between components and tires that matter, and which ones are just marketing noise.

Key Takeaways

• For road racing competitiveness on a 1x setup, aim for a 48/35 chainring with a 10-tooth back cog—this gives you climbing ability, sprint range, and enough gearing without sacrificing speed
• Shimano Dura-Ace chains are 0.75–1 watt faster than competitors' top chains on average; it's one of the cheapest efficiency gains available
• Tire width gains are smaller than most people think: with properly engineered tire designs (like Continental), moving from 28mm to 30mm nets less than a watt, not the dramatic improvements claimed by older data
• For optimal road and time trial performance, your tire should be narrower than your rim width—aim for the rim to be 105% of your tire's actual measured width
• On rough gravel surfaces, wider tires (like 44–47mm) beat narrow ones by 10+ watts despite losing 2 watts aerodynamically, making the real-world advantage significant

Expert Quotes

"The Dura-Ace chain continues to be more or less the fastest chain you can buy—it's just a fast chain"

"Every five millimeters of wider gravel tire is like two watts of arrow loss in the wind tunnel, but on rough road you find that can be a 10 watt advantage"

"The number printed on the side of the tire is meaningless—you really want to get a set of calipers on it"