What is a DINGLE-X Drivetrain ?

A dinglespeed is essentially a single speed bike with a high and low range.  Its not technically a geared bike, but instead has two chain rings on the crank and two on the cassette giving it two speeds.  Low speed torque and high speed cruising.  As there is no mechanical shifter the rider must stop,  remove the wheel and move the chain.  Not something you would want to be doing on a regular basis.  Salsa does have it as an option on their 2015 Blackborow DS.

Ok . . . so what is a Dingle-X?

Those of you with sharp eyes who followed my Wolftooth 1x9 experiment may have noticed that I retained my small chain ring. Its hidden right in behind the Drop-Stop.  I kept the small chain ring just in case I ever get into the situation where I may NEED some lower gears to get me over, through, or around something really nasty.  Or there could be a time when I am completely out of gas and need a smaller gear to spin.  Either way its not taking up any usable space and the weight is not even worth considering.  With no front derailleur I have to manually drop the chain, in the same spirit as the dinglespeed, yet I retain the full 9spd rear end. 

Hence . . . Dingle-X.

Switching from high to low range is actually quite easy and just takes moments.

Step 1: Push rear derailleur forward loosening the chain.  

Step 2: While holding derailleur forward, pull chain off Drop-Stop.

Step 3: Slowly release derailleur while at the same time lowering the chain onto the small ring.

Voila . . . instant low range.

Repeat the process in reverse to put the chain back on the larger ring.  

If you have to do this during every ride you may want to think about putting the front derailleur back on.  I thought about dropping to low range once on this really long climb . . . but I took a break instead.

Is this something you would consider with your 1x conversion?