Chainring/Cog recommendations

[Gigantic]

I have about 1300 miles on my pugsley that I bought last Jan and it's time to change the cogs and chainrings. I'm currently running it 2x9 with the stock 24/32 chainrings up front and an MRP bash guard and the stock 11-34 in back. What are the recommendations for replacements? Would I gain anything (or more importantly, lose anything) by switching to a 30t Wolftooth or similar xx1 style chainring up front and a 12-36 shimano cassette?
I ride a wide variety of trails with an occasional xc race, but I rarely use the higher gearing, mostly from having some ghost shifting in that range. The trails I ride range from relatively flat and flowy (White Clay in DE and 6 mile Run in NJ) to Technical (Belmont in Philly) and hilly and technical: Wissahickon in Philly, with a 19 mile loop having about 3500+ feet of technical, rocky, rooty climbing. will I miss the granny gear with a 30t x 12-36 9-speed setup?

[deuxdiesel]

Your lowest gearing will drop from a 1.4:1 to a 1.2:1 so it wont be a huge difference, but you will notice it on long climbs. You will save maybe 200g removing the front shifting bits, but that Shimano cassette is a boat anchor, so weight saving will probably be negligible. It will look cool, it will be easier to maintain and keep clean, and thus chicks will flock to you, so it's worth a try.

[Raul34]

If you have the extra funds, go to 1x10 with a medium clutch derailleur. (Shimano wide-narrow 30t chain ring) Gives you that extra climbing gear with no front der and no chain guide or chain slap.

[Teton29er]

To me, having a fat bike without the low granny gear is like having a jeep without 4 wheel drive. My fat bike is set up with 1x9 with a granny chainring...

If I rode on flats or gentle open roads more, I'd need the higher gears and go back to 2x9. The only reason to go 1x setups is if you are sure you won't miss the gears--it's not worth doing just to save weight.

[Gigantic]

Played around with a few gearing calculators: even with a 38t cog i'd still miss the granny, so I think I'll stick with 2x for now.
In that case what do y'all recommend for light weight and durability?

[Schott]

I run a 1x9 in the summer with a 36 ring, but I'll be throwing on my 22 for winter, you betcha.

[Schott]

But you don't have granny now? Get a tuneup. Ghost shifting is unacceptable.

[SmooveP]

It's easy enough to find out if you could live with the change. Use a gear/inch calculator to see where you'd end up with the 1x setup, and ride your existing setup in gears with similar ratios. I'm going through the same thought process now, as I contemplate xx1. The Sram x9 or new RaceFace crank allows the use of a spiderless 26t or 28t ring. The 26 x 42 is low enough for me, but is 26 x 10 high enough? It's almost equivalent to a 32 x 12.

[OFFcourse]

Were Wolftooth going to release a 104BCD 28T? Or like SmooveP said there are 26T and 28T direct mount options available.

[SmooveP]

Were Wolftooth going to release a 104BCD 28T? Or like SmooveP said there are 26T and 28T direct mount options available.

I don't know if you can get smaller than 30T for 104BCD. You start getting too close to the bolts.

[deuxdiesel]

You can get 64 BCD 26T and (I think) 28T rings, so you could run that with a road cassette, save weight and have good climbing power, but your top end would be lacking.

[OFFcourse]

I don't know if you can get smaller than 30T for 104BCD. You start getting too close to the bolts.

They don't have one on there site, but I got the impression from a previous thread that they would eventually.

[FlowinFlo]

Absoluteblack is going to make a 28t and 30t for 64BCD in XX1 style, he said.