[Closed] 1x9 on a road bike, can it work without NW or clutch?

not in my experience, needed a clutch mech to keep the chain on with a single speed ring. No drops at all 1 x 10 with clutch mech & nw, odd drop if i put the slightly bigger ss ring on.

My commuter has a 1x10 drivetrain, no clutch mech or NW chainring, no dropped chain.

IME clutch mechs make no difference, it's the NW chainring that's more important in chain retention.

Hmm, rats.

Bit out of touch with clutch and NW, is it the clutch or the NW that makes the biggest difference?

Just thinking actually that re-using an existing NW ring I have would make up for the cost difference of buying the Dura-Ace bar end shifters, will be the first bike I've ever had Dura-Ace on though, and it'll be the winter hack! 😀

Edit: hadn't seen Whitestone's response, maybe going for the 1x10 NW solution would be the sensible choice...

I tried to run 1x9 with a 1x non nw ring and non clutch mech and the chain dropped a lot so I wouldn't recommend it. A small front chain guide could be a cheaper option.

d'oh! of course, don't know why I had discounted a guide, noise perhaps?

The NW ring or some kind of chain guide is the key. I've used a non-clutch mech on 1x10 for 4 years without a dropped chain.

Just buy a 10 speed narrow wide front chainring and keep the rest 9 speed

I'd stick a top chain guide on the front.

I had a CrossCheck a couple of years back set up 1x9 using a normal 38t sprocket and friction shifter. No problems at all. That had a claris meh, so medium cage and a 11-30 cassette. If you keep the chain as short as you're comfortable with, you'll be fine, unless there's some funky chainline issue?

Hi,

Had 1x10 commuter with plain ring and no clutched mech. Was fine until once I dropped chain in a bit of a sticky situation.

Installed old front mech as a guide, didn't have any issues since.

NW is making much more difference than clutch in my experience...

Cheers!

I.

1x9 Gravel/CX type bike here, no clutch, but I have got a NW ring, which (IMO) is the key but for just about any sort of 1x drivetrain...

NW rings can be had in a variety of bolt patterns and tooth counts now, what sort of chainset have you got OP?

We never bothered for decades. Maybe try and find a chain ring with less in the way of machining but no big deal. Even in CX we just bolted and old larger chainring each side with the teeth ground off.

You could use an old freewheel type wheel and a friction bar end of course.

No, ime. I had a chain device and a 1x ring and still often lost the chain on kerbs and even potholes. That was with a full 11-28 cassette though so maybe a smaller block would overcome it?

So I got a cheap narrow/wide from china and it's ace. (and absolutely fine with 9 speed)

I've got a Surly Pacer running 1x9 with a dedicated singlespeed chainring (ie no ramps but not NW) and a standard XT derailleur. No problems. I also fitted a Deda Dog Fang but don't know if it was needed.. Just a precaution as a previous 1x9 bike with a standard MTB single ring used to drop the chain to the inside. That bike was sorted by a Dog Fang

http://www.slimmerandfitter.com/cycling/deda-dog-fang-chain-keeper-review/

g.

Nice, two votes for NW working with 9spd, means I can buy the cheaper shifter and re-use my existing NW ring, win win! Worst case I have to buy a wee chain guide.

Of course... as I'm weighing up the pros and cons I'm remembering how smug I felt being able to utterly neglect the singlespeed drivetrain last winter riding it through the worst of the road salt and then just bunging it in the garage, wonder if a 1x9spd set up would be quite as resilient... Decisions decisions!

Kidd yourself not :p

Nowhere near as fit-and-forget as single speed.

Cheers!

I.

I used to run 1x9 on a Road Rat with an old front mech in place of a chain guide, it was fine 99.9% of the time. But NW would work fine ime and be neater with it.

I changed my XC FS to 1x9.  I started with the original ring and a really nice svelte chain guide which fixed to the front mech mount.  That worked perfectly. I then tried it without the chain guide and the original middle ring, and it didn't come off at all when riding, but it would come off if I tried to shift across the block quickly.  It works perfectly if a little more noisily with the NW ring - and I've been using a standard old mech the whole time.

If you want it to be silent, I'd recommend the chain guide approach - I used this one.

It'll be fine, I was running 1x9 off road long before NW rings and clutch mechs. Only ever dropped on really rough stuff and solved it with a deda dog fang.

On road I doubt you would ever drop the chain.

My winter bike, and my commuter are 1x9. I've just put a chainguard in place of the outer chainring (get 'em cheap at Spa cycles) and a Deda Dog Fang thingy on the seattube and had no problems with either. Im not running any fancy chainring either.

I tried it, and it only kept the chain on when everything was reasonably new.

As it wore out, it started dropping over speed bumps and large potholes.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CROOSS/on-one-stainless-chainring or a nw ring from Superstar?

I ran a hardtail with a 32T NW and 9 speed 11-28, 9 spd chain (shortened as much as possible), 9 speed non clutch XT mech for local XC rides for two winters and never dropped the chain.
Occasionally it'd be unshipped if the bike was rolled backwards and in the 28T. normally while washing it or pushing it backwards while opening a gate etc. rather than riding.

On road you probably wouldn't even need the NW ring but especially if you're only running 6spd (shorter chain and better chainline)

My CX bike is 1x9 (11-40), NW ring, 10 speed chain, normal road mech and all works fine.

My road bike is 120mm oln so I stuck in a modern 5 speed sturmey archer, it's excellent, nice wide spread of gears