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I was shocked at the state of my chain ring which has has whittled down teeth AND a saw tooth profile. I was even more shocked that a new one is £65!
I replaced the inner ring with a blackspire Pro, which seems pretty durable. I was just going to get another one of those as they are £25 cheaper.
It's a M770 I think, couple of years old. Anything else worth considering
I got these for mine and still going strong and excellent value if you get the whole set (well you only get the 2 outers from merlin (I got all 3 once 🙂 )
[url= http://clee-cycles.co.uk/shop_images/kcnc/drivetrain/kcnc-chainring-44t.jp g" target="_blank">http://clee-cycles.co.uk/shop_images/kcnc/drivetrain/kcnc-chainring-44t.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
BTW this piccy is the KCNC branded but the ones I got are identical!
A bash ring.
If your giving the outer serious wear and tear against how often you actually use it. Maybe you need it for road sections etc but I found I never missed the big ring after I put a bash ring on. I also felt a lot more confident doing harder technical stuff.
I used to ruin 22/36/Bash, might have a bash ring somewhere. Don't tend to use the big ring that much so suprised it's so knackered. Still couple of years old. I'll have a look at those other ones as well. Ta.
Sorry - thats only inner and middle on the Merlin link 🙁 - But the CNC ones you can get most places like TA branded ones etc will still be cheaper than the XT ones and have good ramps and pins etc 🙂
I've had good results from Blackspire in the past. If you can find one, TA rings are nice. Not as slick on the shift but they do last well. I don't like Middleburn. Had some slickshift hardcoat rings and I've never known chainsuck like it (all box fresh components across the drive)
Yeah I just noticed that too when I clicked the link 🙂 I've had TA rings before, and can't remember anything about them so assume they were okay. I was going for this one [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=706 ]Blackspire Pro[/url] as that's the brand I replaced the middle with.
Off the original point, but the "nicest" chainrings I've had were "stronglight" for my old Kona (5 bolt RF Turbine cranks) from Sideways Tim. Looked good, not stupidly expensive and seemingly very robust. Can't get one to fit a XT crank tho.
I've been a big fan of Middleburn Slickshift Hardcoat rings for years. Seem to last for ages and CRC are doing them for £32.99.
Raceface rings seem to last very well, and can often be picked up cheap here and there.
Often worth looking out for little used XT outers on the classifieds,as lots of folk tend to have redundant ones when they switch to a bash.Picked mine up for about £20.
Other option is to buy a complete SLX chainset,for £90 and sell your old XT cranks.
Then you get 2 spare rings and a bb too!
Another option,if you want to take a bit of a gamble...
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=121
For best shifting stick with Shimano.
I had to pop out to the bike shop, and they had a Middleburn (not a hardcoat) for £30, so I bought and fitted that.
I'm not sure what shifts best TBH, most of it seems to be in the setup of the mech rather than the rings used.
That SLX chainset is bl00dy good value. When I build the HT back up, that's what it's getting.
Ta all.