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Howdi
Possibly a daft question. I only see reference to 1 x 10 setups etc. I know that there is a lot of purpose made kit for this bit would it be easy to convert a triple to a 1 x 9 with existing gear?
I think i would probably need at least a narrow wide chainring jobby. Are clutch mechs for 9 speed a thing or is that too oldschool?
Failing that would one of the crop of light weight single ring chain guides be suitable?
Cheers
dave
No 9 speed clutch.
Remove the 3 rings and replace with one of your chosen size.
You could try a NW depending on your riding it might be OK, you can always get the chain device later.
YOu will also need to shorten your chain.
As above and that's all there is to it.
I run a SS N/W and when it starts to drop the chain it's either time for a new ring or new chain.
Other than that I run a 10 spd chain as I find it stays on the N/W better as that's what they're designed around
You'll also needs shorten chainring bolts, or file down/shim out the ones you have as they'll be too long.
We use Blackspire Stingers on our bikes (both are 1x9 with bashguards) with a 32t front Renthal ring and 34-11 cassettes. It works really well. There's no need for N/W with a chain doofer although I did have issues using a normal middle chainring until I swapped for a Renthal. The teeth are slightly taller and squarer on the Renthal.
Like this-
[IMG] 
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Cheers guys, food for thought.
A couple of years ago I went 1 x 8 on an old hardtail. I just removed the granny and outer chainrings, shortened the chain and wacked on a light bash guard. No chain device or clutch mech. Never lost a chain, even when riding fairly aggresive terrain. i would suggest that a full sus would probably require a narrow/wide chainring, or chain retention device, or clutch mech. But not a hardtail.
easier with SRAM as the mechs are more stiffly sprung than shimano. what I am running on my 5.
I used an E-thirteen G- Ring in the position of your old middle ring, then a cheap as chips N Gear Jump Stop on the inside and a cheap BBG Bash guard on the outside from the USA. The jump stop is pretty simple, but easy to set up, silent and I found 99% of the time it worked all of the time - just needed a little adjustment for Alpine breaking bumps.