[Closed] Narrow/wide chainring / chain guide

Don't bother with the chain guide unless you're really gnarly.

I rarely put the clutch on with mine and they are fine with n/w.

Many thanks!

No chain device required.

As above.

Never dropped a chain with NW only, and thats in the peaks riding and racing

Not had a dropped chain with a NW on what was a hardtail and is now fully rigid. When I eventually replace the rear mech I won't bother with a clutch mech.

Two bikes using N/W rings here, one with and one without a clutch mech, no chain droppage in the last year on either...

Brilliant; thanks for the info everyone. Just ordered a new bike and a RaceFace NW ring... 😉

I ran a Narrow wide with a non clutch mech and only dropped the chain once in a year of riding.

a recent convert to 1x

since i realised that i could keep the 9spd cassette/mech. so no clutch and no chain guide. I did leave the bash ring on

changed from a 26t/36t/bash to a 34t, so clearly lost some 'granny' gears but without the front mech, i can use both extremes of the 11-32 cassette

next will be the FS, i might have to drop to a 32t chainring and go to a 34 or 36 cassette to compensate for weight of the bike and type of riding it sees.

If it's a full suspension frame, and there's a lot of chain growth, you can potentially lose the chain more easily.
On a hardtail or low chain growth full-sus design then you'll be fine. I've been running NW rings and clutch mechs for more than 2 years and probably dropped the chain 2 or 3 times in 2000+ miles.

I have found with a little wear to the drivechain I do now drop my chain occasionally, although it's rare. N/W oval absoluteblack ring on an otherwise shimano 11 speed xt setup on a 150mm travel 4-bar frame. So that's with a clutch mech. I'm thinking to try a simple top only chain guide, since a basic one costs little, although it's certainly not a necessity.

When I say a little wear I'd guess less than 1000 miles.

So YMMV. Perhaps I have worse chainline and more chain growth on my frame. With 9 speed on this bike I dropped the chain often.

Got a Bionicon chain retainer thing (think DCD if you're old school) on my hardtail as it's a non-clutch mech with 1x9 N/W up front. TBH I could probs get away without it but it looks cool and I like it.

I love N/W chainrings as I had a lot of hassle with chain guides and chain suck causing jams and wrecked one guide.

Only thing is when the chainring wears down a fair bit you will start getting chain drop. Simple fix - replace chainring. Unlike cassettes, it's not much of an issue if the chain is worn.

Clutches - SRAM ones are nice and simple, just always on, but they're just a big spring that keeps tension. Downside is they do slacken over time. Can be adjusted to tighten though.

I fitted a one up chain guide because it was cheap as chips and I figured rather have it than not. Dunno whether I e ever needed it but I read a few posts where people dropped chains so figured rather have the safety.

I run a small front ring, narrow wide, clutch mech. When descending I am mostly in a high gear. I did get quite regular derails after rocky descents, I think it starts with the top of the chain bouncing off the cassette, because that is often evident at the bottom of a descent, but sometimes it infected the front as well. A One-up chainguide/ bashguard has sorted it and I needed bash protection anyhow.

Yes, dropped the chain a lot with n/w and a clutch mech, so put a guide back on. But then found out that kmc chains are incompatible with absolute black chainrings, so have switched back to Shimano. Guide weighs naff all, so can't see the harm in leaving it on.

Just n/w and clutch mech is fine on my hardtail, but still drop the odd chain on my full suss, pita if racing so 30g of one up chainguide is worth it for me

One thing to consider is the rate of wear on a single ring. I have had some issues chain dropping when a n/w ring gets worn down. A chain guide allows me to ride a single narrow-wide until it is a narrow-nothing. Not a really good reason, and it probably reflects my laziness and stinginess buying cheap chain rings, but I have had a ride ruined by the chain starting to drop.

I also reckon that U.K. riders (unless racing) get too hung up on the odd fifty grams here and there, with the amount of shit my bike is caked in after half a mile, I am not all that bothered about a bit more weight.

I am probably in a minority running a guide with a n/w but it is what works for me.

I didn't run one for a while but after dropping my chain twice doing the tweedlove race, I fitted one and don't imagine risking it again. As said above, they weigh sod all.

I run a top guide on my Parkwood because the chain line is a bit pants on the biggest 2 sprockets at the back (xt 11 sos 11-42 with Hope cranks & 30t Superstar ring) & I was getting some chain drop. Only time I've ever had an issue though, run n/w with & without clutch mechs for ages on hardtails & full sus & cant remember last time I lost a chain when riding other than the above example.

I use a Blackspire Stinger thinger on my HT with a NW in a belt-and-braces style and still lost my chain in practice at a DH race last year. I have no idea if this helps or not, sorry.

Anyone see the amount of dropped chains at the CX worlds earlier? They need to read up on here a bit 😉

From observing regional CX races, riders has been pretty quick to go single ring, as they were to go adopt disc brakes (though Tom was using cantis today) I also noticed last weekend more that 50% of single ring set ups using guides. I put a guide on my daughters 1x bike after dropping a chain in a race, it wasn't worth the risk going without, no problems since.

I have a narrow wide chainring and 2.1 clutch type mech but I still run an MRP 1x upper only chainguide just incase...

It weighs less than the energy bar that you eat before your ride so there's no reason why not to have it fitted.

Chain guide reduced to £10 if anyone wants one:

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/chain-device-and-oval-104-bcd-chainring

Not <required> but you might still want one. Chains are pernicious bastards, I've very rarely dropped a chain while riding, but most of the time when it does happen, it's in a race. So I got a tiny wee chainguide from Shovel, others are available now like oneup. I don't always have it fitted, but it fits in about a minute as it only uses 2 ISCG mounts and doesn't have to fully enclose the chain. A very nice little thing.

Some people think that defeats the purpose but the ring and device combined are so far absolutely perfect chain retention- as good as a DH guide but lighter, no drag, no noise, no time to set up, less cloggy. The additional weight is trivial, though it does hold a little more mud. I'm tempted to leave it on all the time but I kind of like it being Official Race Mode.

I wouldn't put a full oldschool device on anything but a DH bike now- certainly makes absolutely no sense to fit one to a trailbike and NOT a narrow wide. Maybe right at the extreme end it still makes sense, I can't claim to be that.

In fact I wouldn't even put on an old style 1x guide, the minimal ones are a big evolution, narrow/wide really was a gamechanger