[dhbrigade]

Do you see this in the future?, will it happen?

a dh bike without a chain guide, using narrow wide set up, to win a world cup or world champs.

I see it happen. Minnaar, Steve, Gee or some other top-dog is going to win with a guideless N/W chainring. The result: Everyone over at pinkbike drops his chainguide for a N/W ring and starts telling you at the chairlift unasked how much faster he got since getting rid of this ever restricting chainguide.

 

[ritche]

front mech's imminent death!, and we all thought the rear derailleur would die first, with the gear box.

next to die are chain guides. you will see them displayed in a bike museum as a historical piece of mtb.

and next to die is the triple chain ring crankset, nowadays you don't hear people brag about their brand new spanking 27, 30, 33 speed mountain bike.

Shimano, and sram will be forced to stop producing them, as most bikers dismantle newly bought triple chain ring cranksets.

a major win of a narrow wide set up, will start the ball rolling.

 

[dhbrigade]

Riding mountainbikes since 1990, in my opinion the disappearance of front derailleurs can not be subjected to recent developments in 11-speed shifting systems only. It is more because of the evolution and diversification of the sport, where every single category in mountainbiking provides/demands special bikes, every bike can be set up with a specific gearing.

Back in the days, you just had one bike for everything, demanding gearing that works in every situation.

Like it better today!!!

 

[slimshady]

Riding mountainbikes since 1990, in my opinion the disappearance of front derailleurs can not be subjected to recent developments in 11-speed shifting systems only. It is more because of the evolution and diversification of the sport, where every single category in mountainbiking provides/demands special bikes, every bike can be set up with a specific gearing.

Back in the days, you just had one bike for everything, demanding gearing that works in every situation.

Like it better today!!!

Luckily Sauron was defeated and the One Ring was buried in the fires of Mordor

 

[Sandwich]

front mech's imminent death!, and we all thought the rear derailleur would die first, with the gear box.

I still clutch to the idea that you can alter a bike's anti-squat via the size of the chainring, so a front derailleur still has a place in the world....but whether you can find a happy medium and ignore it altogether is another thing. Personally I love being able to drop into the granny and climb up anything, but the thought of losing half a pound and some complexity is super appealing.

 

[jonKranked]

front deraillers might go away for mtb, but never for road. unless the uci fires up the crack pipe and allows gearboxes on road bikes.

clutch ders and n/w rings are gonna have to get REALLY REALLY effing good to kill of chainguides, and even then i dunno if it'll happen. considering how competitive the top level DH riders are getting, a dropped chain means a lost race, and i don't the the benefits outweigh the risks.

 

[Sandwich]

chainguides aren't that heavy, either. Maybe for you 28lb session tools running XC rims and tubeless single ply tires, but for the small price in weight, you get a lot in insurance. I remember back in the day reading about how Nico refused to run a bashguard, and it cost him a few races from bent chainrings...and that was in the day of 42t being small.

 

[jonKranked]

chainguides aren't that heavy, either. Maybe for you 28lb session tools running XC rims and tubeless single ply tires, but for the small price in weight, you get a lot in insurance. I remember back in the day reading about how Nico refused to run a bashguard, and it cost him a few races from bent chainrings...and that was in the day of 42t being small.

not to mention chainguides are getting carbonated now

 

[sundaydoug]

clutch ders and n/w rings are gonna have to get REALLY REALLY effing good to kill of chainguides, and even then i dunno if it'll happen. considering how competitive the top level DH riders are getting, a dropped chain means a lost race, and i don't the the benefits outweigh the risks.

Not just that, the clutch/NW 1X setup still needs a bashguard (at least for me). I can see lower pulleys going out of style, but using something like the AMG with bash and top guide only looks to be pretty ideal.

 

[4130biker]

...next to die are chain guides. you will see them displayed in a bike museum as a historical piece of mtb.

This explains why Weagle left the chainguide business a few years ago

 

[Sandwich]

So now that these are practically ubiquitous...do we love them? My chain keeps dropping on my hardtail but I'm using a shifty 32t middle ring. Debating a guide or a nurwide.

oh yeah, no clutch on mine...yet.

 

[denjen]

I have been using a 30T NW ring with a clutch style rear der. since late last year with no issues at all. I've used it on everything from XC riding to a few days of downilling at Snowshoe. The chain has not dropped off once.

 

[kickstand]

I have a narrowide 34t on my '13 stumpjumper , I have documented 6 drops since installing it in May. I will be adding a full guide to my bike.

 

[wiscodh]

nw 34 with a clutch x9, dropped it 4 times. Guide went on.

 

[Sandwich]

wisco, what bike is it on? Trail/xc or DHduro?

 

[wiscodh]

wisco, what bike is it on? Trail/xc or DHduro?

spitfire, more am focused. Dropped it in a rough rockgarden when i wasn't pedaling too much. Happened on a really draggy hub (e13) and a not so draggy hub(dt240).

 

[captainspauldin]

32T raceface N/W on X9 short cage w/11-36T cassette, zero drops, took my top guide off and had zero drops after that.

Switched to wolftooth 42T and X7 medium cage(new chain properly sized), have had a ton of drops since, I think I have a defective x7 rear derailleur as sometimes shifting from the big cogs to the smaller ones it will get stuck and not keep tension on the chain and that's when i drop the chain.. so annoying.. tried adjusting the tension and that hasn't helped.

 

[mdc]

30t Race Face NW, XO clutch rear der (11x36 cassette) and no problems. I'll probably throw on a 40t rear cog for trips up to VT this summer. The best part about the conversion is that my bike is SILENT- which I freakin love.

 

[Nick]

everyone dropping chains with this combo, make sure you're chain is shortened to the proper length after you ditch the granny and whatnot. No NW ring and clutch is going to compensate for a chain that is significantly too long.

......

 

[jackalope]

That is certainly true, but I've seen all the boxes checked (new chain, new N/W ring, proper chain length, proper clutch spring tension, etc...) and there's still occasional drops. Especially if riding your bike on rougher stuff that wouldn't be out of a place on most DH tracks.

 

[marshalolson]

i had to run an upper guide on a stumpjumper last year (float rear shock) with a RF NW ring and xtr shadow+ 11-36 cassette, or it would drop at least once a week.

not a single drop on an enduro all season (ccdba rear shock) with an x11 drivetrain.

i think a lot of it is that the speeds were similar between the two bikes going down rough trail, but the stumpjumper transmitted a lot more feedback to the rider, and seemingly to the drivetrain.

on my hardtail, no need for a guide w/ sram 11-36 and RF NW ring, but the speeds are for sure slower in the rough.

 

[Jeremy R]

30t race face n/w, clutch xt, never dropped the chain on a sb66.

 

[amishmatt]

Santa Cruz Nickel, 32t e.13 M Ring, Zee clutch, KMC 10spd chain. No guide. Not a single drop since March.

 

[JustMtnB44]

Banshee Spitfire V2, 32T RaceFace n/w, XT clutch med. cage rear derailleur, 9 speed Sram chain and 11-34 cassette. No chain drops at all since installing it in January, and the silence is awesome. I've actually done a ride or two with the clutch turned off and only eventually noticed because of the extra noise. I was previously running MRP Lopes SL guide, but all guides are noisy and annoying and add noticeable drag.

I also put the same RF n/w chainring on my Honzo with a standard X7 rear derailleur, but still have a guide with lower pulley only. I will try taking that off and see if the chain drops or not.

 

[mattmatt86]

I have a Race Face NW with x9 clutch and 11-36t on my Kona Process 111 and the only time I have dropped a chain on the bike is when I shifted gears then rolled the bike backwards so that technically doesn't count…

I definitely agree with Captain Obvious about the chain length, that's just as integral in the equation as the Clutch or NW ring.

 

[gratefulbiker]

30T RF NW, Zee der. w/ Big Ted's spacer, X9 shifter, 980 11-34 cassette, and a 971 chain. 500+ trail miles and a few lift days with zero dropped chains. On a Transition Bottlerocket run with a couple different rear shocks, if that matters.

 

[jackalope]

So honest question for those blessed souls who haven't dropped a chain - provided there's no real difference between your usual lift serve track and some of the more technical trails you ride your trail/am bike on, would you run a chain guide-less set up on your DH bike?

 

[Nick]

I definitely agree with Captain Obvious

me too ... that guy knows what's up!

 

[marshalolson]

So honest question for those blessed souls who haven't dropped a chain - provided there's no real difference between your usual lift serve track and some of the more technical trails you ride your trail/am bike on, would you run a chain guide-less set up on your DH bike?

depends on if you are riding trails that actually need DH bikes, or if you are riding your DH bike where a 160mm bike is as fast or faster.

 

[Sandwich]

XT clutch med. cage rear derailleur, 9 speed Sram chain

are you running the big-ted adapter or the drill mod?

 

[profro]

30t race face n/w, clutch slx, on a sb66.

Only 2 drops in about 6 months and I have tried. I conclude one drop was due to mud in chain.

 

[JustMtnB44]

are you running the big-ted adapter or the drill mod?

Big-ted adapter, don't know what the drill mod is.

 

[demonprec]

So honest question for those blessed souls who haven't dropped a chain - provided there's no real difference between your usual lift serve track and some of the more technical trails you ride your trail/am bike on, would you run a chain guide-less set up on your DH bike?

i ran no chain guide on my Entourage with a N/W and never had any issues. when i get some more parts and can get rid of the old 9spd stuff that,s on there again i,m going back to a N/W ( 36 or 38 ) with a clutch deraileur again .

 

[slyfink]

Ibis Mojo HD. 32t Wolftooth. 11-36 XT cassette. KMC chain. Installed the NW ring in March 2013, had a Zee SS on there. Dropped 2x all of 2013. Replaced the Zee with a SLX SG in August last year, added a link to the chain. Dropped the chain all of twice more. I rode that setup at Killington, which is pretty bumpy. My local trails are pretty haggard too. In July 2014 I'm still on the same chain, cassette, and ring. I haven't been riding as much lately because of baby #2, but I'm definitely very confident in the system.

I'm not sure I'd bother ditching the chainguide on my DH bike, because it's too much work, too expensive to replace the entire drivetrain (going from 9 to 10sp) and I do silly things on the DH bike.

 

[d.tate]

I have a 30t n/w with xt clutch der on my Stumpy Evo. Going on 6 months now with no dropped chains. I also put a 36t n/w with xt clutch on my Demo. I run 7 cogs with a Sram X-9 shifter and Big-Ted adapter. However, I also use a Straitline chainguide and the set up has been flawless so far. Amazing how quiet it is even on the roughest of rocks and roots. No way I would want to trust a dh run without a chainguide, though.

 

[Sandwich]

So quick update, 30t narrow wide, 9 speed, xtr derailleur SRAM 990 cassette. From ~3 dropped chains a ride to zero on my hardtail. Nice setup.

 

[captainspauldin]

So quick update, 30t narrow wide, 9 speed, xtr derailleur SRAM 990 cassette. From ~3 dropped chains a ride to zero on my hardtail. Nice setup.

enderpo's come in hardtail?

 

[Sandwich]

nah the krampus. the derpo runs an outdated and totes inferior 2x setup

 

[tacubaya]

North Shore Billet X-Sync (NW) direct mount ring 28t, x9 type2 med cage, no guide... zero dropped chains so far.

 

[slimshady]

Race Face Narrow/Wide 34t, 10sp 11-36 cassette with upper cuide only. Zero issues in a Cannondale Prophet.