[Verskis]

Probably should be posting this in some other forum, but here seems to be enough trailbiking downhillers to answer my question.

I'm looking for a chainguide for my hardtail trailbike. My priorities for the guide are (in stated order):
-Chain secureness (must not drop the chain, ever)
-Drag-freeness
-Longevity (no high-wear components that have to be replaced regularly)
-Preferably would include a crank-mounted bashring to keep my pants off the chain
-Silentness
-Lightness

The guide will be used only with a 32t chainring, so no need to be adjustable.
I have e.13 Freechucker at the moment, which is not secure enough, I have dropped and jammed the chain too many times to continue to use that.
Before going to 1x9 setup, I had two front chainrings with a bashring and Blackspire Stinger (and a front derailleur of course), and that combination was much, much more secure than the Freechucker, still dropped the chain a couple of times though. Before you accuse installation error, I must say I have adjusted everything to have minimal gaps between the chain and the guides. Some of the reasons for the dropped chains might be a long-cage derailleur, a shift-ramped front chainring and a rough riding style on a hardtail bike.

Some of the guides I have been thinking:
-Straitline Silent Guide. Proprietary 32t size is good, but I am not sure about the longevity of the guide, the bottom plastic part must be wearing pretty fast in muddy conditions? How about the drag with this guide, do you feel it?
-Gamut P20 or G25. The 32-34t size is quite nice, but how do these work? I have heard they might be a bit noisy?
-MRP S4. How does this work with 32t ring?
-e.13 SRS+. Not really keen on this one though, I have the steel version (SRS) on my DH bike and it's not that drag-free or silent, and no specific 32t version.

Did I miss any potential guides?
Tell me your experiences with the guides, especially if you are using them with smaller chainrings!

 

[dilzy]

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/e13-srs-chainguide.html

Not sure on release date.

 

[mantra]

E13 has a 32T version of the SRS+ and the LG1+. As I have a 32T SRS+ right here on my table I can tell you that this one is available now.

 

[MrPlow]

Not sure when it will be released
http://zelvycarbon.com/?page_id=488
Might better suit you if your priorities were the other way around actually

 

[milohead]

I have and LG1 on my DH and my Trail (running 32) bikes and not yet in close to one year have I dropped a chain on either. They are pretty quiet too. Not to mention I think E13 is much more durable then MRP.

 

[Verskis]

Hmm, the 32t specific version of the e.13 SRS+ is definitely more interesting than the bigger adjustable version.
The Zelvy guide doesn't seem like my cup of tea, and the smallest they are going to make is 34t.

 

[no skid marks]

A Zerode I know, nobody likes a smart arse. Sorry.

 

[norbar]

Probably should be posting this in some other forum, but here seems to be enough trailbiking downhillers to answer my question.

I'm looking for a chainguide for my hardtail trailbike. My priorities for the guide are (in stated order):
-Chain secureness (must not drop the chain, ever)
-Drag-freeness
-Longevity (no high-wear components that have to be replaced regularly)
-Preferably would include a crank-mounted bashring to keep my pants off the chain
-Silentness
-Lightness

The guide will be used only with a 32t chainring, so no need to be adjustable.
I have e.13 Freechucker at the moment, which is not secure enough, I have dropped and jammed the chain too many times to continue to use that.
Before going to 1x9 setup, I had two front chainrings with a bashring and Blackspire Stinger (and a front derailleur of course), and that combination was much, much more secure than the Freechucker, still dropped the chain a couple of times though. Before you accuse installation error, I must say I have adjusted everything to have minimal gaps between the chain and the guides. Some of the reasons for the dropped chains might be a long-cage derailleur, a shift-ramped front chainring and a rough riding style on a hardtail bike.

Some of the guides I have been thinking:
-Straitline Silent Guide. Proprietary 32t size is good, but I am not sure about the longevity of the guide, the bottom plastic part must be wearing pretty fast in muddy conditions? How about the drag with this guide, do you feel it?
-Gamut P20 or G25. The 32-34t size is quite nice, but how do these work? I have heard they might be a bit noisy?
-MRP S4. How does this work with 32t ring?
-e.13 SRS+. Not really keen on this one though, I have the steel version (SRS) on my DH bike and it's not that drag-free or silent, and no specific 32t version.

Did I miss any potential guides?
Tell me your experiences with the guides, especially if you are using them with smaller chainrings!

Straitline has the least drag of all guides on the market imho. The siders create less drag than most(I dont say all only because I havent tried all) lower cogs you find on guides. The wear is not that much of an issue. On my dh rig I need to inspect it now but it was good after 1.5 seasons. Imho it's the best guide on the market right now.

The Zelvy one looks good too.

 

[nowlan]

MRP Mini G2 is a good guide for a 32T. Stylish, easy to set up, rugged.

 

[captainspauldin]

I have a Gamut G25 on my trailbike(SJ Evo). I originally ran a LG-1(old one) without a bashguard because the bashguard would hit the frame, I wasn't cool w/not running a bashguard. I found the gamut to be very easy to install and adjust. Compared to the LG-1, it's def more noisy, the chain rubbing/moving across the lower roller is the noisy part. I haven't dropped a chain once on it, so it's been reliable in that sense. I was seriously considering the 32T SRS+, but it a)isn't out yet b)wasn't sure if I could commit to a 32T only chainguide. Overall I'm happy with it, I've only owned e13 chain guides before this one, maybe it's not quite on par as a SRS+, but for the price I got it for, I'm not complaining.

 

[EastCoaster]

Another vote for the Gamut guides. I have one of each... P20 and G25 (Which is actually a few grams lighter with the metal bash than the P20's poly bash.)
As far as the noise? I don't notice it much.
But I ride with Amishmatt who is one here. He took a tiny section of an old road tube, cut it to the width of the Gamut lower roller. Stretched it on. Blam!.... no more noise and a super easy, cheap solution.

 

[FCLinder]

MRP G2 Mini or MRP Lopes. They both work great and one of the lightest guides on the market. Not one problem in the 4 years I have been running them. Plus why would SRAM buy the rights to sell them under their brand if it wasn't good? Good luck.

Cecil

 

[xy9ine]

i've run the same gamut 32t since 2006 with nary an issue. light & bomber. great people / great product.

 

[EastCoaster]

x2 on the Gamut Great people/product. I had skipping issues with one of their chainrings when they first came out. Emailed them as it wasnt making sense. They admitted having issues with the first few that were immediately fixed in production, and sent me out a new one. I did send the old one back so that they could see it but I didn't even have to ask. It went right out to me when I got their email reply.

 

[jnooth]

I dont want to derail thread but my question is related. I have always used E13 with no issue. I guess you could say that I am pretty loyal to the brand because of this but I am not totaly apposed to trying something new. The bike I have on order comes with the Gamut P-30 guide. my original thought was to dropp it right away for an E13 but is it worth a shot? My one thing is that I really really dislike any noise from my bike. I do like the idea of cutting a road tube and putting it on the lower roller. Any thoughts would be awesome!

 

[nmpearson]

I've never had a problem with E13 or MRP single ring guides. If you set them up right, you'll never drop...that being said i currently only run Straitline. Super smooth, sizable less resistance than mrp or e13, looks great, the plates barely wear. The site says it'll wear a decent groove in it but for some reason none of mine ever have. I'm currently running the 32t on my bandit 29 and love it again. I'd suggest it for sure!

 

[captainspauldin]

I dont want to derail thread but my question is related. I have always used E13 with no issue. I guess you could say that I am pretty loyal to the brand because of this but I am not totaly apposed to trying something new. The bike I have on order comes with the Gamut P-30 guide. my original thought was to dropp it right away for an E13 but is it worth a shot? My one thing is that I really really dislike any noise from my bike. I do like the idea of cutting a road tube and putting it on the lower roller. Any thoughts would be awesome!

I'd give it a try, it's not gonna cost you any extra $$..

 

[norbar]

I've never had a problem with E13 or MRP single ring guides. If you set them up right, you'll never drop...that being said i currently only run Straitline. Super smooth, sizable less resistance than mrp or e13, looks great, the plates barely wear. The site says it'll wear a decent groove in it but for some reason none of mine ever have. I'm currently running the 32t on my bandit 29 and love it again. I'd suggest it for sure!

Same here. Bought a spare slider because I was expecting it would need one after a season. It just doesn't wear. I start to think straitline designed their chainguide not with engineering but with magic.

 

[EastCoaster]

Oh shoot.... I knew that Straightline was coming out with a 32T specific.... I didn't know that they released it though. I'll have to check it out. Then again, perfectly happy with my Gamuts.

So when's the talk going to start about 30T specific front rings/smaller front crank spiders with smaller cassettes in the rear? Oops! Fodder for another thread!

 

[EastCoaster]

The only negative (for me at least) in looking into the Straightline Guide is that I don't like the fugly green slider color. Kinda sucks having to buy replacement sliders right from the start just to mute down the colors to look good on my builds. More $$$.......
Why not just offer them in a choice of colors w/out having to replace?

 

[sethimus]

E13 has a 32T version of the SRS+ and the LG1+. As I have a 32T SRS+ right here on my table I can tell you that this one is available now.

do you mean a 32t only version of the lg1+ or the 32-36t version?

 

[ZoRo]

So the 32t specific SRS+ is out then? Debating between this, the Gamut P20 or Straitline guide...

 

['size]

So when's the talk going to start about 30T specific front rings/smaller front crank spiders with smaller cassettes in the rear? Oops! Fodder for another thread!

with the newer spiderless cranksets out from sram and others this is already pretty common, only without the smaller gear on the cassette. plenty of discussion already about the pros and cons of those 9t rear cogs that started to pop up in proto's last year.