Earlier this year, fed up with relentless chainsuck ruining my races I switched to a single chainring. Running a single chainring has other advantages too; firstly there is a reduction in weight of about 1lb when removing the front mech, cable and shifter. There are also less mechanical components to go wrong and it certainly looks neat!
The disadvantage is clearly a reduced range of gears. I opted for a 32 tooth chainring which has worked perfectly for me in races and never left me lacking. I stuck with the existing 11-36 10 speed cassette. I will admit that on social rides I have on occasion spun out on long fireroad descents, but strangely I haven’t missed the lower gears. A 34 tooth chainring would be an option but I am more concerned about struggling on the climbs than losing a little on long boring descents.
The disadvantage is clearly a reduced range of gears. I opted for a 32 tooth chainring which has worked perfectly for me in races and never left me lacking. I stuck with the existing 11-36 10 speed cassette. I will admit that on social rides I have on occasion spun out on long fireroad descents, but strangely I haven’t missed the lower gears. A 34 tooth chainring would be an option but I am more concerned about struggling on the climbs than losing a little on long boring descents.
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| Carbon-Ti Monoring - Needs a chain guide! |
Owning a pair of S-Works cranks I opted for a Carbon-Ti Monoring paired with an XTR Shadow Plus rear mech with internal clutch. The Monoring mounts directly to the cranks, doing away with the need for a spider to support the chainring. At about 72g it is seriously light! I had hoped that the XTR internal clutch would provide enough control of the chain to prevent me requiring a chain guide up front to stop the chain dropping off the chainring.
Unfortunately although the clutch rear mech does a superb job of maintaining tension in the chain, preventing noisy chain slap against the bike; as I reported at the time it wasn’t enough to stop the chain dropping several times a lap at the final round of the Brass Monkey’s series.
Unfortunately although the clutch rear mech does a superb job of maintaining tension in the chain, preventing noisy chain slap against the bike; as I reported at the time it wasn’t enough to stop the chain dropping several times a lap at the final round of the Brass Monkey’s series.
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| Superstar Chain Guide - Poor Design |
After this experience I fitted a Superstar chainguide, which I can safely say is useless! At nearly 100g its heavy and isn’t pretty! It does have the advantage of being cheap - £25 compared to £90 for similar devices from the likes of E-Thirteen. Mine arrived ‘on the wonk’ and needed some filing to get everything true and aligned with the chain. It’s biggest failing is a design which relies on a tiny grub screw tightening on a shaft to maintain the chainline. The screw regularly worked loose during rides, dropping the guide onto the chainring.
A friend with the same bike then kindly designed and produced a chainguide for me on a 3D printer. Happy days! This worked brilliantly, weighed only 25g and it appeared the job was done. Until one day towards the top of a climb the pedals went round and the chain didn’t! When I got home I found that the titanium Monoring had rounded off the spline on my S-Works cranks. The interface between the chainring and the spline is only about 3mm. I assume Carbon-Ti have made it this small so that you can adjust the chainline using the spacer provided. Luckily the damage to the spline is only at the very edge so I might get away without an expensive bill for new cranks – but I’m not happy!
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| Damaged Spline |
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