XX1 Chainring Review – S-Works Cranks

This review follows my initial trials and tribulations with a Carbon-Ti monoring and chainguide. (Review here.) XX1 was the big news from SRAM this year. It introduced 11 speed cassettes to mountain biking, but also an innovative chainring solution that claims to allow you to run a single chainring without the need for a chain guide. The teeth of the chain ring alternate between thicker and thinner gauge to improve the engagement with the chain. Sounds simple but would it work?

 

My mouse button was hovering over the “Buy” button on a set of XX1 cranks when I stumbled across a spider on ebay that would allow me to fit the XX1 chainrings to my existing S-Works cranks.

 

Given my previous experiences I’ll admit to a little anxiety as I headed to Peaslake with my brand new and untested chainring. The North Downs is quite a tough challenge for a chain, with plenty of drops, steps and technically challenging terrain. Within five minutes we were bouncing over roots and the chain was peacefully quite. The XTR Shadow Plus mech was doing an excellent job of stopping the chain from flapping around and I hadn’t missed a single pedal stroke. As the ride wore on I completely forgot about the chainring and just concentrated on riding, which I see as a great recommendation for any piece of kit.

 

Having now followed up the 2.5 hour thrashing around Peaslake with another 2 hours racing on an extremely challenging XC course, the chain hasn’t once skipped or dropped. I can categorically say that no chain guide is required!

 

I’m a weight weenie so the 37g extra weight of the spider and ring over my previous Carbon-Ti Monoring was making me twitchy, but this is cancelled out by the lack of chain guide. The performance has been flawless so far! The XX1 chainrings and the clutch rear mech have really revolutionised the mountain bike drivechain.

Carbon-Ti Monoring / Superstar Chain Guide Review

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.

 

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.

 

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!

Damaged Spline

Unfortunately mine is not an isolated story. Another friend with a Monoring has also encountered the same fault. What do I try next? – Another review coming soon!

National XC - Hopton Castle

Will, Ian and myself arrived early and bleary eyed at our chaffeurs house for the long drive to Hopton in Shropshire. Many thanks to Steve for driving nearly four hours each way either side of his race.

As we approached the fluttering flags and row upon row of camper vans, a huge wooded hill loomed menacingly against the blue sky. From the line the course headed straight up this savagely steep climb, that had all the riders scrabbling for their lowest gears! It was a leg burning effort of about 10 -12 minutes with a couple of false flats that didn't really provide much respite. After the climb was a great section that resembled a welsh trail centre, as it undulated along the contours of the hillside. Then came the reward for all that climbing, a sometimes scarily steep, sweeping descent with stutter bumps in the precipitous braking zones leading into the bermed corners. It was a memorable course in every way - not all of them pleasant!

Climbing, climbing and...

Will was first off, unfortunately when his chain snapped before the top of the climb his cycling was done for the day. Standing nervously by the start waiting for him the three of us started to fear the worst, as we saw rider after rider coming through coated in dirt and blood after taking a fall on the descent to the finish.

Climbing!

Myself, Steve and Ian were all gridded for the final races of the day. Even on the first lap the climb was agonising and it felt as though I rode most of the race in my bottom gear! My single 32 tooth chainring only just allowing me to crawl upwards. I drank and gulped gels to prevent cramping which would have surely ended my race. Only after the fourth time up the climb could I relax and was then able to attack the final descent to cross the line 29th.

On the way home we raided the services M&S shop, sharing out Scones, Pain au Chocolate and Hot Cross Buns the rest of the way home. Sorry about the crumbs Steve!

North Downs from Peaslake

If you like your cycling fast, flowing and technical you should be heading for Peaslake in the heart of the Surrey Hills. The North Downs is a mecca for mountain biking, but from my experience you really need to know where to look for the best kept secrets. The hills around Wescott and Peaslake are literally a warren of hidden singletrack gems. There are the famous routes like “ Barry Knows Best”, “Summer Lightening” and “Telegraph Road” but the skill is linking these together with equally brilliant and quieter less well known tracks.

This is where our guide for the day Matt stepped in. Taking on the roll of tour guide with an almost sergeant major type glee, Matt lead out a group of seven other riders. We were a mixture of locals from Beyond MTB and south coast visitors like myself. Matt is a seriously strong rider so a tough day was in store!

Congregating at the Peaslake carpark we set off on our first 90 minute loop towards Pitch Hill. After a steady opening climb we were quickly into singletrack heaven. Rooty, twisty tracks proliferate and we seemed to be forever diving left and right. It really is a full body workout, with sharp painful climbs interspersed by arm burning berms and turns.

Matt regimented his troops, only slowing slightly to allow the stragglers to regroup before setting off again into the trees. Some of the trails are natural while others have had a helping hand, but they all seem to have that elusive flow that it seems so hard for event organisers to replicate. With warnings when we were approaching tougher sections of trail, we were lead back to Peaslake to refuel before setting out west towards Holmbury.

If I lived nearer and rode these trails regularly I would be a much better rider. The area provides ideal race training, with repeated climbs to test the legs and lungs. Bike handling skills need to be quickly honed, especially in a fast flowing train of riders. The bank holiday sun had shone and seven weary but happy riders headed home after a Matt masterclass!

Nobody behind you!

Racing at the Southern XC Championships 19th May

Southern XC Championships

 

Having enjoyed the experience of dry dusty trails over the past few weeks, it was probably inevitable that while much of the UK basked in sunshine, it was drizzling down in the New Forest for the Southern XC Championships. The moisture added a glossy surface to the trails, leaving riders with little confidence in the corners and sapping their strength on the climbs. Despite the weather it would have been a terrific flowing course, had it not been for a couple of  what might politely be called ‘stream crossings’. In reality these were muddy ditches; the fastest method of navigating them was to jump off the bike and leap straight in!

 

Things started badly on my warm-up lap, I found South Downs Bike rider Gary Dodd (“Doddy”) lying in one of the ditches clutching his knee. He had slipped off a wooden bridge the taken out one of the posts on the way. The marshals were already with him so I was able to move on, which was lucky because I had a puncture. I presume from riding over one of the nails sticking out of the broken bridge.

 

Limping back to the car with a flat front tyre I just had time to slip in a tube and make it to the start line. I doubt I am alone in not liking slippery conditions but they do not suit me. I had lowered my tyre pressures hoping for extra grip. Now I had a tube in the front tyre I was worried about pinch flats on the roots so had to add a few psi.

 

Following the adrenaline fuelled start we charged elbows out around the opening field section, before standing in an orderly queue waiting to get into the first section of singletrack! This section was a superb sequence of wide sweeping corners. We were all pushing the limits of our front tyres, turning in unsure if it was going to grip or not. Once through the corner it wasn’t a case of mashing the pedals otherwise the rear wheel fish tailed left and right. Instead power had to be gingerly applied. It was almost like slow motion racing! We reached the first muddy ditch and I leapt in, dragging the bike behind me. The bike suddenly stopped and it wasn’t moving. I heaved and tugged, slipping around in the foot deep sludge. Like hauling in an anchor I discovered the bike was connected to a section of barbed wire fence that obviously lay hidden beneath the mud.

 

On my way again the next section of woodland was slightly drier so there was an opportunity to finally stretch the legs. The final part of the lap was another slippery feast of roots and mud. Finding the grip to propel yourself forward was hard enough, without the challenge of finding a line amongst the other riders who were all slithering left and right.

 

Finally the field spread out, but I found myself again standing in the same ditch, this time without a bike. Looking back the rider behind landed right on top of it as he dived into the mud. Peering into the mud, pock marked by hundreds of cycling shoes I realised that this time about 5 foot of tree root had threaded itself through my rear wheel and attached my bike to terra firma!

 

It offered me some relief to find that it wasn’t just me having problems. On my final lap I was caught by the Elite riders. As he passed me Ben Thomas in 2^nd place went over the bars! Third place completely lost his rear wheel and I re-passed him laying in the mud. Another rider came off on a bridge in front of me - it was chaos! To give them their due they are going a lot faster than me between the spills!

 

Onto the final lap and I found myself alone, just able to see a rider ahead but with nobody close behind. I pushed to the line on my own, finishing in 21^st. Last year I’d have found the result disappointing but this year I was genuinely pleased.

 

I overheard a couple of guys talking in the car park about the large number of entries. They were questioning why somebody would race with no hope of winning? “Why bother, just so you can say you came 30^th ?” one of them said. My answer to him would have been that everyone has their own personal goals. For the lucky few that might be to become regional champion. For the majority our goals are different, to them I may have only been 21^st but personally I think 21^st in Southern England is an achievement. Plus I had a really good time sliding around in the mud, and that's why I ride my bike, because it is seriously good fun!

Orbital Bike Festival

A bike festival only a few miles from my back door!

But where are the mountain bike events??

Orbitalfestival.com