Ross McArthur Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 They're meant to be used in conjunction with clutch mechs. The "wide" part of the chain ring stops the chain from flapping around the chainring (because that happens a lot). The clutch stops the lower arm of the mech bouncing up and down which limits the amount of flap the chain does. The Narrow wides just hold the chain on a bit tighter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 How's it performing Ed? I'm contemplating a 34t for the five. I've only ridden with it in anger off road and not an issue so far, it is some sort of voodoo I'm not using a clutch mech and it still works, the clutch just makes it more secure, even without the clutch it is actually pretty difficult to lift the chain off the ring. The biggest difference with the teeth is that they're full height, normal chain rings have very low tooth height to allow the chain to derail, make the tooth project all the way through the chain link and it is much more secure. The interlocking width sections help guide the chain on to the ring straight in order to stop it climbing up the sides of the teeth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Little beauty. I ordered a 34t raceface with some crc vouchers I got for Christmas, fitted it when I got home and it's great. She'd some nice weight, bars are a lot less cluttered and it's a lot quieter with pedal resistance not a problem unlike running with the guide. Stepping from 32-34 was also nice, the cassette feels a lot nicer through the gears, makes a lot nicer use in the mid range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 Looking good Thomas, the reduction in drivetrain drag was instantly apparent for me, I was using a twin roller guide though and the chain needed cleaning! What cassette have you got? I run 32:34/11 and wouldn't want to go much lower ratio down low but have found the top gear a little light, next time I will probably go 34:36/11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Booth Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Rear cassettes a 36/11 Ed, it's a vast improvement over the 32 front with that range. Before the cassette had abit of a flat spot around 4/5 gear where they felt too similar so the next up was abit to harsh at times, that's been remedied now thou and all gears feel consistent. I couldn't believe the reduction in drag, might be able to throw some crank flips in now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted June 14, 2014 Report Share Posted June 14, 2014 Ah so you will have the same bottom end as me but a taller top gear, I'm finding that I'm spinning out much above 28ish mph. It doesn't really affect normal riding as I'm not that quick but it's quite noticeable on the road. I've never noticed any flat spot in the ratios, I just pedal and change if I feel that I should be pedalling faster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boumsong Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 I've just stuck a Raceface 32t retainer ring on my xc build and an xtr mech. Initial impressions are good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsbikingnunn Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Can someone explain how this chainring works for me please? My dad got one for the (older) dh bike and says we won't need a chain guide for it... Where a standard chainring has shorter teeth the narrow/wide chainrings have full length teeth so it is much harder for the chain to jump off, also a standard chainring has all the teeth the same width and they have to be small enough to fit in the inner links of your chain meaning the outer links have room to move side to side, the narrow/wide chainrings however have alternating narrow and wide teeth which gives a tighten fit between the chain ring and each link of the chain therefor making it harder for the chain to fall off Just went from a standard triple crankset with a 32t middle ring to zee arms and a 36t hope retainer chainring and a clutch xt deraillier and its very noticable, really smooth and quiet now but going up to 36t on front has made it noticably harder on hills 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Cheers Matt makes complete sense after reading up on it a few times now. Chain came off loads in the Alps so not quite good enough for dh hahaha my dad suffered it though, he got a bit overconfident I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialsbikingnunn Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Cheers Matt makes complete sense after reading up on it a few times now. Chain came off loads in the Alps so not quite good enough for dh hahaha my dad suffered it though, he got a bit overconfident I guess hahaha yeah maybe id still run a chainguide if I used it on a dh bike just to make sure it did stay on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted August 2, 2014 Report Share Posted August 2, 2014 Haha so would I, couldn't get one to fit for some reason... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.