I have a 1*9 on my rigid 29er (so quite bumpy at speed) and I’m yet to lose the chain with a normal mech and n/w ring.

If you can afford to right now I’d go with both for the peace of mind. If you need a new chainring anyway then I’d just get a nw and worst case is that you have to buy a chainguide if it’s not performing as you’d like. At worst you’ve got the potential for a few dropped chains until it arrives, at best you save money knowing you don’t need the guide.

Now are you sure you want to go 1x?
I mean really, no pressure, only do it if you want to, we’re fine with whatever gearing you choose to run, don’t feel you have to.
Hugz.
😉

The most important bit is the narrow/wide, it gives better retention than a top only guide and pretty much as good as a top-bottom dh guide, for less money and with no drawbacks, it’s like voodoo

Clutch mech really doesn’t add much to that, it improves retention a wee bit and quietens things down

Top chain device adds a final bit of retention if you want it to be foolproof- I very rarely lose the chain without it but since when it happens it’s always at a really annoying time, I’ve added a tiny one to my enduro bike and it’s never lost the chain since. Ace

I wouldn’t even bother without at least a chain device, ime you get yards. But narrow/wide is better.

I went with an e13 xcx guide that was bottom bracket mounted.

I run a 1×9 setup with an On One Ringmaster narrow wide chainring and a non-clutch mech (initially long-cage, now medium-cage), and I’ve had no bothers with chain dropping. I also don’t do much in the way of jumps, etc.

The Ringmaster bolted directly onto my existing cranks (104mm bcd I think), so it was a £20 upgrade, or thereabouts: all I needed to do was remove my triple rings and front mech, and bolt on the narrow-wide chainring.

FWIW, I’ve found the 1x setup good, although climbing is harder without the granny ring. I’m out the saddle grinding much more, and it’s correspondingly hard sometimes to find grip. I’ve not yet run out of gears at the other end of the spectrum: by the time I’m getting to the small end of the cassette off road I’m usually hanging on for dear life rather than pedaling 🙂

Get both. N/W are great but do drop chains a bit, especially if muddy or they are worn. Back them up with a cheap top guide and you should be fine. The cheap on-one N/W mentioned above is good and doesn’t need narrow chainring bolts either. Superstar fine too. Also note that some absolute black chainrings don’t work very well with kmc chains, so bear that in mind if you are looking at that combo.

Don’t know about those. They have a bit of a mud shelf, but then so do most cheap ones. On one, superstar and the blackspire snaggletooth aren’t too pricey and work ok.

They all wear out fast. Although I have been buying at the budget end of the market so far, so don’t know how the top end ones compare.

Clutch helps as the chain wears, if you’re a ride to destruction type. Keeps a slack chain under more tension.

NW is the key though. Before NW I needed a guide (and they were generally a bit rubbish, jammed chains and got chain suck). After NW, I’ve ditched them, though did have clutch also (SRAM so it’s always on), but I feel it’s the NW that’s holding it on.

However NW rings wear also and tend to start dropping and need replacing eventually.