pinkbike take on nw chainring & no clutch……….
Performance
We fit the Race Face Narrow Wide ring to a few different types of cranks and bikes – everything from a 150mm travel Scott Genius to a hardtail – in order to check for any chain line or interference issues, as well as to test the Narrow Wide’s ability to keep the chain in place without the support of a clutch-equipped derailleur. As for the first two concerns, there proved to be no issues with alignment or with the ring not sitting on the crank tabs correctly. The offset mounting, which is required by the smaller diameter 30 tooth size, allowed the chain to sit just inside the crank’s tabs, with no jamming or clearance problems to
report. The spacer caps also make for a nice, clean setup that doesn’t look cobbled together like many of the single ring setups out there – no weird spacers or funky hardware required.
The real question, though, is if we dropped the chain while using the Narrow Wide ring. It wasn’t that long ago that we couldn’t imagine using a single ring setup without a chain guide of some sort, and while the narrow/wide shaping of chainring teeth is certainly a vital component in keeping the chain from derailing, clutch derailleurs play an arguably larger role… or so we thought. We didn’t suffer a single dropped chain while using the Narrow Wide ring, both with and without a clutch derailleur. This includes everything from charging rough trails on a 150mm travel trail bike, to getting rowdy on a steel hardtail that managed to rattle our teeth but not rattle the chain off despite not using a chain guide of any sort. Impressively, the hardtail was the bike that was spec’d with a standard non-clutch derailleur, and the bike that had us fully expecting at least a few dropped chains. Not only were we proven wrong, but there was also a noticeable reduction in chain slap noise while using the 30 tooth Narrow Wide ring.
Issues
With an easy and trouble-free installation, and not a single dropped chain to report, we really have nothing to complain about. Our single concern, although one that we were admittedly not able to suss out due to a long dry spell here in South Western B.C., boils down to how the ring’s tooth profiles would perform in excessively muddy conditions. We say this only because other rings that use the same shaping have shown to pick up loads of mud and trail debris, sometimes enough to actually derail the chain. Again, this did not happen to us while using Race Face’s chainring, but the incredibly dry weather never really did give us a chance to properly test this aspect.
Pinkbike’s take:
bigquotes While we can see many riders still doubling up by using both the Narrow Wide ring and at least an upper slider-only guide, we have complete confidence in our guide-free Race Face Narrow Wide setup while charging on some pretty serious terrain. Not a single dropped chain, even while riding a hardtail without either a guide or a clutch derailleur on rough, rooty terrain, has proven to us that going guide-less is a viable alternative for a rider who wants a simple and lightweight setup
I’m tempted! Anyone using a nw chainring with NO rear clutch? Views?
