Bit anal, as ever. Going to buy some short chainring bolts for a 1×9 set-up. Are alu strong enough or do I need steel? Anyone broken 'em?

chainring bolts work in shear rather than tension so I'd say they'd be fine. Although it could be affected by whether your cranks have a shoulder for the ring.

ive broken 2 out of three on a duo set up

not for me !

Have worked for me ok in the past, but I had 5 rather than 3 to start with 🙂

If you change your rings a lot you'll probably want to get stainless steel bolts as the threads stand up to more abuse than alloys.

If you use them take plenty of heavy duty zip ties you'll need them.

I fiited some to a normal 3 ring set up and rounded two within a week, maybe i got unlucky, but back to the old grotty steel ones i found in the workshop for me!

Steel female and ally male. Have done for years and Shimano supply them as standard like this too.

Sounds like steel is the way to go based on these replies then. Probably negligible difference in weight etc.

Aye, Alu chain ring bolts are rubbish.

Alu chain ring bolts are rubbish

I think that's an exaggeration, they've worked for me for many years, and I've only had one fall out.

Steel female and ally male. Have done for years and Shimano supply them as standard like this too.

Never noticed my shimano ones being bi-metal sets, they've always been steel on mine. It's not a great idea TBH, dissimilar metals corrode much more quickly and tend to seize.

I've run Ti ring bolts for nigh on a decade now on 2 of my bikes, with no problems whatsoever, never had Alu ones, but my shimano ones all seem to be steel (HTII Deore, cheapo alivio)

I'm pretty sure my SLX are dual metal, from the weight…I'm running all ally just now and so far they're fine but I'm a wee bit skeptical if I'm honest, don't really trust 'em. They just happened to be easily available, and cheap 😉

Well, to qualify "rubbish", I had some on my singlespeed and they all broke within a month.

You can get titanium ones 🙂

Uber light race bike? Go alloy. Every day workhorse? Steel will be fine.

My XTs are bi-metal, stainless female, alloy male.

Bought some short steel chainring bolts from hubjub. £6 posted, bargain. I will soon be niche.

Uber light race bike? Go alloy. Every day workhorse? Steel will be fine.

Agreed. Although I've only ever broken chainring bolts when they've come loose and I've failed to notice, or when tightening them.

My XTs are bi-metal, stainless female, alloy male.

Snap. So it's the steel taking the stress and the alloy just holding it in place. I'f I was buying, I'd get steel, but that said, even I can't break chainring bolts! 🙂

you won't break them unless they come loose

but if you are going to buy new ones, as well you might if your going down to 1 ring and need short ones, then get stainless.

For the same sort of price you can get a bashring which will let you use your existing bolts. Depends on whether you want a light race bike or a trail bike you like sliding over logs 🙂 Can also help a little in keeping the chain on if you've removed the front mech.

Nah, I don't think the terrain near me warrants a bashring. Just going to 1×9 because I pretty much never use the big or small rings. Will get one of those mrp 1.x chainguides someday, but they seem very expensive for what they are.