I made a right mess of my big ring on a rock the other day in the Peak District (It’s now missing more teeth than me the poor thing). I’ve been thinking about going 1x up front, have kept my chain on my 32t ring for several weeks and think it’s just about doable given my fitness.

I’ve seen the new 2013 Hope combined bash guard/chainring which looks quite tidy but I’m a bit curious about a few things:

1) Is the main advantage weight?
2) Doesn’t combining the two things mean that when hit a big rock again I screw up both the chainring and the bash?
3) When do new Hope things start to make it to shops?
4) Should I just get a cheap bash guard and forget about it?

Point 2. was the first thing that struck me. The guide looks a little more interesting, depending on price.

Or more annoyingly, wear your chainring out and you have to buy a new bashring too! Seemed a great idea until I thought of that…

Go 1×10, job done.

4) Should I just get a cheap e*thirteen bash guard and forget about it?