I have a hardtail with a narrow wide chainring *without* a clutch mech.

It used to work fine, but it seems to have started dropping the chain a bit as it has worn (not unexpected).

Would a clutch mech fix all my problems, or is it worth getting a top guide?

I fit both on my FS bike.

Hardtails don’t have chain growth, so maybe I was more wondering if it was possible to get away with one or the other. Bike stuff is annoyingly expensive.

A top guide weighs about 70g and is not in contact with the chain unless it is going to come off so I think it is worth it.

I’ve a clutch mech on my hardtail with a NW chainring, not had the chain drop yet even when ragging down stuff in Grizedale last weekend. I replaced the chain (at 0.7% growth) a couple of weeks ago so last week was on a new chain.

On occasion I’ve run the setup with the clutch off due to knocking it when cleaning and not noticing and not had any chain drop.

Might be worth trying a new chain, assuming you haven’t gone past the 0.75% mark.

The clutch mech helps a little but the thick/thin does all the work really. Considering your setup used to work and now doesn’t, I’d fix it rather than change it personally.

I have gone for chain guide and a normal chainring as I have them both in the parts bin. IMHO 70 g is nothing as weigh penalty and its also less likely to drop than other set ups

YMMV

FWIW I decided against a chain device because it’s still not a 100% fix, and if the chain does come off with that combo it could be a total ballache (bad enough without the thick/thin sometimes when that happens). Seeing a guy at the side of a race stage having to dismantle his chain device because it was so jammed up put me off a bit!

Get a new chainring. That’ll fix it right away. The Blackspire Snaggletooth rings give a greater retention, as they’re based on the Sram x11 design.

so can you run an xc bike with a sram x9 rear mech (non clutch) without a chain guide if you use a thick thin ring?

hardtail if it makes any difference

Looks like I am buying another NW chainring (and possibly chain) and seeing if that fixes the issue. Seems a sensible option. Thanks for the advice.

It did start dropping (like once or twice) at the latter end of a week in the Alps, where on some days I was doing a reasonable amount of cranking up mountains (They totally need more chairlifts) – so it is a reasonable assumption that something (either the chainring or chain) got worn.

@tpbiker
With a hardtail IMHO yes. Until that point I didn’t have a problem with it dropping (and it still doesn’t drop that much, just enough to be slightly concerned when racing) – I did run a bash as well but I don’t think it did much/anything to help.

As said clutch mechs make a bit of difference but now does most of the way ork, I got a nice direct mount superstar guide

What nw ring, ? I found the race face one wore a lot quicker than blackspire mono veloce and superstar ones which have linger and thicker teeth

I have the works components NW. No idea how it measures up to the other offerings now available though.