Thinking of going for steel for longevity.
Will this reduce wear on the chain and cassette too?

wadayareckon…

Any recommendations for a nice looking steel 32-34T…?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CROOSS/on_one_stainless_chainring

Would be my suggestion. I’ve just put one on my SS as I was getting through Aluminium ones in about 6 months.

i’ve had a steel granny ring on my mtb for ages.

Oooh thats nice, cheers for that.
Pah, not front mech compatible though.
Maybe its time to go 1×9…

For gears? Deore. Last ages.

For SS/1x# then the On-Ones are good. Been running mine on a 1×9 and now SS setup for well over a year and theres very little visible wear.

I have not worn out an alloy chain ring for a long while. I do use qulaity ones though and I change my chain reguarly. These things help alot.

Yup. the chain wears out the rings, not the other way around. get a chain checker and a bulk load of cheap chains

Deore last basically forever, and they keep their shape better than my XT rings did- on my main bike i’ve had more than twice the lifespan from deore, but also it’s kept shifting perfectly for longer whereas the XT ones went a bit baggy after a while and lost their edge.

The weight difference isn’t massive either.