Gamut has a new ground-up redesign of its P30 chain device and it reckons that it’s going to be a popular with UK riders, mainly due to the lack of bearings in it. The ever cheerful Juan from Gamut gave us the walk-through and it really looks like it’ll be one of those ‘must try, surely it can’t be that simple?’ things.
So far, so normal… So what’s the deal?
The P30 is a ground-up redesign of Gamut’s popular device. It has a new bashguard ring. Refreshingly, it’s not any lighter than the old one, but it is stronger for the same weight. It also now includes alloy inserts so that you can’t crack it by being hamfisted with the Allen key… The top guide had done away with the stabilising bolt and put in a moulded nub instead for weight saving.
The clever bit, though is the bottom guide… Normally, this would be a roller running on a cartridge bearing, but after a few wet rides, a bit of jet washing and a lot of being put away damp, these tended to seize up… So, in a great bit of simple-thinking, Gamut have replace all that gubbins with…
…an O-ring.
Simple as that. There’s a thick, nitrile O-ring (similar to what you’d find marking your travel on your fork or rear shock) that the chain sits on. And that’s it! The chain’s pins, rather than plates run on the O-ring, so you only have round pin on rubber, making it pretty smooth running. Water and mud won’t particularly add any more friction and the O-ring tends to ‘creep’ round its mount so that it should wear evenly. When it eventually breaks, for a while you’ll notice a noise, but then you can replace it. A pack of ten O-rings probably won’t cost more than about £4 from a hardware shop.
Expect to see the pros riding these in April and hopefully in the shops some time this summer. Now why didn’t we think of that?
And an inadvertent benefit? It’s now 100g lighter!
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Any idea on price?
“No rollers, no jockey wheels. Just an O-ring that the chain runs over”
I mean, they couldn’t possibly charge anything like nearing £100 for that could they? ..
I’ll work on the price finding for you.
There’s no roller, but there’s still the backplate, bash guard and all the machined and moulded bits and pieces. Don’t expect much-cheapness, but you never know…
That’s clever…
Existing P30 costs quite a lot- £80 usually. But it’s a very nice bit of kit- quality anodising, light but strong bashring (lightest one I’ve used that was strong enough to do any bashing), lightweight backplate (lots of holes etc). So I’d imagine it’ll be in the same ballpark.
Will they be doing a version for a double and bash set up without the top guide?
The ever cheerful Juan
He He He He
Refreshingly, It’s not any lighter but it is stronger for the same weight.
It’s 100 grams lighter
?
Looks good though, simple is best!
robsoctane, I think the bashring is stronger/the same weight, but the chain device itself is 100g lighter?