[Closed] anyone gone double rings and bash guard and regretted it ?

mick, i had one. found 36 to big for off road and found myself in 22 halfway down the cassette.
22/32 is more suitable i think.

99.9% of bashguards are fitted for fashion. Fine on a DB bike but not for XC surely. Why do people fit them to bikes to ride round smooth gravel loops in the woods??

same for suspension really

loddrik Suspension can make the corners fun, a bash ring can't

A friend of mine has just fitted one as he mulled his big ring on Hagg farm descent (Ladybower) if the majority of your riding in the peaks/rocky stuff they are worth it, I've been riding with one on the 'big bike' for years. IMO a big ring is only required for racing or your doing a fair bit of road.

the slx double & bash cranksets have a steel insert for the pedals, the triple doesn't - if that makes a difference

(I've binned 2 cranks due to pulling out the pedal threads, so I'm only buying "strong" cranksets in future)

i used my outer ring as a bash guard round stainburn the other day tony lol i'll prob just stick to standard triple then 😉

IMO a big ring is only required for racing or your doing a fair bit of road.

Horse Poo! A big ring is required if the speed you want to go can't be acheived on the middle ring, I was in the big ring (44) for about 80% of Llandegla yesterday.

 

[i]"he mulled his big ring on Hagg farm descent (Ladybower) if the majority of your riding in the peaks/rocky stuff they are worth it,"[/i]

How the **** did he manage that? Theres nothing on hagg farm descent to get close to a outer ring?
Are you seroius about the second comment? What/where in the 'majority' of the (Dark?) peak is a bash guard worth it?

Maybe if you're running a chain device as well, I can see the benefit there, or if you don't want to fork out for a big ring (though if you're not using it, then you don't need to replace it

For those few times I do scrape the big ring, I've not had a problem. The big ring is very useful on a few road sections (even on the big bike), not only as 32-11T (middle-little) is too small, but you can put the power down much better (also negating the chain angle its put at in 32-11)

mick, i sold the slx double and bought a slx triple 22/32/42 and it is v nice.
i like to used 32/32 for climbing.
i do not like to use 22. it feels uncomfortable climbing.

A bash ring is a good idea if you prefer towards technical stuff with lots of rocks and trialsy moves, if only for the fact that you have,t got a row of very sharp teeth to impail your leg on when you stumble or fall.

think its the triple for me then now next one i can get the drivetrain in slx for 250 or xt for 300 is xt really worth the extra 50 im really drawn towards thinking the slx is the better bet.

Been using double & bashring for a few years now after wrecking a couple of big rings around Stainburn and up on't moors on rocky stuff. Don't miss the big ring at all.
22/32 on the bouncy bike and 22/36 on the hardtail, the latter being the best combo IMO.

I think the only real difference is that the XT is a tad lighter.

£99 from evans for my c/set.
do not buy the front mech, it is crap. just a 2'' wide mud collector.
i use a x7 front mech and a xt shadow rear.

[i]if the majority of your riding in the peaks/rocky stuff they are worth it[/i]

Rubbish, I've never had a problem in the Peaks/Lakes and even the Alps with a normal triple. I was out today in the Peaks on my CX (48T big ring) and even that has never clipped rocks.
Standard triple will be fine and, as an added bonus, it's about a pound lighter too.
Bashguards have their place but that place is on full on DH bikes.

cheers chaps

I use 22/36 simply because I dont need a big ring - top gear of 36:11 allows me to pedal to high 20s which is enough offroad for me. Faster than that I ain't pedalling I'm braking 🙂 Lowest gear of 22/34 gets me up any hill (just about)

You need to shorten the chain and there is less overlap than with 22 and 32 rings so you use more of the granny gears.

The tandem has 22/36/ bash but I haven't bothered with a bash ring on the xc bike

And as a bonus!, My bro-in-law ground off the teeth on his old knackered big ring thus saving 100gms and £30 for a bash ring.

I bought Tons double ... he does have very weak legs for a big lad! 😉
I also have an SLX triple on hardtail.
Basically unles i am on the road I never realy used the third one so saw no real point in it.
Tony makes a fair point re ratio's but I got used to it and rarely climbed in middle anyway but if you do give it some thought before purchase a sthis will obviously nbe harder.
In terms of ratios using a 36 you only loose the last/top 3 gear ratios anyway iirc all the rest are there just in a different place.
Not sure what use the bash ring is per se not really bashed it yet
Quality wise both seem about the same

i mostly climb in the middle unless im proper borked so triple it is

How the **** did he manage that? Theres nothing on hagg farm descent to get close to a outer ring?
Are you seroius about the second comment? What/where in the 'majority' of the (Dark?) peak is a bash guard worth it?

A big rock jumped up and bashed and bent his big ring inwards he had to finish the rest of the ride in the granny.

You obviously don't [i]need[/i] a bash ring - as you don't [i]need [/i]suspension to ride rocky descents but it does help avoid big rocks bending your chainrings as witnessed only last week - I would rather be sporting a bashring than not on:-
The Beast
Cavedale
Edale Cross descent
Jacobs both up and down
Chapel Gate
Descent into Rowath Little Mill Inn
Anywhere big loose rocks are likely to bash stuff really.

i have a bash ring on my ss as i couldnt find and small chain ring bolts!!

A bash guard you don't use and a big ring you don't use are equally redundant. What I would classify as xc makes a bash guard a necessity as opposed to a fashion statement.

I am thinking about it on my Pitch for the megavalanche. I don't often use the big ring apart from on road, and I try to do as little of that as possible.

Can't see why you would be in the big ring for 80% of Llandegla, maybe not very good at keeping momentum? 😉

"A big rock jumped up and bashed and bent his big ring inwards he had to finish the rest of the ride in the granny"

I see. I've had one outer ring fold (a cheap truvativ one) once just pedalling along. When I got back I took an adjustable spanner to it and bent it back.

Shimano outer rings I've ridden/scraped over stuff have been fine though, just ground a few teeth on that one point on the ring

I've all but the last one of those bits of track, I've not really thought twice about running a triple on any of them.

"Can't see why you would be in the big ring for 80% of Llandegla, maybe not very good at keeping momentum?"
Maybe instead of using gravity to speed up he likes to pedal upto speed. (or doesn't just pootle round)

For alot of the woodsy riding we do a bashring helps just as you get an extra bit of clearance over stuff (logs especially). It's also nice to have if, like me, you can't resist trying to trials up rock steps (and failing). Oh and the other positive is that you can shorten the chain alot and it's less likely to fall off / clatter about.

I have a road bike for going fast on the road. Roads on the mountain bike = pootle.

they're not for fashion, i've got one on my heckler along with a 36t and short cage rear mech which means everything is tucked up out of the way. i really love the 36 up front as it means i have a wide range of gears without having to keep shifting at the front. you can't use the 44/34 on a triple anyway. i vote double and bash - seen how expensive chainrings are at the moment? i've seen far too many people with buggered outer rings and i DONT miss the big ring at all, not even riding down steep roads.

so let's summarise:

pros:
no more broken outer chainrings
more clearance
better ratio/can use all possible combinations/less changing gear at front
can't cut your leg on outer ring
one less ring to replace when they wear out

cons:
you might miss the extra speed you can get out of a 44

The choice is yours!

Tim

The only time I spin out of 36/11 is on road descents, and who cares about them?

Far prefer a double and bash setup. Be a bit careful with your choice of bash ring and it won't weigh any more than a 44T. The extra ground clearance is useful, as is the fact that there aren't any teeth to dig into big logs. Plastic bashes also slide over rocks easier.

You dont need any type of bike to ride in the peaks, FACT

Just looking a the stuff we rode at sheffield uni ad you'll see that. Lots of weekend wariors out on their ornage patriots, intense 6.6's, 575's and theres us on out motely assortent of hardtails, the odd BMX, and occasional DH bike.

Stanage on a cross bike anyone? It'll beat you!

Yes and no.

The bash is a useful change from a big ring because it slides over logs rather than digging into them.

But like Ton I couldn't get on with a 36t middle ring, so I'm going back to 32t middle and getting an even lower profile bash.

my big ring just ripped my kecks whenever I took the bike for a quick road jaunt.

I now have 3 brand new big rings as I never use them.

most of the guys in our riding group changed over to double and bash after seeing shinything's xrays of the teeth marks in his ankle bones. not nice. more clearance as mentioned above, though i'm too tight to shell out for 36 or even a 34t ring until i've worn out the existing ones. shorter chain - i found that with a big ring on rough fast descents i was only changing into big ring to keep the chain on, and the only reason i had so much chain was because i was running a big ring....
probably spin out at 30mph or so on off-road descents. fast enough.

Forget fashion - it's another surface to put stickers on!! Right kids? 8)

"probably spin out at 30mph or so on off-road descents. fast enough"

Make that more like 20 mph with a 32-11T gear selection
Maybe not properly spun out, but spun out enough not to be able to put any power down at your ideal spinning speed and not feeling much resistance

James - depends if you can spin. Note we are discussing 36 chain ring
Normal pedalling cadence for me is about 25 mph in 36/11. 30 mph is something like 110 cadence or so or so - easily achievable.

My missus runs 32/11 as top gear on her commuter (her choice - I dunno why) - 27mph top speed on the speedo

If you like a slow cadence then 36/11 might not be high enough. WE have topped out at well over 30mph on the tandem - but spinning like a frog in a blender

I disagree that bash rings are for fashion. I have one fitted to my hardtail and it serves two very useful purposes:

It helps keep the chain on without the need for a full chain device.
It prevents damage to the chainset.

If you looked at my e-13 bashring you would see multiple areas of damage that would otherwise have been inflicted on a large chainring. Then again I use my "XC" bike for everything from all day epics in the Scottish mountains to trail centre days at the rockiest centres in Scotland and anything in between.

As for ratios I would suggest 22-32 with an e-13 bash (36 or 38 tooth). I find this is a good ratio for uphill, mile crunching and gunning it downhill.

36/22, with an 11-34 cassette. all the gears you'll ever need offroad. unless your doing the kamikaze

bashgaurd seems to serve a purpose as there are plenty of dents and scrapes in it even though I don't remember most of them happening.

3 bashrings on the tandem 🙂 We put 7 hits on one of them on its first outing with them. Saved a long walk back.

I changed to 36/22 and wipped the teeth off my old ring with the jigsaw before finishing neatly with a file, free bashring..

The big ring had lost a lot of teeth from catching rocks on more trialsy/techy stuff and i couldn't see why i should buy and ruin another.

Only reason i wouldn't do this is if i did lots of road miles, which i generally avoid

Horse Poo! A big ring is required if the speed you want to go can't be acheived on the middle ring, I was in the big ring (44) for about 80% of Llandegla yesterday.

Somehow I think you are missing the point here. A bash ring is useful where you are likely to beat the crap out of your outer chainring, not exactly likely at llandegla.
However in the peak I have seen a few outer chainrings get stuffed.
My meta has a double and bash (including chainguide) mainly because its useful and its fit and forget. And yes it has saved on buying a new outer ring on more than one occasion

I don't understand the point of "you need a big ring to go fast"

Are these people pedalling hard at over 30mph offroad? cos you can hit 30mph pedalling on 36/11 and 25 mph is easy

double and bash, pah you bunch of lightweights, I ride 32t single front with bash on a 36lb Heckler (although I have just bought a double chainset!)

I manage on 32/22 When I spin out I'm normally ready to hit the brakes or the hill is steep enough that to go any faster I just let go of them. Never seem to hold anybody up on the descents, except for on the road.

Have broken a couple of big rings over the last few years, one on rocks/fallen logs and the other was hit by a flying rock. When I ride routes that are often ridden by others you can always see the chainring marks gouged into softer rocks and logs. Also the bash stops me cutting the backs of my leg if I come off.

Would never fit a big ring on a bike now unless I was riding on tarmac.