[Closed] Are clutch mechs dead?

Pretty much IME. The only time I've dropped a chain with a 1x system was when I had to use a standard chainring for a ride because my NW had worn out and the replacement hadn't arrived in time. I've run the derailleur with and without the clutch engaged and no discernible difference. My wife always leaves her clutch mech off on her Stooge as she reckons it makes shifting harder for her.

No, the chain slaps around like a motherflipper on my long-travel 29er when I forget to put the clutch back on. Really annoying.

when riding a hardtail on the beach you'll not notice any of the benefits of a clutch.

riding fast on rocky terrain there's a noticeable noise reduction with the clutch on. chain retention is also improved, even if you never notice it.

the NW ring is more important than the clutch mech but it's still better with IME. I just fitted a shimano RX on my gravelling bike and although the shifting is a bit slower with the clutch engaged its a quieter ride, even on non-extreme surfaces. MTB has SRAM so that's always on but I've never dropped a chain on that.

No, but the n/w counts more. If your xt (with clutch) shifting is agricultural/ tough, then reduce the clutch tension a bit. There's a sweetspot of enough tension to reduce chainflap, but not so much it makes shifting much harder. And the mech won't be in it from new.

chakaping
No, the chain slaps around like a motherflipper on my long-travel 29er when I forget to put the clutch back on. Really annoying.

Jon Taylor
riding fast on rocky terrain there’s a noticeable noise reduction with the clutch on. chain retention is also improved, even if you never notice it.

Both speak the truth 🙂

Nope.

I run 3 & the difference they make is night & day. No problems with shifting either - you just adjust the clutch.

zippykona

Subscriber

Are clutch mechs an answer that decent chainrings have solved?

For riding on a beach, sure. For mountain biking, no.

it is definitely true that a narrow/wide ring does probably 9/10ths of all the heavy lifting, and most of the time that 9/10ths will be enough to keep a chain on. (if you've ever run a clutch mech and a standard ring, even with a top guide, you know it doesn't make much real difference over a standard mech)

Most of the time the clutch is really just reducing noise and slap. But the 10th 10th (or if you add a top chainguide, 12th 10th) comes into effect when it's needest most, ie the harder riding over the worse terrain.

(Chains can smell fear, they always fall off at the worst time. When I first switched to 1x10 I literally lost my chain twice in the entire year that followed, both times while racing which probably made up a per cent of all my riding)

Additionally, I find that new cables make a huge difference when battling the stiction of a clutch mech during shifting.

Additionally, I find that new cables make a huge difference when battling the stiction of a clutch mech during shifting.

Indeed. Just changed the inner/outer on my bike and reduced clutch tension to only what's needed. Result is much, much smoother shifting.

Lost my chain the other day on a fairly mild, rooty path - realised the clutch was off. Flicked it back on and no issues since.

glentress last week, lost my chain 4 times on the black decent from the mast, running 1x 10, old non clutch Xt mech and NW chainring.

clutch is going on there soon.

If I forget to engage the clutch on my XT mech it makes a horrible racket on rough stuff. Not to mention, smashing through the brand new powder coating on my frame.

Despite the unremarkable performance of 11 speed XT, the clutch is essential in my opinion.

Just remembered my girlfriend had a horrible crash on a Trek hardtail when her chain came off on a pre-clutch XT 10 speed. It used to be a regular occurence but after that incident I fitted a clutch mech and she never lost the chain again.

Nope, the chainslap makes an absolutle mess on my bikes when I forget to turn on the clutch.
It peppered my Solaris CS with chips on one run at 417.

NW makes a huge difference for general trail ridding though.

Just  for the record fatty goes on the beach once every 2 years. The rest of the time it's ridden like a normal bike.

Every morning I have to ride up a short flight of stairs and always marvel that the chain stays on.

Mrs and son both lost early season cx races due to multiple dropped chains (bumpy field type of courses) - both reasonably new drive trains with NW rings. Both changed to Ultegra clutch mechs (everything else the same) and not a single drop for rest of season. I'm convinced they are needed.

I've two bikes with NW chain rings and non-clutch mechs (old 9 speed XT, and slightly less old SRAM x9 10 speed).

They both are pretty good at not dropping the chain, although I've had it happen to both of them on occasion. The hardtail a bit more than the full suspension bike, which I guess makes sense.

Losing the chain (to the extent that I do) doesn't really bother me, although I guess it might a bit more if it resulted in a crash at some point.

However, I'd love to have clutch mechs for them both just to cut down on noise. A quiet bike is a fast bike, etc, etc.

Having only fairly recently returned to MTBing after a fairly lengthy sabbatical (during which NW rings and clutch mechs became a thing) I built myself up a Cotic Rocket with a mixture of old parts I still had and new/newer ones that I brought. One of the things I used from my old parts box was a set of cranks with a plain, non-ramped nor NW chaining. This was complemented by a Shimano Zee (clutch) mech.

Based on my previous experience of running single chainring set-ups I brought a chain guide just incase, but so far the clutch on the mech has proved quite adequate to keep the chain on without need for the chain guide nor a NW ring. Its also a damn sight quieter than my previous full-sus bikes with non-clutch mechs.

Perhaps the variation of experiences relate to the specific geometry of the frames various parts are fitted to?

Yes.

The front mech keeps the chain on just fine.

not sure... I'm still on 3x10 🙂 bike seems to ride where I want it to go...