After reading all the wonderful reviews on the Thick Thin Chainrings I went out and boutght one.
Set up is as follows
34t on an SLX crank with bash guard and roller chain device on the bottom. The bike is a Prophet. I do not have a clutch mech but going by some reviews it sounded as though this was not nessesary! Anyway 1st downhill 1st corner and chain comes off.
My friend who has a similar set up with out the bashguard and with a clutch mech has his chain come of 2 or 3 times on yesterdays ride.
My conclusion is that they help keep the chain on but are not nearly as reliable as I was made to think having read peoples reviews on here. Might be fine if you ride trail centre smooth trails all the time but not good on the bumpy stuff! I will be fitting a chain guide soon negating the point in the thick thin chain ring!
Mine is great. Running with a top only guide.
Tho' I do have a clutch mech.
I thought you needed a clutch mech for them to work properly.
Forgot to mention that my friend with the similar set up has a clutch mech.
clutch mech and no guide or bash guard up front... zero problems
Right chain length?
Aye chain length is spot on.
no guide, 34t raceface thick-thin, short-cage clutch mech, 11-36 cassette, chain as short as it can be on a five.
First ride saturday and threw it down everything rocky, rooty and nasty I could find and it didnt miss a beat. even seem to cope ok with backpeddalling which derails a lot of chain devices.
i'm sold and will be putting one on my hardtail next.
Run mine (works chainring) on a 130mm susser, first with normal mech now with a clutch mech and no guide, i've not lost a chain yet. I live and ride in The Lakes and the trails are not smooth. At all.
I previously ran a normal mech, normal ring and top guide and I lost the chain occasionally, usually off the bottom when I back pedalled for whatever reason.
Clutch mech, thick / thin ring and a top guide only and it's totally solid for me, at reasonable speed on bumpy terrain (Aberdeenshire). I'm not convinced it'd stay on without the top guide but that only weighs 60g. You certainly don't need a bash or lower roller.
Might be fine if you ride trail centre smooth trails all the time but not good on the bumpy stuff!
Does the WC DH track at Nevis Range count as a trail centre? Yet to drop a chain there with Works Components chainring + Zee clutch mech. (I'm pretty slow mind you.)
Maybe you should try a clutch mech?
If you're Scotland based I'd be happy for you to try my mech.
No guide, no clutch, no rear suspension and not slipped off once.
Fat bikes rule
30t RaceFace NW ring, XT clutch derailleur. Plenty of BC North Shore rides (i.e. not smooth trails.....) and no dropped chain.
Annoyingly I do think I need a clutch mech or a top guide. (ordered one but it didn't fit) I am running 9sp atm so thats an expensive upgrade. It was after reading reviews on here that made me think it would work without the clutch. Doesn't explain why my mates came off as he is running a clutch.
Robinlaidlaw - it was crack cleaner up scolty where it first came off!
32t one here with zee clutch mech no guides, no problem what so ever, brilliant!
cultsdave - MemberMight be fine if you ride trail centre smooth trails all the time but not good on the bumpy stuff!
Works components chainring, XT clutch mech, no chain device, hardtail, fort william dh, no chain drops, any questions? 😉
What 9-speed are you using? You can adapt Shimano 10-speed mechs to work with 9-speed SRAM quite easily (my hardtail is proper 10-speed but my other bikes are all what I think of as 9 1/2 speed.
Robinlaidlaw - it was crack cleaner up scolty where it first came off
I guessed you were local from the user name. That's exactly the stuff I ride and mines been fine on the 5Spot. I was out last night and did MDK and one from the tower, the trails are back to being dry and fast again and there was no hint of problems or chain drop.
I reckon just the top guide would sort it for you, I'm using an E13 XCX and it doesn't rub or make any noise and it's very light so it's staying on.
I am running all shimano xt 9sp stuff.
walleater - Member
30t RaceFace NW ring, XT clutch derailleur. Plenty of BC North Shore rides (i.e. not smooth trails.....) and no dropped chain.
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3x9 here and no thick-thin chainrings either. No chain-droppage EVER! 😀
(or have I missed the point of this thread 😉 )
Ah, not so easy then, sorry!
FWIW I've run mine with the clutch switched off (due to being an idiot) and it did stay on fine- better than with an old-school single ring and chain device, which was alright but I never found it totally satisfactory.
30t Wolf Tooth ring, no guide, XT clutch mech. I've been running this set up for 7 weeks and approx. 260 miles and the chain has come off just once, on a DH track, after I forgot to switch on the clutch after taking the rear wheel out to check my brake pads. I guess the clutch is a significant help. The rest of the time my chain has stayed perfectly in place on the rougher trails I ride, including Crack Cleaner, and the rock step descents on Bennachie.
How old are your chains? If they are pretty worn it'll be harder for the narrow/wide chain ring to grip, which may be a contributing factor.
If you're running without chain retention (whihc is sort of the whole point) then you do need a clutch mech. SRAM xx1 is a clutch mech, I don't know where you got the impression a clutch mech was not required. I don't think it explicitely says on the Wolftooth or the Works websites.
Clutch mech for me with wolftooth and no issues. Last ride my mates bike with chain retetion and clutch mech but no thick/thin chainring dropped his chain on the same downhill I was on.
No guide, no clutch, no rear suspension and not slipped off once.[s]Fat bikes[/s] skinny/fats rule
No guide here just RaceFace rung and clutch mech, deliberately tried to ride in stuff that has derailed chain before, chain has stayed on for around 300 miles so far
3x9 here and no thick-thin chainrings either. No chain-droppage EVER!
I ran 2x9 with a bash and dropped the chain extremely rarely, certainly no more than 3 times in 3 years.
It's the silence of the clutch and skinny/fat that takes it to the next level of ride-quality tho, plus the chains going nowhere.
Have used mine for a few rides now and its been faultless. Clutch was off last week in Afan as muck caused cable friction and it was still fine - final part of w2 , so graveyard, bike park, the new bit and zigzags. Believe the hype:-)
Cotic soul, 1x10, 32t Raceface now, six clutch
Think this post needs a new title...
32t race face with clutch mech...took a link out the chain when changed from 3*10...6ft plus drops loads of braking bumps...not even a snifter of a chain slip!
If I was a Man Scruff, I'd be using a bigger chain ring 😀
Just to join in - Wolftooth 30t with Zee mech. No drops in 4 months of riding.
Think this post needs a new title...32t race face with clutch mech...took a link out the chain when changed from 3*10...6ft plus drops loads of braking bumps...not even a snifter of a chain slip!
That's too long a title 😉
If you're running without chain retention (whihc is sort of the whole point) then you do need a clutch mech. SRAM xx1 is a clutch mech, I don't know where you got the impression a clutch mech was not required.
Pinkbike did what looked like a fairly extensive test with and without a clutch mech and decided that it worked just as well without as with. YMMV.
Pinkbike did what looked like a fairly extensive test with and without a clutch mech and decided that it worked just as well without as with. YMMV.
Hence why I thought it was a good idea
Pinkbike did what looked like a fairly extensive test with and without a clutch mech and decided that it worked just as well without as with.
Link?
raceface narrow/wide , xtr/xt/slx clutch mech and no dropped chain in well over 2 months use, 3 times a week/weekend on everything the peak district has to offer (hope/edale/jacobs ladder/ tonnes of white peak stuff thats just as bad/rocky) even cannock etc with all its braking bumbs 😉 and not a single one chain dropped, the routes we do have tonnes of rocky descents, and ive put ALOT of miles on the chainring in 2 months
genuinely dont know where else other than full on DH tracks i could try and derail it! if its not coming off in the peaks then it aint coming off anywhere
the clutch mech will defo have an effect though so thats probably why yours has failed so epically!
Works Components ring with clutch on fs bike only lost chain once and that's when the clutch was left off and it was a mega rooty section I was going through!
Check your setup out, old chain? Poor mech tension? Sounds like something is amiss though Works don't state they will keep the chain on in all circumstances and if I was racing I would still run a top guide....
Wolftooth, Zee clutch mech. Not dropped yet. Heading out to the Sierra Nevada's soon with it 🙂
Hate to ask an obvious question but is it a 10 speed chain?
No its a 9 speed chain. Why would that make any difference? There internal sizes are the same.
still, my wide/narrow experience has been in perfect conditions, dry, dusty summer, the jury's still out on whether NWAlps muck will make a difference
Surely a top chain guide would solve your problem of dropping the chain as the top of chain ring is where it begins to come off then wrap it's way round your bb unless your pedalling a lot backwards on badly set up gearing.
patriotpro - link?
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Race-Face-Narrow-Wide-Chainring-Tested-2013.html ]PinkBike Test[/url]
http://absoluteblack.cc/xx1-style-shimano.html
From what i have read on many sites it seems they are optimised to use the inner profile of a 10 or 11 speed chain the 9 will work but it would appear the same issues stand as you are having. They may be the same size internally but it seems it is the profiling that does the work. By all acounts a 10 speed chain will work ok on a 9 speed set up.
Wolf tooth - standard 10spd xt mech. Never dropped chain yet.
Not Thick Thin but clutch mech, short chain, no guide...trail riding fine, DH course useless, was running that set up until I could get hold of a Think Thin, don't believe the hype so brought an E13 Trail guide.
[b]Cultsdave[/b]
The answer seams clear to me. You should buy a bronson!!!!
FS - 30t race face narrow wide and a Zee mech. No dropped chains.
HT - 32t e13 G-ring (i.e. just a single ring specific, not narrow wide) and a Zee mech. No dropped chains.
If you've got a lower roller fitted then, unless I'm missing something really obvious, a clutch mech won't make a blind bit of difference, so don't worry about that.
Raceface skinny/fat and clutch - had a dropped chain with said set-up tonight. Reached down to put chain back and realised the clutch was switched off 🙄
Just goes to show it's not all about the skinny/fat up front but the clutch also...
OP- how old is the rest of your drivetrain?
I'm rocking a RaceFace thick/thin with nine speed with no problems on my hardtail... but I have a dinky wee saint rear mech out the back 8) : and that baby pulls serious chain tension compared to SLX and XT.
Big bike has XX1... which has not dropped a chain on me yet despite some huge riding 
I have a dinky wee saint rear mech out the back : and that baby pulls serious chain tension compared to SLX and XT.
But nowhere near as much tension as a clutched Deore/SLX/XT if it's clutchless.
From my one chain-drop, my view is that it's the clutch-mech that's the main chain-retainer and not the fat/fin ring.
Gonna try the same section again with clutch off to see how it goes...
Will probably try a none fat/fin ring up front too.
I've been thinking about buying the Works components one to use for a 1 x 9 setup on my HT with a (non-clutched) SLX mech, I had assumed that anyone using a Thick/Thin ring needed to make sure the chain length was minima, and that the lack of clutch would always make derailments more likely...
I suppose the other sensible questions might be, just how old and baggy is your rear mech and what's the chain line like OP? could there be other contributing factors?
I have a dinky wee saint rear mech out the back : and that baby pulls serious chain tension compared to SLX and XT.
But nowhere near as much tension as a clutched Deore/SLX/XT if it's clutchless.
I didn't think clutch mech had a "Stronger spring" applying more tension, just that the clutch prevents them form "paying out" slack chain and aiding a derailment...
All musings of course, thick/thin rings and clutched mechs seem to have made a new dark are of chain retention...
patriotpro - MemberFrom my one chain-drop, my view is that it's the clutch-mech that's the main chain-retainer and not the fat/fin ring.
I had the lucky opportunity to test this after I broke a chain device mid-ride... Standard E13 Guide Ring (ie not thick/thin) and XT clutch mech. Without the chain device, it dropped all over the place, even on pretty smooth trails (glentress blue!). Just unworkable.
Throw thick/thin Works ring onto the exact same setup, no other changes- chain hasn't dropped since, and it's been worked a lot harder too.
YMMV of course but I'm pretty sure the ring is doing the heavy lifting, the clutch mech no doubt helps too, glad to have both
Thought I'd try 1x10 on my work/commuter bike. So bought a Zee clutch rear mech, xt 10 speed shifter, 105 cassette, 40t salsa unramped chainring and KMC 10 spped chain. It would fall off during rapid downshifting and sometimes on rough bits of road. Now I'm using an ancient (13+ years) xt mech with a 42t FSA downhill chainring and a cheap 9 speed cassette. Bought a chain device but never got around to fitting the cage. Don't know why but hasn't fallen off once, not even bouncing down steps. 10 speed chains also seem to wear out very quickly.