Narrow Wide chain ring started dropping the chain.

Last two rides I dropped my chain, having previously never lost it once. Is this a sign it’s worn out?

How old is it, how do the teeth look, how many chains has it had, how worn is the chain?

Don’t know actually. I got it off here last summer as an experiment to see if 34 was the right size for me and if i liked it.

Teeth look a bit pointy i think. Compared to pics on the web.

I’ll order a new one, well and truly converted.

clutch mech turned off?

Pointy teeth means worn.

I started to get pretty bad chain suck way before I began dropping the chain, I didn’t get to the dropping chain bit as I replaced the chain ring before then.

You are likely to get increased wear on a NW chain ring as it’s the only one up front. One of those things that doesn’t get mentioned when discussing 1x setups.

You are likely to get increased wear on a NW chain ring as it’s the only one up front. One of those things that doesn’t get mentioned when discussing 1x setups.

Agreed, but I still much prefer 1x.

If my experience is anything to go by, the OP will be shocked when he/she compares a new n/w chainring to the old one.

I would categorise my first worn narrow-wide as having become a narrow-wafer when I got around to replacing it.

Me too 😀

About to change mine – not because of wear but I want a slightly lower range for the next couple of weeks as doing some bikepacking in very hilly terrain. Will be interesting to compare the teeth profile (both are Hope retainer rings). Done about 2500Km on the current one, the original was a Race Face one and lasted 2000Km or so.

Dropping the chain was the first indication that mine was worn out.
Fitted a top guide as a quick fix but that was only treating the symptoms, not the cause.
Definitely needs a new ring IMO.

Check you’re chainring bolts are tight. Cause this wasn’t the problem for me recently 😳

My thick/thin ring was worn, starting to let chain go, and I was getting fed up with the limited gearing of a 1×10 setup…shock horror went back to 2×10 with new chainrings, chain and cassette, spare left shifter and front mech. Been out riding, so much better!

Fashion vs. Function?

Can you turn the ring round? i.e. flip it?

FWIW I was loosing my chain on a muddy ride, I put it down to the size of the big sprocket (42) and the angle it was running along with the oval chainring plus mud. Certainly not worn.

Year and half to couple of years and my NW start to drop the chain. The rest of the chaindrive roughly running for similar time so just replace the lot in one go. Nothing changed in between, not even the chain, and smooth as until the drop starts.

. Been out riding, so much better!
Fashion vs. Function?

Good to hear, be a cold day in hell before I go back. It’s got all the gears I want so not going back.

You are likely to get increased wear on a NW chain ring as it’s the only one up front. One of those things that doesn’t get mentioned when discussing 1x setups.

But there is only one to replace so no big drama really.

Fashion vs. Function?

This sort of thing seems to keep getting bleated by the born again fans of the front mech…

Believe it if it helps I suppose.
The truth is N/W rings and broad range cassettes do suit a few applications slightly better than front mechs, and of course vice versa, but then acknowledging that might mean your experiences aren’t universal…

YMMV Shocka!

As for N/W chain droppage, keep an eye on mud/gritty crap building up on the ring especially in the little steps on the wide teeth, it can help derail the chain…

A chain retention device would be more reliable, I’ve never dropped a chain on my “standard ring” setup.

But there is only one to replace so no big drama really.

Didn’t mean to imply that it was or could be a drama, just an observation 🙂

I can’t see me converting my current 1x bike to 2x or 3x but if I was buying a bike I liked and it had a front mech I wouldn’t sweat over it. I’ve done 4500Km on my 1x setup and not dropped the chain once regardless of whether I have the clutch mech on or off (I suspect that even in the “off” position there is actually some effect and that it’s not exactly the same as a non-clutch mech). Note that this is on a hardtail, might be a bit different on a FS.

+1 to @cookeaa’s point on keeping the NW clean

dirtydog – Member
A chain retention device would be more reliable, I’ve never dropped a chain on my “standard ring” setup.

Before NW I used to run a chain device. Tried a few and they all jammed up and used to get chain suck with them.

Had one (MRP) on a 2×10 set up and it ended up jamming and ripped itself apart! Before that it used to annoyingly encourage derailing from big ring to small. No matter how much adjustment I did to avoid it.

Fairly draggy also.

Chain drop with a NW ring isn’t an issue. It’s just worn. You could keep an eye on it and replace before it’s likely to go. As I mentioned earlier, run the whole lot to death installed at the same time, and pretty much the whole lot is ready to replace when the chain starts dropping, which is fine. A good 2000 miles maybe out of mine. 1 chain, 1 cassette, 1 chainring.

Old thread, I know, but I thought I’d add my observations for the sake of Google searchers.

Had terrible trouble with my NW ring today. Not worn at all, it’s probably done 5 or 6 rides of an hour each in total, so it’s like new. Today was the first time I’ve ridden in heavy mud and I had to walk two miles back to my car as the chain wouldn’t stay on for more than 2 turns of the pedals. The closer/tighter fit of the chain on the teeth just wouldn’t allow for any claggy mud to get into the chain. When it did, the chain just wouldn’t sit down nicely on the ring unless I pressed it down with my finger. Never had that problem in 30 years of hard riding through all conditions on regular chainrings on many, many bikes.

Concerns me that I could have been stranded somewhere more remote. Ho hum…

On t’other hand, I’ve ridden through some real clag recently with my 1×10 NW setup, and had no problems at all.
Did you try rinsing the ring with water (from water bottle/camelbak/puddle/etc.). Back in the days when I rode on the Berkshire downs with a 3×8 setup I often had similar problems to yours, and normally a quick wash of the front rings sorted it.

Jase_mk – absolute black and kmc?

They don’t play together.

It’s the stock SRAM groupset on my Marin Pine Mountain, not sure what brand the chain is, SRAM as well I assume.

Yeah, a good rinse probably would have sorted it, although I had no water on me as I was only out for an hour. I’ve had chain suck and chain dropping issues on 3x setups before, but never like this where the chain would simply not drop down into the teeth without a press of my thumb. Even just turning the pedals by hand, half a turn was enough to drop it straight off again.

1x setups are new to me and I’d never really inspected it that closely before, but I didn’t realise how tightly the chain fits over the teeth, unlike a regular chainring where there’s plenty of space for things to ‘wiggle about’ a bit. Hey ho, lesson learnt. Perhaps a bit more derailleur tension would help too.

Just had a look at the specs for the PM, and it’s a KMC chain. Could be your problem there.

I just use a chain retention device, then you can use what or whichever rings and chains as you want more or less. MTBing is complicated enough as it is without worrying about chainset incompatibilities.

Absolute black and kmc?

I’ve had no issues with KMC chains and N/W. Absolute black with KMC 10 speed -no problem, Superstar n/w with 9 speed, Race face with 10 speed, and Works with 10 speed. No problems with any of them.

???

… like new… first time I’ve ridden in heavy mud…. closer/tighter fit of the chain on the teeth…

Nailed it. It’ll wear in. I had a wee bit of a similar issue (just grinding a chain sucking) with my KMC on an on-one ring, was gone within a week of riding.

/edit – maybe try giving the chain a good degreasing (if you have any of the sticky factory grease still on it) and fresh lube & wipe. Might help stop grit/clart sticking and jamming it up.

AB said they’d fixed the KMC issue but tbf they say what they think people want to hear, not necessarily what’s true. I have one of their ovals now and it works fine with KMC but then it’s a recent design.

I had a new AB round black series n/w and a new kmc 10sp chain go bad for me halfway through round 2 of the brass monkeys a few weeks ago, at the point where it got really muddy. Many minutes were added per lap for the last 2 hours and I dropped lots of places. (that and my fatigue too 😉 )

I emailed AB and they said the kmc chain was to blame.

noticed similar mud issues racing 1×11 on my CX bike – Superstar rings and Sram chain. In muddy races the chain rides up the teeth as it gets lifted by mud compacted into the ring, pedalling applies enough force to push it down but you can feel and hear the resistance, and pedalling backwards unships the chain.

I’d expect a 1x ring to last far less time than a regular ring in terms of usability; as it’s not coarse wear on the teeth leading edges that’s the issue, it’s losing the fractional width differences that make the teeth thicker. Still, at £15 a pop from S/S I can live with replacing one (along with a chain) every CX race season, even if that only actually amounts to only ~200 miles which I understand wouldn’t be acceptable for regular MTB riding. I’ll probably spend more on snapped hangers…