Building up a 1×10 and decided rear clutch mech with no chain guide would be fine for local riding and commute. Came across a review on pinkbike of the narrow wide chainring by raceface that eliminates the need for guide AND clutch mech.

It was a very positive review of the nw chainring but one point got me thinking –

“………..While the thinner teeth look to be of standard width and fit between the chain’s inner plates, the thicker teeth are shaped to fit snuggly between the wider spaced outer plates of the chain, thereby make for a much tighter meshing of the chain and chainring…….”

Now looking at the photo on pinkbike the thicker teeth dont look as if they would fit between the chains inner plates and here’s the possible numpty question….do they?? If not then you’ve obviously got to get the correct interface between chainring and chain when putting chain on, right?!?

Sorry, tried to copy photo on to here with no success, if anybody can do it then it will be obvious what I’m questioning, I think!!

Anybody tried the nw chainring with no rear mech?

Yes the chain needs to be fitted to the rings. Wide teeth between wide links etc…

Thought so, just making sure!

Anybody using one?

I think bikeneil might be mistaken… Or just taking the mick.

PS Ad in Dirt specifically states 9/10/11 spd compatible if you don’t believe me 🙂

I’ve got one. It’s pretty obvious how you need to mesh the chain with the narrow and wider teeth on the chainring. Not sure it would work without a clutch mech though.

GB

Apologies to bikeneil – It was me that misunderstood what he was saying!

Been running a Works one for a while now with no problems. I wouldn’t want to use it for any period without a clutch mech though (even though I have forgotten to switch mine back on after changing a tube before).

Thanks AD, or maybe not!

Bikeneil….are you taking the mick?!?

AD…or are you taking the mick?!? Re Ad in Dirt….was it saying because it fits 9/10/11 chains it doesn’t matter how chain is on chainring??

Im really not too technically minded, at all actually! If I buy the right part I can attach it, its just getting the right part in the first place……….so no more micky/p*ss taking!!!

From the photo and desciption (in my opening post) it really looks like thick teeth between outer plates only…….??

OK, I’m clear(er) now, thanks.

Actual review on pinkbike if anyone interested…….

Performance

We fit the Race Face Narrow Wide ring to a few different types of cranks and bikes – everything from a 150mm travel Scott Genius to a hardtail – in order to check for any chain line or interference issues, as well as to test the Narrow Wide’s ability to keep the chain in place without the support of a clutch-equipped derailleur. As for the first two concerns, there proved to be no issues with alignment or with the ring not sitting on the crank tabs correctly. The offset mounting, which is required by the smaller diameter 30 tooth size, allowed the chain to sit just inside the crank’s tabs, with no jamming or clearance problems to

report. The spacer caps also make for a nice, clean setup that doesn’t look cobbled together like many of the single ring setups out there – no weird spacers or funky hardware required.

The real question, though, is if we dropped the chain while using the Narrow Wide ring. It wasn’t that long ago that we couldn’t imagine using a single ring setup without a chain guide of some sort, and while the narrow/wide shaping of chainring teeth is certainly a vital component in keeping the chain from derailing, clutch derailleurs play an arguably larger role… or so we thought. We didn’t suffer a single dropped chain while using the Narrow Wide ring, both with and without a clutch derailleur. This includes everything from charging rough trails on a 150mm travel trail bike, to getting rowdy on a steel hardtail that managed to rattle our teeth but not rattle the chain off despite not using a chain guide of any sort. Impressively, the hardtail was the bike that was spec’d with a standard non-clutch derailleur, and the bike that had us fully expecting at least a few dropped chains. Not only were we proven wrong, but there was also a noticeable reduction in chain slap noise while using the 30 tooth Narrow Wide ring.

Issues

With an easy and trouble-free installation, and not a single dropped chain to report, we really have nothing to complain about. Our single concern, although one that we were admittedly not able to suss out due to a long dry spell here in South Western B.C., boils down to how the ring’s tooth profiles would perform in excessively muddy conditions. We say this only because other rings that use the same shaping have shown to pick up loads of mud and trail debris, sometimes enough to actually derail the chain. Again, this did not happen to us while using Race Face’s chainring, but the incredibly dry weather never really did give us a chance to properly test this aspect.

Pinkbike’s take:
bigquotes While we can see many riders still doubling up by using both the Narrow Wide ring and at least an upper slider-only guide, we have complete confidence in our guide-free Race Face Narrow Wide setup while charging on some pretty serious terrain. Not a single dropped chain, even while riding a hardtail without either a guide or a clutch derailleur on rough, rooty terrain, has proven to us that going guide-less is a viable alternative for a rider who wants a simple and lightweight setup

I’m not taking the mick (and neither was bikeneil – that was my misunderstanding!)- Gee’s description is the most ‘understandable’ from my perspective if that makes sense but bikeneil is saying the same thing but in a different way.

Nope not taking the mick. Just not explaining myself great i guess.

I have absolutely no idea who may or may not be taking the mick. But, yes you have to get the chainring right, you’ve got a 50% chance of getting it on right first time which means it’ll be wrong 9 times out of 10. But it’s no real bother.

I’m yet to have the chain fall off (clutch mech, no chainguide) which is downright freaky… But, one thing that stuck in my mind is that on the few times the chain did come off back when I was using a “normal” single chainring and a chain device, getting it back on was an absolute bollocks. So no doubt, getting it back on a thick/thin with a chain device will be an absolute double bollocks.

So that’s part of my reasoning for going without- it doesn’t seem to need it, it performs better than my old chainguide setup, and if it does ever fall off (as I’m sure it will some day) it’ll go back on easy and so the entire incident will be 1% of the pain in the arseness.

Right, might as well pay the extra for clutch mech to go with nw chainring just to avoid an ‘i wish i got the clutch mech’ situation

thanks