My lovely new 29er bike came with a 34t Gx Eagle front ring. As it’s to be used in lumpier bit’s of the Pennines, I’m after getting a 32t instead.

Who makes good un’s that don’t cost Sram prices. Oh, Boost by the way. 3mm offset?

Superstar

SRAM x-sync steel. £11 on CRC for 4 bolt, £17 Evans for direct mount

Just about anyone who makes chain rings.

Is if the direct mount?

https://www.evanscycles.com/bike-components/chainrings_c/direct_mount-bcd

We did a basic test at work a while back. We got a length of chain maybe three links long and hung different rings off it to see which would stick best. The Sram rings were the best. That said, back in the real world, I’ve never had issues with Raceface, NSB, Blackspire etc either and have probably only dropped a chain around once a year with no chain guide.

So if you want the best, then SRAM (or Chromag who use the same tooth profile) would be the way to go, but if you want something that’s 90% as good and fine in reality, then anything else 😉

I’ll second the SRAM X-SYNC steel rings. Sub-£20, best tooth profile, and last forever. Weight difference over ally is about a bag of crisps. What’s not to love?

When you’re saying x sync do you mean the 11 speed ones? If so I’ve been really impressed with the 30t one on my Aeris.

How much are the eagle ones? Couldn’t you sell your current 34t one to offset the cost of a new 32t one?

I bought a direct mount 30T SRAM steel X-SYNC last week from Evans expecting it to be the 11 speed original tooth profile, but it’s actually the new 12sp Eagle tooth profile. Works fine with an 11sp chain, so I’m very happy for £17!

I’m using Absolute Black, slightly better hardening prices than all the other runs I can find so should last longer.

AbsoluteBlack here, works fantastically.

I’m sure cheaper ones work pretty similarly too if I’m honest…. The AB one does look great though. 😉

What about the OneUp switch system ? Seems brilliant.

X-sync 2 is the eagle tooth profile which is the one for £17 that idiotdogbrain must have bought. See below

The alloy eagle rings are more like £65. Nuts.

Isn’t it better to have a steel ring anyway for longevity? Is there a huge weight different between steel and alloy for such a small ring?

Yes I’d say so but I don’t know if it increases longevity of the drive train as a whole or just that of the ring.

True. Although I believe my GX cassette is also steel so it’s just the chain that’s getting the most grief I think. The last one was on for over a year without changing, and was quite stretched when I took t off. A new x1 11 speed chain went straight on with no problem at all which was lucky / a result!

yes, GX cassette is all steel. The only thing I find with the steel chainring is its noisier when the chain is gritty but maybe that’s when the aluminium ring is getting ground into paste…

that said I’ve had an alloy Race Face NW on my cross bike for 2 years and that’s lasted really well.

Quite tempted to try one of those eagle rings and could probably save weight (like it matters) by swapping out the current spider + ring.

I’ve gone a for a superstar version that has slightly hooked teeth similar to SRAMs own version after my absolute black started to wear out. Seems good so far!

Works components are far and away the longest lasting rings I’ve tried (old and new superstar designs, absolute black, possibly oneup, one other that I can’t remember). On my solaris I used to regularly fit a new drivetrain in the spring and I’d be throwing chains by august and have to fit another ring to get through to the next spring when everything got changed.

Spring 2017 I fitted a works ring along with a gx cassette, alternating 2 chains every few rides. Even though the chains are now worn far beyond the recommended limit and you can fit a ‘narrow’ link over a ‘wide’ tooth on the chainring, it’s only just started occasionally throwing chains, so maybe 3x the lifespan of the others.

I’ve just ordered some more. Helps that they’re cheap too.

Point of note – the 4-bolt SRAM steel rings are 94BCD, not 104BCD.

Another vote for absolute black ones. All my bikes have them, they last ages and their oval suits me really well

Id say to avoid superstar, I picked up one of the narrowwide chainrings to replace the raceface chainring which came stock on my bike. The chain retention was awful, I lost my chain more in the few short months it was on my bike then I had in the year on the raceface one! The chain was actually coming off the bottom of the ring and then when Id drop a foot it would come all the way off and even manage to come out past the top chainguide I run.

Because of the chaindrops and the way it came it also then took chunks out of the teeth. I def got bitten by buy cheap buy twice!

OneUp Components Switch?

+1 for works components. I’ve tried sram alloy, superstar and absolute black, and the works ones seem to last much longer. No idea why. I’d like to try a steel ring but am waiting for a reasonably priced oval steel sram mount one. Any ideas anyone?

The Sram one from Evans says 6mm offset is that for non boost or boost?

Edit

Just seen they have 3mm offset too. What one do I need for 142mm rear hub?

Anyone?

3mm is Boost, that’s all I know.

Went with Burgtec in the end, ‘cos that’s what my LBS stock. Quiet, chain didn’t come off and no-one died. Hooray!

If you are replacing a SRAM direct mount chain ring the offset is stamped or written on the back of the chain ring

From the Superstar website

Offset:

• Standard ring = 6mm offset
• BOOST ring = 3mm offset
• ZERO ring = 0mm offset

Note other brands measure sometimes measure differently please see below for details.

What is the offset of the ring and what chainline?
The offset of a ring is how much it is dished over from a standard flat chainring, it is used to achieve correct tyre/frame clearance and also to set the correct chainline. A standard chainring is 4mm thick with the teeth central to the ring, so a 8mm offset ring is 12mm thick and moves the teeth 8mm inboard of the standard position.
This moves your chainline to suit your requirements and crankset specification. Different cranksets are designed around different offset rings, we manufacture our rings to follow the manufacturers standard chainline/offset. It is possible to alter the chainline from standard but this can lead to clearance issues so we do not offer such parts.

granny_ring – 142mm rear hub is non-Boost, so you want 6mm offset for direct mount.

PolisherMan – genuine question; I’m assuming that you bought a direct mount, non-oval ring, correct?  If so, given that the SRAM steel rings linked to above are only £17 for a better-engineered, longer lasting part – what was you reasoning behind ignoring the advice you asked for and paying more (I assume – rrp on Burgtec rings is £49.99) for a technically inferior part?  I’m genuinely not trolling, just interested behind the thought process.

There was no thought process! I was in the shop, and I got mates rates…

With hindsight……….

Thanks will order a couple.

Fair enough! 😀

Can’t beat a good bit of mates rates..