I have had my 2010 Orange five for 3 months – ridden every weekend and I havn't been on my outer chainring yet – however I have bashed it on a few logs recently.

I thought I may try one of those bash ring thingys. Something like this Ebay £10 job

But im confused about sizing. I have read somewhere that due to the 5 pivot I cant upgrade the middle chainring as it may catch – I'm not too fused about changing that but what teeth size ring do I need?

I have Race Face Evolve XC crankset. Also do all cranks have the same hole spacing?

You should match the size of the bashguard to the ring. For example I have 36t middle ring so I got a 36t E13 Supercharger bash ring. Bear in mind that you may need longer chainring bolts if its a thickish one you want to install (think how thin your ring is at the moment). The reason I got an e13 one is that they come with the bolts so came out cheaper than most overall.

They are sized the same way as the chain rings, so if you have a 34 tooth ring, you use a 34 bash, or anything bigger really. I just got a 36 race face bash to use on XT cranks, most are 104 bcd bolt spacing. I got the 36 even though i have a 34 tooth ring, so i can change up ringsize later if i want without then having to buy another bash. Just checked that ebay listing, and its going to be a 40 tooth size – big bash!

I've never owned an Orange but Im guessing what they mean is if you fit middle ring bigger than the 32t currently fitted it may foul the swing arm. This wont affect your bash gaurd cos they fit in place of the outer ring.

Cranks spacing will be:

4 bolt (104mm BCD)
or
5 bolt (94 BCD)

There is a 2nd size for 5 bolt but its unheard of for modern cranks to use the "standard" 110BCD.

Depending what size middle rnig you have (its probably 32t) you'll need a gaurd to cover a 32t!

HTH

Ah so I think my middle chainring is a 32 so probably best I get a 34T guard incase I can get a 34T middle ring on later.

Has anyone else got a 34T middle ring on a five?

just seen someones got an E13 32t on classifieds at the moment if your interested!

mickasaki – link? to my email if its against the rules…

i have a 34 middle ring with bash, it does catch on occasion but its no biggie really just some times takes a double shift when getting out of granny.

Afraid not, just scroll through the classifieds section and you'l find it! Its fairly recent.