XTR M9020 chainring compatibility anyone?

Thinking of getting a set of these as they’re pretty cheap for what they are, but, they have Chainring Weirdness as is traditional for XTR and I can’t quite get my head round it. 96mm eccentric, but, is it the same as the XT 96mm eccentric? I just want to stick a single ring on them.

Also, am I right that teh chainring bolts thread into the cover things? Is that the only way they work, ie, can you fit a ring without them? I quite like how they look without and it seems kind of overdone

(I see wolftooth’s XT rings can fit but have slightly different height threaded bosses and need slightly filed down, is that a pretty universal thing, frinstance?)

My ancient M970s have Chainring Weirdness too but at least it only affects the middle ring

XTR rings have smaller bolt holes so don’t work with XT unless you alter the hole, I think the other way around works fine, for example Burgtecs 96 asym works with both XT and XTR.
Go on shimano techdocs and get the exploded view.

Careful… a lot of the third party rings that fit are going out of production. I tried to get a OneUp one, but left it too late.

Some blackspire asym 96 going for £20 at CRC, don’t work with 12sp shimano chain though.
Quick edit

@northwind. I have 2 pairs of these and was caught out by them when I first got them. I rate them very highly.

As far as I know there are 2 types of chainring you can use for these.

One chainring doesn’t have threads and you need the chain ring covers to thread into. I have some spare ones if you need them.

The other chainring has threaded holes and the bolts go into these and you don’t need the covers.

Don’t get the m9000, the q factor was too narrow for any of my bikes.

I’ve been using a round chainring on my full suss and an oval on my hardtail. I think they are blackspires from crc.

Burgtec xt chainrings fit. I checked with them when I got a pair about two months ago

@slackboy, funny you should say that as it was one of the reps of burgtec I was chatting to who explained about it to me as he’d done the same thing (bought a chainring without threads and didn’t have the tabs) and he was looking at getting some chainrings made. That was a couple of years ago otherwise I would have bought burgtec.

Thanks folks, that’s exactly what I needed (it’s the difference between the stuff you can easily read, and the real world “how to make it work”)

I’ve got a 9020 (I believe), that was bought as a double with the intention of making it a single ring. The XTR single ring was £60 and the adaptor things to make it look factory were £90 bloody quid!

Then ended up with another 30T ring, so still have a 32T genuine XTR ring (with not much mileage on) sat in the garage.

Depending on what you get and want, I’d be happy to sell it on.

Also have the ludicrously expensive bits to make it back into a double, but sadly no rings as I sold them on.

Thanks twonks- I’ll probably go 30t though. (It seems weird that I can’t find any 28T options, maybe the reduction in BCD isn’t enough for that?)

Superstar make M9000 specific chainrings, just as a reasonably priced shout out.

@northwind did you get an xtr 9020 chainring?

I’m after one as my one up components is getting worn.

There’s a lack of stock out there!

I’m after a 32t non oval, in black with the thread in the chainring if possible but I have the bolt covers in case there’s no stock. if anyone has a link, please can you post it?

Superstar have no black.

Thanks

this any good to you:

Blackspire Snaggletooth XTR Narrow Wide Chainring | Chain Reaction Cycles

@slackboy, yes, that looks spot on.

However, I’ve just been looking at the one up components chainline chart that says these cranks won’t work on a boost frame (I’ve been running them for 3 years on a boost frame but chainline hasn’t been great)

These give a 49mm chainline but you can’t space it over according to one up.

Does anyone do an offset chainring for these cranks to get closer to 52.53? Or is it 49 or nothing?

Might be time to buy the boost version m9020 cranks.

Thanks

the northshore billet ones are decent too:

North Shore Billet Shimano 96BCD XTR M9000 Narrow Wide Chainring (shore-lines.co.uk)

I bought mine as the M9020 trail 2x chainset and then bought the 32 and 30t XTR chainrings and the 1X tabs to make it an official 1x unit.

Not sure if it is noted as boost or otherwise tbh but it has worked on at least 4 boost frames and 2 non boost since 2017 when I bought it.

Currently fitted to a Carbon Chameleon where it runs 1×11 with a 11 to 50t cassette. Seems good to me and functions perfectly.

Weirdly, I have four v good condition XTR 9020 single rings that I’d sell any two of.

2x 32, 1x 30, 1x 34t.

Inbox me if interested.

Damascus, Burgtec ones give you an over 50mm chainline because they are flat and don’t have the raised sections around the bolt holes like most other aftermarket rings, on my m8000 I had a chainline of 51mm or 52mm, can’t quite remember but defo over 50mm.

Thanks twonks- I’ll probably go 30t though. (It seems weird that I can’t find any 28T options, maybe the reduction in BCD isn’t enough for that?)

29t is the smallest we’ve been able to get working on that BCD, 28t might be ok if you offset the ring slightly to make room for the chain side plates around the mounts.

***thread revival***

Hi, I’m struggling to find a new chainring for my m9020 xtr cranks. Or should I say, struggling to find a reasonable priced chainring. £40 – £50 bracket

I usually buy one up components rings or blackspire but they all seem sold out. (pre order only)

XTR M9000 Traction Chainrings

Burgtec and hope seem to do them but if doesn’t look like they are threaded for m9 bolts or the description doesn’t say they are threaded.

Removing stock Shimano tab shims saves 35g and looks better imo.

Anyone got a good link to a nw chainring with threaded holes? Oval preferred, 30t round or 32t oval? In stock and available for under £50?

If not I do have the tabs somewhere so links to non threaded chainrings appreciated too.

Thanks

The one up m9000 were discontinued about a year ago.

I picked up some of these on eBay last week for about £40.

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/absoluteblack_oval_xtr_m9000_asymmetrical_chainring_narrow-wide_integrated_threads-19679?stockid=336880

Or the 30t version of the burgtec m8000 is in stock here

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/burgtec_96-64mm_pcd_thick_thin_chainring-ID_68040

@slackboy,

Thank you for the links. Why have they stopped making the chainring?

Do you need to use the shimano tabs with the burgtec rings? £35 is a much better price for a chainring.

What is the 64mm reference to? That bit confused me.

Do you know what the burgtec chain line is? Is it 50mm as per above?

Thanks

Also interested if anyone knows about the Burgtech option. I just cracked one of the single ring tabs on my M9020 (as above, I think mine has been converted from double ring by the previous owner).

Can’t stomach £60 on new tabs…although the 30t XTR ring is incredible, it’s done 6000 miles of gritty off-road on my singlespeed and it’s hardly worn!

Dare I try tagging everyone, I bet it either doesn’t work, or tags the entire membership…

@everyone 🫣

@spooky_b329

I wanted a one up components oval chainring but no longer in stock anywhere.

II searched high and low for an alternative chainring with built in threads, ended up with this

https://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/absoluteblack_oval_xtr_m9000_asymmetrical_chainring_narrow-wide_integrated_threads-19679?stockid=336879&gclid=CjwKCAiA_6yfBhBNEiwAkmXy556tOVMyl4XmrccVQY0EuVKbZbyG80QbnArEOizOfHZHOJN5QfpnzRoCDigQAvD_BwE

I also picked one of these as it was cheap, under £5 delivered. It doesn’t have threads so will need tabs. Haven’t used it yet but it looks as good as the absolute black chainring.

https://amzn.eu/d/1mxBwgk