First Impressions: WolfTooth NarrowWide Chainring

Just fitted: WolfTooth NW chainring

I've never been a fan of chainguides: they rub, cause friction, can be noisy and are a bugger to set up so when an alternative to using one came to market I was excited to try it out! With the idea being pioneered by the revolutionary SRAM XX1 groupset and quickly reproduced by multiple manafactures it wasn't long before the "narrow wide" chain ring concept was popular and relatively widely used. With various brand producing different offerings I chose the WolfTooth NarrowWide chainring to test using a standard 104BCD and 34 teeth (what I've found to be the best set up for local riding) and promptly went out for a test ride!

On the bike: full view

The chainring was a doddle to fit and after removing the existing guide/ring combo and mounting the WolfTooth all that was left to do was remove a link from the chain and go for a blast! Initially I was impressed as the first climb gave me an opportunity to compare friction and shifting in comparison to the previous set up. The ring was noiseless when pedalling and shifted beautifully and without friction - no drawbacks there then but how would it fare on an actual trail? The ring was given a baptism of fire to say the least as I dropped into a brand new trail I'd never before seen which turned out to be fast, steep, fairly rough and choppy. As such my riding was not exactly smooth and there was a fair few moments that I'd have expected to drop a chain however I reached the bottom with chain in place and grinning ear to ear. On continuing my ride I found that I completely forgot about the lack of chain guide, something that only shows the security of the NarrowWide ring and I rounded the day off with no drops whatsoever despite actively attempting to make the chain drop on some trails by riding purposely messily. Overall initial impressions are very good and although nothing can yet be said for long term durability, the first ride out brought nothing but positives to the table: who needs a guide?!

The top of Pitch Hill, halfway through and no drops!

Cheers Vectiox for hooking me up with a NW ring to test!

http://www.vectiox.com/