Mountain Chain Ring Bash Guard question

I have been riding a very nice loop of singletrack that is very close to home. Unfortunately, I am consistantly hammering my 44t chainring on some of the narrow challenging climbs.

I've never used a bash guard before, but I'm riding at this one place often enough where I can get away with giving up the big ring, which I will likely destroy anyway.

I have an FSA crank and chainrings. The big ring is 44t and the middle ring is 32t.

Do I order a size 32 bash guard/chainring protector or a 44?

Do I need to buy an FSA bash guard, or are they interchangable between brands so long as the bolt holes are spaced correctly?

I was expecting to find something in aluminum, but many are listed as polycarbonite, which sounds like crap. Am I right?

I have had an E-thirteen polycarb bashguard on my 2003 Cannondale Gemini since it was new, it's still taking a beating.

This kind:

On my other bikes, I just got in the habit of ditching the big ring and that was enough. I used it so little that I never even notice it's gone.

I don't think I have ever used the big ring ever on any of my bikes. It was there to protect the middle ring.

The only real downside is if it got folded over real good, it either chewed through my shoe/ankle with disturbing speed, or it kept me from using the middle ring. Riding home in a 20/14 sucks. (Riding in a 20/36 is ridiculous and I built a wheel just so I could use a Sachs 36-14 freewheel that I found in a catalog. I pulled a 5000lb car with my bike in that gear, until I ripped half the spokes out of the rim)

In reply to Knurled:

There are a couple of places where I ride that are wide and fast. I will absolutely want the big ring there, but they are far enough away that I would consider swapping back to the big ring before heading out there.

The only thing I use my big ring for on singletrack is bottoming out and falling.

I'm pretty new to the hobby, and was wondering if I should get a guard. My kid's $80 bike has one.

Polycarbonate is probably the best material available for a chainguard. It can stretch a hundred percent and bounce right back, without taking too much force to do it.

There aren't very many bashguards meant to cover the big ring unfortunately. Most are meant to replace it. I just try not to be too ham fisted when I might smash it on stuff...

When I rode up in New England I lost a couple of teeth off the big ring and bought a "Rock-Ring" bash guard. It made out of aluminum and never gave me problems. It's an antique now and I see nothing in a quick internet search. (circa 1995)

I have run polycarbonate bash guards on my DH bikes for ages. Lots of suspension travel and a low bottom bracket means they tend to take a lot of hits.

My XC/trail bikes have never had bash rings. I grew up riding on east coast rocks. My trail bikes now all run 1x set-ups, so there is more clearance. Rarely do I spin out a 32-11 gear on a 29er.

To clarify, what I'm asking is:

If I am removing the big ring completely and replacing it with a bashguard, do I buy a size 32 or 44 bash guard?

And does it need to be the same brand as the crank or are they universal?

a 32.

A 44 is meant for DH bikes, although nobody runs a ring that big these days...

In reply to Ian F:

Thank you.

I just switched from 2x11 to 1x12. So far I don't miss the 2x gearing at all...

This is a threadjack, everybody be cool and nobody will get hurt.

So I found some singletrack near my newly acquired cabin and just now getting back into biking.

Any idea how to make my XTR shifter work reliably, it upshifts ok but regularly takes multiple tries to down shift.

Bike is a Vintage Klien Attitude Race.

Hadn't thought of a ring guard that covers the ring, I had only seen the ones that go under the frame and offer even less clearance.

In reply to akylekoz:

It sounds like the cable is dragging on the housing. A dry lube might help, but the best fix is to replace the cable and housing. They are wear items and need to be replaced periodically. After 20 years, they're due.

I know some Kliens had internal routing which could be a PITA, so you might be able to get away with just replacing the cable.

My old DH bikes had horrific rear derailleur routing so the bikes went through cables & housing like crazy. Typically 2-3 times during the race season. I bought cables in bulk.

Woody wrote: To clarify, what I'm asking is: If I am removing the big ring completely and replacing it with a bashguard, do I buy a size 32 or 44 bash guard? And does it need to be the same brand as the crank or are they universal?

you size a bash guard by the chainring you are covering so in your case it will be 32, and make sure its the same BCD (bolt circle diameter) as your crankset.

Yes, internal cable routing, with really cool looking smooth ports.

It was only riden by an old brother on sundays, still has the original tires, AC even works still.

FWIW, if you dont want to ditch the big ring, you can find frame mounted bash guards. Theyre not for weight weenies, but they are effective.

KyAllroad wrote: When I rode up in New England I lost a couple of teeth off the big ring and bought a "Rock-Ring" bash guard. It made out of aluminum and never gave me problems. It's an antique now and I see nothing in a quick internet search. (circa 1995)

Those were awesome, unfortunately they never seemed to make one for whatever weird-ass crankset I happened to be using.

I bought a LOT of Suntour parts when they went out of business, for pennies on the dollar. Unfortunately, they went out of business for a good reason, as Suntour was crap in comparison to Shimano.