White Industries showed off new narrow/wide direct mount chainrings fit directly on their cranks with a clean, one-piece design.
They’ll start off with 28, 30 and 32 first, then gradually add bigger sizes in up to a 48, all in even increments of course. Why go so big? Cyclocross of course.
Retail will be about $60 to $80 depending on size and should be available this summer.
Rather than duplicate SRAM’s patent, which they never received a response to their licensing requests, they found an expired patent from someone else and used that tooth profile.
The rings slot onto the grooves on the back of their crankarms, then use a threaded nut to secure them into place.
The wider teeth have a more ramped, slightly lower looking bulge than some others we’ve seen, but should still provide enough material between the chain plates to keep it in line.
On the hubs, they’re borrowing the curvier, more modern shape of their newer CLD (CenterLock Disc) hubs and putting it on an all-new 6-bolt disc brake hub.
The design is still being finalized, so it may change from what’s shown here, but the goal is to reduce weight. They expect it to end up 40-50g lighter than the original, which you can see in the background.
There’s also some big changes going on inside the hub, but they’re not ready to talk about that yet. We spun the freehub body of the new one compared to the old and it sounds like there are a few more engagement points and it’s definitely a bit smoother. These should be released around Interbike time. They’ll have all the current axle standards and options available, making them good for road, ‘cross, gravel and mountain bikes.
