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First Look! OneUp Components’ lightweight, ultra-adjustable chainguide

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OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

With the new OneUp Components Chainguide, the brand branches just outside the moving parts of your drivetrain with a very light, very adjustable and very easy to install chain retention device.

Sure, the promise of narrow-wide chainrings (especially when paired with a clutched rear derailleur) is that you won’t drop your chain in the first place. But if your trail or riding style is hyper aggressive, a little extra insurance never hurts. Having ridden a couple different designs, the top-mounted bolt-on design OneUp’s come up with makes it easier than ever to add a chainguide when you need it, and remove it when you don’t.

The part mounts to the front two ISCG05 bolt holes, rotates and slides and can even adjust to match your chainline. All with just four tiny bolts and about 10 minutes of your time…

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

A composite guide bolts into the alloy structure, sandwiching up to five spacers to center it on your chainline.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

The spacers are shaped to match the guide’s profile and keyed with small bumps to remain in line with each other. A similar bump is on the backside of the guide. Two different bolt lengths are included, letting you run a shorter bolt when fewer spacers are needed.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

All adjustments are handled with a single allen wrench. The guide slides up and down to fit anything from a 28T to a 36T chainring, ovals included.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

Fit and finish is tight, and once it’s all snugged into place everything is rock solid. Long term ride testing will prove whether it stays that way, but first impressions are good.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

Slotted mounts for the ISCG05 tabs let the entire device rotate to lineup with the crank, which accommodates for different BB drops and suspension movement.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

As shown in the top image and this one directly above, all bolts are accessible with the crankset still on the bike. Installation and adjustments can all be made without having to remove the cranks, chainring or anything else in most cases.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

Once the body of it’s bolted onto the frame, you remove the guide and slide in the included gap checker to determine how many spacers are needed. The first step means none are needed, and each additional step adds one spacer. In this case I should use five, but my pre-production sample only came with four, so for now, four it is.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

Add the spacers and bolt on the guide. To lift it for chainring swaps or other service, simply loosen the bolt slightly and it opens upward.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

These show the chain on either end of the cassette and illustrate why that 5th spacer would line it up better. Even so, there’s a paper thin gap between the guide’s outer plate and the chain when it’s on the smallest cog.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

The guide works with oval chainrings just as well as round. Above shows their 32-tooth oval chainring with the shortest section in the guide, and the pic at the start of this post shows it in the tallest.

OneUp Components chainguide detail photos install notes and actual weights

Actual weight with four spacers and both guide bolts is 38g, but you only of the bolts (one is installed, the other long bolt is laying loose on the scale. The two short bolts attach the guide to the frame). Claimed weight is 35g, which should be just about right if that other bolt hadn’t been on the scale, but I had already installed it by the time I realized my goofed weigh-in.

Official specs are:

  • 5mm chainline adjustment
  • 26-38 tooth chainring compatibility (it’s etched with 28-36, but will accommodate +/- 2 teeth to accommodate oval rings or just standard smaller 26T and larger 38T rings, too).
  • Patent pending adjustment system
  • Single tool adjustment
  • Boost compatible
  • Doubles the life of narrow/wide chainrings

That last part is explained by Jon at OneUp thusly:

We consider the ‘life’ of a NW ring to be the point at which the guide-less retention is no longer acceptable – Obviously this a difficult to quantify. When the chain is super active at speed the contact between chain and ring effectively ‘thins’ the teeth and therefore lowers the rings retention ability. The guide extends NW ring life by limiting the chains side-to-side movement and therefore its ability to wear the face of the teeth.

Realistically the guide was tested with and will retain narrow-narrow rings so you only need to replace your chainring when the driving faces have worn out. This means you can potentially run your ring much longer.

We chose to go for a guide over a steel NW ring due to weight and because even with perfect teeth you can very occasionally cause a drop due to a big compression, worn clutch etc – There is a reason every 1X rider in the EWS runs at least a top guide (including Jared, Richie and the rest of the Yeti EWS team.

Available now, retail is $45.

OneUpComponents.com

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Tobias
Tobias
9 years ago

I’d love to see this for e-type2 deraillieur mounts!

also in XC when its muddy the chain drops sometimes, and the current XC frames don’t have ISG mounts

Legalaze
Legalaze
9 years ago

ISCG 03 (old), please?

Cashman
Cashman
9 years ago

Guys, sorry to detract from an excellent product. Check out Design77. I’ve had a Design77 chain device fitted for over 12 months to my Nomad with zero chain drops. The OneUp package does seem to be better thought out though with spacing/ers.

Realist
Realist
9 years ago

The Wolf Tooth stainless rings last 5-10x+ longer according to their site. This guide is claimed to make the ring last 2x longer (I doubt it!). Stainless is still far better for wear.
Also, the main failure mode with properly designed wide/narrow rings is not chain dropping from wear but the grinding noise that occurs when the ring’s tooth faces wear away and the teeth develop a hook shape.
Nice guide, useful for mud and very rough riding, but don’t make false claims!

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
9 years ago

In that lower picture showing the oval ring in the small orientation there is a bit of a gap opening up between the ring and the guide, and the bottom edge of the chain side plates are starting to emerge from the guide. That could allow the chain to escape down and outside of the guide, especially if pedaling through rough and muddy conditions, since the chain is not fully captured with this design. I’m not saying it will happen, just that I have seen similar “chain escape acts” from guide setups that worked great on the workstand, but on a nasty trail…not so much.

zippy
zippy
9 years ago

With a max chainring size of 36t, it’s useless for cyclocross since most riders use at least a 38t. bummer…I was initially excited.

MM
MM
9 years ago

I also have a 77designz, if you’re looking for this type of device for various standards, they have them (ISCG 03, hi mount, etc). I’ve got their ISCG-05 mount, and it’s awesome. Too bad they didn’t patent it.

chasejj
chasejj
9 years ago

Just bought one. Hope it handles the angles on my 1X.

mateo
mateo
9 years ago

@zippy – unless your CX bike has ISCG05 mounts, you were out of luck anyway.

Joe P
Joe P
9 years ago

@Zippy the specs say compatible to 38t. Because although 36t is etched but it accommodates the oval rings at 36t which actually push the range to 38t. At least that’s what they are saying.

I’d run this and the price is reasonable.

Robbo
9 years ago

I reckon J Gravey – just one of the beta testers – may have come across a rough n’ muddy trail or two, Kaiser.

Antipodean_eleven
9 years ago

I’m liking it. Clean design and seems well thought out. Def will look at fitting one on one of the bikes to give it a whirl.

absoluteblack
9 years ago

If you want to extend life of your chainring and have less drops (if you have them now..) here is how to do it:
But 3 chains when you buy chainring. Why?

here it is. Watch it once and it will save you a lot of cash in years to come…

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