Mountain Biking - singlespeed crankset with a 9spd cassette?

Since i started mountain biking, I have never used my smallest chainring and have only rarely used my bigger ring. I was wondering,would it be possible to get a single speed crankset, but keep my 9 speed cassette?

Yes, 1x9. Don't ask me exactly what needs to be done to accomplish this but it can be done. I imagine you just get rid of your front d, and take off the unwanted chain rings off of the crank assembly.

yep 1x9, what you have to do is run a bash gaurd and somthin to stop your chain fallin off the inside (bash stops outside), ie an ngear jumpstop, or a third eye chainwatcher, or a nice e13 chain retension thingy, but thats pricey and heavier (but awesome) as for bash, e13 is the best, but if you wanna bay less check out the bbg bash gaurds, also of course remove extra chainrings

or you can leave your front derail on intead of bash and guide, but thats lame (if your gonna bother doing it do it right)

bashring outside + ngear jumpstop inside + chain as short as you can run is the easy way for now. leave the front mech on until you can get the ngear - it only runs $10 or so. that works very well, particularly on a hardtail. if on a full suspension bike, you may want a single ring chain guide, or something basic like the blackspire stinger to aid in chain retention.

then if you like the setup, when your current ring dies, replace with an unramped ring. no need to replace it yet, and certainly no need to swap out the entire crankset.

awesome resource here:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=158959

http://www.bikeman.com/BTI-BK6052.html?utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=GoogleBase&utm_campaign=GoogleBase
http://www.bikeman.com/CH1213.html?utm_source=GoogleBase&utm_medium=GoogleBase&utm_campaign=GoogleBase

^^^ best option IMO. Those ngear jumpstops are cheesy.

^^I wouldn't go straight to "cheesy", but they don't work as well. My friend rolls 1x9 and his chain has wedged down between the J-stop 1/2 dozen times or so. It's a pain to try to get the chain pulled back up above it.

I've never dropped a chain with the Blackguard. It's probably the single coolest thing I've done to my bike.

^^ yeah I guess cheesy is a little harsh. I had the same issues as your bud when I was running 1x8 with one. Even though my jump is SS, I'm thinking of getting one of those inner plates to match the blackspire bash. My chainline isn't 100%, off a few mm, and have chain dropping issues on hard landings and big hits.

Yah know...they do make some chainring shims that you can bring your ring inward to clean up the chainline a bit. You can also go with a different spindle / BB spacer to bring it in a bit.

I know. I did use a BB spacer to bring it out a 2MM, and that has helped alot. I think my issue may really be the cog wear. The chain tension is right on, but under stress it loosens up a little. this is just a excuse for me to buy more...lol Now If I can only find one to fit my 38T chainring. I can only find 36 and lower. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.