irclean,

In the comments section of the review linked in my post are the full instructions on installing this chainguard. I would agree that some bike owners could clearly tackle it if they're comfortable with taking the cranks off. Here's the full set of instructions from this link. (The user who posted this has done a great service to those interested in buying this product since SKS doesn't provide great instructions for installation, yet--apparently they've promised to put some online, but there's no link yet.) http://velocouture.wordpress.com/200...ks-chainboard/

"These things are great, but the installation process is just that, a process. Installing an SKS Chain Board takes patience, bottom bracket tools and a grinder capable of removing enough material so that the front derailleur can move up into the high gear.

0. Put the bike up in your repair stand.

1. Mount the L bracket behind the right bottom bracket shell, without putting the crank back on. You may need to face the bottom bracket shell to get a flat fit. The back end of the chain guard may be trimmed to fit in the rear triangle, but the angle of installation is not flat. It should tilt downward slightly, back to front. Watch out for derailleur cables and whatnot.

2. Install the crank and shift up to the big gear. (Make sure high limit screw is adjusted as closely as possible, but don’t make the front derailleur rub on the chain.) Here’s where it gets tricky. You’ll have three friction points (maybe more) that make noise. Worry about eliminating the friction between the front derailleur and the chain when the bike is in the top ring first. To do this, get a dental tool, or permanent marker and make an outline on the inside of the chain guard showing where the front derailleur wants to go. This is where material needs to be removed. Some of the silver chain guard material will need to be removed, perhaps a small corner of it. There is a silver tab on the top of the chain guard that will most likely NOT need to be removed, or you’ll end up looking like our gentlemen here with the whack red duct tape.

3. Take the guard off by the screws and start removing material in the outlined area. There is plenty of material to do this, and it should not compromise the structural integrity of the chain guard. Do not worry about the crank rubbing on the chain board just yet, if it makes noise you’re fine, if it actually sticks and holds up, keep removing material from your front derailleur outlined area. Continue little by little and keep test mating it. Once the you can shift to the big ring, do not have excessive friction rubbing between the front derailleur, the guard, and the crank, you may move on.

4. Now we take on the task of twisting the chain guard while a friend is pedaling the bike to eliminate the noise of the chain hitting the chain guard. There are three mounting points that may be manipulated and twisted to keep the chain from hitting the guard. Try reversing the screws so that the flatter screw heads are on the inside allowing for a tighter threshold in the rear end of the bike.

5. Once the noise is eliminated down to only the noise produced by the crank arm rubbing on the outside of the guard, you’re basically done. This noise doesn’t occur on the road or when under foot, and the RPM in this gear is generally pretty low, which makes noise problems minimal.

Key Points :

– The most important place to eliminate friction is when the front derailleur is sandwiched between the chain and the chain board in the big ring.

– Ordering the right size is crucial, count the teeth.

– Sometimes it just doesn’t work, the gap between the crank arm and the front derailleur is simply too narrow.

– If you want to settle with not having a big gear, that’s fine, but I like to use all the letters in the alphabet, call me a zealot.

Any other ideas? Clarifications? It took 2 hours on my first attempt. It took me about 45 minutes on my second attempt in my undisclosed bike shop. So that’s about 45 dollars at any other reputable shop, and is certainly worth it if you can find a tech willing to install one of these things."