The Pinkbike article explains the concept behind the narrow-wide rings.
Meh. Not very well. They pretty much just say it fits snugly, so it doesn't drop. But, hey, maybe that's all there is to it..?
That's... a good point.
Oh. I thought there was some cool secret about them with dropping chains I didn't know about. Ha. On my Rincon I certainly used the crap out of the largest chainring (read: bashguard), but am noticing I'm not really doing so with the new bike. I'll give it a couple more rides and if nothing hits I'll probably remove it.
Went with the Race Face N/W chainring. It should be in next week. I'll report back accordingly.
I'm also still not sure how to determine if my chain is too long... Tips?
Lastly, these clutch derailleurs... I get how they 'lock' to not allow the chain to flop around freely, but how do they 'unlock' for shifts?? Can't find anything to really explain that.
You listed a race face chain ring as what you had in your OP... you sure it wasn't already a narrow-wide? If it was bought as a single ring with the intentions of going 1x, it probably is.
As for chain length, remove your chain from the bike then wrap it around the front ring and the largest cog in the back and hold the ends together tight (not routed through the RD). Now wherever the chain meets, add two links to that spot and break the chain there. If you end up in the middle of a link, err on the side of making the chain longer. This should put you at a good chain length that wont bounce off as easy.