Originally Posted by
eeuuugh
The rate of wear in a drivetrain depends not only on hardness of parts but the distribution of force. Chainrings wear much slower than cassettes because the pedaling force is distributed across many more gear teeth. A worn chain wears out a chainring more quickly because it rides up the teeth, which are tapered, so then drive the chain with a smaller contact area.
Such a thing exists!
Surly stainless steel chainrings. Steels being what they are, this is still a soft metal to hard metal interface--only now the chain is the soft metal.
I believe some 1x12 systems use a hardened steel chain. Not sure what the rationale is.
The Surly website describes the stainless steel chainring as being made from AISI 304 stainless steel. The austenitic stainless steels which include the 300 series are not heat-treatable and cannot be hardened. Although we do not know the alloy or post-treatment used for the chain rollers, it is likely that they are still harder (and stronger) than the chainring.