Posted in commuting, I figure commuters might be likely to know about this.

I bought the Mrs. a road bike, but she doesn't like it, only because of oil stains from the ring on her leg. I tried cleaning the ring, using clear lubricant and explaining that it is a badge of honor for road bikers. I even found a photo online of some guy who tattooed a ring stain on his leg. All to no avail.

So wondering there is a chain-guard (or correct term?) that I could put over the big ring to minimize the contact. It's SRAM Apex compact, I believe, 50/34. I've seen the plastic guards for cruiser bikes and mountain but nothing for this setup.
Maybe the guy with tattoo is on this forum?

Suggestions very welcome.

SKS Chainboard should be looked at as well

https://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=p...4ae04198829e3c

this might be useful as well:

https://www.sks-germany.com/download/...2020101102.xls

Thanks, useful chart .. but nothing bigger than a 48-tooth ring supported on the chart.
I should add, I asked about this at my LBS, the guy there said they're rare as add-ons for road bikes.

she doesn't need to go that fast.

I could put the ring in the dryer for a while, shrink it to 48

Lots of cyclocross racers running a single front ring use a CF or plastic guard to keep the chain on the ring. You could look into one of those.

There's always straps or rolling your pants leg.

Noted, stuff for Cross is for 42 or 44 t chainrings..

Sclumpf makes some big aluminum chainguards for their cranksets,
I have a 130 thats a bit bigger than the 54t chainring

there are smaller made .. https://www.cyclemonkey.com/ might be a US dealer to contact, to order them

Other bolt circle supported is 110..

Long time ago I got a Machined aluminum guard for a 50t chainring its on my touring bike ..

proved useful when I had to drag the whole rig down stairs and back up another set
to get to the platform from where my train was to depart.


and no overshift past the big ring was possible.

RideNoCo- are you referring to her getting stains on her skin or pants? There's no good reason she should be getting chain oil on bare skin unless she's struggling to get on or off.

Thanks for advice, folks, I'm checking out the Schlumpf now....

To answer question, it's just some oil on the skin, which annoys her. I think she just bumps into the ring when jumping on the bike, we do a lot of riding in the city so there's always on/off the bike. I did the clean/wax once; a week later, she took it to LBS for something else and the tech at the LBS generously re-lubed it with black oil.
I thought the easiest solution would to find a ring guard; this has been my surprise, I haven't just found one made for the 50t SRAM, I kinda expected to find them easily.
If such doesn't exist, I'll clean it again and use the wax and then the weather will get colder and she'll start wearing biking tights which will hide the problem until next summer.

50t is quite a large ring.

I never see anything over a 48t on a touring, trekking, expedition or city bike. I only see them on race bikes, so it kinda makes sense the most racers would won't to haul around a "heavy" guard to protect themselves from stray lubricant

For example, Shimano's largest Trekking/Touring (depending on one interprets the "T" in the part number) ring has 48 teeth.

Ah ha! Maybe this...
https://compare.ebay.com/like/1510919...Types&var=sbar

Thanks, Fietsbob, I used the tooth count vernacular in your post; the term, "50t chain guard", instead of my search terms, "SRAM chain guard"
Gave better results.

Alternatively do the ratio math ,.. just-because the manufacturer ships it witha 50t chainring, it is not locked on

you can change it... 12:46 may be plenty high a gear.. 34~46 , a 12t difference easier to switch between.

+1. It might just take a little more presence of mind to avoid leaning the bike against her leg or vice versa.

Yeah, you gotta look at it from point of view ... I can either spend $20 on a chain-guard or try explaining how to ride to wife.
If you're married, you'll quickly realize the correct answer

I do like the previous suggestions of running a smaller big ring if that helps accomodate a chainguard. 46T and 48T rings in 110 BCD are easy to find, and your wife may not even notice the difference once you've readjusted the front derailleur.

€10 says she won't even notice, she'll get a better working by spinning and she'll be excited by the lack of grease. perhaps even going 50t to 48t and buying the SKS Chainboard would be the way to do it.

that's what i'd do for my gf ...

Forgot,they also make guards for folding bikes. Many folders with 50+ tooth rings.

Well to conclude, that Driveline unit I ordered from eBay worked just fine. I'd recommend it if anyone else has this problem. The only minor downer is that it took until now to receive it (looks like it was drop-shipped from the mfg. in TW). But, no biggie.

But man, I'd never removed a factory-installed ring before, it took me a whole bunch of time and some serious muscle to get the ring screws off, they were on there like they were welded. Next time, I'm taking it to the LBS mechanic and will tip him well, it's some effort.
Thanks to all for the advice!