I have a commuter bike set up with a 1x9 drive with a 34t ring up front. Until recently I had a Velo-Orange chainguard keeping my pants out of the chain.



That chainguard was always problematic and over the weekend I had to take it off. So now I'm looking for a new chainguard or chainring guard.

The problem I'm having is that my 34t chainring is much smaller than what most people use. The chainguards and chainring guards I've been look at all seem too big.

So my questions are:

1. I really liked the look of a classic, shiny chainguard. Can anyone recommend a guard that would work with my small front ring and with a 1x9 chain line?

2. I've been looking at the Sugino Chainring Guard for 40-42t. Would that work with my 34t ring? Is that guard so big that it would interfere with the chain line going to the 9 speed cassette in the back? (I experienced something similar using a too-big bashguard with a medium-sized chainring——there was chain rub when I used the highest gear on the cassette.)



3. Does anyone use something they like that I might not have thought of?

My pants and I thank you.


Extra details: The crank is a five-hole, 110 BCD triple with the inner and outer chainrings removed. So there's room for a new outer ring.

Problems with the VO Alloy Chainguard included; the rear attachment bracket and bolt interfered with chain path. (I ended up bolting the back of the guard to a p-clamp on the seat stay.) The line of the chain guard from the bottom bracket to the seat stay interfered with the crank. The guard had to be bent in an ugly way to keep from being hit and scraped by the crank. And even then, it never fit right. Finally, the front installation of the guard was a flat piece of metal with a hole in it that fit between the frame and the fixed cup in the bottom bracket. There wasn't a tight enough seal so eventually water leaked into the bottom bracket and fouled the grease. This was a problem too far and when I repacked the bottom bracket the guard came off for good.

max 38t

https://www.sks-germany.com/?a=produc...400&CHAINBOARD

Your crank is a normal crank with one chainwheel mounted on the spider instead of two. You could put any kind of chain guard you like on the outside of the spider without any interference to the chain line. Mounting a toothless ring on the outside of a crank is a common practice in mountain biking. It called a "bash ring" or "bash guard". Google either term and you'll find lots of them, including this lovely red one on Fleabay.

On the other hand, it sounds like you have the fixed cup on your bottom bracket installed incorrectly with the Velo Orange guard or you are improperly blaming the guard for the problem. Since you have rebuilt the bottom bracket, I'll assume that the bottom bracket is a cup and cone unit and not a sealed one. Cup and cone bottom brackets are notorious for not sealing and getting crap into them. Water infiltration and grease fouling probably aren't coming from the chain guard but the avenue of contamination is through the spindle. You could replace the unit with a sealed cartridge bearing BB for very little money and reduce your maintenance problems to zero (with regards to the bottom bracket). You can also keep your Velo Orange chain guard. Just get the proper spindle length.

I've some machined de toothed 110 chainrings , PM & We can talk.

Thanks, acidfast7. That chain guard is ugly as hell, but it looks like it'll do a great job.

I agree ... there are larger versions with a different colour scheme, I think. Looks like it would survive a thermonuclear war.

german plastics at their best!

gl

here's an installation video...

#t=135

Cyccommute, I have a bashguard on a different bike right now. It's a similarly set up drive—two chainrings and that bashguard on a triple crank, but with a seven speed cassette. And when I'm in the highest gear, the chain rubs against the bashguard. So that's why I was asking about the chain line—it's a problem I've had before.

Also, this is the second time since installing the VO chainguard that I've had to repack that bottom bracket. And the grease on the drive side was fouled, but the grease on the NDS was perfectly clean. So I'm going to try a solution that doesn't involve fitting something under the fixed cup. And if after a few more months of rain riding, my bottom bracket starts grinding again, I'll know it wasn't the VO part. But I strongly suspect it was a less than perfect fit.

Though if that doesn't work, I'll probably take your advice and get a sealed cartridge bearing BB.

Thanks, Fietsbob. That's an option I've considered.

Fietsbob, Bikeforums tells me that I need a minimum of 50 posts in order to send a PM. This post is # 45 ...

The drive side is more likely to experience water intrusion than the non-drive side on a cup and cone BB. There's a lot of traffic on the drive side that doesn't exist on the nondrive side so water gets diverted into the bearings. Adding a chain guard just puts more water in the mix. If the infiltration is happening around the fixed cup, you might want to face the bottom bracket shell. This would make the seal a bit better.

Finally, the SKS looks like it's the same kind of mount and I would suspect that you'd just be trading one chain guard for another one without fixing the problem.

Cyccommute, you're right that the guard was funneling a lot more water onto that side of the BB. Like I said, I'm going to ride for the rest of the rainy season with nothing mounted through the BB so I can see if the problem was related to that installation.

In the mean while, I'm looking at this kit as a possible solution.
https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...uard-kits.html

Ugly as sin but it would solve your problem. I'd see if you can mount the nut side out so that it looks a bit cleaner.

It's ugly for sure. I posted here in the first place because I'm not really happy with the options I've found for chainguards.