You should technically be able to use any round ring as long as the BCD matches your crank. 9/10/11 speed rings are designed for shifting though, so they might be more prone to throwing the chain off. They're also thinner and may wear quicker.

Get one of the single speed chainrings matched to the chain you are using. I would use 3/32" on a 130 BCD crank. All-city, Surly and Sugino all have 130 rings in the $40-55 range. You'll need chainring bolts if you don't already have them.

The single speed-specific chain rings lack ramps and pins, which is nice since you don't need that clutter anyway. Otherwise, all 3/32" rings are essentially the same, with regard to compatibility. If you have a 3/32" chain, you can use any 5/6/7 speed, or 8-11 speed ring. With a 1/8" chain, you can also add the fixed gear/track rings to your available options (but there's few or maybe none available in 130mm BCD). Just don't buy an 11 or 12 speed chain--I think they're narrower than 3/32.


Universal Cycles has a million chain rings at decent prices. Here's their page with Sugino "standard" rings, in many sizes: Sugino standard chain rings from UC


On another page at that site, you'll find Sugino's "single speed" rings, which are 1/8" thick. They're the right BCD for your crank, but only come in 46 and 48 tooth sizes.


Their 130mm rings from All City (one of my favorite companies) include two varieties: the "messenger" models are 1/8" thick, and the "cross" models are 3/32. They are great looking, well-made, reasonably priced, and they come in many sizes.


Remember: Thick chains (1/8) work with thinner rings, but thin chains (3/32) don't work with thicker rings. Only those rings specified as 1/8" are "thick." Anything meant for 5-speed on up will be thin.

If you don't have bolts or you have old school bolts that require a special spanner I would go with something modern, Wolf Tooth Components makes some nice bolts that use hex wrenches on both sides and they have colors as well or I believe Problem Solvers also makes some dual sided hex bolts but I don't know if they have them for single ring set ups.

Sugino Messenger rings are great rings, I have run them for a while and no major issues and rather quiet at least with my cog and chain setups.

Fixed gear/track/single speed is all traditionally 1/8” which is the width of the rollers of the chain, not the outer plates. 5/6/7/8 multi speed chains are 3/32” which is again the width of the rollers. 9/10/11 speed chains are 11/128”. The widest 1/8 chains can technically be used with chainrings and cogs with 3/32 or 11/128 teeth. But obviously, you can’t go the opposite direction. The real kicker is that not all chains are actually the same width, nor are teeth for that matter. As an example, I use a 11/128 chainring, a 9 speed 11/128 chain and a 3/32 freewheel. Works perfectly. Traditional wisdom though says that you shouldn’t mix and match.