GC Performance on Youtube did a recent video where he paired an Alugear 1x chainring (on 12 speed 105 cranks) with a 105 di2 rear mech. Said it’s pretty solid. Likewise there are several comments of others who have done the same and claim it works well.
I’m looking at a 1x 105 di2 build using their new 11-36 cassette - just waiting a tad longer to see if Shimano releases GRX 12, in which case I’ll likely choose a GRX crank with Shimano 1x12 chainring, rather than go aftermarket ring on the 105 crank.
From my own experience (not with these specific groupsets), almost all of the chain retention comes from the narrow wide chainring.
I’ve had to run a normal chainring in an emergency with a clutch rear mech (maybe on 11 speed XTR) and the results were very poor.
Most of the time on both my cross bike and my mountain bike I run without the clutch engaged (12 speed XTR on the mountain bike and GRX on the cross bike) and never drop the chain. I prefer the lightness of the action and it helps on the cross bike with full internal routing to keep things accurate.
It used to be pretty common for folk to run 1x for cross with narrow wide chainrings with road mechs without much problem prior to the introduction of the clutch mechs.
Same experience here. I’ve run 1x for TT and for road racing/crits with a normal Di2 RD (no clutch) and I’ve never dropped the chain in thousands of km. Narrow Wide does the job if set up right.
Off road I’ve only used 2x but I leave the clutch off all the time on my gravel bike
I run ultegra 12s on my gravel bike (1X with rotor 42T chainring + classified hub). Haven’t had any chain drop, or related issues (even during the Rift 2023, which was very rocky / washboardy)
I have run 1x11 SRAM mechanical with no clutch on the TT bike for about 6000km with no drops, but put that down to the size of the chainring helping, lots of teeth engaged at all times.
I run a clutch on my 1x11 SRAM mechanical road bike but good to see a few running without clutches successfully, thanks all
I run N/W (Gravel is Wolf Tooth, Road is Garbaruk) chainrings on both my gravel bike (38 x 10/42) and my road bike (48 x 11/32) and have not dropped a chain on either of them. I do not have the clutch activated on my gravel bike and the road bike does not have that option.
I agree with this, I’d only add that not all NW rings are created equal.
Tooth profile
Tooth height
Chain compatibility (which is a function of the above two)
Offset to chainline
Can all dictate how tightly a chain is held (and therefore wear rates, noise).
My Garbaruk GRX 1x ring claims to support Shimano HG+ and SRAM Flat Top chains as well as all other generic 12 speed chains. This probably means a compromise in design, I am running a Shimano 12 speed SLX (aka: 105) level chain and the fit is noticeably looser than an 11 speed chain on the Shimano GRX narrow/wide ring.
Having said that my Garbaruk has been absolutely flawless on a flat-bar bike with an XT M8000 drivetrain (without the clutch engaged). Never dropped a chain, ever and I ride a lot of gravel and crappy singletrack on that bike.
Supplementary note: I also think drivetrain efficiency is not as simple as 2x vs 1x (as many make it out to be). A slightly loose chain on a NW ring is likely to be way more efficient than a really tightly held chain on a NW ring, because the chainline can vary by 1-2mm either side. That can make a huge difference to efficiency as well. This is probably an area worth a bit of scientific investigation and testing from the usual suspects (Hambini, Peak Torque, ZFC)
Being a skeptic, I’m pretty sure the whole narrow wide thing might just be there as a mechanism for selling more expensive components.
I bought a Cannondale cross bike many years ago that was equipped with SRAM 1 x 11 Force but the chainset was Cannondale’s own with an FSA Megatooth (if memory serves me) chainring that only had tall teeth, rather than the alternating narrow wide setup we see everywhere now. I don’t remember dropping my chain with that one although it’s impossible to disengage the clutch on a SRAM rear mech so hard to say if it was as effective.
Shimano’s original XTR 1 x 11 chainrings also did not have the narrow wide profile. I can’t recall when they changed that though or for what reason.
I think the difference in efficiency in the 1x vs 2x test probably actually come down to the difference in efficiency between SRAM and Shimano chains. Would be great if they re-did the test in a way that this wasn’t an issue.
I think I must have misunderstood what you were saying. I was talking about how good the front mech was at keeping the chain on - I already explained about how poor a normal chainring is at keeping the chain on in a 1x situation even with a clutch mech.
Has anyone tried the dura ace 9200 chain rings on ultegra 8100 cranks? I’d like the biger gearing for tt but dont want 1x (training bike) and would prefer to reuse my crank.