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Calf meet chainring.

27K views 137 replies 59 participants last post by  d-bug 
#1 ·
Do you have the 3rd (aka big) chainring on your bike? Do you use it? Has it caused you great bodily injury? Do you plan to keep it?

Or have you removed it? Do you miss it or is it better?

I worked on a couple bikes today and will post them tomorrow. But meanwhile, here's a montage. I'm missing Ziscwig's shredded calf from a little Demo tumble.

fc
 

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#4 ·
I can spin pretty good, so I don't miss it.
If I still had the large ring in place in downieville last weekend when I crashed on butchers ranch, it would not have been pretty.
Getting tangled in a bike is not a good thing......especially with a large ring. Hot rotors are bad enough.
I had a bad crash about 4 years ago and the bike scorpioned up into the air above me, I stepped back, and I reached out and caught it with my left arm as I didn't want the bike to hit the ground. Took a chainring in my bicept. There is not much of a scar, but it was bad at the time.
Here is a pic that isn't too bad. The back of my ankle.
 

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#6 ·
My daughter got one of those "Chunk out of leg due to chainring" injuries riding her first mountain bike, a Speccie Hotrock 24", down the driveway at home. Her leg looked a lot like the first pic Francois posted. Don't know how she crashed, but she is a constant gravity test as it is. Anyway, since it healed she always is showing off her "mountain bike scar" to all the other kids, telling them that they arent real bikers until they sport one of those.
 
#8 ·
savagemann said:
I can spin pretty good, so I don't miss it.
....
I had a bad crash about 4 years ago and the bike scorpioned up into the air above me, I stepped back, and I reached out and caught it with my left arm as I didn't want the bike to hit the ground. Took a chainring in my bicept.
...
I think most people will not miss it. I think it is one of the worst inventions ever and Rensho and I will go on a crusade to eradicate it.

'the bike scorpioned up'
Awesome visual savagemann!!!! When that happens, it is time to run!

fc
 
#9 ·
Bokchoicowboy said:
My daughter got one of those "Chunk out of leg due to chainring" injuries riding her first mountain bike, a Speccie Hotrock 24", down the driveway at home. Her leg looked a lot like the first pic Francois posted. Don't know how she crashed, but she is a constant gravity test as it is. Anyway, since it healed she always is showing off her "mountain bike scar" to all the other kids, telling them that they arent real bikers until they sport one of those.
That's the thing man, you don't even have to crash. You can just have an unstable dismount and all hell can break loose. I think the calf doesn't have a ton of nerves so it don't hurt that much. The ankle on the other hand...

fc
 
#11 ·
Here's the project yesterday. It was installing a Shimano guide on an SLX crank.

To do it even better, change the middle ring from a 34 tooth to a 36 tooth or 38.

To save weight use a Salsa chainring guard that is way lighter if you're not going to be bashing the guard on rocks.

fc
 

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#12 ·
What the...

Total news to me. And that is some nasty result right there.

Well, on the other hand, I'll admit that when I was a kid I welded up a tall unicycle. I still have sprocket marks on my shin from when the chain came off, and I came down from my perch.
 
#14 ·
I never use my big ring except during fire road downhills at Sea Otter and Lemurian, so for most of the year I keep it off and put on a bash guard instead. This has made my lower extremities MUCH happier. My upper extremities, too - I once got stabbed in the arm by the big chainring when I fell trying to get my bike on top of my car (I'm exceptionally short).

f u, big chainring.
 
#16 ·
Putting on a BBG bashguard or another bash is the first thing I do to all cranks - especially if I plan to use them with platform pedals. That said, I currently have a big ring on my training and one other hardtail. Plan to switch them to 1x10 with a lightweight chain guide.

Safety, ground clearance, lower weight, shorter chain and der. cage for better shifting and less chain slap. There is no need for a large ring, especially with modern wide range cassettes. Leave it for the roadies.
 
#21 ·
Combo pack.

Oh for the love of......

Yaah, I use the big ring, used it yesterday on the way into Wanoga during the HC 100, and at the start to heading the first singletrack section and...

Oh C'mon FC! Maybe you guy's can do some kind of MTBR ring guard, spoke guard, pedal reflector shoot combination-shootout-comparison test.

And just to add fuel to this, what do you propose to with the new 2x drivetrains? Are you proposing to remove the outer ring on these too?

Sigh, this board gets "smaller" every day.
 
#23 · (Edited)
FC, what's with the spider's web and home in the cross pipe in those pix? Maybe the bikes want revenge for lack of use? ;)

*Most of the guys around here have seen both my shins and calfs.. what wasn't caused by chainring has been done by eggbeaters and flat pedals. It's a part of the game, a price you pay for the pleasure, sort of like the Ti-hardware upgrades and scar to my left shoulder. :D

Like I always say "Singlespeed..DUH!!" :thumbsup:

..besides, consider the scars to be armor, only thing is if you hit it again, it tears off the entire patch instead of a slight cut.
 
#25 · (Edited)
jeffh said:
This is my right shin after meeting a 44t Shimano chain ring at 2010 Napa Valley Dirt Classic, Quote from the EMT after the race, " I can see the bone "
That's what I'm talking about, you're not keeping it real until the bone shows! :eek: :p

With the texture and makeup of the skin on the shin it honestly doesn't take much to gut someone there. Luckily it looks like you were stable with little blood loss and likely had the antibiotics for follow up..how many staples, 13? IIRC mine was around that #.

Francois said:
some of the home projects... No big ring will be left unturned.
Hmmm, now I'm thinking more and more about milling down a XTR spider to fit on my ChrisKing-SS hubs. After seeing how well Jeff's worked for his Ti bikes I figure I can see how bad it would be on the Surly 1x1..

Now all I'd need to do is also mill the drive-side BB or go convince Brent or Bernie to tig on some ISCG mounts for a front Guide, or make a call out to Paul Components for the guide. :D

*What then? ObiFiveSpeedOnly? ;)
 
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