It seems that I never use my big (42 tooth) ring when I ride at Sprain Ridge or Blue Mountain. The trails are so technical that I end up staying in my 32 tooth ring. So rather than continue to bash the bajeezus out of my big ring, I replaced it with a Truvativ bash ring. Nothing fancy, just something to protect my teeth when I slam into rocks and logs.
There were some positives that came out removing the chain ring: I got to take off my front derailleur and shifter. With only one chain ring up front, instead of three, I won't be needing them anymore. And with removing a few links from my chain, I lost a little weight off the bike in general. With the positives came some negatives though: dropping the chain off the chain ring is pretty easy to do now. I had to come up with a chain guide that would keep the chain on my chain ring. With a little ingenuity and some household tidbits I fabricated my Grapefruit Spoon Chain Guide (patent pending). I found the thin stainless steel spoon ideal from both a malleable standpoint as well as a maritally responsible one. And actually, I'm not sure that our good Crate & Barrel spoons would have worked much better in this application.
I'm off to Sprain Ridge Park in a few hours to test my prototype....
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