Gear Shots

Gear Shots #22

Battle of the Guides

eNVy Double E
Words and photos by Trevor Hansen I’ve seen a few low-priced, jerry-rigged kickdown chainring systems on my rides. I figured I would try out the kickdown as an alternative to higher cost chainguides. Greg at eNVy set me up with this simple device he claims to have invented years ago. By using an outer bashguard and a thin inner bashguard - the Double E - you can attach your granny ring. Instead of using a front derailleur, you can drop your chain from your big ring to your granny by sticking your toe on the top chain and pedaling. In order to get the chain back into the big ring, you need to get off your bike and manually pop it into place.


The Double E, from the bottom (left) and from the drive side (right)

There are no tensioning rollers to stop chain slap but the chain stays in place while in the big ring dual bashguard sandwich. It takes a lot of monkeying with your chainline and chain ring bolt sizes and fortunately I got the perfect monkey for the job, Gerard at John Henry Bikes. He dialed it in, but he said I could only get the three lowest gears while in my granny before the chain rubbed on the Double E inner ring. Total cost for the Envy Double E ring is CDN$33 plus about $10 worth of hardware.

Blackspire Dewlie
Words and photo by Trevor Hansen

The Blackspire Dewlie was one of the first dual ring chain tensioning devices made. It is made for a mid-sized ring and a granny, and only works on a splined bottom bracket /crank set-up.

The Dewlie kit comes with an inner plate with a chain roller attached, all hardware and a Makrolon outer ring. It comes in four- or five-bolt pattern models and fits rings from 32 to 40 teeth. Blackspire claims the guides have zero drag when climbing and good chain tension when descending. The set-up is fairly straight forward but I took a look at the directions, the hardware and my small amount of time, got in the car and took the works to Gerard.

The Dewlie, in all its muddy glory...

He set it up in about twenty minutes. He also predicted the chain would drag on the inner ring for about six rides then the sound would go away as the chain settled in. He was right. Total cost for the Blackspire Dewlie: CDN$280.

Blackspire Stinger
Words and photo by Stuart Kernaghan

The Stinger is pretty damn simple when it come to chainguides. It's a plate, a roller, and some bolts. That's it. It's designed to be used with a two ring and bashguard set-up, either one you've built yourself or on a bike that came with that spec. You can use the Stinger with just about any bashring between 32T and 40T, and either mount it behind a bottom bracket flange or on ISCG mounts. The roller's moulded out of soft polyurethane and stepped to keep the chain tensioned while in the granny ring. Weight for the CNC'd 6061 aluminum Stinger is 90g, and it's made in Canada. MSRP is US$25 and CDN$30. The Stinger is available in ISCG '05 and BMX sizes as well.

The Stinger, minus crank and chain. Love the beaver...

Race Face Diabolus
Words and photo by Stuart Kernaghan

Diabolus is Race Face's high-end line of freeride components. This year marked the introduction of the Diabolus single-ring chainguide, a high-tech guide that's designed for racers and people who demand the most from their single-ring guides. The boomerang is made from 6061 aluminum, and is recessed to mount flush against your frame to work in conjunction with low-chainstay suspension systems. The upper and lower guides are made out of injection moulded composite plastics. Between the two parts of the lower guide is a sprocket wheel made of the same material. You also get one of the new aluminum bashguards with the guide, so your chainrings are protected.

There's a guide hiding in the other half of the box...

Adjustability is a big selling feature of this guide. You can rotate the guide on ISCG mounts, move the upper guide up and down as well as have 50° of adjustability for different frame and suspension designs, and slide the lower guide in and out to snug it up to the bashguard. A nice touch is the the sprocket that uses a standard bearing, which will be easy to replace when the time comes.

The Diabolus guide is compatible with 68/73, 83 and 100mm bottom bracket shells. It will work with bashguards / chainrings from 32T to 40T, and weighs in at 386g.

Previous Gear Shots

  • Gear Shots #42 - Race Face Atlas FR Crankset, WTB LaserDisc Trail Wheelset, and Garmin Edge 705 GPS unit
  • Gear Shots #41 - 2008 Norco Fluid One LT, Gravity Dropper Turbo Seatpost, and Dakine Step Down and Stitch Jerseys
  • Gear Shots #40 - 2008 Norco Shore 1, 2008 Trek Remedy 9, and 2008 Fox 36 TALAS RC2
  • Gear Shots #36 - SRAM X-9 shifters and derailleurs, Hayes Stroker Trail disc brakes, SixSixOne Strike full-face helmet
  • Gear Shots #32 - The 2007 Brodie Zealot, Harlot Houlihan shorts and Scarlet
    X-Knickers for the ladies, Beastgear XXX Unitux long sleeve upper body armour
  • Gear Shots #22 - eNVy Double E dual , Blackspire Dewlie dual, Blackspire Stinger dual, and Race Face Diabolus single-ring chainguides
  • Gear Shots #2 - Roach Rally Shorts, NYC Freeride Blox 1.125 Stem, Pryme AL Full-face Helmet
  • Gear Shots #1 - Yakima Rim Roc, SixSixOne Wrist Wraps, and Evil SRS Chainguide