Heh, so I have my 2010 norco fluid setup now as a 1x9, I want to add a chain tensioner. I’m not excellent with describing things so here comes urls o rama.
What is your main objective with doing this, best bang for the buck, or the best set-up you can get?
If it’s bang for the buck, then the inner bashguard and chain tensioner should work great.
The best setup would be a clutch type derailleur and one of those narrow-wide front chain rings.
I love my clutched XT rear derailleur. Keeps the chain nice and tensioned with no chain slap (although I do have a chain tensioner too). My buddy Jason (bronze diamondback) has a clutched SRAM X0 rear derailleur that was new in the spring, and it makes a ton of racket, which from what he has read online is a fairly common problem with them.
I’m looking for best bang for buck / low complexity. Converting the whole bike to 10 speed so it can use a clutch derailleur is not gonna happen. They don’t make 9 speed ones. The article there mentions you can use a SRAM 9 speed shifter with a Shimano 10 speed derailleur since they’re both 1:1. I just have to find a shifter on the web, they seem a bit rare to get just one new. I can go used too i guess.
Anyways, I do like the idea of clutch der. better. But I can go with chain tensioner too.
You can use a shimano 10 speed clutched derailleur with a SRAM 9 speed shifter. This way you can enjoy the benefits of the clutch without having to upgrade the entire drivetrain. Plus 9 speed parts are waayyyyy cheaper, so you could just do the 10 speed hack and buy a wide/narrow chainring and be better off.
Keep in mind that you need to fabricate/buy a little 6mm spacer to get the ratio just right. Apparently it will work without it, but the indexing will be off a bit and have some sloppy shifts.
Have anylinks about that 6mm adjustment? Want to read up a bit more on it. Thanks for the info btw and I think this is almost certainly the route i’m taking.
Well… I went with one of these bionicon.com/parts/c-guide/c-guide-v02.html I’m travelling in 2 weeks with bike, didn’t want to jeopardize long shipping times so I know with Amazon I’ll have this part in a week. I’ll be the guinea pig and let you guys know. I’d have prefered clutch setup, but coordinaing that little 6mm adjustment, a deraillure and a hens-tooth shifter (x9 rear 9 speed)… well I didn’t want to risk it.
Yeah, but I want a x9 for now we’ll see how this works out.
i have a 2 foot drop in my back yard that i hit a few times last night and dropped chain every time, so i have no doubt that sugarloaf is gonna cuase lots of them. hopefully this bionicon is awesome.
it didn’t ship. they were out. sheldon@sportsheels rigged up something to get me thru the weekend. i might put front der back on and just live with it until i go 10 speed or hack a 9 speed clutch.
So I decided to pick up a 10 speed shimano shadow + rear derailleur and give it a shot with a 9 speed sram shifter.
My setup is a shimano zee FR rear derailleur, x9 9-speed rear shifter, slx 9 speed 11-34t cassette and a 9 speed KMC chain. I put a raceface narrow wide 32t on the front crank and no chainguide of any kind.
It took me less than 5 minutes on the work stand to get the shifting dialed and it works perfectly. I took a quick spin through the gorge/p2 (roots galore) last night after the change and had zero dropped chains or funky shifts.
I’m still going to make the switch to 10 speed so I can get a 36t rear cog on my cassette without having to buy a boatanchor 9 speed one.
for now we’ll see how this works out.