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Review: Renthal Launches New 1XR Chainring

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Renthal-1XR-Retention-Chainring-Retail-Packaging-4

While Renthal is probably best known for it’s dominance in powersports, in recent years the UK based company has released a slew of new products (in their trademark golden hue) for the cycling market. The latest addition to their product line is the new 1XR Retention Chainring, which was developed specifically with British weather in mind.

Renthal-1XR-Retention-Chainring-Weight

Our 32T review sample weighed 36 g.

The company was finding that many narrow wide rings tended to wear quickly and perform poorly in muddy conditions, so they spent 18 months developing and testing a number of different chainring profiles.

Renthal-1XR-Retention-Chainring-Weight-2

The Renthal 1XR rings hare made from hard anodized 7075 T6 aluminum.

Ultimately, they found the narrow/wide format worked best, but tended to wear faster, because as the tooth face wore down – the inner chain plates would begin to ride on the wide section of the chainring tooth, rather than just the roller. This resulted in added friction and reduced chainring life in competitors products, so they heavily tapered their tooth profile of the wide teeth to allow for more clearance.

Renthal 1XR Chainring Tech

Having addressed concerns with longevity, the company turned to solving mud clearance issues. They had observed that on competitors products, mud quickly built up both on the shoulders between teeth and on the machined faces of the wide teeth. This tended to cause either the chain to lift and de-rail, or premature wear, so they created “mud evacuation grooves” between the tooth seats, and profiled the front of the wide teeth to help shed mud.

Renthal-1XR-Retention-Chainring-Teeth-3

Of course, California is in the midst of a crushing four year drought, so I can’t speak to the mud shedding ability of the chainring….but I was surprised by how well the chainring helped reduce the build up of drivetrain gunk. Between the mud grooves  and the occasional dolop Squirt, there was literally no need to ever clean my drivetrain.

We’ve had the chainring on hand for nearly a month, and in that time we have yet to derail a chain. That said, it is still to early for us to weigh in on long term performance. If you’re in the market for a new chainring, particularly if you live somewhere it actually rains, then the Renthal is well worth a look. The 1XR is available now in 32, 36, 36, and 38T configurations, and we will update shortly with US pricing.

Renthal Cycling

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6 Comments
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Tom
Tom
8 years ago

104 bcd? If so, PLEASE make a 30t version!

Us old, ex-moto guys love Renthal!

rupert3k
rupert3k
8 years ago

Give me Spiderless or GTFO!

WannaBeSTi
WannaBeSTi
8 years ago

Renthal, please DO NOT make a spiderless so, rupert3k can hate on you.

BTW, good looking product.

Sam
Sam
8 years ago

Little late to the party, eh Renthal?

Devin
8 years ago

Renthal, like Hope, seems to value longevity and reliability far more than making a splashy competing product as soon as a new category appears. I applaud them taking the time to make a product that addresses issues that only longer-term testing can bring to light.

Behind the pack? Making a superior product makes the pack irrelevant; I have no way of knowing if their new rings are actually better or not, but if they are it’s like cutting out all competitors, except for the cost-is-my-only-consideration buyers. And those aren’t the people Renthal is targeting anyway.

Billy72
Billy72
8 years ago

off the back and behind the pack….mud grooves on SRAM rings for years, ‘Wear Proof Profiling’ on Wolf tooth and SRAM rings already…just one more player comes to the 1x table…come on Renthal, your’re a moto company, give us some of that moto technology!

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