Home > Event Coverage > NAHBS

NAHBS 2017: Wickwerks Sentinel dual sided chain catcher for doubles, Road Ultra Wide rings offer a huge jump in gear

12 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

Chain catchers are nothing new. But a dual sided catcher for double chainrings? Now that is interesting. And that is exactly what Wickwerks is offering with their new Sentinel. Designed to fit over most road and CX dual chainring set ups, the Sentinel will prevent the chain from dropping off to the inside, but it should also prevent accidental derailments to the outside. With simple installation, and an adjustable fit, the Sentinel is an interesting addition to the Wickwerks line up…

Mounting in a similar fashion to most other chain catchers, the Sentinel works with braze on style front derailleurs and is designed to replace the stock derailleur mounting bolt. Once attached to the derailleur, the arms can be adjusted to clear the chain on 8-12 speed drivetrains. Recommended for 2x set ups only, the patent pending Sentinel runs $49.99 for the CNC machined aluminum option, though a Delrin option is in the works for a slightly lower price.

Want lower gears on your road bike, but don’t want to give up the high range for those town limit sprints? Wickwerks has you covered there as well. Their new Road Ultra Wide chainring set offers a massive jump from a 34 to a 53t chainring that is said to shift better than many standard compact rings with a standard derailleur. The reason lies in the aggressive BRIDGE shift ramps which help the chain make the leap. Made from CNC machined 7075-T6 aluminum with a MIL Type 3 Hard anodized finish, the rings are offered in 110 BCD 4 and 5 bolt patterns to fit SRAM, Shimano, and Campagnolo cranks at $179.50-$188.50 per set.

wickwerks.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

12 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
mnorris122
7 years ago

Jesus, what mech cage is needed for those rings?

Rustilicus
Rustilicus
7 years ago

I’ve been using a very similar thing on all the bikes I work on – it’s invisible and works by adjusting the limit screws.

fred
fred
7 years ago
Reply to  Rustilicus

yes, no chain has EVER dropped when things were adjusted properly. :-/

OldTimerCat1
OldTimerCat1
7 years ago
Reply to  fred

You are correct.

Outside of limit screws, you need to get the cage height perfect. Also need to get the angle perfect.

If you can manage to get all of the steps completed properly, you won’t EVER drop a chain.

But alas, many will only get one or two correct, drop chains and then blame it on anything but the adjustment.

the biz
the biz
7 years ago
Reply to  OldTimerCat1

and those things can come out of alignment doing things that get chains to drop like riding down a rattly fireroad on a CX bike. so maybe a chain catcher isn’t a bad idea in lieu of constantly adjusting the front derailleur, the most frustrating and fiddly thing on a bicycle

Sam
Sam
7 years ago
Reply to  OldTimerCat1

I’m guessing you haven’t done a cyclocross race before

satanas
satanas
7 years ago
Reply to  OldTimerCat1

Agree 100% – FDs aren’t complicated if one can be bothered to think; sadly many cannot.

Rod Diaz
Rod Diaz
7 years ago
Reply to  Rustilicus

I’m so reassured. Now you can go train the mechanics in all the pro-teams that have dropped chains and flog them when they’ve failed at their jobs.

I hear Marianne Vos is looking for a new pit mechanic for her CX races after reading your post and in light of her problems during the world championship. Should send your credentials!

vengaboy
vengaboy
7 years ago

Even a subcompact 52-36 crankset can be awkward when shifting in the front, and often requires simultaneous shifting in the rear. A 53-34 jump might sound good on paper, but would probably be really annoying to ride.

Jeff Servaas
Jeff Servaas
7 years ago

I’m running Ultegra 6800 with 52/34 chainrings, so almost as big a jump, and it’s been woking fine for 15000km. I like the low gear for climbing and the high gear for fast descending. Best of both worlds and shift quality is as good as my other bike with 53/39.

somedude
somedude
7 years ago

Wickwerks has a pretty good rep for some of the best shifting rings out there, at least for their standard doubles. Maybe they can pull it off with a 53-34.

They’ve sold this set for at least a year now, Some one has to have posted their experience somewhere.

Hexsense
Hexsense
7 years ago

generally,
52×36 require 3 shift in the rear to get to the *next* consecutive gear (e.g. less than 12% change in cadence after compensation ) when the front shift on close range cassette gear.
It require only 2 shifts in the rear when doing front shifting to get to the next gear on wide range cassette with more jumps (like Shimano 11-28 or bigger). And 3 shifts if you want to get to exactly the same or very similar gear.

53×34 bring on another 6% gear differential on top of that so
4 shift compensation in the rear on close ratio cassette to get to the next gear (would be annoying)
3 shift compensation in the rear on wide cassette ratio to get to the next gear (which is only one lever stroke)

so 53×34+11-28 or bigger should work well.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.