Smaller chainring on 2022 Reign for better ground clearance.

[Jurassic]

I notice that a few folks have fitted smaller chainrings to their Reigns but I was wondering whether anyone has done this for increased clearance rather than gearing the bike down. The standard 36t looks to protrude below the bottom of the motor and I've had a few chainring strikes while riding over logs and big tree roots and was considering fitting a smaller ring. 36t seems pretty pointless from a gearing perspective as well (unless your bike is deristricted and you can benefit from the higher gearing). I'd initially thought I'd fit shorter cranks as well but pedal strikes have been less of an issue than hitting the chainring so far.

 

[turborrojo]

I notice that a few folks have fitted smaller chainrings to their Reigns but I was wondering whether anyone has done this for increased clearance rather than gearing the bike down. The standard 36t looks to protrude below the bottom of the motor and I've had a few chainring strikes while riding over logs and big tree roots and was considering fitting a smaller ring. 36t seems pretty pointless from a gearing perspective as well (unless your bike is deristricted and you can benefit from the higher gearing). I'd initially thought I'd fit shorter cranks as well but pedal strikes have been less of an issue than hitting the chainring so far.

I was thinking about fitting a 34t in order to avoid that ring strikes, but at the same time wondering if due to the ammount of power that gives the motor, the larger cogs would became nearly unusable, and how it would affect to motor power management (cut offs)

 

[jeanmarc]

How much more ground clearance would a 34t vs 36t chainring give anyway?

 

[Jurassic]

How much more ground clearance would a 34t vs 36t chainring give anyway?

Not very much but it'll only need to be slightly smaller to mean that it's no longer the lowest point. I think I'd rather bash the plastic skid plate on the bottom of the motor than have that force transmitted into the bearings in the motor via the chainring.

 

[Jurassic]

I was thinking about fitting a 34t in order to avoid that ring strikes, but at the same time wondering if due to the ammount of power that gives the motor, the larger cogs would became nearly unusable, and how it would affect to motor power management (cut offs)

I've ordered a Praxis 34t ring to try, I'll let you know how much difference it makes once it arrives and I've tried it. It won't make any difference to the cut off, that's governed by the wheel speed and will still be the same. It will lower the gear ratios slightly but that doesn't bother me, using the larger (higher) gears will usually take the bike above the cut off so I don't really see the point of having big gears. As I said, I'll try it out and report back though.

 

[Zimmerframe]

You just end up using the higher gears (smaller cogs) slightly more - so ultimately will wear the cassette sooner.

I generally find you also end up with slightly better range. Even though I always try to ride with a high cadence, the gearing difference has some effect that you don't adjust for.

 

[Jurassic]

The 34t Praxis chainring arrived and is now fitted (easy job to do). I've not ridden it yet but I'll let you all know if it's a worthwhile mod. Pictures show the two rings side by side and one on top of the other for comparison, as you can see the difference in size isn't huge.

 

[Jurassic]

Right, I had my first ride on it with the 34t today and was able to clear all the log and root roll overs that the chainring previously hit. In terms of riding feel, I didn't notice any difference, obviously it is there but it's very subtle.
I think when the time comes to replace the transmission I'll go for a 32t up front and an SLX 10-45 on the rear instead of the standard 10-51, I reckon for me this will be a better set up. Overall I have no regrets about dropping down to the 34t so far anyway.

 

[Acmac999]

Right, I had my first ride on it with the 34t today and was able to clear all the log and root roll overs that the chainring previously hit. In terms of riding feel, I didn't notice any difference, obviously it is there but it's very subtle.
I think when the time comes to replace the transmission I'll go for a 32t up front and an SLX 10-45 on the rear instead of the standard 10-51, I reckon for me this will be a better set up. Overall I have no regrets about dropping down to the 34t so far anyway.

With the 34 is the chainring still the lower part? It is it the plastic guard?

 

[Jurassic]

With the 34 is the chainring still the lower part? It is it the plastic guard?

It's quite hard to tell by eye as the chainring is positioned quite far back in relationship to the motor/bash guard assembly but I suspect that the bash guard is now lower. Since I fitted the 34 I've not had any impacts with either (whereas with the 36 it was happening quite often) so for me the change to a 34 has been well worthwhile. I think I'll ultimately go down to a 32t chainring but that will have to wait until I renew the whole transmission. I understand that smashing the bottom of the motor off trail obstacles isn't ideal either but I was quite concerned about all that force being put through bearings in the motor when the chainring decked out.