[Wasatch Walt]

What are good replacement chainrings for the XT M760?

You know, after market ones that last longer than the moldy cheese aka original chain rings?

Thanx

 

[Jerk_Chicken]

Race Face.

Mixed results with Salsa.

Truvativ steel rings. Al lasts longer than Shim4no, but not as long as the Race Face.

 

[tscheezy]

2nd RF. Durable, decent shifting. What else is there?

 

[RedRocker]

They are $89 on Jenson - buy a new one?
No really, they're $89.

 

[Jayem]

What are good replacement chainrings for the XT M760?

You know, after market ones that last longer than the moldy cheese aka original chain rings?

Thanx

Question, in the time period where your M760 rings wore out, how many times did you change your chain?

 

[Wasatch Walt]

Question, in the time period where your M760 rings wore out, how many times did you change your chain?

Jim,

In the busy part of the season, about every three weeks. I have a Rohloff chain gauge and that drivetrain has never seen a chain past the 0.075mm limit.

But that has really given me pause, I spent more on chains than I would of just alternating a couple chains every week and running the system to full stretched out mode I think.

I don't know how many chains since I bought the cranks in ... about June .... but maybe 6?

 

[Jayem]

Jim,

In the busy part of the season, about every three weeks. I have a Rohloff chain gauge and that drivetrain has never seen a chain past the 0.075mm limit.

But that has really given me pause, I spent more on chains than I would of just alternating a couple chains every week and running the system to full stretched out mode I think.

I don't know how many chains since I bought the cranks in ... about June .... but maybe 6?

I'm just trying to get some perspective on the rings.

My M760s are well over a year old, still on the original rings. I torque the hell out of them too, and I always ride several times a week. I'm trying to understand why others have problems with the rings. The crankset has probably seen 3-4 chains, but I too am pretty religious about changing the chain before stretch is prevalent. That's also how I get decent life out of my cassette. I use the ruler method; where 1/32-1/16 requires a new chain, but the closer it is to 1/16th the more likely the cassette is shot, so when it gets to 1/32 or a little beyond, that's when I change it.

When the rings wear out (maybe soon?) I'll go ahead and buy more M760s because I've gotten so much life out of them.

I barely use my granny gear, so the fact that it is aluminum may not affect me much.

The big ring is missing a couple teeth, but it's big enough that it doesn't affect it at all, and again I barely use it, except for the rare open road.

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

Cycle Dynamics Ti rings.

They last a lifetime, shift well & are light. I had a granny & middle last well over 2 years and standard alu rings would only go 3-4 months back in the northeast with regular chain replacement per the Rohloff gauge. I sold the bike but those rings are still going strong.

Up front cost is a bit more but worth it in the long run. I paid about $80 total for the granny & middle.

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

Is the middle ring ramped/pinned to give shifting performance comparable to the Big S and RF?

I've had about the same luck with either of those brands, but have found that Shimano LX chainrings, although nearly identical in appearance, don't last worth a darn. Apparently they aren't hard annodized, while the XT rings are.

As memory serves me, the middle CD ring is pinned but not ramped. The granny is flat.

Boone is doing ramped AND pinned Ti rings. I have a set on order. More expensive and a much longer wait than Cycle Dynamics however.

 

[kosmo]

Ramps/Pins

Cycle Dynamics Ti rings.

They last a lifetime, shift well & are light. I had a granny & middle last well over 2 years and standard alu rings would only go 3-4 months back in the northeast with regular chain replacement per the Rohloff gauge. I sold the bike but those rings are still going strong.

Up front cost is a bit more but worth it in the long run. I paid about $80 total for the granny & middle.

Is the middle ring ramped/pinned to give shifting performance comparable to the Big S and RF?

I've had about the same luck with either of those brands, but have found that Shimano LX chainrings, although nearly identical in appearance, don't last worth a darn. Apparently they aren't hard annodized, while the XT rings are.

 

[tscheezy]

SIX chains since June?? Holy freaking cow. I thought I was chowing down drivetrains at two a year. And I ride in wet goop all the time, while you on the Wasatch Front would generally see dry conditions. What's your annual mileage? I think I bang out about 1,000-1,500 offroad a year, but that's split between two Turners.

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

SIX chains since June?? Holy freaking cow. I thought I was chowing down drivetrains at two a year. And I ride in wet goop all the time, while you on the Wasatch Front would generally see dry conditions. What's your annual mileage? I think I bang out about 1,000-1,500 offroad a year, but that's split between two Turners.

No, no, no.
Here in dry & dusty Colorado rings & chains last forever. What the locals consider "mud" I view as dry in comparison to my days back in Jersey & Vermont.

Back in the northeast I went through middle rings in particular very quickly. I rarely used the granny back east and spent 95% of my time in the middle ring. I also only used Shimano back then so that may have had something to do with it.

 

[Wasatch Walt]

I'm just trying to get some perspective on the rings.

My M760s are well over a year old, still on the original rings. I torque the hell out of them too, and I always ride several times a week. I'm trying to understand why others have problems with the rings. The crankset has probably seen 3-4 chains, but I too am pretty religious about changing the chain before stretch is prevalent. That's also how I get decent life out of my cassette. I use the ruler method; where 1/32-1/16 requires a new chain, but the closer it is to 1/16th the more likely the cassette is shot, so when it gets to 1/32 or a little beyond, that's when I change it.

When the rings wear out (maybe soon?) I'll go ahead and buy more M760s because I've gotten so much life out of them.

I barely use my granny gear, so the fact that it is aluminum may not affect me much.

The big ring is missing a couple teeth, but it's big enough that it doesn't affect it at all, and again I barely use it, except for the rare open road.

Currently it is just the middle worn out. I ride about 15-20 hrs / week in the season. I spend a lot of time in the middle ring, and the mountains here are steep. It is totally waved over and sucking the new chain on any effort. This is not a case of chain slip, but of suck.

The wave over is quite extreme. I think this is suggestive of slip along the metal grain boundaries. I've never seen a chainring quite that waved over and to me it is suggestive of something different in the manufacturing process that isn't as good as others.

BTW, are Shimano rings 7075? and the middle too?

 

[kosmo]

They are $89 on Jenson - buy a new one?
No really, they're $89.

Thanks! I just bought two. Cheaper than replacing rings, and a sweet, new big ring every time (never bothered with those much, too $$$), and way easier than switching rings.

I've tried the chain switch method, and it seems to work great on my road bike (3 chains per year, 5k miles per year), but it never worked out on the mtb for me. I just do the complete chainring/cassette/chain switch twice a year, which works out great for about 2k miles a year on the Spot. Yup, I may be old, but I sure get to ride a lot!

 

[Wasatch Walt]

SIX chains since June?? Holy freaking cow. I thought I was chowing down drivetrains at two a year. And I ride in wet goop all the time, while you on the Wasatch Front would generally see dry conditions. What's your annual mileage? I think I bang out about 1,000-1,500 offroad a year, but that's split between two Turners.

No idea of mileage. Not unusual to ride 20 hrs a week from April to Oct.

I wear stuff out. It is a constant burden to keep parts in stock. I do slip up to Idaho a fair amount and riding fifty creek crossings a day is not uncommon.

While we can go a month without rain, but it does rain here more often than you think. Snowmelt is present almost throughout the whole summer, thus mud too.

 

[Jayem]

Currently it is just the middle worn out. I ride about 15-20 hrs / week in the season. I spend a lot of time in the middle ring, and the mountains here are steep. It is totally waved over and sucking the new chain on any effort. This is not a case of chain slip, but of suck.

The wave over is quite extreme. I think this is suggestive of slip along the metal grain boundaries. I've never seen a chainring quite that waved over and to me it is suggestive of something different in the manufacturing process that isn't as good as others.

BTW, are Shimano rings 7075? and the middle too?

No idea what the alloy is. I push at least 1500-2000 miles a year, maybe only 40 miles a week during the winter, but easily 60 miles a week during the summer, or more in many cases.

I usually sell people truvativ or salsa replacement rings. The truvativs have nice ramps and pins, and I haven't had anyone come back and complain about them. Depending on the order though, sometimes we'll just buy a bunch of shimano rings too, and we still don't hear much back about them either way. I'd rather put a "torquer" on a steel granny ring, if they use the granny gear a lot, but usually the other rings are big enough that they spread out the torque decently. Maybe the wear is caused by contaminants and dirt? It seems like that wouldn't be a big enough difference, but it is dry here and we rarely get much crap in our drivetrains (although it is sandy).

 

[Pedalhead]

I'm a huge fan of Middleburn Slickshift Hardcoat rings. Nice shifting & they last for ages in my experience.

 

[Homebrew]

Another data point...

Do you care about weight? If not, a steel Deore is both economical and durable. If you're only looking for aluminum, RF are okay but didn't last long for me (about 3 months) are are really expensive. A Salsa has been 6 months and is about due for replacement. Salsa cost half as much as the RF and lasted twice as long. I've only used the RF and Salsa because I prefer 34T. I only used the stock XT ring for a couple rides and it already looks like it's getting shark finned.

Note: If you don't use an M760 ring, you'll need new chainring bolts. Even older XT rings don't fit with the OE bolts. I'm not sure the exact differences in the rings but since the XT bolts are only half threaded, it makes a difference.