After religiously calling people on Singlespeed, 29′ers (or worse yet a combination of the two) trend following whores, I seem to have found myself in a bit of a predicament.

Yes, I too have fallen foul of a trend.

Enter the MRP 1.X chain device into my riding landscape. There has been a lot of questions thrown myway since it went on the bike, so here I thought I would go and answer all of the questions, well all two of them;

1) Why did you do it?

2) Does it work?

MRP 1.X

Why did I go this route? Really the answer is simple. I don’t have the legs to push a big ring, not that the trails I ride give a huge scope for the use of it, and more importantly, I think I tend to rely too often on the granny ring. None of my local trails have hills that really demand one and my SS friends seem to get up the hill OK.

So I thought while building my current bike that I could simplify things and loose 2 of my chain rings and all of the associated paraphernalia.

Which brings me to does it work? Simple answer there is yes.

I’ve ridden it now in the worst of mud at the Sydney 24 and the week prior at Awaba. No issues, no clogging and no dropped chains or chain suck. In good conditions it has been even better.

I’ve gone with a 32tooth chain ring and an 11-34 cassette but depending on the guide you choose (they come in 32-36 or 32-40 tooth options) you should be able to fine a suitable gearing for your local trails.

Set up was a breeze, slap it in on the drive side of the BB in place of the spacer, line it up and off you go.  Coming in at around 58g for the 32-36 tooth version it is also a nice way to drop some weight if you are that way inclined. Compared to chain devices I have run previously on DH bikes, the MRP is simple in design, setup and use. As an added bonus, it looks and feels strong.

So for those of you out there ready to be trend following whores, but want more gears than a SS, the MRP may just be the ticket to trend.

Tags: 1.X, chain guide, mrp