After market chain guard.

[JohnV]

Anyone know of a light weight, after market chain guard that will easily go onto a Shimano Tiagra crankset? I'm getting a little tired of wiping grease off my legs and riding pants when I ride my road bike and accidentally touch the outer chain ring. I did an initial internet search but came up empty handed. Shimano does not show one on their web site and the Tiagra cranks do not come with them. If there's no such animal, I guess an old cut sock placed in that area will have to do.

[Bill]

Hi John,
First before I post this link do know I have never got an email back from them but it is the official bicycle plastic company that most everyone uses for these type of accessories. You can however use these part numbers to asked your LBS or online source to see if they can order them?

http://www.yungfang.com.tw/company.asp

[DaveM]

It's not to hard to find after market plastic chain guards for single speed cranksets. It get trickier finding ones that are made to allow room for the front derailleur on multi speed cranksets. But they do exist.

One other option is what I think is called a "rock ring". This bolts to the outside of the crankset like another chainring and extends up past the outer ring. The original intention is to protect you chainrings from hitting rocks, logs, etc. when off roading. But I have one bike where I use it as a minimal chainguard. It doesn't completely cover the chain, but does provide some protection.

[JohnV]

Quote:One other option is what I think is called a "rock ring". This bolts to the outside of the crankset like another chainring and extends up past the outer ring.

Thanks Bill and Dave

This is actually what I'm looking for. The crank on the hybrid is a SR Suntour and their web site calls them chain guards. I have also heard the term used at other places that reference what you call a "rock ring". After posting, I went and did some more searching and found some sites that had what I was looking for but under a different name and that is why I couldn't find anything under chain guard. They call them "bash guards" and are sold by the number of teeth on the outer chain ring. I don't know if I want to spend over $40.00 for it. I'll keep looking or cut an old sock and slide it over my leg.

Bill,

I checked out that web site and they call them "chain wheel guards" but they don't give a description of which cranksets they fit. Their on-line catalog tells you what cranksets the guards fit, but it looks like all are for Shimano MTB cranksets.

[JonB]

The vast majority of Bash Guards actually REPLACE the outer ring and are compatible with virtually all configurations (there's the odd one or two that don't work, the E-13 polycarb ones are HUGE and actually require specific chain ring bolts. proper light, very tough and very blingy though). As mentioned by others, the aim is to protect your chain and chain ring from hitting stuff on trails (more common on big Full suspension, where the chainring can get pretty close to the floor).

If you look hard you can probably find a cheap one, or post up on various forums (Pinkbike.com will probably have the odd one or two in BuySell, though it is mainly a serious MTB site; as one would expect use caution though as it's not regulated by and laws or anything)

[Bill]

Maybe this is an option? .... http://www.amazon.com/SKS-Chainboard-Bicycle-Chain-Guard/dp/B001NH1FJE


P.S. Sorry I forgot about the Shimano thing.

[JohnV]

Good thing I have a bunch of old socks to cut up. The more I search, the more I am finding that it's either a full or half chain guard, which I don't really want. This is getting very time consuming for me just to be able to keep some grease off my legs