You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / Aussie made widget
Aussie made widget
I needed to upgrade my drive train and was pretty keen on the SRAM XX1 after riding a mates ellsworth, but didn't really want to fork out that much coin.I spent about $400 on a SRAM X9 rear derailluer and shifter, new 10 speed cassette ,chain and the 32 widget and it works brilliantly,great spread of gears and seamless shifting.Paul who i believe owns the company spent a good half an hour on the phone to me explaining and advising me as to how it works(im abit dimwhen it comes to bike mechanics) and what size would best suite me .Im pretty impressed with both the product and service,just thought id put it out there if anyone else was thinking of going the single front ring option...
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
Nice work,
Im a big fan of 1 x setups.
All my bikes except the roadie have 1x setups.
Hardtail is 1x10 with xx1 cranks 32T, x9 type 2 rear mech, 11-36 cassette.
Dually is 1x9 with E13 ST guide, x9 9spd mech, x0 shifters, 32T salsa ring & 11-34 cassette.
I dont feel a bash guard is necessary for the kind of XC riding i do.
The aftermarket has started releasing xx1 style narrow wide tooth profile rings in 104 bcd as well as spiderless for compatible sram cranks.
raceface, wolf tooth, absolute black etc all have chainrings that have xx1 style tooth profile.
I love the hybrid xx1 10spd setup on the hardtail with clutched rear mech.
I plan on swapping out the standard x9 9 spd rear mech & chainring on my dually for a Shimano zee 10spd shadow +, & a raceface narrow wide 30T chainring. I have to wait a few weeks though for the raceface ring in 30T to become available.
Shimano's shadow + mechs are compatible with sram 9spd shifter, so its a cheaper way to upgrade to a clutched rear mech on a 9spd drivetrain without replacing shifters or cassette.
Not knocking the widget, I haven't tried one myself but a riding mate had one, & had some issue with it. I think the chainring was quite soft, he ended up changing to a E13 guidering.
What sort of riding do you do bikemad. I’d love to get rid of the granny ring but I still do quite a few hills
Good to see another Banshee rider on here. Started on a Banshee Spitfire, now riding a Banshee Paradox. Was going to up grade to a prime. But needed a more endure type bike rather than All mountain, so gone for another not well known Canadian Brand Devinci.
@Sleepalldayride. Bikemads Banshee wildcard is more a Freeride bike, so probably doesn't go up to many steep hills. Could be wrong thou.
I love the wigit on my bike. I run 1x9, 34 wigit, with 11-32 out the back and a saint rear mech. Only had the chain come off three times, two were due to a twig getting stuck in the wigit and levering the chain out, the third was pinning down a rocky dirt road at about 65km/hr (still not sure what happened there...). I love that the wigit chainring is made from stainless and wear is very low compared to ally rings. I'll be going to 1x10 when this drivetrain wears out totally, running the 34 wigit, 11-36 and a saint shadow plus (lockout) rear mech.
I use this bike as my everything bike as being a gypsy i dont have any were to store a whole slew of them!
.Its just on 15kg not light by current standards but ive recently dropped 12kgs so hills arent that much of a problem...i may go up them abit slow but i still get there eventually.Ive also got a sector U-turn fork that winds down from 150-110mm and locks out so its pretty good as a climber if you stay in the saddle!
yeh mine is the only wildcard ive seen in oz so far,picked the frame up for a grand delivered from torpedo and have built it up gradually adding new parts as needed.I went to queensland after the last snow season and spent quite a few weeks riding every worth while trail from gympie back to tathra and plenty of rides on the northern beaches in between.Theres nothing at red hill or the dam that i cant climb that anyone else can ,the climb up to the downhill track at kiwarrak was probably the hardest but still made it to the top!
But I still don't see the point in these things, it's good they aren't mounted to the granny ring mounts but that's the only positive I Can see.
If you don't need a bashie(and have a conventional ST) get something like this http://cerrol.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/shift-up-... and this(plus non ISCG adaptor)http://www.bikeinsel.com/images/ShamanCommander2x-12.jpg
If you want a bashie go an MRP AM setup- http://www.mountainracingproducts.com/wp-content...
You do get an extra pulley so there may be a tiny bit of drag but I have run no front mech for probably 6-8yrs using the gear the DH guys run because it works, always had MRP or E-13 and never had a problem.
I went to a 1x10 setup on my 2011 Giant Reign. As the 2011 model didn't have an iscg mount I though I would try the widget thinking it would do the job of a chain guide. The widget was fine for XC but was crap as soon as I turned down hill.....I dropped the chain every 2nd run....was ruining my rides.
In the end the widget ended up in the bin and I got one of these....http://www.clutchmtb.com/. I combined the with an E-thirteen chain guide and haven't lost a chain since....
Just my experience....
Information over load. I've still got a Hammerschmidt AM tucked away in another continent. Maybe I should just get that. It worked sweeeeeeeeet
out of the chain retention doesnt seem to be a problem....
I ran a 32T Widgit on my Spark for years and loved it. As others have said, I shortened the chain by 4 links and never dropped a chain. However when I replaced it with the 34T version on the same bike with identical setup, I couldn't make it round a lap of the dam without the chain dropping at least once. Same sized guides with a bigger ring just wasn't doing the job for me. I ended up putting front mech back on as a chain guide, which solved the chain drop issue, but kinda defeated the purpose.
Have just ordered an XX1-style Race Face 'narrow wide' 34T to see if it fares any better without a guide. At almost a 1/3 of the price of a Widgit, it's worth a try...
I really liked my widget. But I was only riding XC and some light AM stuff. I've since changed systems, so, I have a 30t used widget for sale.
Now I'm running a http://www.blackspire.com/EINFACHX. Does the job well, and I can change chainring sizes easily.
Have had it about 6 weeks now, took 4 links out and have never even looked like dropping a chain riding mainly Red Hill and in the Gravity Enduro at Stromlo. Not had any issues bending the Alluminium 'plates' - they seem thicker than the older versions. Running a 28 tooth with 11-36 cassette on a long travel 29er - good gearing for round here for this old fart.
Been through 2 widgets on my previous bike.
Before that was running just a standard 3x10 setup with lever and chainrings removed to make it a 1x.
Ran that for a few months with the odd chain dropped.
The widget worked great as far as keeping the chain on the bike goes, but even compared to a standard shimano chainring, the materials were very weak.
Bashed the unprotected shimano chainrings for months with no sign of damage.
The widget lasted about a week before i managed to warp both guide plates AND the actual chainring.
Bought another one and within ~2 weeks ended up warping the guide plates, but fortunately not the chainring. Sold the bike shortly after, so no further experience with it.
New bike got a shadow+ RD (so no need for a chain guide), and a Hope alu chain guard.
Widget... as a chain guide, it works perfectly. Add the bash guard and it ended up being an expensive bit of kit.
to see how long it lasts then but ive never had a bashguard on any of my bikes. I rarely make contact as im pretty comfortable bunny/roo hopping most obstacles(bmx banditry was good for something)!
I found the best way to run a wigit was with a short cage rear mech. Running a long one can give you probs with the chain jumping the ring as it bounces around. Running the Shadow+ mechs saves this problem and it's silent and perfect operation.
I have seen wigits bashed to smitherines and the owners wonder why they have chain probs. They simply aren't designed for it! Run a bashguard, the side guards are simply there to help guide the chain onto the ring, nothing more, nothing less. Riding redhill and techy tracks around the beaches, ive only hit my 34 a few times, if I regularly hit my chain, I'd put a bashring on it.
I guess my issue was...
-An unprotected shimano chainring lasted 6 months of abuse with no signs of damage. The widgit lasted 6 days.
-Using a shadow+ RD now, I never drop a chain anyway.
-Add a bash guard to the widgit and ur looking at $220.
If I was converting to a 1x again, I would buy a tough, downhill spec Saint RD (which I currently use on a 32x 11-36 setup). They are $150 on CRC right now, I'm sure for $70 I can get a new chainring and real bash guard too.
Or you can buy a widgit and bash guard for the same price.
I use a carbocage 32t front chain ring. No guides or bash ring. I have the Shimano Zee shadow+ free ride model deraileur which allows me to run a 11-36 cassette with a short cage. No need for a granny ring. I've even been thinking of uping the front ring to a 34 tooth.
I've only had one chain drop.
I would definitely recommend this set up.