thanks for the useful ideas. we probably should rename this thread...and maybe start a new racer tech thread as this got highly specific.
i apologize if we got derailed a bit and the thread became more focused on the entirety of my hill climb than i intended...i'm pretty confident in terms of the gear i plan to run but wanted to vet the single ring/catcher/bolt stuff. going to test the wide/narrow ring w/o a catcher and w/ a shorter chain; i'll fall back to a guard and/or catcher if i'm not satisfied with my testing.
PS cogburn's a super smart and strong guy! thanks, grumpy.