iab

Well, there's the very basic, if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. Then there's the idea of not raining on someone's parade. Then there's the personal satisfaction of not thinking unpleasant thoughts. Then there is the point of having a point. And then there's the concept a discussion infers constructive input and not pure prattle. I could go on, but you bore me.

TenGrainBread 

I feel like this is a way overblown reaction to me expressing a negative opinion about a $765 bike part. There's also some irony involved in scolding someone for being negative (again, about a bike part) by calling their opinion "pure prattle" and saying "you bore me". If you care so much about only saying nice things, maybe you should examine your own posts on here.

alexnagui

Hi Brent, it doesn't look that perfect in reality as in that picture. It wasn't my intention to make it look perfect anyway, to be honest.
The method is simple and similar to what TenGrainBread mentioned in his post: wet sanding followed my Mother's polish which was done by hand. Don't rememmber the grit sizes anymore, but I guess it was something like 320 -> 400 -> 600 -> 800. I like the shine which can be achieved with Mother's polish and don't really mind if there are some marks or unevenness left on the surface.
Another product that I use a lot especially for polishing of chrome but also aluminum is Flitz Polish, I really recommend it.

repechage

40 is smaller than I expected.

iab

Ya. It would be tough not spinning out on that. I'm not fast. And I prefer "grinding" on descents. Makes it a less useful choice.

abshipp 

I'm sure you saw it, but for anyone else looking there's also the 44t 50.4bcd ring from Velo Orange that's only drilled for the spider mounting bolts.

This picture from their website is misleading as it shows a 48t ring. I can confirm that they are indeed 44t.

shoota 

Do you need a 1X setup or Single Speed? Because most of what I'm seeing in here is SS, not 1X. You need a narrow wide chainring for 1X.

iab

So far, as best as I can tell, everything posted here is compatible with an 11-speed chain. When I hear single speed, I think 1/8 chain.

While not narrow/wide, I want to run 1x11 as the location of this bike doesn't warrant a double up front but it isn't singletrack either.

shoota 

Ah, yeah. You really should use a NW chainring. What kind of shifting are you using? Brifters? DT (friction/indexed)?

iab

Probably ergo, I'm partial to Campagnolo. Must be silver. Ekar only comes in black.

A quick glance shows NW chainrings in black, but stripping the anodizing would be OK. They also seem to be mostly 110s, Do they come in other BCDs?

RobbieTunes

A N/W chainring is not required for 1x, but it’s a good idea, or a clutched RD or both. It really depends on the range of the rear. Wider ranges sort of need the clutched R/D and N/W. Narrow ranges don’t.

I’ve only built 2, but hey, both worked.

The first was simply a 1x10 Ultegra using a normal RD and 48t normal chainring, 11-28 rear. Easy wrap for the RD. Were I to do it again, I’d use a DT shifter and Campy with a 50T front and 12-30 cogset, medium cage RD and bias chain length for the big cog side of things.

I do like the non-ramped rings with longer teeth. Just seem better.

The second is my current one, 1x11 with a 50t front and 10-42 rear. The chainring is N/W, as are the RD jockey wheels, and the RD is clutched. Climbed out of Jonesdale.

The chain is N/W too.

AJI125 

I know you mentioned silver, can't help much there. I played with the idea on a Shimano 130 BCD crank (the 9s era cranks have the 130bcd spider for the most part). Other N/W 130 BCD (just googled the ones I remembered, no connection/recommendation for where to buy implied):
https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/...oss-chainrings
https://absoluteblack.cc/cx-rings.html
https://www.jensonusa.com/SRAM-X-Sync-Road-1X-Chainring (wow big tooth size 52/54 for 130, sheesh, for the tree trunks out there I guess)
https://www.jensonusa.com/Race-Face-...Wide-Chainring

And for non N/W (these mention lower speed chains - so no idea what that might do to ya)
https://www.jensonusa.com/Sugino-130-BCD-Chainring
https://surlybikes.com/parts/stainless_steel_chainrings

Last time I looked there were some cheap knockoff ones on eBay, might be made out of beer cans, last you 500 miles, but depending on your plan could be worth a stab to try out a setup.

Edit: Goes without saying I think, but pair one of these with a silver 110/130 bcd crank, a set of 1x bolts, and go ride (maybe playing with chainline a bit compared to double, so might want to avoid stuff like Octalink that come in set BB lengths).

Many used options of course. Still make some basic new square taper options, https://www.modernbike.com/sugino-rd...130-175-silver

shoota 

I've not seen a Campy BCD NW ring. That's always been one of the problems with 1X Campy. That, and no clutched RD.

Like Robbie said, it'll probably work fine with a small range cassette on smooth roads, but even with a NW ring and a clutched RD everyone I know drops chains on gravel roads occasionally. Just food for thought.

iab

Thanks everyone for the input. Very helpful for this newbie. I'll definitely look at clutch RDs. The roads I'm riding are really not bad, actually pretty smooth. The occasional washboard, but nothing severe.

I do want a pretty setup though.

natterberry 

How about this company? Appears to have no problem making NW-silver.

https://www.garbaruk.com/130-bcd-5-b...e=3&category=3


Edit: and yeah, I’m fully planning on buying one (or two) of these for myself. You never know...

RobbieTunes

I like the silver in 130BCD, pick your teeth from 38T to 58T. You can use whatever silver 130BCD crankset/BB that bakes the pasty.
If you're going 1x, you have quite a range available, which I sort of forgot when I was thinking "compact."
Given the N/W rings Bernie shows, no real need for a clutched RD unless you plan on going wide range or bumpy bumpy.