Wolf Tooth GnarWolf Chainguide Review
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Sometimes it’s the small things about a bike that make the biggest difference to the riding experience. Today’s post focusses on a fairly niche product, which although small in size, has made a big impact to the way I ride my gravel bike. Wolf Tooth’s GnarWolf chainguide has been a great addition to my gravel bike set-up and has provided ample confidence that my chain will not drop when riding over rough terrain.
The need for a chain guide:
Let’s back up for a second and talk about why a chain guide might be a requirement for your bike. To appreciate the need for a chain guide on a gravel bike it’s worth looking at the recent product advances within the industry. The gravel bike market has seen some incredible growth over the last few years which has translated into exciting innovations when it comes to the bikes and components that are offered to this market segment. One particular area where this impact can be seen is in the increased popularity of a 1x drivetrain (i.e. only one chain ring fitted to the cranks). My jump into the world of 1x drivetrains has been less than ideal and you can read about my initial frustrations and concerns with 1x set-ups in my 3T Exploro review post. I will however admit that the clean, minimalistic look of a 1x set-up can make any bike look more attractive, but the functionality of this set-up is not always on par with the enhanced visuals.
Another product development which has gained a great deal of popularity with the growth of the gravel market is a clutch-enabled rear derailleur. In short, this kind of rear derailleur adds additional tension to the chain to prevent chain slaps and/or drops when riding over bumpier surfaces. This type of rear derailleur was initially developed for the mountain biking industry where almost all modern mountain bikes ship with a 1x drivetrain. In theory, the combination of a clutch rear derailleur and a 1x drivetrain should be sufficient to keep the chain from dropping while you ride over more technical surfaces. In practice, things don’t always work out this perfectly, especially if you are like me and want to push the boundaries of where you can ride a gravel bike.
Following my initial frustrations with the 1x set-up and clutch derailleur I have come to appreciate them a lot more. It is especially when riding over the more technical surfaces that I’ve come to gain a huge respect for the clutch rear derailleur which is able to keep the chain in place even as I bump across rocky roads and trails. There is however a “but” in that statement, because as good as the clutch is to keep the chain up, I have come to find that its effectiveness rate is about 99%. There will still be the rare 1% of instances where the slap in the chain cannot be controlled by the tension from the clutch, which will result in a dropped chain. During training rides or in less competitive scenarios, that 1% does not matter, but what if this occurs during a race while you are desperately trying to hang with a group of other riders? There is no backup to a 1x set-up, and by design you won’t have a front mech that can simply be shifted to move a dropped chain back into place. From my experience, I can tell you that these rare chain drops have the habit to occur at the most unfortunate of times. It was this very problem that led me on a search to find a solution. Enter the GnarWolf chainguide!
Wolf Tooth GnarWolf Chainguide:
The GnarWolf was designed with one purpose - to keep your 1x setup’s chain in place no matter what kind of crazy riding you do. Given that single purpose, this product absolutely delivers. I truly admire mechanical engineering that can solve a problem in the simplest of ways and this product definitely falls into that category. The design of the GnarWolf highlights how all the small details were considered when this product was conceived. It allows for easy vertical adjustment to accommodate chainrings from 34t all the way up to 46t, even oval shaped rings. There is also an elliptical expanding mandrel that provides the ability to make the required horizontal adjustments to accommodate various chain lines without the need for any shims. Sheer brilliance if you ask me! I run a 42t chainring up front and have an 11-42t cassette in the rear. Both the 42-42t as well as the 42-11t combinations work perfectly without any rub against the chain guide. As an added bonus, you only need to loosen one bolt to move the guide cover out of the way, which does not affect the settings that you dialed in.
The braze-on chainguide easily attaches to the front derailleur mount on your bike with the use of only one 4mm hex tool. In my particular instance, I did not have the front mount for my 3T Exploro already fitted and had to buy that part separately. There is also another GnarWolf model that comes with a 26.8mm seat post clamp, should your frame not have a front mech mount. Ensure that your frame is the correct size before you buy this particular model. Mountain bikers can also check out the other Wolftooth chainguides that are on offer, which are better suited for full suspension frames.
Weighing in at a mere 44g, this chainguide adds very little additional weight to the bike, given the functionality that it provides. Putting this weight in direct comparison to a full GRX front derailleur will reveal that a complete front mech still weighs in heavier at 96g. In my opinion that small additional weight is worth each gram, especially if it helps to avoid the need to stop mid-race to try and fit a dropped chain back onto a bike.
The GnarWolf chainguide has brought about a great deal of confidence when it comes to riding along over fairly technical sections. No longer do I get to the bottom of a tricky descent and look down just to ensure that the chain is still fitted to the chainring. If I haven’t made it clear enough throughout this post, this is an excellent product that has been well made and certainly gets my seal of approval. In the video that goes along with this blog post, you can see how I put this product through the test. Watch how the chain remains in place even with the rigors of riding over bumpy terrain.
If my word isn’t enough to convince you about the usefulness of this product, then it’s worth pointing out that even professionals at the top of the sport have come to realize the benefit that this product can offer. If you look carefully at the pictures of Alex Grant’s bike that he used to win the 2019 Crusher in the Tushar gravel race, you will be able to spot the GnarWolf chainguide fitted to his bike.
Wrap Up:
If you are like me and just don’t want to take any more chances with a dropped chain on your 1x set-up, then Wolf Tooth’s GnarWolf chainguide is an absolute must. Knowing that you don’t have to rely solely on the clutch in your rear derailleur to keep your chain in place means that you can focus on the riding and worry less about the rear mech working effectively. The product has been thoughtfully designed and carries the high-quality manufacturing that you come to expect from a company like Wolf Tooth. This might be a small bike part that can easily be overlooked, but it has single handedly helped swing my opinion back in favor of a 1x drivetrain after almost giving up on it entirely.
Let us know in the comment section what you like or dislike most about a 1x drivetrain. If you you are currently unhappy with your setup, have you tried a chainguide to help with the problem?
- Wiehan
