e.thirteen LG1 chain guide reviews
Reviews of e.thirteen's super-lightweight DH race chain guide.
The LG1 is a new chainguide system developed to meet the rigorous demands of World Cup downhill racing. The LG1 is an extremely strong, reliable, and adjustable system with the lightest weight of any chainguide that we are aware of on the market today.
Media Reviews:
Mountain Biking Magazine September 2007
When downhill mountain biking was first starting out, the closest thing to a chainguide was called the shark fin. If you ran a shark fin on your bike, you were considered a pretty bad dude. Nowadays, there are dozens of different devices to keep your chain connected to your sprockets. e.13 sent us their LG-1 and it quickly became our new favourite.
The LG-1 is e.13's solution to the reignited trend of lightweight downhill bikes. It has the option to use no bash guard or just a portion of the bash guard the SRS uses. In doing so, it saves around half a pound of weight.
Setup
As with all chain guides, the initial set up was a little tricky. You have to get the spacers and clearance just right or it won't work. With a 34 tooth chainring we had a little trouble with the crank spider rubbing the top track of the guide. This was not much of a problem though, we just did a little file work on the plastic, and voila! We got proper setup with no rubbing. For most of you guys this won't be an issue as you'll probably be running a bigger chainring. e.13 just happened to send us a 34 tooth ring with the guide, so that's what we used.
Once the guide was set up correctly it was one of the most problem free components we've used. We first received the guide in September of 2006. Since then it's been through dozens of races, hundreds of miles of shuttle runs, and taken countless hits to both the bashguard and the aluminum frame. It has never dropped a chain, or suffered any bending or cracking during this time. The plastic and aluminum is peppered with impact marks, but the guide still works like it did on day one... flawless.
Overall the LG-1 is an impressive piece of equipment. It's one of those parts that once set up, will keep working and never have to be touched. In terms of durability it's up there with Chris King head sets. There are some parts you can just put on your bike and they will last forever; the LG-1 is one of those.
MBUK Magazine August 2007
The burly SRS guides from e.13 have been around for a while now, and although damn-near indestructable, they're a bit heavy duty for some, so they developed the LG1 (Light Guide). Gone is the Supercharger bashring that made e.13 famous and in come two new chain retainers. The lower guide is similar to the regular one, with a jockey wheel to keep things rolling smoothly, but the lower guide now overlaps the chainring instead of butting up against the Supercharger ring. The upper guide is all new, and is essentially a cage for the chain that sits as low as possible to stop the chain derailing. There's no bashring protection for the chainring, but there are mounts on the boomerang to run a taco - a cut down Supercharger ring.
southerndownhill.com - June 2006
Ok kids, here it is, the latest in weight weenying from e.thirteen components. I'm sure in the past we've all had a nice simple little chain guide on our bikes that consisted of a top guide and bottom roller. Did yours work? No, mine either... But all that has now changed, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the E.13 LG1!
First thing to note, is that it's compatible with just about anything you could care to imagine, whether you buy it in old or new ISCG style, it comes with the adapter to directly mount to your BB should you want. It fits any bolt pattern, (obviously!) and it only weighs 195 grams! You can get anything from a 34-44T as well, it's got the versatility of a zip tie! You're probably wondering what those two circular holes are on the bottom and right hand sides! They miraculously line up with your chainring bolts if you're running 4-arm, so if they come loose, you can do them back up without taking everything apart, nice touch guys...
For those of you who've ever bought an old style e.thirteen, or read our previous review by Rob, you'll know that you had to assemble your guide like an airfix kit. Alas, this is no longer the case, the lovely guys at e.thirteen have put it together for you, so you don't have to get annoyed about your male inability to read instructions.
My set up involved a 38T Middleburn DH ring, with Middleburn RS7 cranks with a 4-arm spider, mounted onto my '05 Cannondale Gemini DH. Many of you may have heard that there's lots of fun to be had mounting devices on the Gemini due to clearance issues and interesting ISCG tab placement. I won't lie to you, it takes a bit of time to work out exactly how many washers/spacers you need between the tabs and the device, after all this is the only way of spacing out the device. There's no adjustment on the guides to and from the frame, to keep tolerances tight, but once you've sorted out your spacing from the frame, it really is a doddle. With 3 fairly thin washers in place, and the chainring in the right place on the device, I set to work on the guide set-up.
There are two bolts at the top of the top guide, and these are some of the neatest little bolts I've seen. The 3mm allen key goes in nice and deep, so unless you are a serious hazard to bike parts, you won't round them off. Now you're probably thinking; " I bet there's a little nut at the back of there that I've got to get at with a tiny little spanner to tighten it up in the right place" Nu-huh! They've thought of that as well, the bolts counter-sunk into a guide that stops them from turning. Lovely... You literally move the guide down until it's about 2mm from the top of the chain and tighten up the two bolts. That's what I call an easy-set up! The same applies to the bottom roller as well.
The e.thirteen jockey wheel has a little sealed bearing in, so apparently no noise, and no play... We'll see! Oh yeh, it fits *perfectly*
"Wheres the bashplate?!" I hear you cry, well that's right, there isn't one! Did I forget to mention that?! To be honest, when I took the bike out for testing, I was very worried about smashing chainrings and chains, so where did we head off to? That's right... Wharncliffe!
Lots of nice rocks to test it out, and I really did try to hit it off a few things, needless to say, I genuinely haven't managed to smack it on anything yet. It would seem that if you run a smallish chainring (38T) and don't have protective bash plates covering that extra few centimetres, then it's very difficult to actually smash your chainring on anything. Maybe on a different bike on a different track you might worry about it, but despite the fact that the Cannondale has a fairly low BB, I'm satisfied that a bashguard is overkill that I can now live without.
Finally you'll want to know what it's like in mud. Aston Hill had recently suffered from about 5 hours of constant downpour, whilst I was there, so I can tell you that not only does it dispatch the wet mud very happily, it also does its best to get rid of the stickier stuff when it dries up. I'm sure many of you have suffered from "MRP roller turned jockey wheel syndrome" in the past, but with the jockey wheel on the bottom of the e.thirteen, the mud collects a noticeably less. I had a slight problem with the chain slipping because I'd left the top guide too high, but a quick lowering of that sorted out.
So there you have it, it's pretty easy to set up, maybe a little fiddly to get the perfect distance from the BB, but a lot of effort has gone into the design to make set-up convenient. It's light as hell, definitely one of the parts that has lost a fair bit of weight from my bike. The lack of bashguard might put some of you off, but I haven't found it a problem, and I'll be running it just how you see it in Morzine/Les Gets this season. It works well in the mud too! The plastic is strong and keeps noise to an absolute minimum. The only problem I can see is that the top guide will foul the back of crank arms when running really small chainrings, so don't go whacking one on your street bike! An absolute featherweight quality chain guide for just £110, I'd call it an essential for all you weight weenies, and even if you don't care, it puts many devices to shame with its simplicity, quietness and performance.
FULL REVIEW
descent-world.co.uk February 2006
e.thirteen have become one of the staple diet requirements for gravity and some non-gravity riders over the past couple of years. With the introduction of the LG1 (Light Guide 1), as used by Fabien Barel during his winning run at the 2005 World Championships in Livingo, Italy September last. Constructed in the usual robust manner by the guys at e.thirteen the LG1 is a new generation of chain guide for the gravity set, bashguardless, the LG1 is all about lightweight and strength.
Gone are the bashguard's and in their place are two guides, top and bottom, made of lightweight and very strong plastic. The lower guide is complete with the obligatory jockey wheel which helps wrap the chain in even further round as it spins off the ring. The boomerang/back plate is constructed of a one piece machined alloy to which the guides are attached to.
e.thirteen's recent decision to fully assemble their guides is a good one, gone is the airfix style kit when you opened the box and now it's a case of breaking the chain and fitting it...nothing is simpler.
To read the feature in full please click through to www.descent-world.co.uk
Dirt Nov/Dec 2005
"e13 are heading out of the gate in fifth gear. They'll be hard to beat in '06" There was a time not so long ago when there was only one or two ways when it came to keeping the chain on a chainring over very rough ground. Nowadays there are dozens but still the balance of power remains in one, albeit different, company. e.thirteen has arrived and conquered in a relatively short space of time from when the first chunky devices started appearing on the likes of Gracia's Cannondale a few years ago. The clear device with bashguard is a favourite amongst all the people who race for a living, but this season Fabien Barel has been running the LG1 system sans bashguard. The thinking behind this is that on many tracks there is no need for a strong bashguard. It is also said some riders are so hard on their bikes that many times the cranks have bent before the bashguard breaks. If you were to take a look at Barel's pedals after a morning of practice then the abuse given out in the pedal and crank area is considerable. Surely though if you're going to ground out hard then something is going to give anyway. It's a fantastic recommendation for a product if someone as hard as Fabien runs your system.
There are several key features to the LG1. For starters clearance in muddy conditions is aided by the cutaways in the mouldings close to the chain line. Second the company have spent several years sourcing the perfect roller durometer and they have plumped for something just a little harder than a Maxpro, about 70. Boltings are minimal and stainless, set-up is easy and finally for those seeking lightweight then they don't get much lighter than this. Efficient, light and strong. What more do you want?
Published Tuesday 20 December 2005
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