Are chainring spacers safe?

Yes spacers are fine for this. It sounds like you want to move a few millimeters – 2 or 3 millimeters is fine and the bolts can handle it. A word of caution about bottom bracket spindle: make sure that your crank is clearing the chain stay.

How many teeth do you need for a chainring?

There’s no universal correct number of teeth for the largest chainring. For MTB triples 42 teeth is common, while road triples usually have 50 to 53 teeth.

Can I increase my chainring size?

Can I Change Chainring Size? Yes yeah can but you cannot just change your current chainring for something that does not work with your current setup. Meaning the new chainring you get for your bike needs to works with your current chainset. Your cranks will have a specific bolt layout or fitment spec.

What are chainring bolts?

Chainring bolts perform the simple task of securing one or more chainrings to the chainset spider, and in the case of many MTBs, a bash guard as well.

Do you need spacers on bottom bracket?

If you need to use a bottom bracket mounted chain guide or derailleur, then you’ll also need to remove the innermost 2.5mm spacer on the drive side – so a 68mm or 83mm shell will have one drive side spacer and one non-drive side spacer, while a 73mm shell will need no spacers at all.

How thick is a chainring?

Chainrings also come in several nominal widths: 3/16″ (4.76 mm) for old-time bikes (especially skip-tooth or inch-pitch), heavy duty BMX, Worksman, and exercise bikes. 1/8″ (3.18 mm) for track, BMX, cruiser bikes, one-speed, three-speeds, and the rare older 3 or 4 speed derailleur bike.

How does chainring size affect speed?

While the choice of cassette determines the gear range of your drivetrain, you can shift the gearing up and down with the size of the chainring. The smaller the chainring, the easier the lowest gear for climbing; the bigger the chainring, the faster you can go in the highest gear.

What is the best chainring for climbing?

Mountain bike chainrings are available in smaller sizes all the way down to 26t, though I’d recommend most riders try a 30t or 28t first to experience how much easier it is to climb. For gravel bikes, I wouldn’t recommend going any smaller than 38t to maintain top-end speed on downhills.

How do I know the offset of my chainring?

If you existing chainring is a direct mount SRAM ring the offset is usually stamped on the inside of the ring. DUB still allows for two different offsets for Boost and Non-Boost. So you need the 3mm offset rings, or otherwise known as Boost.