My findings with single ring set ups before:

For different reasons I did not like the single ring options available so far.
-chaincatchers in various options: just not as reliable as I want them the to be
-frontderailleur as a chaincatcher: dito + it looks odd, weight penalty and it lacks the bonus of easy cleaning of the BB area by just putting the chain aside
-double bashring: oldest & best solution so far. Very reliable + easy cleaning as explained above. But, having the chainring on the outer position and me being not so strong, I have my chain on the inside sprockets most of the time. The wear of the chain doesn't bother me. But the effort wasted to cause this wear does: I want as much of my energy as possible to help me going forward!

As I really like the single ring set up I wanted to try the new option for mountainbikes on my CX bike: a narrow-wide chainring. See for information on narrow-wide chainrings Wolftooth, Race Face, SRAM and other manufacturers.
Designed for mountainbike in combination with a special clutch deraillleur narrow-wide is not available for Campagnolo.
Now what? Because I own two Stevens carbon team bikes with the most beautiful crankarms ever made: Record carbon square taper. What to do?
I purchased a Race Face (due to availability in the Netherlands) 40 teeth narrow-wide chainring 130 BCD. Then carefully spaced up the 5 holes to match the 135 BCD Campy crankarms. To be more secure that I won't ruin my crankset I used spacers made of an old chainring for a more even powerdistribution on the crankarm. Having one other problem solved at the same time: the chainringbolts, which are different for Campy carbon cranks, need not to be shortened.
The hidden chainringbolt on the inside only needed two of the same spacer normally used to match.

Two more further steps and off I went:
-rearderailleurtension was set up at the highest
-chain is kept almost as short as possible
Both to prevent the chain from dropping of the chainring and so compensate for the lack of a clutch type rearderailleur (SRAM / Shimano).

I've done +10 rides now and the chain has bever failed me. Among them very bumpy tracks, with and without roots. Technical courses with a lot of turning, shifting, loose sand downhills and a midsummerrace. Shifting under load while humping & bumping: no sweat, it all worked excellent so far.
There has more testing to be done to be sure if this is as reliable as I want it to be. Among that should be heavy mud tracks. I will keep you posted to give more feedback how it holds up (the feedback may take a while).

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For sale: Colnago Master PRZA frameset 58cm

My other bikes:
CX: Stevens Team Carbon Campagnolo Record 10spd; 2x
MTB: Deng Fu 29" XTR, rigid
SS road: Gazelle Special Reynolds 853 Trapezi

Nice solution! When you say spaced up the holes from 130 to 135, what do you mean exactly? Do you have step by step photos?

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2012 BMC SLR 6.02kg http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=110390

I'd be keen on any more photos or info you can give too, I'm currently running 1x10 Shimano on my CX bike and want to swap it all over to Campagnolo to match my road bike.
I've been searching for a narrow/wide 135mm ring but nobody is making them... yet.

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You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
-- Frank Zappa

This is awesome, I'm doing it.

I like your spacers from the old chainring too, I might do this on mine. I plan on laying a 135mm chainring over the top, centering the two chainrings and tracing/marking where the "new" holes need to be. Then I can carefully carve and enlarge the holes with a dremel.

One question I have: did the new chainring sit nicely on the spider/arms of the crank? Or did you have to shorten the section of the chainring near the bolt hole? See the image, the arrow points to the area I'm talking about (just a random chainring image).


My cranks are carbon UT but I agree that the carbon square taper Record cranks are very nice.

_________________
You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
-- Frank Zappa

I did the same thing but kept my 39 tooth chainring... Works great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Mjduct, no chain drops? That is not a narrow-wide ring , no?

I have changed my set up due to chain drops.
Allthough it only occured 5 times, 2 of them were during race )out of 5 races riding this set up) on a bumpy part of the course. And that´s not as reliable as it should be.
Both times the chain dropped after I had stopped pedaling aproaching a corner on a bumpy track. As soon as I started pedaling again the chain dropped because of chain growth.
In the new set up I have chainged the derailler for a SRAM X9. Combinened with a modified 11 speed 12-27 Chorus cassette. I swappped the 12 + 13 for a 13 T end cog and did not change the spacers. Works and shifts fine with my Record 10 speed shifter, close to perfect.
No chain drop happened since in training and the four race so far.
I also swithed from Race Face to an oval Rotor Q: QCX1. This chainring has bigger teeth providing more 'grip' on the chain.

_________________
For sale: Colnago Master PRZA frameset 58cm

My other bikes:
CX: Stevens Team Carbon Campagnolo Record 10spd; 2x
MTB: Deng Fu 29" XTR, rigid
SS road: Gazelle Special Reynolds 853 Trapezi

For those using Campy cranks as a single speed set up on CX, you could look at using one 135 BCD bash guard from Gebhardt. I used one one in the big ring position, installed a 40 tooth inner chainring and used a Dog Fang on the seat tube using a 10 speed drivetrain. And I too was tending to have my chain on the bigger cogs most of the time so the single bash guard and Dog Fang eliminated the rub and also addressed the typical problem when using two bash guards of mud build up.

Is using a top guide really so bad?