Homebrewed Components Experience

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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skiandbikecmh
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:26 am

by skiandbikecmh

Anyone have experience with home brewed components? Was thinking about ordering a spiderless 36t chainring for my hollowgram to run with XX1 or maybe xtr 1*10. Quality? Delivery Time?

Also thinking about the Helium Chainguide, so reviews on that would also be good. Is the weight actually 16 grams?

Also thoughts on running the HBC spiderless chainring without a guide, using just the clutch to keep chain on. Would look much cleaner and be a little lighter if it worked.
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2002maniac
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:16 pm
Location: Utah, USA
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by 2002maniac

The Homebrewed chain rings are excellent, but the owner is a bit of a flake with a crazy backlog. I consider myself lucky having received my HBC ring for my XTR spiderless 3 months after ordering. If you are willing to wait up to 6 months (or longer!) with poor communication then it is a good product. My next chainring will be from Mattias Hellore (google him).

As far as the helium chainguide goes, hopefully someone will chime in with a review but I can verify the weight. In order to run the XX1 without a chain guide you absolutely need the XX1 chainring. Even with the XX1 ring, most pros have opted for a guide as well.

Crappy cell shot:

Image

Cameron Avery - Helium Components

by Weenie


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Elstorma
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2012 10:57 am

by Elstorma

Helium chainguide:
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mine came in at 18g, still very respectable.

have used them for a number of months now, i would say i had not been conscious of it which would be a good thing. no issues on running them. ( i run them 1x10)

Set-up is abit finicky (getting the guide plate to get to centre perfectly requires it spinning... would maybe ge great to have it able to slide inboard/outboard freely but secured with a grub screw?.. just thinking out loud..), but once set, i'd say it does its job without making any fuss. :thumbup:

wrenchmonkey
Posts: 68
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:45 am
Location: MIDWEST

by wrenchmonkey

The guy is perfectly up front with the wait time and the poor communication on his website. I got my ring in a shade under 3 months and the quality is immaculate.

skiandbikecmh
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:26 am

by skiandbikecmh

So I made the order on 11/12/12. I have heard nothing from him and the date is now 9/3/13 over 9 months late. He must have a hell of a backlog. I don't honestly hold out much hope that it will ever come, but if it ever does, then it better be perfect. Seems to me like $50 down the drain.
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jbbikerider
Posts: 267
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 4:42 am

by jbbikerider

He's done and supposedly there's legal action being taken. Really sad because the dude really could machine really nice parts. I ordered a bunch of stuff maybe a year or so ago and got really lucky to get everything I ordered.

grover
Posts: 1302
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 1:06 pm

by grover

I ordered on 14 August 2012 having read the expected lead times. I waited that period plus a bit more. Sent an email, got no response, waited some more, sent more emails, no response, still waiting. It's more than a year down the track. I've moved on, resigned to never seeing a chainring or my money.

bombertodd
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by bombertodd

skiandbikecmh wrote:So I made the order on 11/12/12. I have heard nothing from him and the date is now 9/3/13 over 9 months late. He must have a hell of a backlog. I don't honestly hold out much hope that it will ever come, but if it ever does, then it better be perfect. Seems to me like $50 down the drain.



I bought a mtb chainring from him a while back and it took about 8 months. I forgot about it, and then it showed up in the mail.


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2002maniac
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by 2002maniac

Wow! Lots of empty promises from HBC. I don't think I would order from them considering the other options on the market. Absolute black rings look nice.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

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skiandbikecmh
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:26 am

by skiandbikecmh

Update: Ring arrived on 9/20/13. 9.5 months later. Quality is immaculate, but tbh I gave up hope that it would ever come, and I don't even have a hollowgram crankset to put it on anymore. The other unfortunate thing is that I got absolutely no updates as to when it would arrive, whether it was done or when it would be shipped. NOTHING. It just showed up in the mail. It will be posted in the for sale items on the forum in a little bit.


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