Pinkbike Product Picks
Blackspire DER chainguide
K.I.S.S. is an old engineering acronym that refers to "keep it simple, stupid", and Blackspire has done just that with their DER guide. Designed for maximum efficiency in freeride and DH applications, the DER claims to put less resistance on the chain than the common pulley wheel setup, and is made in as few pieces as possible with no moving parts. The guide frame is CNC machined of 6061-T6 aluminum, with a lightweight thermoplastic bash plate and a chain slider made from a proprietary polymer designed for minimal friction and maximum durability. Two sizes of DER are available to fit either 32t-36t or 36t-40t chainrings. Available in ISCG or ISCG '05 mounts (or BB mount with ISCG '05 adapter). Colors: Blue, green, white, red, grey. Weight: 145 grams. MSRP: $165. Blackspire
Pinkbike's Take:
Nookie Bikes DM12 Stem
Let's face it, ano bike bling is one 90's fashion that relives more vibrantly than ever. For those in the market for added stiffness, a little bling, and weight savings, Nookie's direct mount stem fits the RockShox's BoXXer mounting pattern that is found on nearly all of the competition's offerings as well. Machined of 6061 aluminum, this 0-degree stem fits 31.8mm bars and offers two extensions - 50mm and 60mm. Available in anodized red or powdercoat white. Claimed weight: 115 grams (actual weight: 154 w/ included faceplate hardware). MSRP: $100. Nookie Bikes UK
Pinkbike's Take:
Michelin Wild Grip'r 2.6 Tubeless Tire
At the larger end of the DH tire spectrum comes Michelin's 2.6'' wide Wild Grip'r Descent with its Heavy Duty Tubeless casing. At 1450 grams, it's no lightweight, but it is tubeless ready and uses a sturdy, reinforced sidewall. A wide 62mm width ensures a lot of tread contact with earth, and offers a slightly more aggressive, motocross inspired tread as compared to the 2.5'' size version. The Grip'r tire series is designed for versatility, covering a wide range of terrain and conditions, and Michelin has the tire marked directional for front or rear use. MSRP: $75 Michelin Bicycle Tires
Pinkbike's Take:
K.I.S.S. is an old engineering acronym that refers to "keep it simple, stupid", and Blackspire has done just that with their DER guide. Designed for maximum efficiency in freeride and DH applications, the DER claims to put less resistance on the chain than the common pulley wheel setup, and is made in as few pieces as possible with no moving parts. The guide frame is CNC machined of 6061-T6 aluminum, with a lightweight thermoplastic bash plate and a chain slider made from a proprietary polymer designed for minimal friction and maximum durability. Two sizes of DER are available to fit either 32t-36t or 36t-40t chainrings. Available in ISCG or ISCG '05 mounts (or BB mount with ISCG '05 adapter). Colors: Blue, green, white, red, grey. Weight: 145 grams. MSRP: $165. Blackspire
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| Blackspire's DER guide is simple, light, and quiet. The polymer chain slider proves to be impressively durable as well. |
Pinkbike's Take:
 | We have to admit to our initial skepticism about the durability of a chain guide with no roller, but Blackspire's DER has proved it's worth. The incredibly simple design lends to a lightweight guide with no moving parts - which is certainly of benefit on our test sled after an especially wet Pacific Northwest Spring season. No bearings to re-lube or replace; this guide is solid. Perhaps the most worthy feature is how absolutely silent the DER is, despite gritty conditions on a bike that we pedaled a significant amount. Whatever that special, proprietary polymer is, it works, and it works incredibly well. Blackspire states that the chain slider won't wear out like similar elastomeric guides, and thus far we have to agree. The bash plate proves to be tough as well. Installation is also a breeze with the included hardware, and both top and bottom sliders are easily adjustable. - Brad Walton |
Nookie Bikes DM12 Stem
Let's face it, ano bike bling is one 90's fashion that relives more vibrantly than ever. For those in the market for added stiffness, a little bling, and weight savings, Nookie's direct mount stem fits the RockShox's BoXXer mounting pattern that is found on nearly all of the competition's offerings as well. Machined of 6061 aluminum, this 0-degree stem fits 31.8mm bars and offers two extensions - 50mm and 60mm. Available in anodized red or powdercoat white. Claimed weight: 115 grams (actual weight: 154 w/ included faceplate hardware). MSRP: $100. Nookie Bikes UK
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| Nookie's DM12 stem stiffens up the front end while dropping weight. |
Pinkbike's Take:
| The DM12 is a relatively light direct mount stem that offers two extensions, and it's stout and sturdy construction from billet machining stiffens up the front end of the bike noticeably when compared to a standard option. If red anodized is in your bike's color scheme, it's sure to add some style to your steed as well. - Brad Walton |
Michelin Wild Grip'r 2.6 Tubeless Tire
At the larger end of the DH tire spectrum comes Michelin's 2.6'' wide Wild Grip'r Descent with its Heavy Duty Tubeless casing. At 1450 grams, it's no lightweight, but it is tubeless ready and uses a sturdy, reinforced sidewall. A wide 62mm width ensures a lot of tread contact with earth, and offers a slightly more aggressive, motocross inspired tread as compared to the 2.5'' size version. The Grip'r tire series is designed for versatility, covering a wide range of terrain and conditions, and Michelin has the tire marked directional for front or rear use. MSRP: $75 Michelin Bicycle Tires
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| Robust and versatile, the Grip'r HD Descent is best suited for a variety of downhill applications. |
Pinkbike's Take:
| Michelin's Wild Grip'r HD Descent 2.6 is a heavy tire that is intended for pure DH applications. We pedalled it around on the freeride machine for several days and while it adds to the workout going up, it certainly makes it easier to plow the descent. The tread pattern is versatile for mixed terrain, and has a medium durometer rubber that rolls a tad slower than most but offers plenty of bite. Cornering lugs are pliable and stable in anything from hardpack berms to loose, off-camber trail, and the reinforced sidewalls offer a lot of support for those looking to use low pressures and still avoid excessive tire roll. The Grip'r HD's puncture resistance is at an all-time high for tires in it's class. With a good amount of spacing between square-shaped lugs, shedding trail debris comes with ease and offers excellent braking traction. The Wild Grip'r 2.6 is a confidence inspiring tire that excels in all conditions with the exception of rain-saturated roots. It's still good in the wet, but there are better when the weather goes South. Although the tire is indicated directional, our preference is for the "front" direction for both front and rear use, and we find the Wild Grip'r to perform better up front tire than in the rear. Wear resistance is excellent for a tire with medium durometer rubber. Overall, with high-puncture resistance, a stout sidewall, and girthy design, this is the tire for loose and rocky terrain. - Brad Walton |
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The thing is, people charge with what they can get away with. The market says they can sell at $160 or whatever, so why sell for less?
Edit: And also, just to add, its cheaper (in the U.K to th), lighter and more adjustable than the equivalent straitline silent guide....
My veiw is its not worth it.
Maybe some of you whingers need to figure out what it takes to design (or find) a polymer that is low-noise and low-friction in this application.
You can always buy a different guide. Nobody's stopping you.
I applaud Blackspire for KISSing the bullseye here.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/8103471
The retail cost reflects the development and production cost. We spent thousands on molds. The mold for the top guide was very complex and difficult to perfect in order for it to be a single piece and not two pieces like the one tested. And the material for the slider is not some off the shelf plastic or poly urethane, it took us months to develop working closely with specialists and was tested on a special dyno to eliminate wear and noise. The result, as the review points out, is a quieter guide than anything else. And unlike Straitlines and Gamuts who's guides put excessive wear on the chains, ours doesn't wear. This material lasted 30x longer on the dyno than Straitlines!
Contrary to what Kev-roberts thinks, these pieces do not cost a couple $, its much more. Especially the slider! And when all is sold and done, we aren't making very much $ on each guide. You don't get rich making bike parts in Canada!
I must say, the finished model does look very good and if I hadn't not long had a new guide (which is very loud and rather annoying) then this would have been one of my choices as it seems simple and efficient and I like the fact their are no moving parts!
@kev-roberts Cheers
is the material you are using for your sliders UHMW polymer (or similar?)
"the material for the slider is not some off the shelf plastic or poly urethane, it took us months to develop working closely with specialists "
Perhaps similar, but not UHMW. We developed a proprietary polymer.
Im sorry but I think about 99% of people here are straight talking out of their ass. These guides are inexpensive to make what is really making these products so expensive is the fact that the companies have to pay designs, laborers, pros they have to pay for company vehicles and factory costs +lots of other things. But Aaron there is no need to compare your company to gamut/Straitline I recently signed with gamut about three months ago and to be honest i love their guides I did try your guides before and both times i used your guides they where f*cked within about 1month each.
I personally think your guides are shit. And many of the people I ride with agree I can remember one of my friends talking about your company lying about the original weight "115 grams" in reality his weighs in at 155g. Its really annoying to see small companies trying to say why they are better when in reality these companies just make stuff for a specific market like your company is aiming for the weight savers market but then your company doesn't add strength into that which is why your company is one of the companies that most people just ignore...and making fake reviews for pinkbike doesn't help your company either...
why the bashing when everyone is wanting to theorize on why they are so expensive. I suppose having to pay blackspireAaron to reply to all us internet cowboys also adds a few bucks to the price. I can add that on my all mountain rig, I had a gamut dual roller guide for half a season but that got ate up one day.... i replaced it with the blackspire stinger (mainly cause it was cheaper and has the coolest logo in the world - the beaver!! - and that thing still takes a beating. Its started its 2nd full season this year.
and don't make fun of me cause I have a dually roller guide!!
ohja, I work for a manufacturing company but I don't explain to any of you why things are priced the way they are. That would ruin all the fun.
@thisusernameisnottaken Not really! That is only the material cost of the silver. You forget the cost of the mold to cast it in, the cost of the gas for the furnace to melt it down, the cost of the labour, the cost of the polishing, packaging, etc,... Not even close!
@kev-roberts Cheers "
Thanks captain obvious. It was a loose example at the price....
About the making fake reviews for pinkbike thing.. You should talk about that to Brad Walton, he wrote the review not blackspire.
Maybe the old Dh guide of them isn't that great but this one is completly new and the is no way that you have riden or even seen it before.. So you can't say anything about the function or strengh of this guide..
Also it's obvious that you can't say anything against Gamut, but as my time as a biketech I have seen pretty much every Guide on the marked been destroyed (Gamut, MRP, E-13, Blackspire and on and on)
Often it's bad luck too...
And like "ibeaver" said, he destroyed a Gamut one and is now riding a Blackspire one..
So relax, be happy about your new sponsor and stop hateing on others.
by the way, Blackspire has been around longer than you are.. So they must have done something right. cheers
Shame as i liked them because they were so much more reasonable, and as a product designer i know how much these things cost to manufacture, and even with R&D and marketing, that price is extortionate.I can get a steel-backplate version E13 for a lot less than this, or the Alu version for the same.
Their added value for me was literally the value, now thats gone, i'm not sure why i'd choose these, especially when its not nearly as good looking as an E13.
You're having a laugh if you think design and engineering added to the cost. I could make that in my old high school's workshop. There is NOTHING unique, intricate or difficult about the process of creating it. It's a carbon copy of about 10 other guides on the market.
Don't get me wrong, all the overheads and having to actually turn a profit weigh in quite a bit, but I think it's a very unreasonable price for something so simple and so similar to many other products.
Really like the no-pulley design. Definite nod to Straitline.
They use this system to tension/guide industrial chains or chains on Dirtbikes for a long time
1) e13 say their taco is designed to absorb impacts. Looking at the size of LG1+'s taco I can say that it really does.
Maybe I'm mistaken coz I'm comparing 2 pictures onlline and never had the DER guide in my hands but it seems to me that the DER guide has more of the backplate and less o the guard.
2) The idea of a slider instead of a pulley - brilliant, the material which outlasts other materials - brilliant.However: I'm no scientist but I think when the chain is rubbing against the plastic slider there must be some kind of wear somewhere. If the slider is so tough - it must be the chain being polished. There's probably no prob in Downhill and Freeride but what about All mountain/ Enduro where lots of pedalling is involved?