Weeze "The End" Chain Guide Review
There are plenty of chain devices on the market for the 2012 season. Most follow the same two or three major design points; with a bashguard or without, rollers or sliders, ISCG or ISCG 05. Weeze's "The End" chain guide from Poland does not stray from this trend. A simple bashguard-less chain device that fits ISCG 05 mounting, the Weeze guide tries to differentiate itself in one major way: ludicrously light weight made possible by its full carbon construction and aluminum hardware. The result is a 64 gram chain guide that retails for $200 USD.
The details: The first thing that will strike you about this part is the packaging. Weeze's chain guides arrive in a nicely built wooden box. Slide open the lid and you get a rainbow of aluminum hardware and a carbon fiber backplate. Minimalism is what they seem to have been going for, and they succeeded. No bashguard, no taco style grind plate; just a carbon fiber backplate, carbon fiber top and bottom guides, and aluminum pulley wheels and mounting hardware in a range of colours. Total weight: 64g. Yes, you read that correctly. An astonishingly light 64g with all mounting hardware included, using their own aluminum ISCG bolts. All aluminum parts on The End are 7075 T6 Forstal aerospace grade products.
Performance: The guide's ISCG 05 backplate bolted right up to the tabs on a Specialized Demo II frame, spaced out in much the same way as an e.13 or MRP guide would. That's about where the similarities ended, however. There are loose bits of hardware everywhere. None of the fasteners are captive, making installation tricky. While the Weeze guide looked great, and weighed absolutely nothing, it lacked in the performance department. Before it was even on the bike, we noticed that the carbon backplate was warped in all three axis. In order to get things mounted up and aligned, it required a bunch of spacing various parts of the guide out in directions. Luckily, there are approximately one thousand aluminum washers included; shades of Mr. Dirt guides of old. Once it was finally close to straight, Weeze's own chainring was mounted up to some Truvativ Descendant cranks and we were off to the races. Only, if you used this at a race, you wouldn't be able to hear any of the fans along the course. The lower idler pulley sits extremely far back from the chainring, putting loads of tension on the chain. Normally this is a good thing, unfortunately, it is also a machined aluminum pulley that is bolted to a carbon backplate. The high tension, along with the guide's construction makes it extremely loud when pedalling. While performance was acceptable, we did manage to drop a chain twice due to the fact that the twisted backplate made it almost impossible to get things lined up 100% accurately, no matter how hard we tried. Not ideal for a guide costing $200 USD.
Pinkbike's take:
www.weeze.pl
<Deleted photo>
The details: The first thing that will strike you about this part is the packaging. Weeze's chain guides arrive in a nicely built wooden box. Slide open the lid and you get a rainbow of aluminum hardware and a carbon fiber backplate. Minimalism is what they seem to have been going for, and they succeeded. No bashguard, no taco style grind plate; just a carbon fiber backplate, carbon fiber top and bottom guides, and aluminum pulley wheels and mounting hardware in a range of colours. Total weight: 64g. Yes, you read that correctly. An astonishingly light 64g with all mounting hardware included, using their own aluminum ISCG bolts. All aluminum parts on The End are 7075 T6 Forstal aerospace grade products.
<Deleted photo>
Performance: The guide's ISCG 05 backplate bolted right up to the tabs on a Specialized Demo II frame, spaced out in much the same way as an e.13 or MRP guide would. That's about where the similarities ended, however. There are loose bits of hardware everywhere. None of the fasteners are captive, making installation tricky. While the Weeze guide looked great, and weighed absolutely nothing, it lacked in the performance department. Before it was even on the bike, we noticed that the carbon backplate was warped in all three axis. In order to get things mounted up and aligned, it required a bunch of spacing various parts of the guide out in directions. Luckily, there are approximately one thousand aluminum washers included; shades of Mr. Dirt guides of old. Once it was finally close to straight, Weeze's own chainring was mounted up to some Truvativ Descendant cranks and we were off to the races. Only, if you used this at a race, you wouldn't be able to hear any of the fans along the course. The lower idler pulley sits extremely far back from the chainring, putting loads of tension on the chain. Normally this is a good thing, unfortunately, it is also a machined aluminum pulley that is bolted to a carbon backplate. The high tension, along with the guide's construction makes it extremely loud when pedalling. While performance was acceptable, we did manage to drop a chain twice due to the fact that the twisted backplate made it almost impossible to get things lined up 100% accurately, no matter how hard we tried. Not ideal for a guide costing $200 USD.
<Deleted photo>
Pinkbike's take:
 | While this guide delivers on the promised "lightest guide ever" front, performance was seriously lacking in the sample we received. A relatively simple $200 product should not show up with its only major structural part twisted in three directions. This made it impossible to run a proper test, as even just getting it mounted and spaced properly was a headache. Finally, we're not sure how much louder you could possibly make a bike part. Sure, the aluminum idler pulley is fantastic looking, and extremely light, but a regular pulley would be almost as light and many decibels quieter. It also needs to be noted that a guide with no bash guard or skid plate is not going to last long (Weeze is currently working on a version that uses a guard) Our advice: go with a slightly heavier guide that will save your chainring, and potentially your crankset.- Fraser Britton |
www.weeze.pl
Author Info:
Member since Nov 27, 2007
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Thanks, but I'll go with those 200+ grams of chain device and rock ring and not worry about the rocks and stuff.
But except that, I love the look :d
I think a guide like that Weeze that is so damm light shouldn't been even used for DH,lets face it my Carbocage was broken after some DH abuse in the Alps,the backplate just snapped in two when it was hit by a big rock.Carbon chainguide for 4x yes for DH no you're better off with a solid alloy chainguide that is 100g or more heavier that can take allot of more abuse than a overpriced & super light weight carbon chainguide.
Frasier, let me get this straight: The guide you tested was messed up out of the box? So this is a review of a broken chain guide? What made you think that it was going to work properly? This is basically the same as testing a bent wheel and saying it wasn't good because the tire rubbed against the frame. Of course it's not going to be good. It's broken.
Don't get me wrong: I agree that a $200 part shouldn't show up broken. But that's what RMAs and warranties are for. Any chance we can get another review of this guide with a sample that isn't messed up from the get-go?
The noise, the price and the lack of a bashguard still remain, however, and are the major downsides for me. I have seriously never heard a louder drivetrain.
As an aside to a comment saying it was badly installed; I have been setting up chainguides since the original bullet brothers guides, and have ridden and tested prototypes from Mr Dirt, MRP and e.13. Heck, I even built my own out of random parts way, way back before they were being sold as a bike part. It worked very well. Setup was not an issue. In fact, the photos are of the final setup that seemed to work best. It wasn't like it was just tossed on and ridden once!
Aluminum and carbon fibre plates carrying a steel chain under tension is going to echo and make noise, end of story. The location of the idler pulley makes it worse. To be fair, the noise level might have dropped a bit had the backplate been straight, as the top piece would have been slightly more in line with the chain resulting in less rub under power and on rough trails.
Also, do you think it would be possible to run a bash guard - something similar in design to those aluminum ones Truvativ made that flared-out away from the frame a little bit - that would clear the rollers?
I had the misfortune of owning a Mr Dirt Gizmo chain device on my 2002 Big Hit and always had a slight friction in the drivetrain and constant noise, despite the best setup that was possible, however I never ever dropped a chain
the E13 LG1+ chain device is truly the benchmark for easy mounting, hassle free, bombproof performance in modern chain devices
this review does not give me any confidence in the product, whether the backplate was warped, or not?
a chain device is one area where a little extra weight is a weight penalty well spent
if you cannot pedal your bike because your chain has jammed / fallen off...
....or the chainring and chain are mangled when you bottom out your bike on a rock or log (which is common on modern bikes with their low BBH) then its a big fail as you have "saved weight" at the expense of a functional bike
www.carbocage.com
Let me start by saying that $200 for a few water-jet cut pieces of carbon is somewhere between dumb and retarded. That being said...
Noise coming from any guide is an installation error. Period. We can dispute if the installation istructions from Weeze were sufficient ( which may be a factor ) - I don't know since I don't have one, but still it is an installation problem. There may be some issues here since ISCG05 "standard" is not a standard in relation to chainline, but a competent mech should be able to resolve them.
I would also question the weird angle the upper cage is angled - is it supposed to be so? That is asking for dropped chains.
Anyhow - this is not a product for DH. This is a product for an lightweght XC/Trail 1 by X bike - Weeze seems to market it incorrectly
fraserbritton: obviously, I cannot check this
You seem to run Truvativ cranks, so you get no possibility to micro adjust chainline, which might also contribute to the problem.
Anyhow - I'll stick to my guns - this was an installation issue.
EDIT: BTW - complaining about a lack of a bash guard was IMO an underhanded move. Pretty much half of chainguides availabe on the market share the same construction as this contraption ( ie - lower pulley + upper cage, no bash / taco ). Talking about this is like saying that Totem is a bad fork because it is not dual crown.
Sure it may have niggles out of the box and a bad review is somewhat refreshing... but I can't help feeling if it was on a GT under an Atherton then it would be reviewed as the best thing since sliced bread
Love that stuff.
I have advised for Weeze to make some sort of bash about 1-2 yrs ago, but nothing has been done. Remember, everyone likes good protection, why do you think they invented condoms?
Just on my hardtail, with a LG1 from e13, I see soooo many dents on the taco that I probably would have had to change like 5 or 6 times my chain ring. And I'm not hardcore-DH-ing !
I would say this guide is perfect for 4X racing, and maybe light enduro/all-mountain where you don't need 2 chainrings. Except if it's really that loud (but with my knackered pulley wheel on my e13, can't get much louder
I dunno what kind of DH you guys are doing with that chainguide but it sure as hell must be some kind of super smooth groomed trails .
For the article, this chainguide would be nice on a trail/am bike if you don´t care about the price. I wouldn´t use it for DH, maybe if it would have a taco and if I was a rich guy.
Re: chainguide: Seems like they rushed you a sample that was defective.
Coil springs are basically precision wound wire, which can be made on automated machines over and over all day long, quick and easy. In steel as is most common they're dirt cheap to produce. In titanium they're a bit more expensive due to material costs but still, its something you can do with little human supervision. But making one out of carbon fiber in the right spring ratings for bicycle shocks/forks... that would cost quite a bit more than titanium. In the car world, you now see CF coil springs in car seat backs replacing what used to be steel springs. But they cost about ten times as much per spring. And that's when you order them a thousand at a time.
A better attitude would be, "don't like the look of it? Try it and let us change your mind"
yes, it is light, but at what cost really..?
It probably should called the Weenie guide instead of Weeze...
The best! carbon crap like that is for wangers. carbon should only be used for brake levers and some frame types.
PS: Im secretly making carbon spokes and 200mm forks! PURE CARBON... send me 2000.00 cash to pre order 64 spokes and 5000.00 for the forks. I used beeswax and hydraulic oil for super plush fork action... state of the art!!
I'm pretty sure I'll always run a bash of some kind...
Does anyone else remember the 24Seven Darkangel stuff? I had a set of Superfatt cranks (possibly the heaviest cranks known to man) teamed up with the chain device, it weighed an absolute tonne, but did my chain ever wander from it's designated path? You bet your ass it didn't.
The time I saved by not skipping cogs or getting off to put the chain back on will MASSIVELY outweigh the time this thing saves you in the weight-weenie dept...
Sending something 'twisted' to a reviewer is insane, why would that happen?
Some refinement and it would work for a trail / am bike.
I'm basing my opinion on the review which I think is pretty solid, PB have no reason to trash the product in their write up so why would they if it wasn't a bad piece of kit? The price should reflect the workmanship and design. It doesn't seem to in this case which is why my opinion leans toward the chain device being poor, and a company "kicking off all over the world" with substand, expensive products is unlikely to happen. If it does, there's something seriously wrong.
As mentioned, this is only my opinion so feel free to suck it if you disagree.
www.mtb-news.de/news/2012/01/22/fahrbericht-racepeople-4cross-kettenfuehrung
And there is something called "google translate", you should try it