Review: Race Face's Era Chainring Uses Steel, Carbon, & Aluminum
Ever hear the saying, “Buy once, cry once, or buy twice and pay the price?” Well, that’s the angle that Race Face is playing with their new Era chainring.
A carbon body holds steel teeth in place to make up an extremely strong and durable chainring. Bonding the steel teeth to the carbon body was an idea borrowed from the ski industry, using one method of bonding the edge into the ski’s composite layers.
With a price tag of $149 USD, it’s by no means cheap, at least at first glance. After thorough testing though, Race Face claims that the Era chainring will last 5-times longer than aluminum, which will save the consumer money on the wear item in the long run. That said, it's also possible to purchase a steel chainring for $20, so the main selling point of the Era ring is the weight, which is half that of a full steel option.
A carbon body holds steel teeth in place to make up an extremely strong and durable chainring. Bonding the steel teeth to the carbon body was an idea borrowed from the ski industry, using one method of bonding the edge into the ski’s composite layers.
With a price tag of $149 USD, it’s by no means cheap, at least at first glance. After thorough testing though, Race Face claims that the Era chainring will last 5-times longer than aluminum, which will save the consumer money on the wear item in the long run. That said, it's also possible to purchase a steel chainring for $20, so the main selling point of the Era ring is the weight, which is half that of a full steel option.
Era Chainring Details
• Steel teeth, carbon body, alloy spindle interface
• Chainline: 52 and 55mm
• Compatible with any 10, 11, 12-speed Shimano or Sram chains
• Cinch spindle mount
• Sizes: 30, 32, 34 teeth
• Weight: 83g (32-tooth, HG+ DMW)
• Price: $149.00 USD / $190.00 CAD
• raceface.com
• Steel teeth, carbon body, alloy spindle interface
• Chainline: 52 and 55mm
• Compatible with any 10, 11, 12-speed Shimano or Sram chains
• Cinch spindle mount
• Sizes: 30, 32, 34 teeth
• Weight: 83g (32-tooth, HG+ DMW)
• Price: $149.00 USD / $190.00 CAD
• raceface.com
Features and Specifications
Using three materials to manufacture a static bike component seems complex, but Race Face used the same compression and co-molding process developed for the Era cranks. The carbon body holds an aluminum Cinch mount at the center and a steel wrap of teeth around the outer edge.
According to Race Face, in a fatigue test that involved loading and unloading a chainring, two aluminum rings from major drivetrain manufacturers failed around 400,000 cycles. Race Face stopped the test on the Era ring after 2.1 million cycles and still found it to function normally.
You have the choice of three ring sizes; 30, 32, or 34 teeth, two chainlines; 52mm (DM) or 55mm (DMW), and two tooth profiles. Race Face produces an Era chainring specific to the 12-speed HG+ Shimano system. All other 10, 11, and 12-speed chains use the NW Era chainrings.
Race Face and SRAM are competitors in the scope of drivetrain and suspension products, so it’s not entirely surprising to see that there isn’t a T-type crank mount option for the Era chainring. However, it can be used in conjunction with any 12-speed chain on the market, which means that Race Face cranks allow for the ring to be used with a T-type rear derailleur.
 | This little spider can withstand the equivalent output force of a 5.9L Cummins diesel engine. |
Pricing and Weight
The Era chainring costs $149 USD / $190 CAD - that’s higher than almost all other aluminum rings. The pricing remains the same across the board regardless of ring size, offset, or chain type.
Is the added cost worth it? As mentioned, the aim of the Era is to offer durability in terms of a low wear rate and high structural integrity. Given the two-factor durability, it's warrantable to reach for an Era chainring and save cash in the long run.
Steel is hard-wearing, yet heavy and that’s where the carbon comes in to save the day. The 32-tooth Shimano HG+ DMW Era chainring I weighed came in at 86g, 3 more grams than the equivalent aluminum Cinch ring of the same parameters.
Performance and Durability
Will those hardened steel teeth lead to your chain wearing out faster? That's tough to prove outside of a controlled environment. Something does have to give though. An aluminum ring is softer than a steel chain, and those chain links will wear, albeit, mostly from side-loads under shifting. The SRAM XX1 Eagle chain used for the Era chainring review is still sitting at the 0.75 wear indicator that it started off at.
What’s most important, in my opinion, is chain retention. On the security front, hammering down my usual flavor of trails in the Sea to Sky region never led to any dropped chains. The steel teeth maintained their shape longer than any aluminum ring and therefore held the chain in place impeccably. That’s critical if you’re riding at higher speeds often, such as in a bike park setting. Those forces really take a toll on an enduro bike’s drivetrain.
And how about the bonding of those three materials? I’ve only had the Era chainring for a few months, however, it hasn't produced any creaks. Visually, it’s hard to tell it’s even been ridden.
Pros
+ Very durable teeth
+ Equal weight to full-aluminum ring
Cons
- Cinch-mount-only limits crank options
- Expensive
Pinkbike's Take
| Race Face has added a valuable component to the premium line of Era components with this new carbon/metal combo chainring. There is value in the long run - the added security means your chain will drop less, compared to a faster-wearing aluminum chainring. However, if weight saving isn't a concern, going with a full steel option is the most economical route. |
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Member since Mar 16, 2001
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Also, I was curious, so I looked it up to double check. The Raceface steel chainrings weigh 154g in the 32t size, while this carbon one is 83g. So a bit over half the weight of the steel one.
I know it mentioned "half the weight" in the article, but I was wanting the actual numbers
I agree with you in regards tech - def pretty cool
due to fact that this ring will serve for years (I have one steel chainring that looks new after couple of years) or even for a lifetime so I am not sure you will need to recycle it at all
www.google.com/search?q=how+much+aluminum+is+recycled&oq=how+much+alum&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBggFEEUYOTIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDczMDdqMGo0qAIAsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
On an industrial level, it's much higher:
www.aluminum.org/Recycling
I wish everything were tested this way
The potential human torque is the challenge for gearboxes - the gears have to be big (heavy, friction) to handle our torque even if our power is tiny. A step up gear to add speed and reduce torque adds too much friction.
if you're riding spds you can pull up with the other leg (and if you're not you can apply more than your weight's torque by pulling up on the bars), so the (very short lived) max torque is probably higher than that. still well within boundaries though
And to alleviate an enviro angst out there steel chains (well all steel things) are the MOST recyclable part of any bike
Not sure im a fan of the math for the ERA ring.
To be honest. Just out here speculating. RF is definitely aimed more at the enduro-dh end of the spectrum though, so I don’t doubt there are no XC RF sponsored riders.
One of the best parts of direct mount rings is they can be, should be, one piece - Shimano even knows this, the XTR ring forgoes all the extra parts and complexity of the cheaper rings.
compositeenvisions.com/document/galvanic-corrosion-carbon-fiber-and-aluminum
I saw that titanium is one of the only metals that is resistant to CF corrosion
IDK, does that sound smort? Makes sense to me
Even if I was willing to spend the money I would also let others be the guinea pigs of another carbon/metal bound tech from raceface after their earlier carbon cranks fiasco. I once broke a crank, the long ride home on a bike converted to balance bike wasn't that fun.
thanks,
-management
This is of course more expensive, but at least should last as long as the steel ones. Then it becomes a question of "how much do I care about weight and money". So its good to have these exist.
Hoping these go on sale on as part of their annual black friday event
I use to use their $24 steel one but found it got super loud dry, like way before the chain made dry noise. I put an aluminum on and going to see how long it lasts.
Not sure but i remember going thru 2 chainrings a summer so this might interest me. But im like the same build and size as Jason Kelce so the light weight doesn’t matter haha
If you want light weight then aluminium is lighter and you could have 3-4 of them before you've spent the same money, would this last 4 times longer?
If you want durability then full steel is the same durability for 1/6th the price and it's only about 70g heavier.
So if 70g is worth $125 to you then yes this wins, i suspect it's not to most poeple.
Uses same plastic/carbon/steel construction as XT 12 speed narrow/wide chanrings. SLX also uses glass fibre steel construction chainrings.
Benefit = its about 35grams heavier than a full steel narrow/wide chainring.
T H I R T Y F I V E G R A M S.
0.035 KG
That is this entire industry in a nutshell.
Hard AF no
Yay for irrelevant choices.
For years as a child I thought that was what a rectangle was called.
But a Rectangle sounded like a pterosaur, not a shape.
And they were mostly brown, or orange. The Oblongs.
Having been involved in racing on 4 wheels also, the Miata would win in most races at the amateur to mid level groups against the Porsche.
If you spend $150 on a chainring and I see you at the trailhead its hands on site. Not even giving you a warning punk. Im stealing your Taco snorkel too.