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Designed to be the most efficient 2X chainguide ever produced. Made in as few pieces as possible and has no moving parts.
Features:
- CNC’d 6061 T-6 Guide Frame
- Lightweight molded thermoplastic components
- German engineered in Canada
- Captive hardware.
- Slider designed to last. Made from a proprietary polymer that doesn’t wear out like similar guides. Vastly superior to elastomeric polymers.
- No drag! TWINTY 2X guide does not put resistance on the chain like pulley wheel chainguides and it is Super Silent
- Fits: 32t – 36t or 36t – 40t rings
- Intended Use: FreeRiding, All-Mountain & XC
- Mounts: ISCG, ISCG’05
- Weight: 145g – 165g
Blackspire Twinty 2x Chainguide Review:
The Blackspire Twinty 2x Guide is what the company has to say it is. A Chainguide. The two piece Blackspire Twinty 2x Guide with its straight forward design made from lightweight CNC machined 6061T6 aluminum and molded thermoplastic pieces, its clean lines and complete lack of moving parts or external cams will be the most efficient 2x guide produced to date. Blackspire has offered up a great close look at the features and innovation of the Twinty 2x with a series of short videos and blog posts showing it all up close and personal.
Installation:
Installation was straightforward and without any issues. The guide was dropped in, aligned and the mounting bolts torqued. The guide has a zero tolerance bushing seat with a sliding inner sleeve. The inner sleeve moves with the chain as the ring and chain wear and has a groove machined into the inner sleeve to precisely fit the 32-36 tooth ring. This means there is no sliding sleeve to wear out and is a huge improvement over the designs that have a machined groove for a sliding bushing.
The Blackspire Twinty 2x is a guide for one reason, to keep the chain derailed when not pedaling. The Twinty 2x is meant to be left in the open when not pedaling and the riding style of the rider, and how frequently they pedal will determine how often the 2x should be removed for cleaning. Blackspire has designed the Twinty based on the choice of using a two piece or three piece chain and it has only one set of brake pads. The Twinty is designed to run a two piece only. If the second piece of the chain is removed, the use of a three pc. cassette is recommended and a bash guard will be necessary. The centerline of the chain is also designed to clear a cassette mounted bash guard for the machined steel cog with the X-Sync tooth profile that fits into the XD driver bodies. The bushing is not designed to be disassembled but it can be removed and cleaned from the inside if necessary.
When deciding upon the chainrings for the Blackspire 2x Guide, it will be up to the user to check the chainline and make sure it is acceptable. The standard chainline should be a perfect straight line between the chainrings with no gaps or pulling side to side. A single chainring will generally have a slight gap between the chain and the ring and that gap is not ideal in an otherwise perfect chainline. Chainline is somewhat of a moving target and changes with the variations in the cassettes that are used with the particular crankset being used. A mountain bike Sram XO cassette is close to the Sram MTB X9 cassette and the SRAM XX1 Cassette is based upon the X01 cassette and the Blackspire Twinty 2x design was worked around the XD driver bodies as used in the XX1 cassette. Currently the MTB XX1 cassettes are not available with a 36 tooth cog so the largest tooth cog on a 170mm SRAM XX1 Driver is 34 tooth and that would be available to clear the Twinty 2x for the SRAM XX1 GXP crankset. That is one less to worry about.
The Blackspire 2x Guide was part of the Ride.ir “Chain Stoppers” test that I had several different chain stoppers to review. As long as the chainring was not too far off the mid point, the chainring was in one of the more narrow position rings. The intent was to get the chain to derail on the top or the bottom of the chainring and it worked. On the four previous rides the trial guide had not worked well at all and had a hot cut and two cold cuts before the trial was over. The test was simple: go for a ride with a new or a trial version of a chain guide, with no pre-heat of any kind and post ride run the chain through the drivetrain to see where it cut and understood the nature of how the chains they were running were cutting. One of the two rides with the Blackspire 2x Guide saw no chain cutting as compared to the older versions on the first track test ride. It was a great ride and no drama. On the second test ride, the chains were still cutting and there were several hard hits before the terrain mellowed out and the chains quieted down to no cutting with a finish on the last downhill run.
The good news with any derailleur mount type of guide is that the chain is kept clean and the guide is easy to clean. The chain rings are not designed to come off and the Twinty 2x has two screws instead of the more common single screw post.
