E.thirteen
is a unique company, they sponsor as many events, races, and riders
as possible, while making the best chain devices in the
world.
In
May 2007 E.thirteen revealed their colorways program, a white chainguide;
the colorways program would give all riders looking for a bit of flair
on their bike some limited edition flair. First was the white, next
came the sea-foam green and now RPM Orange, by far the brightest and
fastest color that a chainguide could come in. Now that you know a bit
of history about E.thirteen and the kind of company that they are we
can get on with the review.
First
things first, the box, cardboard, no color, but its pretty much screaming,
“I’m full of quality”. Upon opening the box I saw a sticker, a
bag of spacers, (Oh how I adore spacers) and the goods, the guide, (colorways
LG1) nestled nicely in a blanket of foam paper. Underneath it where
the guides to setting it up, the adapter plate, and a limited edition
orange taco bash guard.
After
having a good time fiddling with the guide I decided I had better mount
this thing and get started testing right away. Mounting the E.thirteen
guides has always been tricky for me, even though I am quite a tech
savvy mech, and build all of my bikes on my own; guides give me a bit
of trouble and take me about an hour to set up. However because of all
the spacers this one came with, I’d say took me around 40 minutes
before it was up and running. One thing that you should remember is
that E.thirteen guides are extremely accommodating, they do work with
nearly all frames, and you just have to take your time when setting
them up.
After
getting the guide on with still a few hours left in the day, I decided
to take it out for a spin on a small single-track adventure. During
this ride I would say that I wasn’t treating this guide with any respect,
I was hammering through puddles, pedaling through bumpy sections and
flat out trying to drop the chain. Failing at this I decided to ride
a trail covered in off-camber root sections combined with jumps and
terrain of all kinds, once again failing to drop the chain or at least
jam it, happily, failing again. For a last test, for now, but not the
least, (I will be racing the Ontario Cup with this guide) I took it
dirt jumping, now there aren’t many ways to knock a chain of dirt
jumping, unless your pedaling in the air or hitting a very fast pump
section while pedaling, exactly what I was doing. Think after about
an hour of trying I got the guide to skip, but I’m really not sure
if that was the guide or my chain, either way I’m thinking that it
was the chain. Three plus hours of hard riding and I think
I got the guide to skip.
I
like to think that in the biking industry, there is a “type of component”
that is simply the best, Thomson, makes the strongest and lightest seatposts
and stems. Well I’m happy to say that E.thirteen makes the best guides,
and on this particular Lightweight Guide 1, there is nothing better
around, this is “that type of component”.
E.thirteen components is a
small, rider owned and operated company that strongly supports dozens
of grassroots races, series, contests and other riding events all over
the world every year. Their lightweight chain retention systems have
made them a world leader in this category, and the choice of top pro
and amateur riders and mechanics alike. They support a worldwide distribution
network and take great pride in offering devoted customer service.
The bike this guide was tested
on was a Devinci Hectik; the design of this frame is a true horst-link.
Review and photos By Ben Ellis Team UbikeTV
Gallery by Juan Fanzio
for more cool products visit E13 Components
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