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Product Review
Truvativ Boxguide
June 5, 2003
A few years ago, it was Mr Dirt or nothing. After Bob Barnett decided to modify his hardware store style guide, (honestly, how many washers DO you need?), MRP came along and became the de facto standard for Downhill racing chain retention devices. In recent times we have seen the Evil/E13 incarnation fo the chainguide take top honors. Now a new player enters the scene, Truvativ.
The norcal components producers has recently come out with an elegant chainguide system that is solid, requires little no no fiddling, doesn't require bash rings (though we recommend it) and simply doesn't drop chains.
Click for fullsize image.
We have been testing the Truvativ Box Guide for a few weeks now and it has passed every test we could throw at it, including a jury rigged setup on the most recent test bike. (more on this in a bit).
The Box guide is simply an H shaped upper guide that surround the chain on 3 sides and locks it to the upper part of the chainring. To maintain tention, the guide has a floating roller below the chainring. Simple, few moving parts and VERY nice attention to detail.
The box guide uses 2 solid pins and a simple sliding pinch bolt design to keep things adjusted and in place. No washers necessary. Nice. The boomerang includes chainring tooth markings to know how high to set it up, no guessing is even required. If you run a 40 tooth ring, simply line up the top of the box adjust distances and lock the pins in place. Sweet.
The boomerang is hinged around the BB. that is to say it is 2 pieces, held together with 3 screws and can be pivoted to get the proper tension on the chain. This is great except in one situation, oversized Bottom Brackets. Our dirt jumping test bike is a 24 le toy 3 with a BMX BB. The 3 screws bottom out on the shell and the boomerang cannot be secured without having 4mm of spacers between it to let it sit flush with something. This won't be a problem on most frames, but is worth mentioning.
We are also using the Truvativ bashguard to keep our chainrings in 1 piece on cased landings. (Note: You can only use Truvativ's own bashguard with this guide as the plate has to be curved to clear the upper box guide.) The bashguard has a nice cutout in it to adjust the height of the box without even needing to pull off the rings and crank, VERY cool idea, and very effective. Why don't more companies think this way?
We like this guide. It hasn't dropped a chain since we installed it. This included very rough DH runs, many dirt jumping sessions, and plenty of acting stupid and TRYING to drop the chain. If you need a good guide at a decent price, you can't miss with the Truvativ boxguide.
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