If like me you were riding mountain bikes back in the early 90’s then you’re probably now saying something along the lines of “that’s just a bloody DCD”. And for those of you who have never heard of a DCD (Daves Chain Device) then all you really need to know is that it was a shoddy roller thing that attached to your chain stay and didn’t really make much difference to how often you dropped your chain, but it did however manage to turn your bike into a grinding noise machine. It was awful.

With that in mind you can probably understand why I have been trying to avoid getting hold of one of these Bionicon C.Guides, as on the surface it does seem quite similar. I might as well admit it now though, I was wrong to judge a book by its cover. Yes this mounts to the underside of your chain stay, and yes it’s designed to help keep your chain on your chainrings (if you’re using a double or triple ring setup), but apart from that it can’t really be compared to the DCD at all. Well actually I suppose it can…the DCD was shite, whereas this thing really does work.

First things first, it does make a noticeable difference to how often your chain comes off. Secondly it’s incredibly quiet and you really can’t notice any added friction. Thirdly I think it actually makes your bike quieter as it reduces chain slap. And finally it weighs next to nothing (18g if you really want to know) and doesn’t really cost that much either. Would I run one? Yes and no. No if I was running a 10-speed system with a clutch mech (as I think they are even better than this), but yes if I was running 9 speed and couldn’t use a clutch mech.

What else do you need to know? It’s a piece of cake to fit. It can be mounted to your gear cable if that runs under your chain stay, or it can be simply zip-tied directly to your chain stay. And you get a choice of black, red, blue, green, pink or gold finish.

If you’re still wondering what the hell it does and how it works then hopefully this little video will answer any remaining questions…

Price: £35.00
www.bionicon.com

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