42 or 46 tooth lekkie or 48 eclipse chain ring on a 29er for street use only

[Scott S]

Ok I have my new giant Talon 29er. Have the rockshox recon solo air installed and the 2 inch wide Schwalbe Energizer plus tires on it. Bike rides very very nice. Stock big ring is 42 tooth. Looking for some speed as I am in flat Florida so not many hills to worry about lol. Should I stay with a 42 tooth lekkie for the big 29er wheels or go up to a 48 tooth? Bummer that Luna does not have 48 tooth for the eclipse at the moment but I can wait lol. So what do you experts think??
ps. Really want a red chain ring so that is either a 42 tooth lekkie or an eclipse. If a must a 46 black lekkie will do lol

[Rodney64]

If you want speed I would go the lekkie 46 tooth.

[Harold]

Depends on how much chainring offset you need. The Elipse has more than the Lekkie. If the Lekkie will work, you have a few options. You can also use either the Luna spider or Bafang spider with a Raceface narrow/wide chainring of your choice. Either way I'd opt for the 48T.

[Scott S]

I would rather have more offset than required and adjust with spacers! The lekkie will work I think so far but the Luna spider would not nearly be enough. I think I will just wait till Luna has a 48 tooth sprocket for the eclipse. Though the lekkie 46 still is tempting. Another plus the eclipse has is being able to change just the sprocket when worn down . If I live that long lol

[Scott S]

I will say that the chain stays on the Giant Talon 29 are ridiculously wide up front near the bottom bracket. I mean it looks as though 4 inch wide tires would clear lol!!
so much for a chain line that will run straight to the middle of the 8 speed rear cassette. It is not going to happen lol

[Harold]

I think the Lekkie and Luna spider offset would be pretty close compared to each other. But not as much offset as the Elipse.
I widened the rear triangle on a Diamondback Catch2 frame to clear a 4" tire. To get a better chain line I notched the chainstay to clear the motor, then welded a gusset in the inside of the chainstay for strength. Still clears the 4" tire.

[Scott S]

Lekkie offers 18 mm and eclipse is 23 or so. Can't remember off the top of my head. The Luna with a chain ring is only 9mm!! The existing 42 big ring clears my chain stays and has room for another around half inch at the chain stay end for a larger diameter ring so a 48 tooth will fit. I do notice that the stock spider and ring cluster does have a spacer between bottom bracket. At least it looks like a spacer to me. I am not going to hack my chain stays . I have run the chain on 1 thru 8 on the cassette while on the big 42 front ring and no issue but it most certainly favors 6,7and 8th as for a straight chain line!!

Lol. There is no spacer. It is just the flange on the cartridge nut on the drive side.

[DubT]

On our road tandem we us an eclipse 48, would actually prefer a 50 as we will spin out in the 48/11

[Hard Tail]

Hi Scott. I run a 42 Leckie on my Giant Anthem 29ers. I'm generally on lower power settings and need the spread of gears for hills and flat riding, but the 42T really suits perfectly. If you're all flat riding and like speed, perhaps try the 46T, but I'd be reticent to go any bigger on a 29er.

[marcva]

Go to Sheldon browns gear calculator to calculate what you need for your desired top end. Also, you are in Florida, but how much do you weigh? I'm on NoVa and run a 52 in my 26" bbs02 Cannondale Mtb for a 33+ top end, but have no problems pulling away form a standing start from the middle of my rear chainring. I weigh 137lbs and my bike we 43 lbs.

[Scott S]

Well I weigh 170. These are big 29er wheels however. I think Hard Tail who posted, who also has a 29er has the right idea. Ya it is pretty much all flat here except for the causeways over to beach side and they are pretty darn steep lol. What kind of top end do you get with a 42 Hard Tail. A 42 would allow me to not have to purchase a new chain lol

[Scott S]

Just wanted to say I decided on the lekkie 42 in red. Decided the added torque would be better than a couple of mph!

[Scott S]

Not a huge difference between the 46 and 42 on sheldon brown calculator. Since all flat here I think a 46 will be a better choice ? 48 eclipse diameter is to large to provide a decent chain line after spacing to clear chainstay!

Note. At a 120 rpm cadence which is quite guick at my age a 46 tooth up front will give 3 mph higher top speed on 11 tooth rear on my 29 x 2.0 energizer plus road tires than a 42 tooth up front. So I am now thinking that the better torque from the 42 is really the way to go. Under throttle only the bike should be over 30 mph easily sooo lol

[Scott S]

Well an end to the delema. I just ordered an eclipse 42 tooth in red from Luna as no lekkie 42 tooth in red to be found anywhere lol

[Hard Tail]

I’ve fitted the coloured Bling rings too and they can look smart. Interesting my LBS thought they weren’t going to sell the coloured Ones as most punters prefer the straight black.