MTB: Gold standard racing bits, built in South Africa

South African mountain bikers are as slavishly fashion obsessed as any European riders and catering to that demand, Cape Town based components manufacturer cSixx has launched something with a gold touch for the 2019 season.

The latest offering in its diverse portfolio of components is a gold chainring, available in a variety of sizes to accommodate individual rider requirements. Chainrings are, quite literally, a crucial cog in any cyclist’s drivetrain and designing one which is light enough to be efficient, whist also being strong enough remain durable, isn’t easy.

CSixx’s chainrings have gained global acceptance for their compatibility with drivetrain systems and durability – especially under testing local conditions. South Africa’s dust has a high silica content, which makes the constituent particles incredibly hard and abrasive. For local mountain bikers who crank away hundreds of kilometres training and racing on rural gravel roads and undulating singletrack, chainring quality is real consideration.

Premature chainring wear can cause the extreme annoyance of skipping gears or a chain drop, which if it occurs at speed, during a technical descent, could become the source cause of a nasty accident.

But why the new gold colour? Leading OEM cycling brand, Sram, started the fashion when they launched their pioneering twelve-speed mountain bike drivetrain back in 2016, with a gold chain and rear cassette.

South African riders who upgraded to the top-end Sram 1×12 drivetrain have always yearned to make the drivetrain even more uniformly gold in colour, and with the introduction of cSixx’s new gold chainring, that’s possible.

Available in both round and oval shapes, depending on your preference and pedal stroke style, the cSixx gold chainring retails from R925. Best of all, these lustrous yellow metal hued chainrings are all locally designed, prototyped and manufactured at cSixx’s Woodstock studio. Proof that there is capacity and skill to meet the local demand for premium competition grade cycling products, with a proudly South African supply chain and engineering solution.