Wolf Tooth Components Drop-Stop Chainring: Rider Review

I purchased a set of Raceface CINCH cranks for my Nomad 4 so I needed a compatible chainring. The Wolf Tooth Components Drop-Stop chainring seemed like the obvious choice for me based on weight, durability, and style. Everybody knows Wolf Tooth makes fantastic products with excellent customer support. This review, however, is not about how stiff, quiet, stylish, light, or precise it is. As I said, everyone already knows that. You can tell from just looking at it. This review is about the fantastic customer support I received from both Wolf Tooth Components and Worldwide Cyclery.

Installation

I was ecstatic for my new chainring to arrive. It was the last piece of the puzzle for my first custom drivetrain build. Being my first time installing a full drivetrain, I was a bit intimidated by the whole process. I dug in, removed the old cranks and bottom bracket, installed the new ones, and ran the chain. Nervous and excitedly, I started to turn the cranks, but unfortunately, the chain did not seem to want to seat correctly on the chainring. So I began to troubleshoot. I tried a new chain, tried moving the chain through the cassette, tried riding a little to see if the chain needed some tension in order to seat properly, and played with some bottom bracket spacers to adjust the chain line. All my efforts were to no avail so I began to doubt my capabilities as a home mechanic. Dejected, I sent emails to both WWC and WTC explaining my situation in hopes that they could help as a last resort.

Support

Within less than a day, both entities were in contact with me telling me that I had installed the chainring correctly and gone through proper troubleshooting steps and that something must be wrong with the chainring. They both offered to immediately ship out a new chainring with a return label for me to send the original back. Both WWC and WTC sounded eager to get their hands on the chainring in order to “do some testing”. To me, this was a testament to how both companies stand behind the products they make and sell. Of course, everyone makes mistakes sometimes; the people who are the best at what they do will use these mistakes as learning opportunities.

After further discussion with WTC, it turned out that they had missed a final machining step on the narrow wide pattern of the chainring. I totally understand that this sort of thing happens sometimes and I was greatly appreciative of the quick turn around time on resolving my issue. Overall this experience has affirmed my decision to support WWC and WTC in the future.

Final Impression

Now that the new chainring is on my bike I am absolutely in love with it. I mean, just look at it. It is sturdy, quiet, stylish and light, just like I said at the beginning but everyone already knows that…