ASK THE MXPERTS: MAN OF STEEL & RING OF ALUMINUM

Steel teeth pinned to an aluminum carrier offer the best of both worlds.

MAN OF STEEL & RING OF ALUMINUM

Dear MXA,

My bike eats rear sprockets for breakfast. I ride in the sand, and it destroys my sprockets in no time. Would I be stupid to switch to a steel rear sprocket? I know that it will be heavier. What steel sprocket do you recommend?

MXA has on occasion run steel sprockets on our project bikes. We have experience with three excellent choices. If you want to run an all-steel sprocket, we swear by the Dirt Tricks Ironman sprocket. Ironman sprockets (www.dirttricks.com) run from $109.00 to $119.00. The two most popular steel sprockets are the ones that feature aluminum carriers (with a ring of steel teeth attached).

The Dirt Tricks all-steel sprocket gets its strength and light weight from aerospace-quality steel and triangulation.

The Renthal Twin Ring sprocket retails for $99.95 at www.renthal.com. The Supersprox aluminum/steel Stealth sprocket retails for $89.13 at www.supersproxusa.com. As a rule of thumb, steel sprockets last three times longer than 7075 aluminum sprockets and allow your chain to last longer also. They are heavier, but the three listed above are only a 1/2 pound more than a 7075 aluminum sprocket and half the weight of the typical steel sprocket.