Chainless suspension performance with your chain installed?! Vital MTB is super intrigued by this clever Italian spider concept and will be testing the Ochain soon. Full details on how it deals with chain growth in the press release, below.
Ochain is a new brand born to let you experience new riding possibilities. We want you to have a chainless feeling while descending but with your chain on.
"It was September 2014 when everything started. I was staring at the monitor watching the UCI World Championship in Hafjell, just like a typical downhill rider and fan. When Neko Mulally had his incredible chainless ride, my inner nerd and engineer started to ruminate: 'What sort of advantage could come from this situation for the rider or for his bike?' One year later, nearly the same thing happened again with Aaron Gwin winning in Leogang, chainless." - Fabrizio Dragoni, Ochain CEO and Engineer
Ochain is an active spider, fully mechanical, and fits most cranksets on the market thanks to the use of the most commonly used direct-mount chain ring standards.
Ochain automatically isolates your transmission from your suspension when needed, resulting in the absence of pedal kickback. This allows smoother and more comfortable riding, great braking performance, tire and rim preservation, and much more. Our device engages the chainring steadily while pedaling, thus making transmission exactly like you're used to.
"Compromise must be expected as contemporary mountain bikes are inevitably a byproduct: pedal kickback is one of the consequences, affecting rear suspension performance, despite the best engineering efforts. Considering the setup possibilities, there is no 'right' or 'wrong,' but the need for a real understanding of what makes things flow at their best."
Ochain has been developed with the help of UCI World Cup downhill riders like Loris Revelli (@lorikid27) and Simone Medici and is currently being tested by some other big names in MTB, although we can't reveal who they are...
Finally free from chain limitations, your bike can now seamlessly transfer bumps and shocks from your pedals to your suspension.
Just throw your fancy hub with 120-points of engagement out the window? Absolutely not, on the contrary. All the degrees from the freewheel are available and engagement results in a hard steel-on-steel feel.
With Ochain you can decide between 6, 9, or 12-degrees of movement to combat kickback by replacing the internal elastomers while always maintaining smooth and silent pedal engagement.
Ochain is a new component in mountain bike setup. One can decide whether to use it in its different configurations or not; we are eager to see how the MTB world will receive it.
Ochain can be used from your downhill machine to your short-travel trail bike, or your enduro race bike to XC race rig:
Ochain is located in a formerly unoccupied area of the bike where there isn't tons of space available. We strived to reduce the component size to fit most standard frames, including the biggest carbon frames with a BB30 press-fit standard.
As for downhill chain guides, there are some products which have to be adjusted to be used with Ochain.
Our device has a 52mm chain line for bikes with Boost rear axles (we are working on a Superboost version) and requires a 104 BCD chainring. It fits from 30 to 36-tooth chainrings.
SRAM, Race Face, e*thirteen, and Ingrid direct-mount versions are available for both models. We are working to add other standards that will be available soon on our web store.
Ochain Nero is offered at 298€ (including Titanium Nuts +VAT). We are offering our customers the opportunity to purchase Ochain as well as Ochain Titanium Nut and Carbon-Ti chainrings as a ready-to-ride kit.
Ochain should have been available on our website in Europe starting March 2020, but, unfortunately, the coronavirus has forced us to temporarily stop production. We plan to reopen the store in June 2020. Pre-orders are available on our web store.
For more info, visit:
Doubtful? We suggest you do a quick test and remove your chain!
Ian_Furqueron
4/15/2020 6:24 PM
Raine
4/5/2020 1:11 PM
Well in the end, to be fair it's an interesting idea - and good to see that people are trying to invent new things. But sorry, it's not a "Game Changer," it's more like another specialized piece of tech.
People toss the term around way too loosely these days, but a true "game changer" is something that is so revolutionary that it becomes a true standard that everyone wants - like a dropper post, or hydraulic brakes, or tubeless tires. These are things that actually "changed the game" to benefit everyone - from novice to pro. But to be honest, when a majority of MTB riders can't even understand how to set their rebound correctly, they probably don't or won't have "reduce pedal kickback" high on their list of MTB things to do.
Also what makes it specialized is the $300+ USD asking price - for what amounts to a mechanically modified chainring spider. It serves a function that a majority of MTB people don't even notice, and (more importantly) are not willing to spend that much money on, compared to other items that they can feel more immediate results (like a dropper post, or a new set of tires, or good pedals). This Ochain is tech that most people don't need, but some people might like to try - just like a ShockWiz or a Di2 programmer or those Revgrip things.
Ochain Components
4/6/2020 1:28 AM
Where and why is born "Game Changer"
Was one year ago, during the first test with a different rider than me. This test meant a lot to me. He should have made me understand if all the advantages I felt were my invention or if they were real. Simone Medici, a Big name in downhill Italian field and a world cup rider, was the right person to take the test. At the end of the track, with his Kona Operator 2019, he took off his helmet and spoke the following sentence: "game changer"
since then it has become our motto, with Ochain Simone has won the Italian championship and Loris Revelli has won the title of Italian Champion. Only successes. During the tests we always took seconds off the traditional transmission. And now the strongest world cup drivers are testing it and the feedback is the same.
why GAME CHANGER? I hope that over the years you will understand it for yourself.
Raine
4/6/2020 11:01 AM
Totally did not understand what I explained, but okay.
You can name drop racer names all you want, but racing is a small fraction of the mountain bike community. Their job is to endorse products that they generally get for free. That doesn't mean it will become a "standard on any good mountain bike" OEM spec feature, and that doesn't mean the majority of mountain biking will actually buy it.
I hope that it doesn't take years for you to understand that.
Good luck though, and stay safe.
twodogsfighting
6/26/2020 4:44 AM
Tim Parker
4/5/2020 8:29 AM
E30
4/1/2020 9:19 AM
Hmm, I guess that won;'t work. Freewheels in the wrong direction
Ochain Components
4/2/2020 11:58 PM
E30
4/1/2020 6:08 AM
Raine
4/1/2020 3:37 AM
I dunno... I'm immediately skeptical of any new thing where the manufacturer uses the term "game changer" in their product promos to describe their product.
Has this been tested on different types of suspension designs? VPP? High Pivot? DW-Link?
Ochain Components
4/1/2020 9:54 AM
anotherbikerguy
3/31/2020 3:50 PM
Ochain Components
4/6/2020 1:31 AM
bturman
3/31/2020 1:20 PM
Tristan_Mayor
3/31/2020 10:44 AM
I tried something similar myself that I made, for free. I replaced 8th gear with a cassette spacer, so the chain just engaged nothing so had no effect on the suspension in that gear.
It made zero noticeable difference, but I think my bike (Nicolai G1) doesn't really suffer from kickback. Maybe it would be of some value to a single pivot system?
Ochain Components
4/3/2020 12:01 AM
Banshee956c
3/31/2020 9:06 AM
Wappooo
3/31/2020 9:25 AM
Ochain Components
3/31/2020 9:52 AM
joaquin.andreas
3/31/2020 7:25 PM
Ochain Components
4/1/2020 6:09 PM
Ok, you are right. I try to explain: during testing we noticed that the cranks under impact want to rotate in the same direction as pedaling, due to the greater load given by the pedal in the forward position.
In this case you have to add an extra speed to the chain and the result is pedal kickback phenomena. It depends on riding style but we have seen that all our riders have experienced the same behavior.
there is another phenomenon related to the motions of the bike in the xy plane that adds extra speed to the chain, I am preparing a video to show it. Stay tuned on our instagram page.
jefedelosjefes
4/1/2020 8:56 AM
Jacquers
3/31/2020 8:53 AM
Ochain Components
3/31/2020 9:22 AM
duc
3/31/2020 7:05 AM
danel
3/31/2020 7:16 AM
duc
3/31/2020 7:35 AM
bturman
3/31/2020 7:46 AM
According to the PR, "All the degrees from the freewheel are available and engagement results in a hard steel-on-steel feel."
Paging Ochain now for additional insight.
E.T.
3/31/2020 7:01 AM
bturman
3/31/2020 7:49 AM
Also interesting!

slimshady
3/31/2020 6:23 AM
Ochain Components
3/31/2020 9:25 AM
danel
3/31/2020 5:54 AM
This is an interesting idea, but it would be horrible with a low engagement hub. Imagine you're in your 42T cog with a 32T chainring and a 18POE hub. If you ratchet on a climb, you have 26° of slop at the cranks before you have engagement. With a 12° Ochain, suddenly it's 38° before you have firm engagement.
Switch that to a Hydra hub, and you start with <1° of slop and end up at ~13°.
I've actually thought about doing something similar before, but my thought was to aim for a much lower rotation (like their 6° version) and use an elastomer stiff enough that you fully compress it at ~200 in-lbf (at the cranks). That way, it would only fully compress during hard pedaling or big hits, and it would smooth out your power transfer a bit when you're mashing on the pedals. You would still lose some efficiency, but you would also lose traction while climbing less often.
Ochain Components
3/31/2020 9:30 AM
danel
3/31/2020 10:28 AM
The statement "efficiency is 100%" is a bit misleading. Sure, you may not have measurable energy loss through your device, but that doesn't mean that a rider will put as much power to the rear wheel with your device as they would without it. It's kind of like walking up stairs with springs on your feet (or replacing your chain with a stiff elastic band).
That said, depending on the stiffness of your elastomer and the amount of travel that it has, I see this as being a reasonable trade-off on the climbs and strictly positive on the descents.
Ochain Components
3/31/2020 3:07 PM
mhon44
3/31/2020 5:16 AM
danel
3/31/2020 5:57 AM
sambobcat
3/31/2020 1:29 AM
boozed
3/31/2020 3:11 AM