Clever Standard’s Carbon Tactic Chain Rings and Lighter Chain Breaker – 2018 Sea Otter

Tomo Ichikawa is constantly inventing clever new bicycle tools and accessories and has appropriately called his company Clever Standard.

Ichikawa first displayed his Clever Standard tire levers that paired to form a quick link remover at Sea Otter 2017. The levers have since become a popular white label item to rebrand, as we’ve seen the Clever levers offered up by companies like BikeTube and KMC.

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Ichikawa later debuted his nearly foolproof No Speed Limit chain breaker that we reviewed before Interbike.

Clever Standard's chain breaker on display at Interbike. © Cyclocross Magazine

At Interbike, Ichikawa and Clever were showing off the company’s latest tire lever that also doubled as a mobile phone stand for your desktop—useful for the days when you can’t be on the bike but want to stream the latest cyclocross World Cup.

Clever Standard offers two tire levers, and each design has a secondary use. These will form a handy mobile phone stand, while the original levers serve as a quick link removal tool. 2018 Sea Otter Classic cyclocross and gravel new products. © Cyclocross Magazine

Clever Standard's mobile phone stand and tire levers come in colors. 2018 Sea Otter Classic cyclocross and gravel new products. © Cyclocross Magazine

Carbon Tactic Chain Rings

At the 2018 Sea Otter Classic, Clever had its latest product on display, and it’s a far cry from the small but useful items Clever first unveiled. Ichikawa and his partners have unveiled a selection of carbon fiber chain rings, under the Carbon Tactic brand name.

This track ring has a metallic coating on its teeth for wear resistance. The company's tests show the untreated rings will last for more than 25,000 miles, but cyclocross conditions might alter that claim. Clever Standard and Carbon Tactic. 2018 Sea Otter Classic cyclocross and gravel new products. © Cyclocross Magazine

Carbon fiber chain rings? Huh? That’s what we thought when we first heard about them before the show. Ichikawa admits that the molded and machined carbon chain rings are aimed at the weight weenies. As they are 25% lighter on average compared to the alloy rings that they replace.

Think weight weenie carbon fiber chain rings means fragile, fast-wearing rings that will need replacing? The company showed off a chain ring that was subjected to 25,000 miles of test-machine-based wear, and it looked nearly new to our eyes. To further extend tooth life, the company has a metallic powder-based coating that contains silicon carbide and silicon tungsten that reportedly offers superior wear to alloy chain rings (perhaps at the expense of chain wear). Of course, add in some mud and sand and the lifespan might change.

Machined wide/narrow chain ring teeth for your 1x drivetrain. Clever Standard and Carbon Tactic. 2018 Sea Otter Classic cyclocross and gravel new products. © Cyclocross Magazine

The company is offering popular mountain bike sizes for $130, road and track rings for $150 and will even offer wider/narrow direct mount rings for the Easton/Race Face Cinch-based crankset (link to our Sea Otter story on rings). A 44t direct mount ring for an Easton EC90 SL crankset weighs 112g, which effectively includes the crank’s spider. Stay tuned as we put one to the test.

A 44t wide-narrow chain ring that will work with Easton's EC90 SL crankset. Clever Standard and Carbon Tactic. 2018 Sea Otter Classic cyclocross and gravel new products. © Cyclocross Magazine

The company is further tailoring its products to the gram shaving crowd. Love its tiny No Speed Limit chain breaker but don’t appreciate the 46 grams it adds to your saddle bag? Clever Standard has shaved 22 grams off its latest version of the chain breaker. Coming soon to a weight weenie’s dreams near you.

The Clever Standard chain breaker went on a diet. The lighter versions will be in production soon. 2018 Sea Otter Classic cyclocross and gravel new products. © Cyclocross Magazine

See the photo gallery below for a closer look at the carbon rings and Clever Standard's other helpful tools.

More info: cleverstandard.com

See what’s new this year with our coverage of the 2018 Sea Otter trade show.

Photo Gallery: Carbon Tactic Chain Rings and Lighter No Speed Limit