1x9

Novice mtb'er here. I bought my bike second hand and it came with an "odd" drive train for an all-mountain bike: 11-34t 9 speed cassette, 34t front ring with E13LG+ chain guard, non-clutch derailleur. I'm looking to get a lower gear for spinning up fromme - I can climb with it fine as it is but am getting some discomfort in my knees and just want to take it easy.

Having trouble finding just a plain old 32t ring for the front, seems like everything is narrow wide, also 32t is the smallest the chainguard will accomodate. Would be happy with a 30/32 front with guide. Want to do this for as cheap/easy as possible, the bike's not worth a lot. Not really feeling converting to 2x9 (will need a proprietary specialized hanger, shifter etc) any suggestions what to do or what to buy?

you can get 11-36 cassette for 9spd now

32 tooth narrow wide should give you a slightly lower gear, work with your chainguide and further reduce chain derailment. no reason not to go n/w if you are running a 1x drive train

30 tooth narrow wide and ditch the chainguide.

You can rock a N/W ring with a 9spd setup. If you don't want that for whatever reason, send me a PM and I can hook you up with a new old stock RaceFace 32t ring (you'd have to pick up in Maple Ridge).

Also note that you can use a 10 speed Shimano clutch derailleur with a 9 speed SRAM shifter + spacer / shim thing (which you can buy or make).

Personally, if I were in your situation, I'd lose the guide, run a 34t NW ring with no front derailleur, and then mount a 24t steel ring on the inside that I'd change manually when I wanted to climb steep stuff without killing my knees. I'd only do the clutch thing if the noise from the chainslap bothered me so much that I wanted to ditch my fully functional mech for a $150 piece of new gear.

Lots of good advice here, depending on your preference. I used to rock the same setup as you on my norco range. I ditched the chainguide and put a 32t raceface narrow-wide. Only 45$ and works great even without the cluched derailleur. You can always put the chainguide back on if the chain drops too often, but it was not an issue for me. If you want to keep it dirt cheap, just put the cheapest 32t chainring you can find, the steel deore ones are something like 15$.

one of the guys i ride with runs a 9spd , 30t nw up front and a 11/34 in the rear no clutch derailleur . as for a guide not sure if he has one or if he does which one he runs . i know i tried a 32t nw with my 9spd set-up with no chain guide and i spent a good part of my ride putting the chain back on the sprocket , i ran a X9 rear derailleur .

Novice mtb'er here. I bought my bike second hand and it came with an "odd" drive train for an all-mountain bike: 11-34t 9 speed cassette, 34t front ring with E13LG+ chain guard, non-clutch derailleur. I'm looking to get a lower gear for spinning up fromme - I can climb with it fine as it is but am getting some discomfort in my knees and just want to take it easy.

Having trouble finding just a plain old 32t ring for the front, seems like everything is narrow wide, also 32t is the smallest the chainguard will accomodate. Would be happy with a 30/32 front with guide. Want to do this for as cheap/easy as possible, the bike's not worth a lot. Not really feeling converting to 2x9 (will need a proprietary specialized hanger, shifter etc) any suggestions what to do or what to buy?

In your situation I would try one of "ovalized" NW single rings. 30ish maybe. I have been using Doval brand oval ring for a year now and won't ver go back to round. My knees thanks me and I get easier more comfortable climbing.

Thanks for the suggestions/offers guys. Hmmm… still not sure what I'm going to do… leaning towards getting a cheap 32t up front for now from a lbs.
The current set up is pretty good, no dropped chains even on chundry ns trails. I'd pony up for a narrow wide but don't see the point unless I can ditch the chain guide - and from what i've read you really need the clutch derailleur to prevent dropped chains on the rough stuff. Though some say you don't… it's confusing. Don't want to replace something that works with something that doesn't. I might sell this bike soon otherwise I'd go 30t nw, 11-36, and clutch derailleur and call it a day, it suits the trails I ride.

Some cheap drivetrain stuff here for 10spd

http://store.dunbarcycles.com/searchresults/pg?q=christmas%20special

I can tell you shifter is coming soon

^nice! I'm tempted to grab a set up for my next bike.