Elliptical/Oval Chainrings

Bhima

I think maybe these rings are similar to buying more expensive saddles/sunglasses/shoes/etc - maybe there's no measurable performance advantage in them, but perhaps the riders feel more comfortable with them and they make the whole feeling of riding a bike a little "nicer", therefore increasing the potential for a performance increase.

I don't know though, I've not tried them yet, so I could be wrong. They may be very uncomfortable.

Either way, I doubt i'll be buying them at that price!

eh

Does anyone know if the rings that Sastre and Wiggins use are oval? They could be round afterall, but it would be pretty hard to tell without close contact with the bike.

Infamous

Get some of these:

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Rarest/pmp+oval.jpg

For twice the benefit of oval rings

Pokerface

eh wrote:

Does anyone know if the rings that Sastre and Wiggins use are oval? They could be round afterall, but it would be pretty hard to tell without close contact with the bike.

Sastre is sponsored by Q-Ring and Rotor and I have seen close up pics of both his bike and Wiggins'. Not sure who makes Wiggings' rings, but he defo uses oval rings.

Pretty sure this site has good photos of both their bikes.

mclarent

I think oval rings are probably going to be of more benefit to those of us with poor pedal technique, cutting out the deadspot, whilst the pro's pedal pretty good circles already and are less likely to see much improvement, which could explain takeup...

mister biscuit

sastre's are definitely wonky.


http://cyclingnews.com/photos/2009/tech/probikes/index.php?id=/photos/2009/tech/probikes/carlos_sastre_cervelo_testeam_s3/17rotorchainset
(also, I thought drilling holes in components was completely out of fashion!)

Slow1972

...

Alex_Simmons/RST

If he was such a perfectionist, then how about a testing protocol that makes sense and some data?

Slow1972

Hey c'mon Alex, be fair, I set out that he was the guinea pig, not the person who came up with the testing protocols and he wasn't the one doing the research.

The comment relating to perfectionist as you well know only related to his pedalling style, not the test as whole.

I didn't profess to know enough to even attempt to draw any conclusions and had posted it up for some constructive comment. Wish I could give you more detail so you could give us a decent analysis but its all I had, obviously it was of no use or merit so I've deleted it

Alex_Simmons/RST

Fair enough. It just sounded like a ringing endorsement backed with evidence when I couldn't see any.

DaveyL

Hey Alex, did you ever get round to doing this evaluation? Couldn't find a write-up on your blog.

Alex_Simmons/RST

DaveyL wrote:

Hey Alex, did you ever get round to doing this evaluation? Couldn't find a write-up on your blog.

What evaluation?

Pokerface

I think he thought you were going to do an evaluation of oval vs round rings. But you were just saying that there was no scientific basis for saying the oval ones were better.


FWIW - I've just gone back to round rings on my winter bike (and have been riding them for a good month now). The difference is very noticeable to me still. Pedaling is nowhere near as smooth causing my power to drop somewhat overall. Most noticeable for me - is out of the saddle sprinting - it's very 'jerky' on the round rings.

This is a personal thing and does not reflect other users' experiences in any way - but I have spoken with many other Rotor Ring users who feel similarly.

DaveyL

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

DaveyL wrote:

Hey Alex, did you ever get round to doing this evaluation? Couldn't find a write-up on your blog.

What evaluation?

Hi Alex, from your post on the first page of the thread:

"Despite the research, I am thinking of trialling them as well at some stage and have a buddy with a set he is prepared to lend me when I am ready.

The issue for me is a little different as I effectvely have one cleat placed under my "ankle" and as such when my knee is at TDC, the pedal is not nearly as far forward as it would be with a traditional cleat placement. In essence it means the firing sequence for each leg is not quite 180 degrees but slightly out of phase. So I am wondering if they will make any difference for me.

I suspect not but am willing to test them out and at least I'll have power data to make a sensible n=1 personal judgement and can ride two bikes with same set up, one with circular, one non-circular rings.

If ever I get round to it, I'll report my findings, most likely via a blog update."

Just wondering if you got hold of a set and tested them?

Alex_Simmons/RST

DaveyL wrote:

Hi Alex, from your post on the first page of the thread:

Wow, that was a while back.

I didn't formally test them.

I did use them for a week in October 2009 including some difficult climbing. I noticed no difference in pedaling feel, nor did my power show any noticeable change (at that time as measured with Powertap).

DaveyL

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

DaveyL wrote:

Hi Alex, from your post on the first page of the thread:

Wow, that was a while back.

I didn't formally test them.

I did use them for a week in October 2009 including some difficult climbing. I noticed no difference in pedaling feel, nor did my power show any noticeable change (at that time as measured with Powertap).

It was a bit, yeah :-) I dredged the thread up when searching for q-rings. Was thinking about giving them a go but probably won't bother now!

incog24

I've got some, but only because I needed some bigger chain rings for the tt bike and could get them cheap. However, they do 'feel' better. Whether that equates to a performance improvement I'm not sure. More expensive things have been sold on less though...