New Q Rings - Report

bernithebiker

Thought other riders out there debating whether or not to try Q rings might like to hear what a newbie thinks;

Just got a brand new set from Tifosi (BR member, thanks mate!) in 50/34.

Took off the old Spesh ones; the Q rings are 116 and 33g respectively = 12g more than the old ones - I can live with that.

All went on quite easily, bolts torqued up to 7Nm, front derailleur raised a touch, seems to shift OK on the workstand.

You can use any one of 5 positions, from mild to more pronounced. I've gone for the recommended Position 3.

Will be going out this pm to give them a try and will report back.

Percy Vera

With such an in depth report everyone's gonna want them now! lol

gaddster

Do they flex much?

bernithebiker

gaddster wrote:

Do they flex much?

Dunno yet, it's just started to rain!

Percy Vera

bernithebiker wrote:

gaddster wrote:

Do they flex much?

Dunno yet, it's just started to rain!

So, your report so fare goes something like this:

1. They fit to your bike like standard rings.
2. They don't work in the rain.

pkripper

Percy Vera wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

gaddster wrote:

Do they flex much?

Dunno yet, it's just started to rain!

So, your report so fare goes something like this:

1. They fit to your bike like standard rings.
2. They don't work in the rain.

You should sell some advertising space in your review as well, then you could legitimately award them 9/10 or higher.

bernithebiker

Percy Vera wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

gaddster wrote:

Do they flex much?

Dunno yet, it's just started to rain!

So, your report so fare goes something like this:

1. They fit to your bike like standard rings.
2. They don't work in the rain.

So many cynics!
1. I've heard of several fitting issues, so thought it useful to point out that mine went on OK.
2. I'm happy to share my experiences if it'll help others, but I draw the line at getting soaked!
3. If they're sh*t, I'll say so.

supermurph09

bernithebiker wrote:

gaddster wrote:

Do they flex much?

Dunno yet, it's just started to rain!

Wirral_paul

Well at least we have a picture - unlike the famous decals thread. So how many pages can we make this before we actually get the test??

Markjaspi

Thinking of getting a set of these myself, so I was pretty excited to read this review, now kinda feel a bit let down, but understandable.

Where do you live approx. (not so I can pinch them) but so I can check for the next dry day?

bernithebiker

OK, to keep everyone quiet, I went out this evening, and it was sunny, but soon got caught in a heavy shower and got soaked and cold. Happy?! :?

As for the Q rings, first thing is that I didn't hardly feel any pedaling difference at all which surprised me - I thought it would feel 'lumpy' but feels almost exactly the same as before, nice and smooth.

Ring stiffness - seems fine to me, but I'm not a big rider.

Shifting - shifted well, just need to trim front mech a touch more (not quite straight).

Performance - hard to say, was windy out there, and WET! so difficult to isolate any one thing, but felt very good out of the saddle in a big gear, didn't feel any better spinning as far as I could tell. Need to check the manual, as they advise going one way or the other depending on pedaling feel.

Anyway, needs a longer ride and more days, but in theory, there are some small gains to be had for zero penalty.

sloppyschleckonds

Gotta love a stiff ring

themogulman

I have used q rings for a year and found they helped me keep spinning on long climbs. Just got a new bike with round rings so I was wondering how different they would feel.

I am liking the round rings if I am putting a big effort and they didn't feel too different. I went for a 60 mile ride on Sunday and they must work slightly different muscles as I got a few aches in the legs that I hadn't had for ages.

Just popped out on the old bike with q rings on and it all felt a lot better apart from really big efforts. I am not sure which way to go. Use both? Keep adapting to the rounds and then decide. The rounds are easier to shift at the front.

I just tried to put the q rings on my new bike but the guys at Planet X must be stronger than me because I cant undo the crankset! I think that is the only fair test as my new bike is a lot stiffer than my old one. I will update this as I go on.

Berni.I think you do need a couple of weeks with the q rings to adapt before moving the position, from my experience of them.

LegendLust

themogulman wrote:

I have used q rings for a year and found they helped me keep spinning on long climbs. Just got a new bike with round rings so I was wondering how different they would feel.

I am liking the round rings if I am putting a big effort and they didn't feel too different. I went for a 60 mile ride on Sunday and they must work slightly different muscles as I got a few aches in the legs that I hadn't had for ages.

Just popped out on the old bike with q rings on and it all felt a lot better apart from really big efforts. I am not sure which way to go. Use both? Keep adapting to the rounds and then decide. The rounds are easier to shift at the front.

I just tried to put the q rings on my new bike but the guys at Planet X must be stronger than me because I cant undo the crankset! I think that is the only fair test as my new bike is a lot stiffer than my old one. I will update this as I go on.

Berni.I think you do need a couple of weeks with the q rings to adapt before moving the position, from my experience of them.

Have you played around with the settings on your Q rings to get them to feel better when doing big efforts?

mrbrightside

4) you still have to pedal

colinsmith123

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Well at least we have a picture - unlike the famous decals thread. So how many pages can we make this before we actually get the test??

Is this the same OP? I do hope so.

I'll go get the pop-corn, then when I get back we can all blame Wiggle.

bernithebiker

colinsmith123 wrote:

Wirral_Paul wrote:

Well at least we have a picture - unlike the famous decals thread. So how many pages can we make this before we actually get the test??

Is this the same OP? I do hope so.

I'll go get the pop-corn, then when I get back we can all blame Wiggle.

Not sure I'm in on the joke here?

themogulman

LegendLust wrote:

themogulman wrote:

I have used q rings for a year and found they helped me keep spinning on long climbs. Just got a new bike with round rings so I was wondering how different they would feel.

I am liking the round rings if I am putting a big effort and they didn't feel too different. I went for a 60 mile ride on Sunday and they must work slightly different muscles as I got a few aches in the legs that I hadn't had for ages.

Just popped out on the old bike with q rings on and it all felt a lot better apart from really big efforts. I am not sure which way to go. Use both? Keep adapting to the rounds and then decide. The rounds are easier to shift at the front.

I just tried to put the q rings on my new bike but the guys at Planet X must be stronger than me because I cant undo the crankset! I think that is the only fair test as my new bike is a lot stiffer than my old one. I will update this as I go on.

Berni.I think you do need a couple of weeks with the q rings to adapt before moving the position, from my experience of them.

Have you played around with the settings on your Q rings to get them to feel better when doing big efforts?

When seated it seems spot on and its only when compared to rounds they seem different when standing. Would you suggest moving them?

LegendLust

themogulman wrote:

LegendLust wrote:

themogulman wrote:

I have used q rings for a year and found they helped me keep spinning on long climbs. Just got a new bike with round rings so I was wondering how different they would feel.

I am liking the round rings if I am putting a big effort and they didn't feel too different. I went for a 60 mile ride on Sunday and they must work slightly different muscles as I got a few aches in the legs that I hadn't had for ages.

Just popped out on the old bike with q rings on and it all felt a lot better apart from really big efforts. I am not sure which way to go. Use both? Keep adapting to the rounds and then decide. The rounds are easier to shift at the front.

I just tried to put the q rings on my new bike but the guys at Planet X must be stronger than me because I cant undo the crankset! I think that is the only fair test as my new bike is a lot stiffer than my old one. I will update this as I go on.

Berni.I think you do need a couple of weeks with the q rings to adapt before moving the position, from my experience of them.

Have you played around with the settings on your Q rings to get them to feel better when doing big efforts?

When seated it seems spot on and its only when compared to rounds they seem different when standing. Would you suggest moving them?

This is a great table to start with to see if any other settings will help you. I'm the other way to you - I find standing up on the pedals a lot easier on q rings - I'm on standard setting 3

http://www.rotorbike.com/nueva/pdf/Q-Ri ... pguide.pdf

bernithebiker

2nd ride report.

Fairly short ride, but upped the effort a fair bit to include fast, high cadence climbing, high speed cruising, and big gear, standing up climbing.

Here's the trace; http://app.strava.com/activities/54933610

1. Definitely getting a bit more muscle ache than before, mainly in quads, but also tops of calves. Presumably this is the muscles adapting to the new style.
2. Feels good out of saddle pushing hard on a climb.
3. Not sure, but feels a bit more difficult to hold high cadences (90+) seated.

The Rotor guidelines are confusing - some aspects of the 3 things above suggest going up from Position 3 to 4, others suggest going down to 2. Still, early days, yet, they say do 200km, I've only done 60 or so, so will give it more time.

The study below is interesting and suggests noticeable gains in power for elite cyclists.

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/SSCI ... aper04.pdf

bernithebiker

Not sure if anyone's interested, but at least this serves as a useful personal log for me!

Longer ride, 70km, not pushing too hard.

http://app.strava.com/activities/55664185

Definitely feeling more muscle ache than I usually would after the 40km mark. Walking around after the ride, legs feel quite shot.

Looking at the Rotor guidelines I definitely fall into the category of 'Reduce OCP by 1 step', that is;

1. Comfortable to pedal standing but not when sitting
2. Pain (slight) at the back of knee, (actually top of calf)
3. Acceleration and sprinting are easy but maintaining speed is difficult.

So, will move them round to Position 2, and see how that feels.

If that doesn't work, and the muscle aches don't subside, there'll be an almost new set of 50/34 Q rings in the Classifieds!

Grill

I have a set of 53/39 on my Power2Max. I've just taken the chainset off my TT bike and moved it to the Foil for my trip back to the States. I've never felt any different, so it will be interesting if they make a difference on the long (5 miles+) climbs. I use position 2 on the TT bike but have moved them to 3 just in case.

bernithebiker

Grill wrote:

I have a set of 53/39 on my Power2Max. I've just taken the chainset off my TT bike and moved it to the Foil for my trip back to the States. I've never felt any different, so it will be interesting if they make a difference on the long (5 miles+) climbs. I use position 2 on the TT bike but have moved them to 3 just in case.

I'm not sure about the idea of using Q's on one bike but not the other, because your muscles are supposed to adapt slightly to the new pedaling style (certainly, that's what mine seem to be doing). So if you are changing between the two all the time, your legs never really adapt?

I have normal rings on my MTB and hybrid MTB which concerns me, but I don't ride them that much these days.

When you say you put them to 3 just in case, isn't that making the Q effect more pronounced?

Grill

Apparently, but as I feel no difference seems like a plan. I've done back-to-back 90 milers on the Foil (no Q) and Plasma (with Q) and didn't feel a difference. We shall see...

LegendLust

bernithebiker wrote:

Not sure if anyone's interested, but at least this serves as a useful personal log for me!

Longer ride, 70km, not pushing too hard.

http://app.strava.com/activities/55664185

Definitely feeling more muscle ache than I usually would after the 40km mark. Walking around after the ride, legs feel quite shot.

Looking at the Rotor guidelines I definitely fall into the category of 'Reduce OCP by 1 step', that is;

1. Comfortable to pedal standing but not when sitting
2. Pain (slight) at the back of knee, (actually top of calf)
3. Acceleration and sprinting are easy but maintaining speed is difficult.

So, will move them round to Position 2, and see how that feels.

If that doesn't work, and the muscle aches don't subside, there'll be an almost new set of 50/34 Q rings in the Classifieds!

Your legs will ache as you're using other muscles in the full pedal revolution. Mine ached for a while - but I knew they were working cos I was climbing (seated) up my usual hills further down the cassette

bigpikle

Been using Q rings for best part of a couple of months now and logged a lot of miles on them. I've also swapped back to a DA equipped bike a lot that doesnt have the rings, and frankly, after the first few rides on the Q rings, I dont notice any difference and forget they are even there now. Just using OCP3 and it feels good and I have no problem producing the power or maintaining the distance without any ill effects. I've just swapped over onto a new Quarq PM with the Q rings fitted so will be on these exclusively from now on so will if that changes anything going forward?

I'm not sure if I'm feeling any benefit in terms of power or less fatigue but am hoping that when I hit the mountains in Spain in a few weeks then I'll benefit using the 34t when climbing the steeper bits.

bernithebiker

Latest update ;

switched to OCP 2, and rode a decent (112km, 1300m) club ride on Sunday (lovely weather!)

Felt much better, no quad muscle ache to speak of, or in the top of calf, felt like I was riding quite well.

Whether, it's a) my muscles have already adapted a bit, or b) OCP 2 is quite different from 3, I don't know, but I seem to have found the sweet spot for now.

Front shifting is excellent by the way, better than the Sworks rings before, (The Q's are thicker).

sopworth

It's interesting to hear others finding on using Q rings. I've been using them on one of my bikes since early last year and would definitely say they improved my leg fatigue over longer distances. I know someone will try and shoot me down for talking marketing crap, but that's my personal observation.
Unfortunately, I'm now going to sell my set of rings as it's all or nothing with them. Having used my winter bike with normal rings, going back and forth can't be good in the long run. I'm buying a CX bike soon and to run 3 bikes with Q rings would be expensive.

themogulman

Update. I am still running rounds on my race bike and q rings my trainer/longer ride bike.

I am finding my legs getting used to the rounds the more I ride and I don't think I miss this Q rings as the races I am doing are maximum 50 miles. I do think the rounds give me a bit more when sprinting so I am pretty sure I am going to stick with them and run both types. I am doing the Dragon next Sunday so I will get plenty of climbing done on the Qs.

I hope that with mixing up both types of rings my legs will work with both but time will tell.

Grill

I've now done a couple hundred miles with the rings on OCP 3 as opposed to 2. Still have yet to feel any soreness from either even when doing lots of climbing and pushing decent wattage. What I have noticed is the front shifting isn't as good as Ultegra and doesn't hold a candle to DA. TBH I can't wait to get back to Wales and relegate this chainset to the TT bike permanently so I can go back to my DA chainset on this bike.

themogulman

I put the Qs on my race bike today. Firstly the shifting was pretty much fine(sram red 2013) slighty slow going on the big ring but no dropping. The thing that has done it for me is the chain rub. Driving me potty, added to that I didn't feel any better on them so I am going to rounds on both bikes.

There were a few points that I thought that they made a small difference but not enough.

How is Bernie doing?

PS anyone wants some Qrings 52x36 message me before they go on ebay.