Wrecked my DA outer chainring!!!!!!!

neilr4
neilr4 Posts: 161
edited May 2016 in Road buying advice
I have a Dura ace 9000 Chainset which I purchased with compact set-up 34-50 for when I ride in France. I put a 39T inner chainring on and altough not perfect it worked fine until today when changing down from large to small chainring (was on a steep gradient) and the chain got jammed between the inner 39T and outer 50T and bursted the hollow outer ring in two places rendering it useless.

Thankfully the crank and inner chainring are ok!!

Now what to replace it with..... I`ve decided to move up to a 52T

My Dilemma:

Should replace it with DA but the feckers are expensive!

Ultegra...... well :roll: Dull to say the least but price is lower!

Are there any decent after market chainrings for DA 4 arm cranks? I could only find Stronglight!!!

Neil.
'REMEMBER SOME PEOPLE ARE ALIVE
SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS ILLEGAL TO SHOOT THEM'

Comments

  • trailflow
    trailflow Posts: 1,311
    edited May 2016
    Pics or it didn't happen.

    Doval (oval) rings on ebay are cheap around £35 a set and will fit both 4-arm and 5-arm.

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2016-New-DOVA ... 7XRaM8aRBg

    Mine are reasonably stiff and shift fairly well. The shifting ramps have been improved from earlier versions. No complaints from me apart from the odd pedal bob feeling and the oval shape i think adds zero benefit. They just feel like you are pushing a slightly bigger gear. They are a bargain though. That's all that matters :)

    I am currently using a normal round inner 33t with an oval outer 46t and it shifts fine.
  • neilr4 wrote:

    My Dilemma:

    Should replace it with DA but the feckers are expensive!

    Ultegra...... well :roll: Dull to say the least but price is lower!

    Are there any decent after market chainrings for DA 4 arm cranks? I could only find Stronglight!!!

    Neil.

    Buy the cheapest you can find until you can manage changing gear smoothly.
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,571
    neilr4 wrote:

    My Dilemma:

    Should replace it with DA but the feckers are expensive!

    Ultegra...... well :roll: Dull to say the least but price is lower!

    Are there any decent after market chainrings for DA 4 arm cranks? I could only find Stronglight!!!

    Neil.

    Buy the cheapest you can find until you can manage changing gear smoothly.
    Another quality contribution from the resident snide smart-ar$e.

    One day you'll offer something useful as a comment. Probably won't be any time soon though.

    To the OP, Stronglight chain rings are pretty decent really I've found. Used several on Campag drivetrains and had no issues with any of them. However DA rings design (and Ultegra now) does tend to be extremely stiff, to cope with the Di2 shift load stresses, so you may find *any* alternatives feel a little less crisp shifting.
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • paul2718
    paul2718 Posts: 471
    I think a Dura-ace crank with a non-matching big ring is going to look just wrong. So you will have to suck it up. £117 at Wiggle.

    But the failure does sound a bit odd. Do you have any leverage with the warranty or the supplier?

    Paul
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    Must admit I've never heard of anyone bursting their chainring.

    Are you quite sure ?

    I've seen pics of people saying they've broken their chainrings as some of the shifting teeth have broken off, when they were made like that...

    Let's see a pic ?
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    neilr4 wrote:

    My Dilemma:

    Should replace it with DA but the feckers are expensive!

    Ultegra...... well :roll: Dull to say the least but price is lower!

    Are there any decent after market chainrings for DA 4 arm cranks? I could only find Stronglight!!!

    Neil.

    Buy the cheapest you can find until you can manage changing gear smoothly.
    Another quality contribution from the resident snide smart-ar$e.
    [...]

    Point taken but it is a fair comment by SS. Anyone shifting on a steep slope and therefore probably having to keep the power down mid-shift is going to have chainring problems irrespective of the make/model. We all know there is a real technique about shifting: Reading the road ahead and then backing off the power at the right time (before you need to) and keep a smooth rotation whilst shifting before putting the power back on...

    So in a way it does make sense to mention it...although the actual delivery of the advice could probably have been better :)
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Fenix wrote:
    Must admit I've never heard of anyone bursting their chainring.

    Are you quite sure ?

    Let's see a pic ?

    Another thread on here a few days ago with pics of an Ultegra chainset that looks like the DS crank has ripped away from the rest of the spider, apparently while JRA

    ETA: viewtopic.php?f=40004&t=13064693

    Maybe, occasionally these very thin hollow alloy components do fail in normal use...
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    its user error. shift down and up at the right time and you'll have few problems (i.e. not under maximal load). I've read that people change the inners and outers on DA and Ultegra Chainrings and wonder why they shift poorly. I've run 52/39 and the ramps aren't set quite right... best thing to do is buy another outer chainring and practice your shifting when approaching hills, and do everything as smoothly as possible, and voila, you'll not be pulling your hair out...
  • stueys
    stueys Posts: 1,332
    Praxis or dura ace are your two options. Lots of people say Praxis is as good as Shimano, I've got both and would go shim
  • neilr4
    neilr4 Posts: 161
    Stueys wrote:
    Praxis or dura ace are your two options. Lots of people say Praxis is as good as Shimano, I've got both and would go shim

    I looked at the one`s suggested and after considering the pros and cons I ordered a replacement Dura ace one today!!

    I`ve taken some pics for the one`s who enquired but can`t figure out how to upload :?

    The cause of tearing the outer is as follows (I`ll explain as best I can....)

    I cleaned my bike yesterday as I was racing in a crit last night, put my bike in largest gear 50x12 to apply squirt wax to chain and let it dry. Ends up I leave the house with little time to spare, got delayed, young kids, couldn`t find socks etc. you get the picture. Jump on the bike and realise "shit, in biggest gear" I have an up hill ramp from my house to the road so I immediately hit the lever to drop the chain off the outer ring but wasn`t generating enough revs and chain got sucked between 39 and 50T rings..... I`ve been riding for 30 years and know how to shift but I just made an error of judgement at that time, I also know that through the years gearing has improved a lot and have been spoiled regarding `shifting-under-load` so I`ve been used to shifting out of the saddle on a climb with shimano 11 speed no problem!!!

    The major factor I realised later is that I replaced the original 34T chainring with a 39T which meant that the outer ring guides the chain towards the small ring but with a 50-39 drop the chain wasn`t at the bottom of the outer ring so the chain would have a tendancy to nestle for a split second `half` on top of the 39T ring before finally dropping into place so had I had a 39T 53T combination or a 34T 50T then the chain would`t have gotten jammed between them!!!
    'REMEMBER SOME PEOPLE ARE ALIVE
    SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS ILLEGAL TO SHOOT THEM'