The publicity drive behind oval chainrings seems to have ramped up recently, not least with Bradley Wiggins using them at the Tour. The marketing spiel quotes increased power, reduced fatigue and improved acceleration. I needed some new rings and decided to give them a try.
I opted for the '29er' marketed 38 tooth big ring. Unfortunately Rotor only go down to a 26 tooth for my spider set-up although many other sizes are offered. I previously had a 24 tooth granny on my old cranks so wasn't willing to make the leap. So I opted for a 25 tooth Carbon-ti inner ring.
The chainring turned up next day in a nice plastic sleeve with four bespoke bolts. The detailed data supplied with the rings describes a 4 week long acclimatisation period. Hah! I just jumped straight on and got riding!
Initially I was almost disappointed to notice hardly any difference. However, as soon as I tried to accelerate or get out of the saddle there was a definite ‘feeling’ that the rings were trying to help. Please be aware that this is just a feeling, I cannot substantiate any extra power or noticeable speed advantage. What I can say is that after two months on the Q-ring I really do like it. The fact that I think it is helping me is probably as positive as any genuine performance gain. To me it feels like the oval is helping me stay on top of the gear and keep the pedals turning. On climbs I seem to be able to stay in the big ring for longer.
I had to slightly tweak the position of my XX mech so that it just cleared the tallest part of the oval and then shifting, even to the non-Q inner ring has been fine.
I would suggest you give them a try but be warned they aren’t cheap so they do require some commitment prior to purchasing.
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