Originally Posted by
TurtleRacer
Three small questions:
1. Where do you buy your chain rings from?
2. Is buying used chainrings - bad idea?
3. Why are chainrings so expensive?!?
2. Not if its straight and the teeth aren't worn. The life of a chainring is much longer than the life of a cog.
3. Generally chainrings are made out of stronger more expensive aluminum like 7075 to reduce wear and extend life. There is considerable amount of machine time to cut out all the tooth profiles, and then you have heat treating. I imagine there is a considerable amount of waste factored into the cost after all the excess metal is removed.