wmh9680

Hi, been seeing alot about oval chainrings. Any opinions on their benefits and can they be put on most any bike? Thanks, Mike

veganbikes

They get your bike noticed. People have other claims they feel are legitimate but I like a good circular chainring. I don't want oval wheels or Oval wheels why would I want them for my chainrings.

I do have an old XT crank with Biopacé chainrings and I may end up using it but I have a feeling I am not going to be keen on them. I don't like an oddness while pedaling.

Maelochs

If you feel good and perform well compared to the other riders around you, you can point out that your wise choice of elliptical chainrings maximized your potential. If you fare poorly, you can blame those stupid oval rings you've been experimenting with.

dsaul

I have them on several bikes and I like them for climbing and off road riding. My first experience with them was a set of 50/34 Absolute Black chainrings on my road bike. I really liked the small chainring for climbing steep hills, because it allowed me to keep my cadence higher than with a round ring. I was not a fan of the large chainring. because the benefit was not as noticeable and it just felt weird at higher cadence(95+).

When I built my first gravel bike, I used an oval small chainring, but kept the large chainring round. That combo results in a few moments of lumpy pedaling feel when switching from the small oval to the large round ring, but the feeling goes away quickly. Switching from large to small doesn't feel odd at all. It just feels like it is easier to pedal, as it normally does when switching to the small ring.

My latest gravel bike has a 1x drivetrain with a round chainring and I really miss the oval when the hills get steep. Besides being harder to maintain a good climbing cadence with the round ring, I also notice that it breaks traction on loose surface climbs where the bike with the oval rings does not break traction.

Retro Grouch 

I think it depends a lot on your cadence and pedaling style.

At the very top of your pedal stroke a rider is able to produce less torque than when the crank arms are perpendicular. Oval chainrings, in theory, would help that. As you pedal in circles, however, your pedals also generate a rotational momentum. The greater your cadence and the smoother your pedal stroke, the less benefit you are likely to feel from oval chainrings.

burnthesheep

Go on.......explain further.

mack_turtle

this topic has been beaten TO DEATH for several years by keyboard warriors of varying levels of ignorance on the subject. an oval chainring doesn't cost that much, so the only way to know if it benefits you is to buy one and try it out. if, after a hundred miles or so, you find that it's weird or just doesn't do anything for you, you can probably still sell it and not have lost much money.

dmanthree

It's a gimmick that comes and gos every now and then. "Biopace"

Stick to circular, pedal circular.

Maelochs

Interesting. Is this a function of the smoother delivery of power from the original BioPace-style rings, or something more modern?

rogertc1

The Retrogrouch: Oval Chainrings Again (bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com)

mack_turtle

note: ignore any of the idiots who directly compare the current breed of oval chainrings to Biopace. this kind of ignorance is common and very tenacious, but it's pure ignorance nonetheless. it's a lot of fat, old keyboard warriors and armchair engineers pontificating on something they clearly don't understand because they're butthurt over something that failed in the marketplace decades ago. I'm not saying modern oval rings are the best choice for everyone or work miracles in some way, just that saying they are the same thing as Biopace is dumb and a worthwhile reason to get on everyone's "ignore list."

Maelochs

Ummm .... yeah ... except some of us fat old men Realize that BioPace oriented the rings differently than most of the more recent oval ring manufacturers .... which is why this fat old man asked the question.

dsaul

These are modern oval rings. The one on the gravel bike is from USAmade, but I have it clocked to match the Absolute Black oval ring on my road bike. I tried it with the USAmade clocking and preferred the clocking of the Absolute Black ring. I don't know if USAmade is clocked differently due to some Absolute Black patent, but changing it by one bolt hole makes it nearly identical to the AB ring.

The traction benefit is definitely due to smoothing out the power delivery.

Kapusta

What he said^^^^^

Anyone suggesting that modern ovals like Wolftooth or Absolute Black are a re-hash of Biopace does not have a clue what they are talking about.

And they are also blissfully unaware that they have caught on quite well in MTB.

The ignorance trying to pass as informed savvy would be entertaining were it so mis-informative.