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 Post subject: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:36 am 
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Anyone run one or try one before? What is your opinion? Helpful on tech climbs?

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 7:58 am 
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My hard tail came with one. Haven’t had a ‘normal’ ring on it to compare directly; but also can’t say I notice much difference compared to all the normal rings I’ve ridden over the years. Hills are still hard.

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:09 am 
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A good friend of mine who bought my old Joker put one on it and swears by it.
With my knee-history, I've never tried one myself.

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:15 am 
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Ray Dolor wrote:
A good friend of mine who bought my old Joker put one on it and swears by it.
With my knee-history, I've never tried one myself.

Do you feel that it is harder on the knees or something? Or you are just apprehensive when trying new things based on knee injuries?

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:59 am 
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I had a old MTB back in the day that had BioPace rings. If you think about it, if they were really a "thing", all bikes would have them now.
Maybe they work, maybe not, but innovations that work would seem to stay

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 1:05 pm 
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Dirtrider wrote:
I had a old MTB back in the day that had BioPace rings. If you think about it, if they were really a "thing", all bikes would have them now.
Maybe they work, maybe not, but innovations that work would seem to stay

I'm pretty sure the clocking is different with the current oval rings versus the biopace. Not sure how different that is, but not the exact same product or operation.

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 3:41 pm 
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First off, not all oval ring are created equal. New rings are clocked differently than current rings, and not all current rings are the same either. They vary in clocking and degree of ovality (yes that's a real term).

I've been using the Absolute Black oval on my full rigid bike and recently went to a round ring (just to go to a lower tooth count while I regain strength). I find that even though the oval was a 34 vs 32, I was able to push it with about the same effort (unless I was already rebuilding strength). One thing I noticed though was that going back to the round ring after 5+ years of the oval, I could feel a "surging" in my pedaling with the round ring that I didn't notice on the oval. I think this was from muscle memory of the oval ring.

I will say, I did feel like I could climb most anything (until I ran out of strength) with the oval. I think it does actually help with an extra degree of control.

So I'd personally say Go for it!

While not "independent" here is a video that shows a comparison of Biopace vs Absolute Black.



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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:56 pm 
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I don't have a comment on oval chainrings, I just wanted to encourage you and your avatar to post more frequently.

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 6:45 pm 
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I have an oval ring on my Ibis. and a round ring on my Spur and hardtail. I can feel the difference between them for about 30 seconds when I take a different bike out. Maybe the oval makes a difference climbing, I can't really tell. As someone said, climbing hills is still hard. I typically like to shift one gear harder for tech climbs so maybe it does help there a bit, but that is more than offset by the new long/low/slack geo that ensures many more pedal and chainring strikes that you've ever had before.

Personally I just buy whatever I can get the best deal on, or with covid I just buy whatever is actually available.


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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 5:34 am 
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ajdonner wrote:
Hills are still hard.


evdog wrote:
As someone said, climbing hills is still hard.


Well shit, there goes that idea. I figured I could just pedal up to the base of the hill, light a joint, crack a beer, and let the oval pull me up.

Image

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 9:36 am 
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24v wrote:
ajdonner wrote:
Hills are still hard.


evdog wrote:
As someone said, climbing hills is still hard.


Well shit, there goes that idea. I figured I could just pedal up to the base of the hill, light a joint, crack a beer, and let the oval pull me up.

Image


There's a different group discussion for that.

https://dirttreaders.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=68


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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 11:43 am 
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24v wrote:
Ray Dolor wrote:
A good friend of mine who bought my old Joker put one on it and swears by it.
With my knee-history, I've never tried one myself.

Do you feel that it is harder on the knees or something? Or you are just apprehensive when trying new things based on knee injuries?


It took quite a nog while for one of my knees to recover from a bad knee surgery, so I'm a bit leery of anything new that comes down the pipe which could even possibly stress that joint out.

And, yeah, my girlfriend back in the 80's developed chondromalacia in her knees a few months after buying a new bike with shimano biopace rings.
Chondromalacia went away when she switched back to round ones.

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 2:29 pm 
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^^^ I had pretty bad chrondomalacia back in the Pleistocene era when I was a trail runner and backpacker, and one of those knee strap things really helped. But, now that all I do is pedal a bike slowly, I’m not having a problem so far after installing an oval ring.

Attachment:
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This one is said to be not as oval as the Absolute Black. I was running a 30T but was thinking I wanted to try oval, and to have some reserve for when I’m tired (often) and possibly shift some cassette wear to a slightly higher gear. The Eagle cassette has a much bigger 1-2 gap than Shimano, so the difference isn’t enough to let me use 2nd instead of 1st very often. But I think I am using a gear higher in the mid-range. I could make it up most short steep climbs with the 30T, and it actually felt better for that than spinning more. So I was going to go back to it, but not yet. The 28T is good for me now on longer steep climbs, and later in a ride. As for the ovality, it’s very noticeable on the bike stand, but not so much riding, so not sure how much it’s helping.

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 Post subject: Re: Oval Chainrings?
PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2023 8:51 pm 
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^^^ Huh. I didn’t realize it’s been a year. I just took off my 30T oval yesterday (which I switched to a short while after the 28T) and put the round 30T back on. After just one day riding I’m sure I like the round one better because it’s smoother, and drops the chain off the granny gear less often when backpedaling. I googled the hell out of that issue, and it seems to be very common with Eagle drivetrains, Superboost, and really short chainstays (which otherwise I really like).

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