Oval chainrings - product review

An excited Matt got in touch a few weeks back to let me know our A Cycling Team had been offered support from Velotech Services, who distribute Rotor and Absolute Black in the UK.  They sell direct to customers too, off their website.  I decided to go with a couple of the Absolute Black oval rings as they make them to fit my (favourite product of the moment) Race Face Next SL cranks - most manufacturers only do the SRAM spline so it's great than Ab Black support the RF fitment.  Incidentally, the Rotor pressfit BBs are the only ones I've found that last more than one manky ride.  I've bought them for a couple of years anyway, and so being offered support from a company where you already use their stuff is certainly a win :)

I've done a fair few miles this weekend (!) on both my hardtail Pivot LES 27.5 and full sus Pivot Mach 4 to see how the new rings feel.  The chain retention was excellent (100%) - when fitting they were noticeably more snug on the chain than the standard RF rings.  In use, the oval rings become apparent immediately.  Initially it feels a bit weird, like you're stamping on the pedals.  You soon adapt though and start to feel the benefits.  In short, they help you get your feet back to the power part of the stroke a lot more quickly.  This means that you can be quicker on the lower out of corners and attack sprinty short climbs a lot more - basically any situation where you mash the pedals a bit, the oval shape really helps.  On smooth trails, it feels like you are being "egged on" (sorry) by the oval rings - the shape encourages you to keep pushing hard as the feel changes during the pedal stroke.  I also noticed less suspension bob on smooth spinny climbs, so the power stroke must be smoother too.  It's probably worth saying that these are marginal gains - but then again 5% separates me from a win at some events so I'll take anything, especially if it's for no extra effort.

A simple product that works really well - my favourite kind.

GB

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