Oval rings for road

[Erik Timmerman]

Anybody got 'em? I'm thinking about trying a set from Absolute Black. I'm skeptical though. Not about the oval part, but about front shifting being on par with Shimano rings. Anyone have experience? Rumors or innuendo?

 

[Ross Biff]

Anybody got 'em? I'm thinking about trying a set from Absolute Black. I'm skeptical though. Not about the oval part, but about front shifting being on par with Shimano rings. Anyone have experience? Rumors or innuendo?

Front shifting can be poor to abysmal depending on were in the rotation cycle you need to shift. The debate around the differences between current oval rings and the original Shimano Biopace rings seems to center on how Shmano got it completely wrong back in the day and the current rings correct Shimanos " bad engineering"- my quotation marks. I have a friend who tried the current oval rings on his road bike and noted that he felt faster riding but also felt stiffer the next day. We never quite figured out if he was using his muscle groups in a different manner or whether actually was riding harder without noticing it. I have tried an oval ring on an MTB with a one- by set up but not long enough to come to a useful conclusion. Some riders swear by them, others feel they are a waste of money.

 

[martyg]

Ned has them, more often than not, on his various bikes.

 

[cantunamunch]

Front shifting can be poor to abysmal depending on were in the rotation cycle you need to shift. The debate around the differences between current oval rings and the original Shimano Biopace rings seems to center on how Shmano got it completely wrong back in the day and the current rings correct Shimanos " bad engineering"- my quotation marks. I have a friend who tried the current oval rings on his road bike and noted that he felt faster riding but also felt stiffer the next day. We never quite figured out if he was using his muscle groups in a different manner or whether actually was riding harder without noticing it. .

The funny part about that is very few seem to have had the takeaway I did from original BioPace - it wasn't meant for increased performance by trained cyclists, it was meant for easier, more consistent effort by non-performers.

<- still uses BioPace on the trainer queen, has no shifting issues (well, none that aren't caused by being a sad fat old git).

 

[Erik Timmerman]

It's not that I think the oval shape would make them shift poorly. It's that not being made by Shimano would make them shift poorly. I love the oval on my mountain bike, shifting is not an issue there though.