Elliptical Chainrings. Thoughts?

[bxcc]

Having never used one, I decided to put one on my plus bike. I went with an AbsoluteBlack Sram direct mount 32t ring. It is paired with an XT M771 11-36 cassette. As far as negatives go, I can't find any. I went for an 8 mile first ride on the plus bike last night and I had about a 1/4 mile of grassy road left when I thought "Crap, I never payed attention to see if I like the ring or not". Which, to me, means I didn't even notice it on the trail, and that is a good thing. But once I started paying attention to it, I really started to like it. 99% of the "rigid bike bounce" is gone! And the pedal stroke does feel quite a bit smoother. Now I can't really tell if it makes my legs more or less tired but if it isn't bouncing, it must be good. And I would think that the bouncing would be some sort of efficiency loss but I really don't know.

What is every's take on these?

[RS VR6]

I've been on Q-Rings on my road bike since 2012, Ridea SXX1 on my MTB in 2014, and the Garbaruk Melon in 2015. I will not switch back to round rings. The difference the ovals made for me is the cadence. It feels like I am able to accelerate my pedal stroke easier on sections where I need to get up and over. When cruising, my pedal stroke feels much smoother. I still got a round ring on the full suspension...but I don't do much pedaling on that bike.

[Carbon_Dude]

From everything I've read oval rings just don't seem like they offer a significant enough benefit for me to want to change.  I would like to try one but it's not high on my list of things I want to put on my bikes.

[cmh]

A little bit after the fact but... I got an Absolute Black 32t oval for my Epic. Ranged from 30t when you're in the "dead spot" to 34t in the power stroke. Rode it for a bunch of rides. I think my spin felt a little smoother? Honestly, I really didn't notice much of anything. Didn't make me faster. Just swapped the round ring back on for a lower 30t for a trip that'll have a bunch of climbing, and took it out for a ride, and was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY ... absolutely nothing at all. The pedals turned, the bike went forward. Maybe my pedal stroke wasn't as smooth. Last I checked, you don't get style points for a smooth pedal stroke.

The Absolute Black is a good chainring, no regrets in getting it, but also no real feeling that I got much beyond a nice 1x chainring.

Gotta say being able to thread standard chainring bolts directly into the ring itself makes it much easier than using chainring nuts and bolts.

[Carbon_Dude]

Thanks for the update, I've been wondering about the oval rings but now I will also move on.

[carbonazza]

COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY ... absolutely nothing at all

Even on steep climbs? That's where I saw a difference.
I have a 36/34 now, coming from a 28 two years ago.
I probably couldn't do some climbs around here with a round 36.
And with that ring, I can even challenge some road bikes too.
Too bad it didn't work.

[cmh]

COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY ... absolutely nothing at all

Even on steep climbs? That's where I saw a difference.
I have a 36/34 now, coming from a 28 two years ago.
I probably couldn't do some climbs around here with a round 36.
And with that ring, I can even challenge some road bikes too.
Too bad it didn't work.

Around here, the only steep climbs are short, so those are usually done out of the saddle, full gas, get it over with. No miracles there.

I think riding style contributes greatly to how well an oval ring works for a particular rider. For me, my riding style (whatever it may be) just didn't seem to be benefitted.

[RS VR6]

COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY BY ... absolutely nothing at all

Even on steep climbs? That's where I saw a difference.
I have a 36/34 now, coming from a 28 two years ago.
I probably couldn't do some climbs around here with a round 36.
And with that ring, I can even challenge some road bikes too.
Too bad it didn't work.

Good example was a ride I did a few days ago. The final kicker out of the trail was short, steep, with roots. Friend with the fat bike stopped halfway up trying to power up it. I put it in the 42 and spun my way up and out. I can't say I won't make it a round ring...but the smoother pedal stoke didn't hurt either.

Like anything else...it takes time to adapt. If you don't give it that time...you won't really know it you like it or not. Just like clipless pedals.

[cmh]

Gave it plenty of time. I rode Biopace back in the day and didn't notice a difference with that. Must be the bottomless well of watts I have to draw from. 

[325racer]

Everything I've read is that the new ones are the opposite oval compared to BioPace.

That said I just pulled the trigger on a Absolute Black Oval 34T Red ring.  I'll be doing a race next Thursday evening, so I'll let you know how it goes.  Not only is it oval, but I'm going up from a 32 round......

[ottoreni]

Looking for some advice..  I didn't want to start a new thread so I am posting here.

I picked up a Chinese Oval ring for 104 BCD spider.  I have a mounting problem.

Here is the problem ....

The tabs are too long and do not permit it to fit the SRAM spider.  Please see the pictures ... I compare to the old SRAM ring and the SRAM spider.  Hopefully there is some simple solution that someone can tell me.




The Chinese seller seems to not understand or is purposely playing dumb.

[ottoreni]

Pictures

[carbonazza]

If the holes fall in to place, you can use a file to remove the part of the tabs that are too big.
If the holes are out of the axis, and you bought it from aliexpress, open a dispute showing pictures, and generally they reimburse.

[carbonazza]

I'll be doing a race next Thursday evening, so I'll let you know how it goes.  Not only is it oval, but I'm going up from a 32 round......

@325racer, How was the jump from 32 to 34 oval?

[325racer]

I'll be doing a race next Thursday evening, so I'll let you know how it goes.  Not only is it oval, but I'm going up from a 32 round......

@325racer, How was the jump from 32 to 34 oval?

I've only ridden with it twice so far.  Once was a SUPER Easy ride where I was barely spinning (recovery ride after 68 mile road ride, and taking my Dad out), On that ride, I didn't even really notice a difference in pedal cadence or load, etc, pretty much felt the same.

The second ride was a 12 mile race that I did last week.  Again, I didn't really notice much difference in feel.  So my current evaluation is that going from the 32 round to 34 Oval seems to feel pretty much the same to me.  What I'm hoping after I ride a little more is that is still feels like pushing the 32, but I carry more speed because I'm actually pushing the 34.

I guess I'm also thrown off, because on my 32+lb Full Suspension TallBoy LT, I'm still running a 3 ring setup, with a 36 middle ring and 36 rear and I try to push that everywhere, vs dropping to the granny.