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Rotor Q Rings
 

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/4/18 9:29 AM

Rotor Q Rings

I had bought a 36 oval to try out, put it on the bike with the SRAM Automatix 2x wheel.

Hanging on the wall now, and needing a 52 minimum ring for the Colnago due to DR braze on limitations... Right BCD for the Chorus cranks, yada. I sniped a slightly used 110 BCD 52 Q off eBay.

So... Anyone use them? I have my own impressions from use on the automatix setup, wanna see your thoughts if you have used them.

I did not try different timing positions, stuck with recommended initial timing. But i think with a double, earlier and later timing for big vs small could possibly make sense. At least in my mind at this point. :)

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

4/4/18 11:26 AM

dp - ignore

Last edited by Brian Nystrom on 4/6/18 3:57 PM; edited 1 time in total

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

4/4/18 11:27 AM

Everything old is new again

Oval chainrings have been around almost since chainrings were first added to bikes. The Rotor rings seem to have had the longest life, but other attempts just faded into obscurity. Frankly, I think it's basically just a gimmick and that any actual performance improvement is probably due more to the placebo effect than any bio-mechanical advantage. I'm not willing to put up with crap shifting in the front for some likely mythical improvement. For that matter, at my level of riding, there are far more effective and less expensive improvements I can make, like simply riding more. ;-)

Still, if I didn't have to pay for them, I'd be interested in trying a set just to see if there's actually anything to the hype.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/4/18 11:46 AM

Reinvented? Isn't there a lot more timing science to the Qs VS the Bio Shimano early efforts. Rotor will have us believe arcs of the Qs are like 180^ out from Bios, and that Shimano had the right idea but got it wrong.

"Placebo"

I can say from the use on the Automatix bike, for me I noticed the following.

Very clumsy pedaling at first which indicated to me my habitual circle was different than what the mechanics of the changing ratio allowed.

Once I got used to it, in fact I felt my circle was smoother both on that bike and on regular rings. And I'd say I am about the curve in smooth pedaling. Except for a while after the femoral nerve injury. The impetus that pushed me to actually buy/try the 36T.

I used spin scan on the Computrainer to see if the graph showed any difference. Part was, part wasn't, Without going into detail. Except to say I lost a baseline due to the nerve injury and stopped testing when I got better.

Like you Brian, I suspect a similar "I'll show myself" mentality in place. I got the 36 tooth for 60 bucks added to an order to get free shipping after having some extra cash from a sell/killing. So with several layers of justification fodder, ordered one. ;)

I took it off the Automatix bike in favor of a Narrow Wide instead FWIW, thus hanging on the wall.

I got the 52 tooth for $27.75 shipped, So phase two about to begin when I get it.

My thoughts, and thus the question on timing... Later timing on the Bog and earlier/normal on the 36. And what flavor this cool-aide actually is?

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

4/4/18 4:08 PM

More effective and less expensive improvements

Forget about riding more, in my case losing 10 lbs makes more difference than all the equipment in the world. Which doesn't stop me from buying nice bikes of course. :)

My weight is not bad right now, but I could lose about 10 which I will try to do. Now I can do my normal riding pretty much without restriction, hope that helps.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/4/18 4:58 PM

Sure nice to read that from your neck of the woods Dan.

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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3234
Location: Midland, MI

4/5/18 10:07 AM

The newness of new


quote:
Isn't there a lot more timing science to the Qs VS the Bio Shimano early efforts. Rotor will have us believe arcs of the Qs are like 180^ out from Bios, and that Shimano had the right idea but got it wrong.


The striking thing about this claim from Rotor is that it essentially mirrors what Shimano said when they introduced Bio-Pace.

I think that this is the 4th iteration of "out of round" chain rings since I started riding in the mid-60s. I got a book on cycling then and sure enough, it had items about oval chain rings from the 40s and 50s. Each generation has solved the problems of the previous generation, and yet they just never seem to catch on. The sceptic wonders why that is.

The first patents on this technology were from the late 1800s.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/5/18 10:58 AM

Rotor bike is big company, what portion of any success is attributed to chain ring division, i dunno. Thus a question as to the comment of them not catching on is in order?

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

4/6/18 4:02 PM

If they didn't have Chris Froome riding them...

...I'll bet they wouldn't sell worth a damn, especially at the prices they charge.

Dan has a good point and frankly, all of this "marginal gain" stuff is a complete waste unless you've already optimized your weight and fitness.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/6/18 8:00 PM

"a complete waste unless you've already optimized your weight and fitness."

Or no more of a waste than normal stuff when you pay what I paid, instead of the prices you see or these to be sure. The two ring MSRP for near $300.00 IIRC. I will still pedal with or with out them. ;) Not seeking a quantifiable gain, other than perhaps less fatigue with miles I am hoping.

I guess I can decide the waste for the 90 something space bucks I have into the pair, small new, big used.
Add in the SRAM Force carbon arms & spider new for 99.00 shipped and it is a normal middle crankset money wise I guess.

I can say the big ring has a lot of metal missing not being the aero variety. Not that I have much chance of bending it over in a sprint. ;)

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

4/7/18 7:08 AM

For what you paid, what the heck?

It'll be an interesting experiment and if you don't like them, you can probably resell them at a profit.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/7/18 11:00 AM

I used the 36 1x for enough rides to acclimate. We will see what a season of the set brings. Leaning towards orog question regarding timing big and small diffetently.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

4/7/18 11:21 AM

How bad do you want the shifting to be?

Oval rings are not known for great shifting to begin with because there are only two pickup points, due to their shape. Offsetting the two rings significantly would probably only make the shifting worse. I would stick with whatever Rotor recommends and move the pair in unison if you want to try different settings.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

4/7/18 11:40 AM

Bonus

Maybe you'll end up a pretty pedaler like Froome.

I had a biopace MB crank way back. I changed at least some of the rings to round because they messed with my Anquetil-like Souplesse.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

4/7/18 11:49 AM

Even i dont look as wonky on the bike as Froome.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

4/7/18 1:54 PM

That's because...

...it takes him tens of thousands of kilometers of training every year to look that bad. We simply don't ride enough. ;-)

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